Hello Mark! I think I am in love......
Mark is my favourite male dancer, he moved around that floor like on old pro and as of now I want him to win.
Mark Ramprakash
Fresh from captaining Surrey and notching up a personal best in the process, cricketer Mark Ramprakash is ready for some new challenges. Will he be this season's Darren Gough?
Twelve months ago, you might have said, 'A cricketer on Strictly Come Dancing? Don't be ridiculous!'. But that was before Darren Gough whirled his way to ballroom glory in the 2005 season and proved that men in white trousers can actually have a sense of rhythm when they step off the pitch.
Mark Ramprakash's life has been entirely dedicated to cricket since the age of 17, when he signed as a professional. Since then he's found fame playing for England, Middlesex and Surrey, and in 2006 he achieved a career-best score of 301 not out against Northamptonshire.
'I'm 38 this year,' says Ramprakash, 'and I've got to the stage in my life when I want to diversify away from cricket. But when I was initially asked to do the show, I said 'no' – it's so far from anything I've ever done before. I like nice normal basic sports like football and golf. But then you look at Darren Gough and you realize that you might be up to the challenge. Darren made it legit, he made me realize that you could step out of your comfort zone, and have fun and see what you could do.'
Like many a male contestant before him, Ramprakash is nervous about the costumes he might be required to wear. 'I'm really not keen on sleeveless shirts,' he says. 'My dress sense is pretty conservative. But the competition will kick in a few weeks down the line, and I suppose if one or two of the outfits are more flamboyant and they want me to wear them, then why not?'
Competition is the key; like all sportsmen, Ramprakash is in it to win it. 'I don't want to be the first out, of course. But this isn't a cricket competition; I'm not going in with the idea that I absolutely have to win, come what may. But I know what it will be like. If I get through the first few weeks, I'll want to stay in till the end.' Let's hope he does, if only to get back at his eight-year-old daughter. 'She's a big fan of Strictly Come Dancing and when I told her I was going to do the show she couldn't stop laughing. She kept saying, 'What are you thinking of?' BBC
