Rajesh Jamandass Maru (born 28 October 1962 in

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

) is a

Kenyan The Demographics of Kenya is monitored by the Kenyan National Bureau of Statistics. Kenya is a multi-ethnic state in East Africa. Its total population was at 47,558,296 as of the 2019 census. A national census was conducted in 1999, although t ...

-born English cricket coach and former

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. Maru was a right-handed

batsman In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the cricket ball, ball with a cricket bat, bat to score runs (cricket), runs and prevent the dismissal (cricket), loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since Septembe ...

who bowled

slow left-arm orthodox Left-arm orthodox spin or left-arm off spin, also known as slow left-arm orthodox spin bowling, is a type of spin bowling in cricket. Bowlers using this technique bowl with their left-arm and a finger spin action. Their normal delivery spins ...

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 simply as Mercedes and occasionally as Benz, is a German automotive brand that was founded in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a subsidiary of the Mercedes-Benz Group, established in 2019) is based in Stuttgart, ...

. 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 counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

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 w ...

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 numb ...

debut against

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket List of Test cricket grounds, venue in St John's Wood, Westminster. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex C ...

. 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 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 ...

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 Hamp ...

. 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-cl ...

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 Cardigan Adolphus Connor (born 24 March 1961) is an Anguillan born former English cricketer. Connor was a right-handed Batting (cricket), batsman and a right-arm Seam bowling, fast-medium bowler. Career Connor left his home island of Anguilla ...

and

Shaun Udal Shaun David Udal (born 18 March 1969) is an English cricketer. An off spin bowler and lower-middle order batsman, he was a member of England's Test team for their tours to Pakistan and India in 2005/06. International career He played in ten ...

were playing for the club. Maru went on to appear in five one-day matches for the

Hampshire Cricket Board The Hampshire Cricket Board (HCB) was formed in 1996 and is the governing body for all recreational cricket in the Historic counties of England, historic county of Hampshire. Following a restructuring in January 2010, the HCB now operates as a li ...

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 English people of Kenyan descent British people of Indo-Kenyan 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 British Asian cricketers 20th-century English sportsmen