Mark Anant Wagh (born 20 October 1976) is a former English

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 who played for

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

and

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

. He attended

King Edward's School, Birmingham King Edward's School (KES) is an independent school (UK), independent day school for boys in the British Public school (UK), public school tradition, located in Edgbaston, Birmingham. Founded by Edward VI of England, King Edward VI in 1552, it ...

where he played alongside Anurag Singh, in the year group team two years above his own (one year above Singh's). Having originally played first-class cricket for

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, captaining them in 1997 and playing against opposing captain and friend Anurag Singh in the annual Varsity Match (cricket), he made his debut for Warwickshire in the same year. He received his county cap in 2000, and was selected for the England A tour of Australia in 2001 after hitting a massive 315 at

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and ...

in the county season. However, whilst fellow Academy member and teammate

Ian Bell Ian Ronald Bell (born 11 April 1982) is an English former cricketer who played international cricket in all formats for the England cricket team and county cricket for Warwickshire County Cricket Club. A right-handed higher/middle order batsm ...

has gone on to an extended England career, Wagh has not since been called up, barring an inclusion in a preliminary squad for the

ICC Champions Trophy The ICC Champions Trophy is a One-Day International (ODI) cricket tournament organised by the International Cricket Council. The 2013 tournament was intended to be the final edition of the Champions Trophy, but it was extended to 2017 due to i ...

in 2004. Whilst Wagh is principally considered a batsman and opened for Warwickshire in first-class and limited overs cricket, he is also a useful

off-spinner Off spin is a type of finger spin bowling in cricket. A bowler who uses this technique is called an off spinner. Off spinners are right-handed spin bowlers who use their fingers to spin the ball. Their normal delivery is an off break, which spi ...

, with career best figures of 7–222 against

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

in 2003. This followed a ban in 2000 after his action was reported for

throwing Throwing is an action which consists in accelerating a projectile and then releasing it so that it follows a ballistic trajectory, usually with the aim of impacting a remote target. This action is best characterized for animals with prehensile l ...

. Since then, he has more than once closed out close games for the club with his bowling. Having missed the whole of the 2005 season after a serious knee injury, Wagh featured in Warwickshire's first team during 2006 after strong performances in the

Twenty20 Twenty20 (T20) is a shortened game format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two teams have a single innin ...

season, promoted following injury to Warwickshire teammate, Nick Knight. At the end of 2006, despite having two years remaining on his Warwickshire contract, the county allowed him to move to

. Wagh was rewarded for his consistent batting form with Nottinghamshire's Player of the Season award for 2007. He wrote a diary of his 2008 season, which was published under the title ''Pavilion to Crease ... and Back''.Fairfield Books website
/ref> Wagh retired from professional cricket on 1 June 2011 to pursue a career in law. He is now working as an associate at Latham & Watkins in London.

Notes

References

Mark Wagh
at trentbridge.co.uk *
Nottinghamshire's Mark Wagh announces retirement
1976 births Living people English cricketers Warwickshire cricketers Mashonaland cricketers Nottinghamshire cricketers Alumni of Keble College, Oxford People educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham NBC Denis Compton Award recipients Oxford University cricketers British Universities cricketers {{England-cricket-bio-1970s-stub