From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mark Butcher England (ENG)
Batting style	Left-hand bat
Bowling type	Right-arm medium
	Tests	First-class
Matches	71	238
Runs scored	4288	14881
Batting average	34.58	39.16
100s/50s	8/23	29/82
Top score	173*	259
Balls bowled	901	7634
Wickets	15	124
Bowling average	36.06	33.87
5 wickets in innings	-	1
10 wickets in match	-	-
Best bowling	4/42	5/86
Catches/stumpings	61/-	218/-
Test debut: 5 June 1997 Last Test: 26 December 2004 Source: [1]

Mark Alan Butcher (born Croydon, Surrey, 23 August 1972) is an English cricketer. He is a left-handed batsman, and to a lesser degree a right-arm medium-pace bowler.

Butcher has played all his county cricket for Surrey, for whom he made his first-class debut in 1992.

He made his Test match debut in the first Test of the 1997 Ashes series at Edgbaston. As of the end of the 2004 season, he had played 69 Tests, making eight centuries and averaging over 43. Butcher has captained England once, losing to New Zealand in 1999 when Nasser Hussain was injured. Unusually for such an experienced Test player, Butcher has never appeared in a One Day International; no current player has played more Tests without a one day appearance.

Butcher enjoyed a good start to his career, hitting two half-centuries in five matches against an excellent Australian side. He then struggled (along with the rest of the England side) against the West Indies that winter. However, in the next series, he played magnificently, scoring two fifties and a century against an excellent South African side. Though he followed that with a marvellous hundred against Australia in the first Ashes Test that winter, he then failed for the rest of that series. A miserable run followed, as he failed to score a half-century in twelve consecutive matches. Despite being appointed stand-in captain for one Test against New Zealand, he was dropped from the side in the winter of 2000.

Butcher's domestic form then suffered a dramatic decline, and he found himself languishing in the Second Eleven at the start of the 2001 domestic season. However, some work with his father, Alan, sorted out his form. He came back into prominence with an excellent innings in the Benson and Hedges Trophy semi-final, and was drafted into the Test side to play the Australians in the first Ashes Test, once again at Edgbaston. Strong showings throughout that series culminated in a mercurial 173 not out at Leeds, as England successfully chased 315 to win.

Since that series, Butcher went from strength to strength before a horrible run of injuries saw him lose his place. A string of consistent performances made him the linchpin of the England batting line-up, to be relied upon in a crisis. Nowhere was this more apparent than in two series abroad, in Sri Lanka and the West Indies, where he kept his head and batted well, irrespective of the poor showing at the other end. A series of injuries kept Butcher out of the game for much of 2005, and his last Test was the first Test in South Africa in December 2004.

Whilst he can sometimes play the defensive anchor role, Butcher is equally adept at playing the flair role, with his off-side play especially strong. His contribution to England's recent success cannot be overstated - even though he missed much of the 2004 summer victories.

Butcher is also a more than capable guitar-player and singer - he sang a moving ballad at Surrey and England team-mate Ben Hollioake's funeral.

Butcher attended Cumnor House Prep School [2] and Trinity School in Croydon, and supports the local football team, Crystal Palace.

Mark Butcher partnered with Sarah Brightman on the second series of Just the Two of Us aired on BBC One in January, 2007. They came third overall.

• Cricinfo page on Mark Butcher