Mark Jeffrey Gronow Davis (born 10 October 1971) is a South African former

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 active from 1990 to 2005. He was club coach of

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

until he left by mutual agreement in October 2017. During his playing career, he played

domestic 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 ...

for Northern Transvaal (later known as Northerns), MCC, and

, as well as making appearances for South Africa A and South Africa U-24s.

Playing career

Davis appeared in 127 first-class matches as a righthanded batsman who bowled off breaks. He scored 2,941 runs with a highest score of 168 and took 232

wicket In cricket, the term wicket has several meanings: * It is one of the two sets of three stumps and two bails at either end of the pitch. The fielding team's players can hit the wicket with the ball in a number of ways to get a batsman out. ...

s with a best performance of eight for 37. He was the captain of

Northerns cricket team Northerns (formerly North Eastern Transvaal and Northern Transvaal) has played first-class cricket in South Africa since December 1937. Its territory is the area north of Johannesburg, and it includes Pretoria. For the purposes of the SuperSpor ...

, before moving to England for the 2001 season, as Davis held a

British passport A British passport is a travel document issued by the United Kingdom or other British dependencies and territories to individuals holding any form of British nationality. It grants the bearer international passage in accordance with visa requ ...

. During a match against

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 almost became the first person in English

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

history to concede a five run penalty under Law 42 of the Laws of cricket (fair and unfair play); his second warning for repeatedly running on the wicket caused the single he scored to be deducted from the score. In 2002, Davis and

Robin Martin-Jenkins Robin Simon Christopher Martin-Jenkins (born 28 October 1975) is an English former cricketer who played for Sussex County Cricket Club and British Universities cricket team, British Universities. He is tall. He is the son of cricket writer and ...

scored a record eighth-wicket partnership for Sussex of 291; as of 2015, this is still the highest eighth-wicket partnership for Sussex. Davis' innings of 111 in the partnership was his maiden first-class century. He was part of the Sussex team that won the

2003 County Championship The 2003 County Championship season, known as the Frizzell County Championship, was the 103rd County Championship The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first ...

, Sussex's first

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 ...

win, and scored his highest first-class score of 168 in a 2003 match against

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

Coaching career

Davis announced his retirement from cricket in 2005, and was then announced as a Sussex club coach, replacing Peter Moores. He took control of the Second Team, and Mark Robinson, Sussex Professional Cricket Manager, said that "His experience both within the professional game as a player and most recently by running his own coaching academy in South Africa will make him a vital member of the coaching team." In 2009, he gained his Level 4 Coaching Certificate, making him only one of three Sussex coaches with the qualification. In 2011, he had a Testimonial Year, to celebrate 10 years of service to Sussex CCC. In 2012, Davis swapped roles with

Carl Hopkinson Carl Hopkinson (born 14 September 1981) is a former English cricketer and current coach. He was a right-handed batsman (cricket), batsman and a right-arm Seam bowling, medium pace bowler. He was also an extremely talented fielder. Born in Sus ...

, making him an assistant to manager Mark Robinson. In 2013, Davis was a contender to become Sri Lankan head coach, although

Marvan Atapattu Deshabandu Marvan Samson Atapattu (born 22 November 1970) is a Sri Lankan cricket coach and former cricketer who played for 17 years for Sri Lanka. Considered one of the most technically sound batsman in his era, Atapattu has scored six double ...

was eventually awarded the job. He has held the role of Director of Cricket at Brighton College since 2020 and was formerly Master in Charge of Cricket at Harrow School.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Mark 1971 births South African cricketers Sussex cricketers Northerns cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Living people Cricketers from Port Elizabeth South African cricket coaches