Vic Marks

Vic Marks (born Victor James Marks, 25 June 1955, Middle Chinnock, Somerset, England) is a former Somerset and England cricketer, who played in six Tests and thirty four ODIs.

The cricket correspondent, Colin Bateman, noted, "in typical self-deprecating style, Vic Marks entitled one of his books, Marks Out of XI. He was probably out of the England XI slightly too often. While he was never a fashionable cricketer, he was a determined and highly effective off-spinner cum batsman whose Test figures stand comparison with those often picked ahead of him, such as Geoff Miller and Eddie Hemmings".

Life and career

Marks was educated at Blundell's School and Oxford University, for whom he played between 1975 and 1978 (alongside Imran Khan and Chris Tavaré, and opposite Peter Roebuck of Cambridge University, subsequently Marks' captain at Somerset). Marks captained Somerset in 1976 and 1977.

Marks made his first-class debut in the 1975 English domestic season, and five years later made his ODI debut against the West Indies. His Test debut was in 1982 against Pakistan.

He went on to play six Test matches, but was an important member of the ODI squad for a number of years, appearing thirty four times and taking forty four wickets at a bowling average of 25.79. His haul of five for 20 for England against New Zealand in 1984 was, for some years, England's bowling...
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