Wisden overview
Originally a left-arm seamer, Ilott sacrificed speed for swing early on in his career, and has kept a nagging presence around off stump ever since. He can be lethal on county greentops, and England gave him three Tests against the might of the 1993 Australians. He struggled - but he wasn't the only one - and was relegated to two more A tours (making a total of four) before returning to the senior side for the 1995-96 trip to South Africa. But after two more caps he broke down, and was overtaken by Alan Mullally as England's leading left-arm seamer the following summer; he never caught up. Ilott has a correct-looking side-on action, and takes a long final stride before delivery, almost dragging his back foot with him. He's no mug with the bat, and is fiercely loyal to Essex: he once got involved in a shoving match with Glamorgan's Robert Croft during a heated NatWest tie in 1994. Known as Ramble, Ilott likes to air his opinions: he has plenty of space to do that on the internet, where he is one of the few county cricketers to have set up his own website (www.markilott.com) Lawrence Booth

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