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Cricket World Cup Teams - England
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Full name Mark Alan Butcher
Born August 23, 1972, Croydon, Surrey
Current age 32 years 324 days
Major teams England, Surrey
Batting style Left-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm medium
Relations Father - AR Butcher, Uncle - MS Butcher, Uncle - IP
Butcher, Brother - GP Butcher
class mat inns no runs hs ave bf sr 100 50 4s 6s ct
st
Tests 71 131 7 4288 173* 34.58 10005 42.85 8 23 559 3 61 0
First-class 233 402 30 14598 259 39.24 29 80 215 0
List A 155 138 25 3079 104 27.24 1 17 48 0
Twenty-20 3 3 0 148 60 49.33 101 146.53 0 2 0 0
class mat balls runs wkts bbi bbm ave econ sr 4 5 10
Tests 71 901 541 15 4/42 5/68 36.06 3.60 60.06 2 0 0
First-class 233 7616 4190 124 5/86 33.79 3.30 61.41 1 0
List A 155 2527 2210 49 3/23 3/23 45.10 5.24 51.57 0 0 0
Twenty-20 3 0 0 0 - - - - - 0 0 0
StatsGuru Tests filter
Test debut England v Australia at Birmingham - Jun 5-8, 1997
scorecard
Last Test South Africa v England at Durban - Dec 26-30, 2004
scorecard
First-class span 1992 - 2004/05
List A span 1991 - 2004
Twenty-20 span 2004
Mark Butcher's Test career has consisted of four
patchy years, three profitable ones, and one amazing day. He broke
into the England side in 1997 as a combative opener with a punchy
cover-drive, a sure sense of his off stump, and a glaring weakness
against spin. Given an extended run, he repaid the selectors with
vital centuries in 1998 against the world's two best teams - South
Africa at Headingley and Australia at Brisbane. In 1999, he even
captained England in a Test against New Zealand. But the runs dried
up in South Africa, his Surrey form crumbled, and so did his
marriage, to Alec Stewart's sister Judy. Butcher lost his appetite
for the game, and his Test place to Marcus Trescothick. His father,
Alan, a one-Test wonder and respected coach, helped him rebuild his
technique and he made an unexpected comeback as a Test No. 3 in
2001. His fighting qualities brought a string of useful scores, and
then came nirvana: a blazing, take-no-prisoners 173 not out against
Australia at Headingley, turning a stiff run-chase into a breeze. It
was the innings of his life. On the flat pitches of 2002, he finally
achieved consistency, making 551 runs at 55 and maturely playing
David Boon to Trescothick and Vaughan's Taylor and Slater. He also
wrote and sang a touching ballad at the memorial service for his
team-mate Ben Hollioake, entitled "You're Never Gone". His old
frailties resurfaced in the 2002-03 Ashes - running haplessly
between the wickets and getting out when set - and carried over into
the following year, when he was in arguably the form of his life.
But he mounted a comeback in 2004, as England's highest scorer in
their 4-0 Test series routing of West Indies in the Caribbean -
where he made 296 runs in four matches, but a series of freak
injuries the following summer brought to an end a run of 42
consecutive Test appearances, and left him once again on the
periphery of the team. He reached 50 Tests, curiously, without
playing in a single one-day international, and was appointed Surrey
captain for the 2005 season.
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