Surrey County Cricket Club has awarded Mark Ramprakash a Testimonial Year in 2008, in conjunction with the award-winning Brit Oval groundsman Bill Gordon. Ramprakash’s record-breaking performances over the last few seasons saw him voted PCA player of the year in 2006 and furthermore, he became a household name by winning that year’s series of the BBC’s hit show Strictly Come Dancing.

Moving south of the river from Middlesex in 2001, Ramprakash has been by some distance the leading batsman in county cricket over the last seven years. 46 centuries, a Surrey average of over 75, and a season’s average of over 100 (a feat only achieved by Bradman, Boycott, Gooch and Martyn) in successive years, he is closing in on becoming just the 25th man in the entire history of cricket to score a century of centuries. And on six occasions, a joint world record, he has now scored hundreds in both innings of a match.

This year will be a celebration of the career of one of the greatest batsmen ever to strap on a pair of pads. And the fact that he is also the Strictly Come Dancing champion will make it all the more fun!

Apart from a large proportion of money raised over the year going to Surrey’s deserving and long-serving groundsman Bill Gordon, Mark will be donating another percentage to his three chosen charities, the Anthony Nolan Trust, Born Free Foundation and the CHASE Ben Hollioake Fund