Mark Saxelby (4 January 1969 – 12 October 2000) was an English

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er. He was a left-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-pace bowler. He started his eleven-year cricketing career at

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

, where he enjoyed a fair few successful seasons and consistently averaged in the 30s with the bat without making himself overly known or feared. However, he was soon off to

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city in north east England **County Durham, a ceremonial county which includes Durham *Durham, North Carolina, a city in North Carolina, United States Durham may also refer to: Places ...

, who spotted him after an excellent century innings in the Sunday leagues. Despite being keen to keep both Mark and his brother Kevin Saxelby for as long as possible, he was to move to Durham and make 181 on his Championship debut for the team. However, a season after reaching 1000 runs for the first time, Saxelby was once again packing his bags and moving, after patchy form saw him down to number five in the batting lineup. After some years in minor league cricket, and a 1996 MCC Trophy win for

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

, Saxelby was signed by

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

in 2000 and only appeared for them after an injury to

Mathew Dowman Mathew Peter Dowman (born 10 May 1974) is a retired English cricketer. Born in Grantham, Dowman was a left-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-fast bowler. Having started his career at Under-19 level, and including at this stage in his caree ...

left his teammate unable to play. At the age of 31, Saxelby committed suicide by ingesting weedkiller; he was suffering from depression.

References

External links

Mark Saxelby
at Cricket Archive {{DEFAULTSORT:Saxelby, Mark 1969 births 2000 suicides 2000 deaths English cricketers Nottinghamshire cricketers Durham cricketers Derbyshire cricketers Cheshire cricketers Nottinghamshire Cricket Board cricketers Cornwall cricketers Suicides by poison Suicides in England 20th-century English sportsmen