Mickey Stewart

Michael James Stewart OBE (born 16 September 1932) is an English former cricketer, 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 appearances in all, scoring two half-centuries. His domestic career for Surrey 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, 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 in 1971. After retiring, he became a manager at the club and later for England 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, went on to play over 100 Tests for England.

Born at Herne Hill, in south London, Stewart played first-class cricket for Surrey from 1954 to 1972 and also appeared in eight Test matches for England between 1962 and 1964. A right-handed opening batsman, 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 Walter Hammond's record. Against Northamptonshire 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 in the 1958 edition of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack.