Vic Marks

A mild, nervy, self-deprecating farm boy with an Oxford degree and no enemies, Vic Marks was the most unlikely member of the fiery Somerset dressing room of the 1980s. He got into the England team as an all- rounder in a thin period and sometimes barely looked like a cricketer at all: he bowled apologetic off-breaks ("At any time, somewhere in the world," it was said, "someone is hitting Vic Marks for six") and his short-arm batting style never lost its hint of the village green. But his cricket could be surprisingly effective and, in one-day internationals especially, he had his moments. Everyone liked him and opponents respected him as well as liked him, and he was a highly successful overseas pro for Western Australia: cricket's nicest man surviving in its toughest school. He became an even higher-class journalist and broadcaster: witty, shrewd and kindly.
Matthew Engel