Dimitri Mascarenhas

Cricket career Early years In England, Mascarenhas joined Bournemouth and helped them win the 1996 Southern Cricket League. He played minor counties cricket for Dorset that year, making one appearance, against Cornwall in the Minor Counties Championship; he took bowling figures of 7 wickets (a metonymic term for dismissing a batsman) for 64 runs in Cornwall's first innings. He began playing for the Hampshire second team in the season, and made his first-team debut, aged 18, against Middlesex in a List A one-day match in the Axa Equity & Law League at the start of September. Two days after his debut in the one-day format, Mascarenhas made his first-class debut against Glamorgan at the County Ground in Southampton in the County Championship, taking 6 wickets for 88 runs in Glamorgan's first innings, the best bowling figures by a Hampshire debutant since Charlie Llewellyn's 8 for 132 in 1899. A second Championship appearance followed, against Kent, with Mascarenhas taking 16 wickets in his first two matches. He was offered a two-year contract by Hampshire at the end of the season. He suffered a back injury in the 1997 season, limiting him to six first-class and one-day appearances. and scored 645 runs at a batting average (the total number of runs a player scores divided by the number of times they have been out) of 28.04, making six half-centuries. His 63 runs in the second innings against Leicestershire in May helped Hampshire avoid an innings defeat, having shared in a partnership of 114 runs with Adrian Aymes for the fifth wicket in their first innings. He made 26 appearances in one-day cricket, taking 22 wickets at 19.86; he also scored 560 runs at an average of 28, making five half-centuries. In the semi-final of the NatWest Trophy against Lancashire he demonstrated his all-round abilities, being adjudged man of the match for his 73 runs and 3 wickets for 28; despite his efforts, Hampshire lost the match. and voted Hampshire's Player of the Year in November.

Mascarenhas's back problems arose again midway through the 1999 season, keeping him out of the team for parts of June and August. Across the season he made 14 first-class appearances, scoring 465 runs at 28.83; He scored 473 runs in 16 first-class matches in 2000, and from 24 one-day matches he averaged 21.18 for his 38 wickets; Prior to the start of 2001 season, he underwent surgery for an ankle injury. In that season, Hampshire moved from the County Ground in Southampton to their newly constructed home at the Rose Bowl in West End. Mascarenhas scored the first ever century at the ground against Worcestershire in the 2001 County Championship. In 20 one-day matches, he claimed 24 wickets at 25.66,

Mascarenhas took 37 wickets at 30.83 from 16 first-class appearances in 2002, taking five wickets against Yorkshire in a County Championship match in May. He played in 20 one-day matches, averaging 19.76 for his 32 wickets; and ended the season as Hampshire's leading wicket-taker in one-day cricket. Mascarenhas made 17 first-class appearances in the 2003 season, Later in the season, he made 92 runs against Durham, forming a partnership of 123 runs for the eighth wicket with Shaun Udal. He took 40 first-class wickets at 32.17, He took 39 one-day wickets during the season, the joint-highest nationally with Graham Napier. In June, he featured in Hampshire's first-ever Twenty20 (T20) match, against Sussex at Southampton in the Twenty20 Cup; Mascarenhas played five matches in the competition's inaugural edition.

In 16 first-class appearances in 2004, Mascarenhas scored 477 runs, He claimed 50 first-class wickets in a season for the first time, He ended the season as Hampshire's leading first-class wicket-taker. In one-day cricket, he took 12 wickets from 15 appearances, |group=note and 5 balls included two maidens. Mascarenhas played for England in the Hong Kong Sixes competition after the season, helping to retain their title. In the 2005 season, he achieved his highest first-class batting average, 49.09, with an aggregate of 540 runs from 11 matches; and in the latter he helped Hampshire to an innings-and-188-run victory, securing a second-place finish in the County Championship. He took 34 first-class wickets at 23.55, with two five-wicket hauls. He played for Hampshire in the final of the Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy at Lord's in September, where they defeated Warwickshire. He also took 43 wickets at 24.97. In 16 one-day appearances, he scored 336 runs at an average of 30.54, and took 9 wickets, including a match-winning 4 for 23 against Sussex. Warne, Hampshire's club captain, publicly highlighted Mascarenhas's abilities and called for him to be selected for the England One Day International (ODI) team. On 13 September 2006 Warne wrote in The Times: "It amazes me that England have never given him a chance in the one-day side. He is the best finisher with the bat in all situations in the country and his bowling is clever and accurate".

Mascarenhas scored 489 runs at 34.92 from ten appearances in the 2007 County Championship, Following this, he was selected in England's squad for their ODI and Twenty20 International (T20I) series against the West Indies. Mascarenhas credited Warne's influence for his selection. He made his ODI debut against the West Indies at Lord's on 1 July 2007, playing all three ODIs and both T20Is in the series. He played in the ODI series against India in August to September, participating in four of the seven matches. His 3 for 23 off 10 overs in the 7th ODI helped England to a 4–3 series victory; the cricket writer Martin Williamson described his bowling as "impossible" to score from. He played all five of England's matches in the tournament, He was appointed Hampshire's T20 captain in 2007, with a friendly match played at Andover in June raising £8,000 toward his benefit fund.

