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

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

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 counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

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, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

, 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, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Rothesay County Championship, is the only domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales. Established in 1890, it is organised by the England and Wales Cri ...

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

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

until 1992. He then worked for the ECB until 1997. He was the coach of the English squad which finished as runners-up at the

1987 Cricket World Cup The 1987 Cricket World Cup (officially known as the Reliance Cup 1987 for sponsorship reasons) was the fourth Cricket World Cup. It was held from 8 October to 8 November 1987 in India and Pakistan – the first such tournament to be held outsid ...

. 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 fifth-most- capped En ...

, 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 London ...

, in south

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, 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 of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

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 capt ...

's record. Against

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

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 for 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" (or variations thereof) has been applied to ''Wi ...

''. Stewart toured India in 1963/64 as M. J. K. Smith's vice-captain, but he contracted

dysentery Dysentery ( , ), 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 may include dehyd ...

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 ...

, 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 ''

Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was foun ...

'': "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 1973 until 1997, he was ...

, 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 lea ...

, playing inside forward for the amateur side Corinthian-Casuals,

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...

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 * W ...

. 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 (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

to be held in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

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 In cricket, the wicket-keeper is the Cricket player, player on the fielding (cricket), fielding side who stands behind the wicket, ready to stop Delivery (cricket), deliveries that pass the batsman, and take a Caught, catch, Stumped, stump the ...

, Alec Stewart. At

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

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 men's footballers Footballers from the London Borough of Lambeth England men's amateur international footballers Men's association football wingers Charlton Athletic F.C. players Corinthian-Casuals F.C. players Wimbledon F.C. players People from Herne Hill Cricketers from the London Borough of Southwark 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 E. W. Swanton's XI cricketers English Football League players Coaches of the England cricket team