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Mark James Chilton (born 2 October 1976) is an English
first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...
er. Chilton was educated at
Manchester Grammar School The Manchester Grammar School (MGS) is a highly Selective school, selective Private_schools_in_the_United_Kingdom, private day school for boys aged 7-18 in Manchester, England, which was founded in 1515 by Hugh Oldham (then Bishop of Exeter). ...
and
Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...
where he won the British Universities tournament in 1997. The same year he made his debut for
Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...
, aged 20. Chilton has been compared in batting style to fellow
Manchester Grammar School The Manchester Grammar School (MGS) is a highly Selective school, selective Private_schools_in_the_United_Kingdom, private day school for boys aged 7-18 in Manchester, England, which was founded in 1515 by Hugh Oldham (then Bishop of Exeter). ...
student and former
Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...
and
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
batsman John Crawley. Chilton began the 2002 season as one half of Lancashire's first-choice opening partnership with Alec Swann who joined the club in the off-season. For most of the season Chilton struggled for runs in the
County Championship The County Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Rothesay County Championship, is the only domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales. Established in 1890, it is organised by the England and Wales Cri ...
, although he was more successful in one-day cricket, scoring two hundreds in the Benson & Hedges Cup. In September 2002, towards the end of the season, Chilton was awarded his county cap by Lancashire. He was appointed
Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...
captain when Warren Hegg resigned in September 2004 after relegation to County Championship Division Two. Chilton must consider the 2005 season, his first as
Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...
skipper, as a minor success after leading the county to promotion in the
Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...
and to the final of the
Twenty20 Cup The T20 Blast, officially known as the Vitality Blast for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Twenty20 cricket league in England and Wales. The competition was established by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003. T20 Blast is ...
before losing out to
Somerset Sabres Somerset County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Somerset. Founded in 1875, Somerset was initially regarded as a mino ...
at
The Oval The Oval, currently named for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club sinc ...
. Lancashire also progressed to the semi-final of the Benson & Hedges Cup where they lost to Warwickshire. Chilton was close to tears after the match, which was the club's seventh defeat in a semi-final in six years. The 2007 County Championship was closely contested and going into the final round of matches, Lancashire were at the top of the table. A 24-run defeat to Surrey in their final fixture saw Lancashire finish as runners-up. Chilton was in tears afterwards and said "I'm extremely proud of what our guys have achieved though. As captain I'm privileged to have seen the efforts they have put in. To get close to our target was a phenomenal effort but the lads are just broken. Our players have risen to an almighty challenge and to come so close is an enormous effort". At the end of the season, Chilton resigned as Lancashire captain after three years in the position, citing reasons of form. He had managed 616 runs in the Championship that year at an average of 28.00. Although the team only won one trophy under Chilton's leadership, they came close on numerous occasions, narrowly missing out on two
County Championship The County Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Rothesay County Championship, is the only domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales. Established in 1890, it is organised by the England and Wales Cri ...
titles, two
Twenty20 Twenty20 (abbreviated T20) is a shortened format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the county cricket, inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two t ...
cups, and the
C&G Trophy The Friends Provident Trophy was a one-day cricket competition in the United Kingdom. It was one of the four tournaments in which the eighteen first-class counties competed each season. They were joined by teams from Scotland and Ireland. Lan ...
. Having relinquished the captaincy, Chilton spent most of the 2008 season in Lancashire's Second XI, struggling for form and trying to force his way back into the First team. In stark contrast, in 2009 he was voted Lancashire's Player of the Year. After retirement, Chilton returned to Manchester Grammar where he took the position of director of cricket. Chilton was awarded a benefit season for 2011. That year Lancashire won the County Championship for the first time since they shared the title in 1950, and their first outright win since 1934. Chilton contributed 478 runs in 13 Championship matches that season at an average of 22.76. At the end of the 2011 season he announced his retirement from playing cricket.


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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chilton, Mark 1976 births Living people English cricketers Lancashire cricketers Lancashire cricket captains Cricketers from Sheffield People educated at Manchester Grammar School British Universities cricketers Alumni of Grey College, Durham