Mark Davies (cricketer, born 1980)

Mark Davies (born Anthony Mark Davies,[2] 4 October 1980) is an English former first-class cricketer who played for Durham County Cricket Club and, briefly, Kent County Cricket Club. He bowled right-arm medium-pace and batted in the tail.

Mark Davies
Personal information
Full name
Anthony Mark Davies
Born (1980-10-04) 4 October 1980 (age 44)
Stockton-on-Tees, England
NicknameDavo, Bob[1]
Height6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm medium
RoleBowler
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1998–2011Durham (squad no. 4)
2007Nottinghamshire
2012–2014Kent (squad no. 31)
First-class debut13 April 2002 Durham v Durham UCCE
List A debut13 September 1998 Durham v Surrey
Career statistics
Competition FC LA T20
Matches 109 90 20
Runs scored 1,118 170 26
Batting average 12.56 7.39 5.20
100s/50s 0/2 0/0 0/0
Top score 62 31* 13
Balls bowled 16,386 3,704 468
Wickets 315 86 17
Bowling average 22.42 30.48 30.82
5 wickets in innings 13 0 0
10 wickets in match 2 0 0
Best bowling 8/24 4/13 2/14
Catches/stumpings 21/– 14/– 4/–
Source: CricInfo, 20 May 2017

In December 2009, he was called up from the England Lions into the full England squad, to cover for injuries to other bowlers during the tour of South Africa. Davies suffered many injuries during his career. In September 2014, he was forced to retire from all forms of cricket after failing to recover from a shoulder injury picked up in a pre-season fixture.

County career

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Born in Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, England, Davies made his List A debut in 1998, and his first-class debut in 2002. He has represented England under-19s.

His career has been blighted by injury, "especially in 2004 and 2005 when he was taking wickets for fun (50 at 18.76 and 47 at 15.55 respectively)."[3]

He rarely played in 2006, as recurring back problems left him in a "body brace" for three months,[3] but made a comeback in 2007, including a one-month spell on loan to Nottinghamshire, playing one first-class game. In the 2008 season, he played regularly for Durham in the early season and, returning to the side after two months on the sidelines in August 2008 after Steve Harmison was called up for England, Davies took career-best figures of 8–24 versus Hampshire, at Basingstoke as Hampshire were dismissed for just 96.[4] He took 3–51 in the second innings, 11–75 in all, but could not prevent his side from losing.[4]

He joined Kent in 2012.[5] In his first season with the county, he won the player of the year.[6] 2013 was a different proposition altogether for Davies as he found himself left out for much of Kent's season. Despite that, he claimed 25 County Championship wickets. This was the fourth best in the squad, despite having missed 6 games.[7]

Davies retired from cricket in 2014, due to a shoulder injury.[8]

Career-best performances

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Batting Bowling (innings)
Score Fixture Venue Season Figures Fixture Venue Season
First-class 62 Durham v Somerset Stockton-on-Tees 2005 8/24 Durham v Hampshire Basingstoke 2008
List A 31 not out Durham v Warwickshire Chester-le-Street 2002 4/13 Durham v Sussex Chester-le-Street 2001
Twenty20 13 Kent v Sussex Hove 2012 2/14 Durham v Yorkshire Chester-le-Street 2004

Personal life

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His brother, Andrew, is a professional footballer who has played for clubs such as Middlesbrough, Bradford City and Ross County FC.

References

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  1. ^ Durham County Cricket Club Player Profiles, Durham County Cricket Club. Retrieved on 28 August 2008.
  2. ^ Davies changed his name by deed poll to "Mark Davies", CricketArchive player profile, CricketArchive. Retrieved on 28 August 2008.
  3. ^ a b "Mark Davies profile and biography, stats, records, averages, photos and videos".
  4. ^ a b "Durham vs Hampshire, at Basingstoke, , Aug 27 2008 - Full Scorecard". www.espncricinfo.com.
  5. ^ "Durham paceman Mark Davies completes move to Kent". BBC Sport. 28 March 2012. Retrieved 26 May 2012.
  6. ^ "Davies scoops Kent's Player of the Year". Kent Sports News. 22 September 2012. Retrieved 6 July 2013.
  7. ^ "After season of frustration Kent Cricket's Mark Davies says he is fully focused on earning the mantle of club's premier bowler next season". Kent Online. 10 October 2013. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
  8. ^ "Kent seamer Davies forced to retire". BBC Sport.
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