Posted on May 19, 2024
| 7 minutes
| 1469 words
| Carisa Kissane
Mark Chapman Quick Info
Height
5 ft 11 in
Weight
79 kg
Date of Birth
June 27, 1994
Zodiac Sign
Cancer
Eye Color
Green
Mark Chapman is a New Zealander-Hong Kongese professional cricketer who has represented New Zealand in the shorter formats of the sport (ODIs and T20Is), as an all-rounder, since February 2018. Between 2011 and 2016, he also turned out for Hong Kong in both those formats. Aged just 15, he represented Hong Kong at the 2010 edition of the ICC (International Cricket Council) Under-19 Cricket World Cup. Hong Kong won 1 of its 6 matches in the tournament and finished in 14th place in the 16-team competition. It was the 8th edition of the tournament and Hong Kong’s first appearance in it. As of January 2023, it remains the team’s only appearance in the tournament. In the Hong Kongese domestic circuit, Mark represented Hong Kong Cricket Club (2008-2016)across all formats. In the New Zealander domestic circuit, he has played for Auckland (2015-16-Present) across all 3 formats. At the franchise level, he has turned out for St Lucia Stars (2018) in the CPL (Caribbean Premier League). Mark is also the founder of ESCU Sports, a brand of cutting-edge protective cricketing equipment.
Born Name
Mark Sinclair Chapman
Nick Name
Chappo, Chappy
Mark Chapman as seen in an Instagram Post in November 2019 (Mark Chapman / Instagram)
Sun Sign
Cancer
Born Place
Hong Kong (then British Hong Kong)
Residence
Auckland, North Island, New Zealand
Nationality
He holds dual nationality.
Education
Mark had attended Island School, a co-educational international school in Hong Kong. When he was about 14 years old, he joined King’s College, Auckland, an independent secondary boarding and day school in the South Auckland suburb of Otahuhu.
After his high school graduation, he joined the University of Auckland, a public research university based in Auckland. It is the largest (by enrolment), most comprehensive, and highest-ranked university in New Zealand. He studied engineering there.
Occupation
Professional Cricketer
Mark Chapman as seen in an Instagram Post in January 2021 (Mark Chapman / Instagram)
Family
Father – Peter Chapman (Former Crown Prosecutor for the Government of Hong Kong)
Mother – Anne Chapman (Finance Executive)
Batting
Left-Handed
Bowling
Slow Left-Arm Orthodox
Role
All-Rounder
Jersey Number
8, 80 – T20 International (T20I)
88, 80 – Auckland (New Zealand Domestic Cricket)
80 – St Lucia Stars (CPL)
Build
Athletic
Height
5 ft 11 in or 180.5 cm
Weight
79 kg or 174 lbs
Mark Chapman as seen in an Instagram Post in March 2020 (Mark Chapman / Instagram)
Race / Ethnicity
Multiracial (Asian and White)
He is of Hong Kongese descent on his mother’s side and New Zealander descent on his father’s side.
Hair Color
Dark Brown
Eye Color
Green
Sexual Orientation
Straight
Distinctive Features
Toned physique
Side-parted hair
Cheerful smile
Clean-shaven look
Brand Endorsements
He has been sponsored by –
Kookaburra Cricket (Cricketing division of Kookaburra Sports, an Australian company that specializes in Australian rules football, cricket, and field hockey equipment)
Asics New Zealand (New Zealander subsidiary of the Japanese sports equipment manufacturer Asics)
Gunn & Moore (Sports equipment and apparel company based in Colwick, Nottinghamshire, England)
East Imperial PLC (United Kingdom-based beverage producer)
Mark Chapman as seen in an Instagram Post in September 2021 (Mark Chapman / Instagram)
Mark Chapman Facts
In 2011, Mark, aged just 16, made his debut for Hong Kong in the 3rd division of the ICC World Cricket League (a now-defunct series of international one-day cricket tournaments for national teams that did not have test match status).
In the final of that tournament, against Papua New Guinea, he top-scored for Hong Kong with an unbeaten knock of 70 runs. Hong Kong went on to win the match which meant that the team was promoted to the 2nd division of the ICC World Cricket League.
