- Mark Benson
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For the inventor of the supercritical boiler, see Mark Benson (engineer).
Mark Benson Personal information Full name Mark Richard Benson Born 6 July 1958
Shoreham-by-Sea, Sussex, EnglandNickname Benny Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Batting style Left-handed Bowling style Right-arm off-spin Role Batsman, Umpire International information National side England Test debut (cap 518) 3 July 1986 v India Only ODI (cap 89) 16 July 1986 v New Zealand Domestic team information Years Team 1980–1995 Kent Umpiring information Tests umpired 27 (2004–2009) ODIs umpired 72 (2004–2009) T20Is umpired 19 (2007–2009) Career statistics Competition Tests ODI FC LA Matches 1 1 292 269 Runs scored 51 24 18387 7838 Batting average 25.50 24.00 40.23 31.86 100s/50s –/– –/– 48/99 5/53 Top score 30 24 257 119 Balls bowled 0 0 467 0 Wickets – – 5 – Bowling average – – 98.60 – 5 wickets in innings – – 0 – 10 wickets in match – n/a 0 n/a Best bowling – – 2/55 – Catches/stumpings –/– –/– 140/– 68/– Source: Cricinfo, 6 February 2010 Mark Richard Benson (born 6 July 1958) is a former International cricketer and a retired ICC Elite Panel cricket umpire - he played for England in one Test match and one One Day International in 1986.
Benson was born in Shoreham-by-Sea, Sussex, England. He was educated at Sutton Valence school in Kent and worked for a time as a marketing assistant for Shell. He then took up full time cricket with Kent.
Contents
Playing career
Benson made his first-class debut as a left-handed opening batsman in 1980 and was virtually an "ever-present" in the Kent side for the next fifteen seasons scoring over 18,000 runs (48 centuries) for the county. He was Kent's third highest aggregate run scorer in the post-war era and his batting average of 40.27 was the fourth highest for a major batsman in Kent's history (after Les Ames, Frank Woolley and Colin Cowdrey). He scored 1,000 runs in a season 12 times, with a best of 1,725 runs (average 44.23) in 1987. Benson played 268 One Day matches (5 centuries, 53 fifties, 6 "man of the match" awards) for Kent scoring 7814 runs at an average of 31.89.
For the 1991 Benson was appointed captain of Kent and on his first day as captain he scored a career best 257 against Hampshire. Under his captaincy Kent were runners-up in the County Championship in 1992, Sunday league champions in 1995 (runners up in 1993) and Benson and Hedges Cup finalists in 1995. At the end of the 1995 season Benson was forced to retire due to a knee injury.
In 1986 Benson played one Test Match and one ODI for England against India.
Overall, Benson scored a century every 10.23 innings, the third highest rate for Kent, including a century in each innings v Warwickshire in 1993. Benson and Neil Taylor scored the highest opening partnership (300) for Kent v Derbyshire in 1991. Brian Luckhurst named Benson as Kent's greatest post war opening batsmen and referred to him as "His generation's unsung hero."
Umpiring career
After retiring from playing Benson became an umpire, making his first-class umpiring debut in 1997 and standing in international matches for the first time in 2004. He stood in eight matches in the 2007 Cricket World Cup. In September 2007 he was nominated for the ICC Umpire of the Year Award after just one full season on the panel.
In April 2006, having stood in eight Tests and twenty-four one-day internationals, Benson became one of three umpires promoted from the Emirates International Panel of Umpires to the Emirates Elite Panel of Umpires. He also stood in the 2007 World Twenty 20 final in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Whilst umpiring the second Test between South Africa and India at Durban on 28 December 2006 Benson had to leave the field, after suffering from heart palpitations.[1]
In September 2008 Benson was nominated for the ICC Umpire of the Year award for the second consecutive year.
Benson's career as an umpire was largely without controversy prior to the Sydney Test between Australia and India in January 2008.[2] A series of umpiring decisions went against India in the context of a match which was only lost narrowly; Chetan Chauhan, India's team manager "said his players were "agitated and upset" [by the] "incompetent umpires here"... [and hoped] "that they will not officiate again in the series."[2] Much of the criticism attached to Steve Bucknor but Benson "who had a good match in Melbourne, [the previous Test] made a number of errors of his own.[2] Bucknor was officially replaced for the 3rd Test at Perth by Billy Bowden.[3] Benson was never scheduled to umpire in the 3rd Test with Asad Rauf taking his place.[4]
Benson also made history in the 1st Test in Sri Lanka, being the first umpire to be asked to refer a decision. When Tillakaratne Dilshan asked for the umpire Mark Benson's decision to give him out caught behind to be reviewed, the English official changed his verdict when the television replay umpire Rudi Koertzen could not say conclusively that the ball had hit his bat or the ground on the way through to the Indian wicketkeeper.
Benson withdrew in the middle of the Second Test match in November 2009, amid speculation that he was upset with the referral system. One of his decisions, to give the West Indies' Shivnarine Chanderpaul not out to a caught behind decision, was overturned after the Australian team asked for a referral, although the hotspot thermal imaging technology could not detect contact between bat and ball. The ICC denied this, saying that Benson was ill.[5]
On the 5th February 2010 it was announced that Benson was retiring from international cricket umpiring, but would continue to umpire domestic cricket in England.[6]
Umpiring career statistics
First Latest Total Tests Bangladesh v New Zealand at Dhaka, Oct 2004 Australia v West Indies at Adelaide, Dec 2009 27 ODIs England v West Indies at Nottingham, Jun 2004 New Zealand v West Indies at Napier, Jan 2009 72 20/20s South Africa v West Indies at Johannesburg, Sep 2007 New Zealand v Pakistan at The Oval, Jun 2009 19 See also
References
- ^ English umpire taken to hospital
- ^ a b c The Times, 7th January 2008, p. 56, "India feeling hard done by as Clarke turns thrilling finale Australia's way", Geoffrey Dean
- ^ Cricinfo - ICC axes Bucknor from Perth Test
- ^ "ICC has no plans to stand down Bucknor". Stuff.co.nz. AAP. http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/4347552a10133.html. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
- ^ http://www.cricinfo.com/ausvwi09/content/current/story/438322.html
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/8499944.stm
External links
- Player Profile: Mark Benson from ESPNcricinfo
- Mark Benson from CricketArchive
- Benson, Doctrove and Rauf elevated to Elite Panel from Cricinfo
Sporting positions Preceded by
Chris CowdreyKent County Cricket Club captain
1991–1996Succeeded by
Steve MarshCategories:- 1958 births
- Living people
- People from Shoreham-by-Sea
- English cricketers
- England Test cricketers
- England One Day International cricketers
- Kent cricketers
- Kent cricket captains
- English cricket umpires
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