In January 2008, Mascarenhas was selected in England's ODI and T20I squads for their winter tour of New Zealand. He played in both T20I matches that preceded the ODI leg of the tour. and took 2 for 19 from 4 overs. This all-round performance earned him man of the match in England's 32-run victory. He did not feature in the first two ODIs, but played in the final three,

Participation in T20 leagues Following Warne's retirement at the end of the 2007 season, Mascarenhas was appointed Hampshire captain. In March 2008, he signed for the Rajasthan Royals in the newly formed Indian Premier League (IPL), becoming the first English player to join the league. In April 2008, the ECB decided not to allow centrally-contracted England players to play in the IPL; at the time, Mascarenhas was not centrally contracted and was the only English representative in the tournament, having made one appearance, against the Delhi Daredevils. before playing domestic limited-overs cricket in New Zealand for Otago. He made ten appearances in the 2008–09 State Shield, scoring an unbeaten 75 against Auckland that saw him hit five consecutive sixes from Daryl Tuffey's bowling. He made seven appearances in Otago's State Twenty20 winning campaign, and played for them in the 2009 Champions League Twenty20. and played in the only T20I at Port of Spain. He led the county to the final of the Friends Provident Trophy at Lord's, where they defeated Sussex by six wickets. In May, he was included in England's fifteen-man squad for the 2009 World Twenty20, playing three matches in the tournament.

Mascarenhas played for the Rajasthan Royals in the 2010 IPL season, but injured his Achilles tendon in his second match, against the Delhi Daredevils, forcing him to return home. As a result of this injury, he missed the start of the English season and was ruled out of the 2010 World Twenty20, having been named in the initial 30-man squad. His first game back in England was against Kent in the Friends Provident t20 in June, bowling three overs before a recurrence of his injury forced him from the field. He was ruled out of playing for the remainder of the season, with Dominic Cork and Pothas deputising in the captaincy. Mascarenhas issued an apology to Miller, stating that the tweet did not reflect his views about him.

Mascarenhas was bought by the Kings XI Punjab franchise during the IPL auction in January 2011 for $100,000, but was replaced by David Miller after struggling to recover from the Achilles injury sustained in 2010. He had recovered from the injury by May 2011, playing his first match of the 2011 season in the Clydesdale Bank 40 against Durham. He made eight appearances in the County Championship, He played both one-day and T20 cricket for Hampshire in 2011, taking 21 wickets at 16.23 in the Twenty20 Cup. For the majority of the season, he nursed a shoulder injury. Following the season, he played for Otago in the 2011–12 HRV Cup, making eight appearances. opened the batting in some matches, but took only three wickets, averaging 50. His participation in the 2012 IPL caused him to miss the start of the 2012 English season. Playing for the Kings XI Punjab in the competition, he made four appearances; Mascarenhas captained Hampshire to the 2012 Twenty20 Cup title, He made just five first-class and six one-day appearances in 2012,

Following the 2012 season, Mascarenhas captained Hampshire in the Champions League Twenty20, where they lost to both the Sialkot Stallions and Auckland in the qualifying group stage. He was critical of the pitch in the aftermath of their defeat to Auckland at Centurion, calling it "no good for 20-over cricket". He then played three matches for the newly formed Rangpur Riders in the 2012–13 Bangladesh Premier League,

Retirement In the 2013 English season, Mascarenhas made one first-class appearance in the County Championship, against Gloucestershire, He captained Hampshire to their second successive finals day in the Twenty20 Cup, losing to Surrey in the semi-final. He made 11 appearances in the competition, taking 12 wickets. but he intended to continue playing in global T20 competitions. His participation in the 2013–14 Big Bash League was put in doubt in December, when he broke his jaw batting in a practice match;

Playing style and statistics An all-rounder, Mascarenhas began his career primarily as a bowler who could also bat, and as his career progressed his skills as a batsman improved. with Warne comparing his ability to strike the ball to that of the Australian all-rounder Ian Harvey. He was proficient at the end of an innings in one-day and T20 matches, being able to score quickly. and he had one of the best economy rates (a measure of the runs conceded from his bowling) in county cricket. relying on swing (the sideways deviation of the ball through the air) to dismiss batsmen. The Daily Echo remarked that he "excelled" as a "fleet-footed fielder with a wonderful throw", His 30 runs in an over against India was an ODI record for England, remaining so until it was surpassed by Liam Livingstone's 32 runs against the Netherlands in 2022. He took 13 ODI wickets at an average of 48.76. In T20I cricket, he made 14 appearances. In an interview for The Guardian in 2015, Mascarenhas commented that England's one-day captain Paul Collingwood did not bowl him at the correct moment in matches. In first-class cricket, Mascarenhas made 195 appearances for Hampshire. He took 450 wickets at 28.22, taking five or more wickets in an innings on 17 occasions. In the field, he held 76 catches. and took 285 wickets at 25.22. Playing for eight teams in domestic T20 cricket, Mascarenhas made 116 appearances. He scored 1,233 runs at an average of 19.57 and had a strike rate of over 120. (Domestic T20 batting and bowling statistics not explicitly stated as separate entities, but deduced from ESPNcricinfo player profile.)

Coaching Mascarenhas holds an ECB level-three coaching qualification. He resigned from the role in February 2016, citing the need to spend more time with his family, who had relocated to Australia after his retirement. In July 2016, he was appointed coach of the Australia Under-16 cricket team. Mascarenhas joined Essex as their assistant head coach in February 2018, but left ten months later after choosing not to renew his contract. Ahead of the 2019 T20 Blast, he was appointed head T20 bowling coach at Middlesex, and prior to the 2020 T20 Blast he signed a two-year contract to continue in the role.

Personal life Mascarenhas married Nadine Taylor in Melbourne in February 2011, with Shane Warne and his partner, Liz Hurley, in attendance. Mascarenhas and Taylor have two sons: Lenny, born in 2012, and Viv, born in 2014. Mascarenhas is a keen golfer, claiming to have a handicap of 6 in a 2009 interview with The Times.

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