Mark Ramprakash

Mark Ravin Ramprakash, MBE (born 5 September 1969) is a former English cricketer. A right-handed batsman, he initially made his name playing for Middlesex, and was selected for England aged 21. Despite being among the most gifted and heavily scoring English batsman of his generation at county level, he rarely performed to his full potential during a long but intermittent international career. He became a particularly prolific run scorer when he moved to Surrey in 2001, averaging over 100 runs per innings in two successive seasons (2006 & 2007). He is one of only 25 players in the history of the sport to have scored 100 first-class centuries.

In November 2012, he was announced as the batting coach for the England Lions in India. In January 2013 he was appointed as batting coach for Middlesex, on a two-year contract. In November 2014 he was appointed as England's batting coach.

Early life and career

Mark Ramprakash was born in Bushey, Hertfordshire, and is of Indo-Caribbean and English descent. His father, born in the Caribbean, was Indo-Guyanese and his mother was English. He attended Gayton High School (now Harrow High School), and then Harrow Weald Sixth Form College. His first local club was Bessborough Cricket Club in Headstone Lane where he showed early promise as a fast bowler before concentrating on his batting. He played his first match for Middlesex aged just 17, scoring 63 not out against Yorkshire, and top-scoring with 71 in his second match against Essex at Chelmsford (he was still a sixth-form student at the time). He scored his maiden first-class century at Headingley against Yorkshire in 1989, and captained the England U-19 team. He came to national prominence when, at the age of 18, he won the man-of-the match award in the 1988 NatWest Trophy Final after his innings of 56 helped Middlesex beat Worcestershire.