A former England Under-19 batsman who made his debut for the County in 2001, Mark’s breakthrough year came in 2006 when he scored 1000 Championship runs and produced some explosive innings in one-day cricket as an opening batsman. The following year saw him take over the captaincy after Ronnie Irani had been forced to retire midway through the season because of injury.

The youngest captain on the circuit at the time, Mark handled the role with maturity and, although he found runs harder to come by in the Championship and dropped down the order, his first full season in charge proved hugely successful capturing both the Friends Provident Trophy and NatWest Pro40 Division Two titles. In 2009, Mark steered the side to promotion in the County Championship but he struggled with his form in 2010 and decided to relinquish the captaincy in June handing the reins to James Foster.

After a two-week break, he returned to continue as a member of the first team squad providing a number of effective contributions as a batsman particularly in one-day cricket and he remained a consistent player in 2011 limited-overs cricket.