Early years

Born in Croydon, Surrey, Butcher played his earliest organised cricket with Beckenham under-11's. His parents moved to Australia where he spent five and a half of his formative years during which time he played for Glenelg youth team. His performances there won him their Junior Cricketer award for outstanding play and a selection to the South Australia under-15 team. Had his parents stayed in Australia, he would likely have joined the senior side and later been eligible to play for Australia as his adopted country. However, his parents chose to move back to England.

Cricket in the family

Cricket is a strong tradition in Alan Butcher's family. His two brothers, Martin and Ian, both played first-class cricket and both of his sons have also gone on to do so. His eldest son, Mark found fame playing for, and also captaining, Surrey and was for some time a mainstay batsman for England, not suffering the one-Test fate of his father. The youngest, Gary, has also played for Surrey and Glamorgan. In 1991, Mark and Alan Butcher played against each other in a Sunday League match at The Oval, on the occasion of Mark's Surrey debut. Mark Butcher announced his retirement from cricket in 2009.

His daughter Bryony Butcher, one of twins, plays for Essex under 15's, Kelvedon and her school, Honywood Community Science School. Her sister, Ceri Butcher, used to play cricket, but is more interested in gymnastics. The twins have won many sporting awards, such as Bryony winning "athlete of the year".

Early years

Butcher was a left-handed opening batsman with an aggressive playing style and a fondness for hitting shots off the back foot, although he started his career as a left-arm fast-medium bowler. He began playing for Surrey in 1972 as a bowler, but started opening the batting in 1975. He stayed with Surrey for 15 years. When Grahame Clinton joined Surrey in 1979, the two formed a successful and longstanding opening partnership. They shared in nineteen century opening stands for Surrey, including one of 277 against Yorkshire in 1984.^[2]

International selection and sole Test cap

In 1979, he was picked to play for England against India in a Test match at The Oval, but he did not settle, and only managed scores of 14 and 20. He was not selected for England again, in spite of the opinion of the then England captain Mike Brearley, who rated him one of the top players of fast bowling in the county game. During his time with Surrey, he averaged between 1,300 and 1,700 runs each season.

Later years and retirement from playing

In 1986, Surrey declined to renew his contract and he seriously considered retiring as a cricketer. However, Glamorgan approached him with an offer of a team place which he accepted. He eventually rose to captain Glamorgan in 1989, before retiring in 1992. He made 22,667 runs in first