Wife-cheat Butcher's biggest fan

13 April 2012

The estranged wife of England cricket hero Mark Butcher today spoke of her growing love for him and said his Test match-winning performance was down to the fact that "we're getting on better than ever".

Judy Butcher, 35, watched her husband hit an unbeaten 173 to win the Fourth Test against Australia at Headingley. Minutes later she was on the mobile congratulating him. "My heart was beating fast as I was watching television," she said.

He was absolutely brilliant. I'm the happiest woman on the planet. I knew he could do it. I knew everything he had always worked for would finally pay off and I am ecstatic for him." Although she separated from her 28-year-old husband last year after he fathered a daughter by model Kirsten Woodhouse, she said she still loves him and they remain the best of friends for the sake of their two-year-old daughter Alita.

She confessed she also holds hopes of one day rekindling their relationship: "We're the best of friends and always have been. Who knows what will happen between us? Everyone knows what happened, the wounds have now healed and we're getting on better than before.

"The trust element is back in our relationship now as we've got everything out in the open." She said: "I have no doubt that our stronger friendship had something to do with his performance yesterday. He channelled all his energies into winning the game. I knew he could do it. I always knew he would."

As she left the semi-detached house in Kenley where she lives with Alita, for a game of tennis, she said: "We're getting on brilliantly. He's a brilliant dad and rings his daughter at least three times a day.

"This is his moment and I don't want to steal it by talking about us. But I love him very much and so does his little girl. She knows exactly what daddy does and tells everyone, 'My daddy gets runs and no one is allowed to hit him on the head.'"

Mrs Butcher is hoping to attend the Oval for the Fifth Test this Thursday - the day her husband celebrates his 29th birthday.

She said: "I don't know what I shall get him for his birthday but it will be nice for Alita and myself to be there on the day. We're the best of friends and always will be. I don't want to say too much about us in case I rock the boat."

Their separation divided two of cricket's most prominent families. Mrs Butcher's brother is ex-England skipper and Surrey star Alec Stewart, 37, while her father Micky, 68, also played Test cricket and managed the national side. Older brother Neil, 40, is a coach at Surrey. Butcher's father Alan played for Leicestershire, Gloucestershire, Glamorgan and Surrey and was capped by England. His uncles Ian and Martin Butcher also played at county level.

Butcher's stunning innings on the ground where Ian Botham performed miracles in the famous Ashes Test match 20 years ago also signals a turning point in his professional life.

He was dropped from the England Test team 18 months ago following 23 innings without so much as a half-century and had struggled to justify a place in the Surrey side.

Even when the national selectors recalled him this summer, Butcher ran into more trouble during the Third Test in Nottingham after being spotted out on the town "unacceptably late".

But now his name is on the lips of every cricket fan in the country. "It was just an amazing day," said Butcher.

"Getting back into the England team seemed a long way off at the start of this season," he said. "In fact I was worried about getting into the Surrey side at one point. I had no one to blame but myself because I was given a good opportunity to make a name for myself as a Test player but was generally pretty average."

Butcher, a natural on the guitar who has played in front of an audience of several hundred at the Royal Albert Hall, now has to do it all again on his home ground at The Oval.

MORE ABOUT

Australasia

Wife-cheat Butcher's biggest fan

Read More