Mark Christopher Ilott (born 27 August 1970) is a former English professional

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er. Having previously played with the minor county Hertfordshire, Ilott began his career with

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

in 1988. A left-arm swing bowler in the mould of

John Lever John Kenneth Lever (born 24 February 1949) is an English former international cricketer who played Test and One Day International cricket for England. Lever was a left-arm fast-medium bowler who predominantly swung the ball into right-handed ...

, previously prolific with the county, Ilott took 64 wickets as Essex won the

County Championship The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...

in 1992. Ilott played his first

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

in the third match of the 1993 Ashes, a match in which England gave debuts to four players (most notably

Graham Thorpe Graham Paul Thorpe, (born 1 August 1969) is a former English cricketer who played for England internationally and Surrey domestically. A left-handed middle-order batsman and slip fielder, he appeared in 100 Test matches. Early life Thorpe was ...

). Ilott was part of a four-man contingent from Essex in the side at this point, alongside

Graham Gooch Graham Alan Gooch, (born 23 July 1953) is a former English first-class cricketer who captained Essex and England. He was one of the most successful international batsmen of his generation, and through a career spanning from 1973 until 2000, h ...

Nasser Hussain Nasser Hussain (born 28 March 1968) is a British cricket commentator and former cricketer who captained the England cricket team between 1999 and 2003, with his overall international career extending from 1990 to 2004. A pugnacious right-ha ...

and

Peter Such Peter Mark Such (born 12 June 1964) is an English cricketer, cricket coach, and match referee. An off-spinner, Such was brought into the Test arena in 1993 as a replacement for John Emburey but, despite taking 6 for 67 on debut and being the h ...

. Ilott took four wickets in the match, but only four more in his next two Test matches. Although all England bowlers struggled at this time, none but Such taking more than his eight wickets in the series, Ilott was subsequently left out of the side. Ilott had an impressive 1995 season with

, taking 78 wickets, including remarkable career best first-class figures of 10.1-2-19-9 against

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

(in a match that Essex still lost). He was recalled to the England side for the tour to South Africa that winter, where Ilott took 3/48 in the third Test, yet was injured in the fourth Test. Ilott took another fifty wickets in 1996. In 1997 he helped Essex to win the

NatWest Trophy The Friends Provident Trophy was a one-day cricket competition in the United Kingdom. It was one of the four tournaments in which the eighteen first-class cricket, first-class counties competed each season. They were joined by teams from Scott ...

, although he was involved in what

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calls "an unsavoury, but in truth pretty harmless, pushing and finger-wagging incident with

Robert Croft Robert Damien Bale Croft MBE (born 25 May 1970) is a former Welsh cricketer who played international cricket for England. He is an off-spin bowler who played for Glamorgan and captained the county from 2003 to 2006. He retired from first class c ...

" during the semi-final against

Glamorgan , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...

. He also helped Essex to win the 1998 Benson & Hedges Cup, Ilott taking 3/10 in 8 overs in the final against

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

. By now injuries were impeding Ilott and he was not recalled to play for England again. Ilott enjoyed a 15 year first-class career with Essex. He was born at

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

and lives in

Potters Bar Potters Bar is a town in Hertfordshire, England,in the historic County of Middlesex Hertsmere Borough Council – Community Strategy First Review (PDF) north of central London. In 2011, it had a population of 21,882. In 2022 the population was ...

. He studied at Francis Combe School and Community College. Ilott's brother,

Nigel Nigel ( ) is an English language, English masculine given name. The English ''Nigel'' is commonly found in records dating from the Middle Ages; however, it was not used much before being revived by 19th-century antiquarians. For instance, Walte ...

played cricket for

References

External links

1970 births Living people Sportspeople from Watford England Test cricketers English cricketers Essex cricketers Hertfordshire cricketers {{England-cricket-bio-1970s-stub