Michael James Stewart (born 16 September 1932) is an English former

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er, coach and administrator. A right-handed batsman, Stewart's international career was hampered by illness that curtailed his first overseas tour – serving as vice-captain in India in 1963–64 – and he made only eight

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

appearances in all, scoring two half-centuries. His domestic career for

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

spanned eighteen years, in which he scored over 26,000 first-class runs with forty-nine centuries. He made a century on debut for his county, against

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

, and went on to break the then-world record number of catches in a match in 1957 with his strong fielding. He captained Surrey between 1963 and 1972, winning the

County Championship The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...

in 1971. After retiring, he became a manager at the club and later for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

until 1992. He then worked for the ECB until 1997. Stewart was awarded the OBE in 1998 for services to cricket. The cricket writer Colin Bateman commented, "a staunch patriot and the toughest of opponents, he stamped his mark on Test cricket as England's first full-time manager far more emphatically than he did as a player". His son,

Alec Stewart Alec James Stewart (born 8 April 1963) is an English former cricketer, and former captain of the England cricket team, who played Test cricket and One Day Internationals as a right-handed wicket-keeper-batsman. He is the fourth-most-capped Eng ...

, went on to play over 100 Tests for England.

Life and career

Born at

Herne Hill Herne Hill is a district in South London, approximately four miles from Charing Cross and bordered by Brixton, Camberwell, Dulwich, and Tulse Hill. It sits to the north and east of Brockwell Park and straddles the boundary between the boroughs ...

, in south

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, Stewart played

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

for

from 1954 to 1972 and also appeared in eight Test matches for

between 1962 and 1964. A right-handed

opening batsman In cricket, the batting order is the sequence in which batters play through their team's innings, there always being two batters taking part at any one time. All eleven players in a team are required to bat if the innings is completed (i.e., if ...

, Stewart averaged 35.00 with the bat in Test cricket with a highest score of 87. He was an outstanding close catcher, particularly at short leg. In 1957, he took 77 catches during the season, only one short of

Wally Hammond Walter Reginald Hammond (19 June 1903 – 1 July 1965) was an English first-class cricketer who played for Gloucestershire in a career that lasted from 1920 to 1951. Beginning as a professional, he later became an amateur and was appointed cap ...

's record. Against

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

that year, he held seven catches in an innings. It was partly for his fielding that he was selected as one of the

Wisden Cricketers of the Year The ''Wisden'' Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', based primarily on their "influence on the previous English season". The award began in 1889 with the naming ...

in the 1958 edition of ''

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...

''. Stewart toured India in 1963/64 as

M. J. K. Smith Michael John Knight Smith , better known as M. J. K. Smith or Mike Smith, (born 30 June 1933) is an English former cricketer who was captain of Oxford University Cricket Club (1956), Warwickshire County Cricket Club (1957–1967) and ...

's vice-captain, but he contracted

dysentery Dysentery (UK pronunciation: , US: ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications ...

and was forced home after playing only one innings. From 1959 to 1966, he had a successful opening partnership for Surrey with

John Edrich John Hugh Edrich, (21 June 1937 – 23 December 2020) was an English first-class cricketer who, during a career that ran from 1956 to 1978, was considered one of the best batsmen of his generation. Born in Blofield, Norfolk, Edrich came from a ...

, before moving down the batting order to number three. The pair also opened together for England on a couple of occasions. Stewart captained Surrey from 1963 to 1972, winning the

in 1971. He served as cricket manager of Surrey (1979–1986) and England (1986–1992), and was director of coaching for the ECB (1992–1997). According to Steve James, writing in the ''

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'': "As England's first manager Stewart was way ahead of his time, not least in the aspects of fitness and planning..." James quotes

Graham Gooch Graham Alan Gooch, (born 23 July 1953) is a former English first-class cricketer who captained Essex and England. He was one of the most successful international batsmen of his generation, and through a career spanning from 1973 until 2000, h ...

, captain during the latter part of Stewart's time as England manager, as saying: "We laid the foundations for what you see in the England set-up now. The fitness, the monitoring of fitness, the nutrition, it was the birth of all that on a team scale."''Daily Telegraph'', 3 July 2012, page S20, "Beckham's Olympic snub brings back bad memories for Stewart". During a winter tour of New Zealand by England, Stewart controversially got involved in an argument with a TV cameraman who was filming footage of an injured David Lawrence on a stretcher; England wicketkeeper Jack Russell also joined in the fracas. Stewart was also a

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

, playing outside right for the amateur side Corinthian-Casuals,

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...

and

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

. In 1956 he played for the England amateur side in their match against France. He had hoped to play for his country in the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

to be held in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

in November that year, but because he was a professional cricketer the Olympic Committee ruled that he was ineligible. He therefore decided to turn professional as a footballer, and left Corinthian-Casuals and joined Charlton Athletic. He went on to manage Corinthian-Casuals between 1970 and 1975.Managers and achievements
Corinthian-Casuals F.C. He is the father of the former England

wicket-keeper The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being watchful of the batsman and ready to take a catch, stump the batsman out and run out a batsman when occasion arises. Th ...

, Alec Stewart. At

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and ...

in 1991, Stewart was able to watch his son Alec score a Test century, something that had eluded him.

References

;Notes ;Sources * Stephen Chalke, ''Micky Stewart and the Changing Face of Cricket'', Fairfield Books, 2012, . * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Micky 1932 births Living people Surrey cricket captains Surrey cricketers English cricketers England Test cricketers International Cavaliers cricketers Wisden Cricketers of the Year Presidents of Surrey County Cricket Club English cricket administrators English footballers Footballers from the London Borough of Lambeth England amateur international footballers Association football wingers Charlton Athletic F.C. players Corinthian-Casuals F.C. players Wimbledon F.C. players People from Herne Hill Officers of the Order of the British Empire Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Players cricketers People educated at Alleyn's School English football managers Corinthian-Casuals F.C. managers A. E. R. Gilligan's XI cricketers