Mark Ray

{{Infobox cricketer

| name = Mark Ray

| image =

| country = Australia

| fullname = Mark Ray

| nickname =

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1952|10|2|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Surry Hills, New South Wales, Australia

| heightft =

| heightinch =

| role = All-rounder

| batting = Left-handed

| bowling = Slow left-arm orthodox

| international =

| club1 = New South Wales

| year1 = 1981–1982

| clubnumber1 =

| club2 = Tasmania

| year2 = 1982–1986

| clubnumber2 =

| club3 =

| year3 =

| clubnumber3 =

| club4 =

| year4 =

| clubnumber4 =

| columns = 2

| column1 = First-class

| matches1 = 44

| runs1 = 1948

| bat avg1 = 27.05

| 100s/50s1 = 0/10

| top score1 = 94

| deliveries1 = 4576

| wickets1 = 41

| bowl avg1 = 49.65

| fivefor1 = 1

| tenfor1 = -

| best bowling1 = 5/79

| catches/stumpings1 = 41/–

| column2 = List A

| matches2 = 5

| runs2 = 93

| bat avg2 = 23.25

| 100s/50s2 = 0/0

| top score2 = 45

| deliveries2 = 150

| wickets2 = 2

| bowl avg2 = 64.50

| fivefor2 = -

| tenfor2 = -

| best bowling2 = 1/35

| catches/stumpings2 = 0/–

| date = 17 March 2008

| source = http://www.espncricinfo.com/australia/content/player/7311.html cricinfo.com

}}

Mark Ray (born 2 October 1952 in Surry Hills, New South Wales) is a former Australian first-class cricket player.

Cricket career

Mark Ray played for New South Wales in the 1981–82 season, before moving to Tasmania, where he played for Tasmania from 1982-83 until he retired after the 1985–86 season. He also captained Tasmania on five occasions, becoming Tasmania's 40th captain.

A left-handed opening batsman, and slow left-arm orthodox bowler, he was a capable all-rounder, although his batting relied on a limited range of strokes and his bowling on accuracy and flight rather than spin.The Oxford Companion to Australian Cricket, Oxford, Melbourne, 1996, p. 441. His highest first-class score was 94, for Tasmania against Western Australia in 1983–84.{{cite web|title=Tasmania v Western Australia 1983-84|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/44/44472.html|website=CricketArchive|accessdate=8 July 2017}} His best bowling figures were 5 for 79, for Tasmania against New South Wales in 1985–86, in his second-last match.{{cite web|title=New South Wales v Tasmania 1985-86|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/46/46936.html|website=CricketArchive|accessdate=8 July 2017}}

While playing for Tasmania, he worked as a photographer for the Examiner newspaper in Launceston. After he retired from first-class cricket, he became a cricket journalist and author, working for many years for The Age in Melbourne and The Sydney Morning Herald. He also published two books of black and white documentary photographs depicting the world of international cricket outside the field of play. In the 1990s, the Australian Cricket Society rated one of those books, "Cricket Masala", among the 50 best Australian cricket books ever published. Ray's photography can be seen at markrayphotos.com.