Mark Cosgrove, the hard-hitting Australian batsman was a crowd favourite during his four years with Glamorgan with the barrel-chested left-hander playing some innings of ferocious power.
Mark had first joined the Welsh county in 2006 when fellow South Australian Matthew Elliott had to withdraw with injury. At the time Mark was one of the most promising young batsmen in Australia, and was being tipped for a place in the Australian squad for the Ashes series in 2006/07 and the 2007 World Cup. He had already appeared during his second year of state cricket for Australia A against Zimbabwe, and after a run-laden 2005/06 played for Australia in their One-Day International against Bangladesh at Fatullah.
Later in the calendar year, Mark appearing in two further ODI’s in Kuala Lumpur as Australia met the West Indies and India. His selection meant he had to curtail his stay in South Wales which had seen him amass 856 first-class runs at an average of 50.35 with the highlight being a scintillating 233 against Derbyshire at Derby where he almost single-handedly dismantled the home attack.
At the request of Andrew Hilditch, the Chairman of Australia’s Selectors, Mark declined an offer to return to Glamorgan in 2007 the offer and instead joined the Australian Centre of Excellence. But further international honours never came his way, with Mark duly returning to Glamorgan for 2009 and amassing 780 first-class runs. His tally included three centuries, besides some destructive innings in one-day games, before returning in 2010 and aggregating 1,187 first-class runs, with five centuries. Mark returned just for the T20 competition in 2011 but only made 293 runs in the short form and failed to register a half-century in what proved to be his last year associated with the Welsh county.
Mark has continued to be a heavy run-scorer in state cricket for Tasmania and South Australia, as well as in county cricket for Leicestershire whom he joined in 2015 and also captained, alongside fellow Australian, Andrew McDonald who was coaching the East Midlands side.
COSGROVE, Mark James
Born – Elizabeth, Adelaide, 14th June 1984.
Best performances for Glamorgan:
In first-class cricket – 233 v Derbyshire at Derby, 2006; 3/30 v Derbyshire at Derby, 2009
In List A cricket – 88 v Surrey at The Oval, 2010; 2/21 v Worcestershire at The SSE SWALEC, 2010.
In T20cricket – 89 v Essex at Chelmsford, 2010; 2/11 v Gloucestershire at The SSE SWALEC, 2009.
| M | I | NO | RUNS | AV | 100 | 50 | CT | ST | |
| First-class | 35 | 60 | 6 | 2823 | 52.28 | 10 | 15 | 19 | – |
| List A | 29 | 26 | 0 | 999 | 33.44 | – | 11 | 13 | – |
| T20 | 38 | 37 | 1 | 991 | 27.53 | – | 5 | 10 | – |
| Balls | M | R | W | AV | 5wI | 10wM | |
| First-class | 978 | 20 | 576 | 14 | 41.14 | – | – |
| List A | 395 | 1 | 452 | 8 | 56.50 | – | – |
| T20 | 104 | 0 | 141 | 6 | 23.50 | – | – |