Rajesh Jamandass Maru (born 28 October 1962 in

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city prope ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

) is a

Kenyan ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

-born English cricket coach and former

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

er. Maru was a right-handed

batsman In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the ball with a bat to score runs and prevent the loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since September 2021, officially referred to as a batter (historically, th ...

who bowled

slow left-arm orthodox Left-arm orthodox spin, Left-arm off spin also known as slow left-arm orthodox spin bowling, is a type of left-arm finger spin bowling in the sport of cricket. Left-arm orthodox spin is bowled by a left-arm bowler using the fingers to spin ...

spin. Maru was born at

in October 1962. He moved with his family to England in 1972, after his father had been headhunted by

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquarter ...

. They settled in London, where Maru first attended Oakington Manor Primary School. He was encouraged by his teacher to take up cricket, where he was spotted at school trials by Jack Robertson. Maru signed for

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbourin ...

in 1980, making his first-class debut against

Essex County Cricket Club Essex 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 Essex. Founded in 1876, the club had minor county status until 1894 wh ...

and his

List-A List A cricket is a classification of the limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competitions in which the numbe ...

debut against

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

at Lord's. Maru spent two seasons with the club before leaving at the end of the 1982 season. During his two seasons with Middlesex Maru also represented

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

in five Youth Test matches and one Youth One Day International. In 1984 Maru signed for

Hampshire County Cricket Club Hampshire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class cricket, first-class county cricket, county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the Historic counties of England, historic county of Hamps ...

. He would go on to play 213 first-class matches and 102 one-day matches for the county. Maru was part of the

1991 NatWest Trophy The 1991 NatWest Trophy was a limited-overs English county cricket tournament, held between 26 June and 7 September 1991. The competition was won by Hampshire who beat Surrey by 4 wickets in the final at Lord's. Format The seventeen first- ...

winning Hampshire team. After spending 14 years with the club Maru was released at the end of the 1998 County Championship season. His first-class career had yielded 527 wickets at a respectable average of 33.61, given he was playing for Hampshire at a time when

Malcolm Marshall Malcolm Denzil Marshall (18 April 1958 – 4 November 1999) was a Barbadian cricketer. Primarily a fast bowler, Marshall is widely regarded as one of the greatest and one of the most accomplished fast bowlers of the modern era in Test cricket ...

, Cardigan Connor and Shaun Udal were playing for the club. Maru went on to appear in five one-day matches for the Hampshire Cricket Board in the NatWest Trophy competition and in the first season when that competition was renamed the Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy. Maru's final professional game was against the

Kent Cricket Board The Kent Cricket Board is the governing body for all recreational cricket in the historic county of Kent. This covers the local authorities within the modern county of Kent as well as the London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich and Lewisham ...

on 1 May 2001.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Maru, Rajesh 1962 births Living people Cricketers from Nairobi English people of Indian descent Kenyan emigrants to the United Kingdom Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom English cricketers Middlesex cricketers Hampshire cricketers Hampshire Cricket Board cricketers English cricket coaches