That (2nd division tournament) was played later in 2011 and it was there that Mark made his List A debut, in a match against Uganda. He made his T20 debut for Hong Kong in a match against Italy in November 2013.
He was a part of the Hong Kongese squad that participated in the 2014 edition of the ICC World T20, the team’s first appearance in any major senior-level ICC tournament. Mark made his T20I debut for Hong Kong in the team’s first match of the tournament, a first-round group-stage match against Nepal.
Hong Kong lost that match and its next, against Afghanistan, to crash out of the tournament. However, the team scripted history by defeating hosts Bangladesh by 2 wickets in its last outing in the tournament. It was Hong Kong’s 1st victory over a team with full-member status in any major senior-level international match. Mark was a part of that match.
Later that year, he was a part of the Hong Kongese squad that participated in the 2014 edition of the Asian Games. Mark had top-scored for Hong Kong in the ‘Bronze’ medal match of the tournament, against Bangladesh, but Hong Kong lost that match by 27 runs.
In November 2015, he was appointed the vice-captain of the Hong Kongese squad for 2 ICC World Cricket League matches against the United Arab Emirates, both of which held ODI status. On his ODI debut for Hong Kong, in the first of those matches, he scored 124 runs not out which made him the first Hong Kongese player ever to have scored an ODI century. What made that knock even more special was the fact that he had just flown in after appearing for an academic examination in New Zealand.
Mark also became the first player from an associate cricketing nation, and only the 10th overall, to have scored a century on his ODI debut. Out of those 10 players, he was only the 2nd to have scored his century at a strike rate (runs scored per 100 balls faced) of greater than 100 – the first was the West Indian great Desmond Haynes who had achieved this feat in February 1978.
He made his first-class debut in December 2015 in a match of the 2015-16 season of the Plunket Shield (the premier domestic first-class cricket competition in New Zealand). Because he held dual citizenship in New Zealand and Hong Kong, he was not considered an overseas player in the domestic circuit of New Zealand.
In February 2016, playing for Hong Kong, in a match against Oman, during the 2016 ACC (Asian Cricket Council) Asia Cup Qualifier, Mark became the first batsman to be ‘Mankaded’ (the act of being run out at the non-striker’s end for venturing too far out of the crease) in a T20I match. As of January 2023, this remains the only instance of ‘Mankading’ in a T20I match.
It was around this time that he stopped giving enough time to the Hong Kongese national team due to his commitments with Auckland in the New Zealander domestic circuit which in turn developed ambitions in him to represent New Zealand at the senior level in international cricket soon. Mark had citizenship in New Zealand and was eligible to represent the country as his father was from there.
He was the leading run-scorer in the 2017-18 season of the Ford Trophy (the premier domestic one-day cricket competition in New Zealand), with 480 runs to his name in just 8 matches. His heroics helped Auckland win this trophy for the 11th time, making it the then 2nd-most successful team in the competition.
On February 13, 2018, Mark made his T20I debut for New Zealand. This made him just the 6th male cricketer in history to have represented 2 countries in the T20I format.
On February 28, 2018, he made his ODI debut for New Zealand. This made him just the 10th male cricketer in history to have represented 2 countries in the ODI format.
In March 2020, in a match of the 2019-20 season of the Plunket Shield, Mark and Joe Carter scored centuries in both innings. It was the first instance of 2 batters scoring a century in both innings of the same match in the tournament’s history.
During a match of the 2020-21 season of the Plunket Shield, he became the first player to be substituted in a cricket match after suffering from COVID-19.
Mark holds the record of being the first player to have recorded at least 1 score of more than 50+ for 2 countries in the T20I format. His only score above 50 runs for Hong Kong in a T20I match was his knock of 63 runs not out against Oman in 2015. Incredibly, his first 50+ score for New Zealand in a T20I match was of the same magnitude – 63 runs against India in 2021.
He is an avid angler (a person whose hobby is trying to catch fish with a rod and line).
