One of the greatest players ever to pick up a bat, Mark Ramprakash retired this year after a stellar county career, which saw him make his first-class debut for Middlesex back in 1987 and move south of the river in 2001 to join Surrey.
For Middlesex he scored 15,046 runs at 50.48; for Surrey 15,837 at 67.96. He will be the last man ever to score a century of centuries. He is best known for dancing bare-chested on telly. That’s life. Now it’s time for Ramps to tackle AOC‘s 21 Questions.
Describe yourself in one word?
Eccentric
What words or phrases do you most overuse?
I say ermm quite a lot
What is your most marked characteristic?
I’m short
If you could edit your past, what would you change?
I reckon I’d be a golfer instead of a cricketer
What is your idea of happiness?
Pina colada on the beach in Barbados with my missus
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Rudeness
Which living person do you most admire, and why?
Nelson Mandela, for the humility of the man
What would be your fancy dress costume of choice?
Bruce Forsyth, obviously
What has been your biggest disappointment?
Not being an Arsenal footballer under Arsene Wenger
What is the most important lesson life has taught you?
Have an open mind
If you were animal, what would you be? And why?
A chimpanzee. I have no idea why
What is the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen?
Bloody hell, I don’t know
What becomes of the broken hearted?
They get stronger
What’s wrong with the world?
Too much hate
In which era would you most like to have lived?
I reckon the Sixties. The country was getting back on its feet, we’d recovered well after the war, and there was a nice discipline about the world. People were brought up properly
What’s your favourite joke?
Here’s one. I’ll tell you what I love doing more than anything. Trying to pack myself in a small suitcase. I can hardly contain myself. That or my bowling
Who would you like to play you in a film of your life?
I know this one. Robert de Niro. He’s cool
Who is your favourite fictional hero?
Ermmm, Superman, Batman or Spiderman. I’ll go Batman. And not ’cos he’s dark, intense and brooding. It’s because he’s cool and sophisticated
What is the most overrated virtue?
Absolutely no idea
What if God was one of us?
Who’s to say he’s not?
What came first, the chicken or the egg?
Easy. The egg. How can you have a chicken without an egg?
