|
|
|
 The photo shows Neil Swanwick and Mark Ramprakash  The photo shows Mark Ramprakash with Paul Beresford and |
 General photos from the lunch  General photos from the lunch |
We welcomed Mark Ramprakash to our January meeting held, with a pie and peas lunch, at Chesterfield Football Club.
Described by Cricinfo, Mark Ramprakash was a batsman of rare talent, combining a classically English technique with an un-English intensity, he shared a Test debut with Graeme Hick, was a star for Middlesex at 17,and he captained England Under-19. A better player abroad, he has been selected twice as often at home. He always did well against Australia, averaging 42. His stylish 133 against them at the Oval in 2001, his first Test century in England, felt like a breakthrough, All along, he has been a fielder of world class at cover and bat-pad, and a county run-machine. When England gave up on him, he became even more prolific for Surrey: in 2006, his 20th county season, he was Bradmanesque, scoring 2,278 runs and averaging over 100. That remarkable form continued, and at county level he was head and shoulders above his peers. His only (relative) lean patch came in 2008 when he was marooned on 99 first-class hundreds, but when the 100th came - and he may well be the last man to reach that number - the floodgates again opened. In the winter of 2006-07 he astonished team-mates and fans by taking part in Strictly Come Dancing, the BBC TV reality show which had been won the previous year by the much more extrovert Darren Gough. Ramprakash finally did what he hadn't done for England: he conquered his nerves, came out of his shell and rose to the big occasion, scoring a perfect 40 (10/10 from all four judges) for his salsa in the final. And he did it in a range of slinky shirts with not many buttons done up.
Mark retired with over 35,000 first class runs to his name and a batting average of over 50. He has subsequently coached at Harrow School, Middlesex and for England.
We are grateful to BRM Solicitors for their sponsorship of the event and to Derbyshire CCC, Chesterfield FC, and Friends of Queen’s Park Cricket amongst other for their generous donations of raffle prizes.
Mark was a very entertaining speaker who described his experiences in winning “Strictly Come Dancing” as well as his prolific cricketing career, all of which was delivered in an under-stated way, with great humour and gave thoughtful responses to the questions.