Lord’s has lost one of its most familiar faces. Mick Hunt, the MCC’s head groundsman for 33 years and a member of the Lord’s groundstaff since 1969, has died.
Hunt first walked through the Grace Gates in December ’69 and, after learning the trade under Jim Fairbrother, took full charge of the square in 1985. Over the next 49 seasons he produced 81 Test pitches, well over 80 men’s and women’s limited-overs strips – eight of them for World Cup finals – and an untold number of county tracks for Middlesex. He finally put the roller away in 2018, signing off during India’s visit that summer. Joe Root marked the occasion by handing Hunt a signed bat on the outfield; the smile in the photos still does the rounds in the pavilion bar.
Angus Fraser, the former England and Middlesex seamer, summed up the feeling among players and members on the club website. “In the long and rich history of this wonderful ground it is hard to believe that anybody has done more to maintain its beauty than Mick Hunt,” Fraser wrote. “To say that Mick was a character would be an understatement. He was an absolute legend. He cared deeply for the turf he looked after for 49 years, and did his utmost to ensure it looked and played immaculately, no matter the importance of the game that was taking place.”
Those words will ring true for anyone who saw Hunt coax Lord’s through the cramped summer of 2012. The ground hosted Olympic archery until late July; twelve days later England faced South Africa in a Test that lasted the full five. Hunt had to re-lay roughly a third of the outfield once the temporary stands came down, then prepare a fresh wicket from scratch. South Africa won by 51 runs, the match referee rated the surface “very good”, and Hunt was named world groundsman of the year soon afterwards – a gong he accepted with typical shrug-and-smile modesty.
Details of memorial arrangements will follow. For now, Lord’s simply feels quieter without him.
