19 Facts About Mark Benson

Mark Richard Benson was born on 6 July 1958 and is an English former cricketer and umpire.

Mark Benson later took up umpiring and remained on the Elite Panel of ICC Umpires.

The family settled in Kent and Mark Benson was educated at Sutton Valence school, and worked for a time as a marketing assistant for Shell.

Mark Benson was a late starter in cricket, not taking up the game until the age of but he took up full-time cricket with Kent, "with a fine reputation for facing fast bowling" from his school days.

Mark 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 for the county.

Mark Benson 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.

Mark Benson scored 1,000 runs in a season 12 times, with a best of 1,725 runs in 1987.

Mark Benson played 268 One Day matches for Kent scoring 7814 runs at an average of 31.89.

In 1986 Mark Benson played one Test Match for England against India and one ODI against New Zealand.

Mark Benson was initially called up as a replacement after an injury to Wayne Larkins.

Mark Benson was plunged into a crisis at the start of his only Test match, being at the wicket as England lost two wickets without a run on the board, but helped England to a draw, ending a run of seven successive Test defeats.

In 1993, Mark Benson captained an England XI in two limited-over matches against the Netherlands, top-scoring for his side in both matches with 61 and 58, his team winning the first match, and losing the second.

Huw Turbervill, editor of The Cricketer, wrote that he interviewed Mark Benson, thinking that he had been harshly treated by the England selectors.

Mark Benson stood in eight matches in the 2007 Cricket World Cup.

Mark Benson 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 Mark Benson had to leave the field, after suffering from heart palpitations.

Later in 2008, Mark Benson made history in the 1st Test in Sri Lanka, being the first umpire to be asked to refer a decision.

Mark Benson withdrew in the middle of the second Test match in November 2009 between Australia and the West Indies, amid speculation that he was upset with the referral system when one of his decisions was overturned.

On 5 February 2010 it was announced that Mark Benson was retiring from international cricket umpiring, but would continue to umpire domestic cricket in England.