Mark Ealham
CountryEngland
FullnameMark Alan Ealham
Birth date27 August 1969 (age 57)
Birth placeWillesborough, Kent
Heightft5
Heightinch10
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight arm medium-fast
RoleAll-rounder
FamilyAlan Ealham (father)
Simon Willis (brother-in-law)
Internationaltrue
Testdebutdate4 July
Testdebutyear1996
TestdebutagainstIndia
Testcap580
Lasttestdate21 June
Lasttestyear1998
LasttestagainstSouth Africa
Odidebutdate23 May
Odidebutyear1996
OdidebutagainstIndia
Odicap136
Lastodidate12 June
Lastodiyear2001
LastodiagainstPakistan
Club 1Kent
Year 11989–2003
Club 2Nottinghamshire
Year 22004–2009
Columns4
Column 1Test
Matches 18
Runs 1210
Bat avg 121.00
100s/50s 10/2
Top score 153*
Deliveries 11,060
Wickets 117
Bowl avg 128.70
Fivefor 10
Tenfor 10
Best bowling 14/21
Catches/stumpings 14/–
Column 2ODI
Matches 264
Runs 2716
Bat avg 217.46
100s/50s 20/0
Top score 245
Deliveries 23,227
Wickets 267
Bowl avg 232.79
Fivefor 22
Tenfor 20
Best bowling 25/15
Catches/stumpings 29/–
Column 3FC
Matches 3281
Runs 311,349
Bat avg 331.96
100s/50s 313/67
Top score 3153*
Deliveries 338,434
Wickets 3643
Bowl avg 327.93
Fivefor 324
Tenfor 32
Best bowling 38/36
Catches/stumpings 3158/–
Column 4LA
Matches 4417
Runs 46,326
Bat avg 423.96
100s/50s 41/26
Top score 4112
Deliveries 418,500
Wickets 4477
Bowl avg 426.50
Fivefor 44
Tenfor 40

Mark Alan Ealham (born 27 August 1969) is a former English cricketer, who played Test and One Day International cricket. He played domestic cricket for Kent County Cricket Club and Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club as an all-rounder.

He retired in September 2009, after 20 seasons in domestic cricket,[1] to take charge of cricket at The King's School, Canterbury.[2] During his time at King's, he coached several Kent academy players including Ollie Robinson.

Domestic career

Ealham was born in Willesborough in Kent and began his career with Kent County Cricket Club. His father, Alan Ealham, had spent his entire career with Kent. He made his first-class and list A cricket debuts for Kent in 1989.

Despite his promising Test debut, Ealham was always regarded as a limited-overs specialist. This belief is mainly due to his free-swinging batting style[citation needed] – during a Twenty20 Cup match in 2005 against Durham he scored 45 off 17 balls including 34 runs in a single over.

Ealham left Kent before the 2003 season and signed a three-year contract with Nottinghamshire, with whom he won the 2005 County Championship. Ealham took 56 wickets in 15 Championship matches that season, the most by a Nottinghamshire bowler and the fifth-most in Division One – at an average of 20.80, the fourth-lowest in Division One among bowlers with more than 20 wickets.

International career

Ealham was first called into the England team for the start of India's tour of England in 1996. His one-day debut came on 23 May in the first one-day international. Although no result was possible due to rain, Ealham impressed as he reached 40 runs. He made his Test debut in the third Test in July. Ealham once again impressed, he scored 51 runs in the first innings and took second-innings bowling figures of 4/21, which he never surpassed at Test level.

His greatest performance as a player, however, came in January 2000 when England played Zimbabwe in the fifth match of a triangular tournament held in South Africa. Ealham took five wickets for only 15 runs. At the time this was the best bowling performance by an Englishman in a one-day international match ever. Even more remarkable is that all five wickets were LBWs. This is still a record in one-day international cricket.[3]

References

  1. ^ No regrets on retirement – Ealham bbc.co.uk Thursday, 9 July 2009 09:57 UK
  2. ^ Ealham Prepares For Life After Notts Archived 17 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine NCCC News 29 September 2009
  3. ^ Cricinfo – A legend is born