Mark Richardson

Mark Richardson is one of those rare Kiwis who has managed to seamlessly spin a wildly successful career on the international cricketing stage into a stellar broadcasting career.

Mark first came to New Zealand’s attention as a Black Caps batsman, scoring 2776 test runs at an average of 44.77, including four centuries and 19 fifties, across his captivating innings. He retired from cricket in December 2004, saying he could not sustain the intensity needed to compete internationally.

Mark’s departure from cricket propelled him into a new path as a cricket commentator on television and radio, which later led to him co-hosting Sky TV's prime-time sports show ‘The Crowd Goes Wild’ alongside Andrew Mulligan. CGW allowed Mark to develop his cheeky, irreverent style of presenting, for which he is now famous.

In 2012 Mark partnered again with Andrew Mulligan to co-host the Radio Sport breakfast show (later re-branded as The Crowd Goes Wild Breakfast), doing both early morning radio and evening television. Identifying Mark’s potential for lifestyle entertainment, Mediaworks brought on Mark to host the rating juggernaut renovation show The Block NZ, which has recently celebrated its 10th season with ‘Redemption’.

In mid-2015, Mark relinquished his position with Radio Sport to move to ‘The Sound’ to co-host the breakfast show with Leah Panapa. From 2017-2019, Mark was the resident sports presenter on TV3/Discovery and Magic Talk's morning infotainment program, The AM Show. His sporting knowledge, popularity with New Zealanders and quick-fire comments kept everyone on their toes - delivering some good laughs along the way.

In 2022 Mark reunited with former Sound co-host and long-time friend Leah Panapa to host Today FM’s afternoon show Leah and Mark. These days, you’ll also catch him as a guest host on Three’s, The Project.

With a fierce work ethic and drive to challenge himself, Mark is not one to sit in his comfort zone. He frequently works as a speaker to corporate and community organisations and often participates in events for charity.