RIP Robert Allan Stewart Mitchell

Wanderers CC notes with sadness the passing of former member and friend of Wellington cricket Rob Mitchell in Melbourne over the weekend.

A left-handed batsman and later a canny captain, Rob, known to many as ‘Mitch’, joined the Victoria University of Wellington Cricket Club after leaving Wellington College, playing in their senior team and chairing the club committee for several seasons.  He went on to play for many years in the lower grades and was made a Life Member of VUWCC.

Mitch’s involvement with Wanderers began in the late 1960s and he was a regular member of Waikanae teams until the late 1980s.  He particularly enjoyed the fixtures against Eastbourne, his old stomping ground, and for whom he had played as a front-row prop.  The Wanderers’ members who played with Mitch over those seasons recall his competitive nature, his positive approach to batting and his wonderful contributions to the conviviality at the post-match gatherings.

Mitch first served on the Management Committee of the Wellington Cricket Association from 1974-1979, and then from 1984-99.  He was on the executive subcommittee for ten years and was Deputy Chairman for seven years.  He was made a Vice President of the Association in 2000, and was elected a Life Member of Cricket Wellington in 2017.  An early champion of women’s cricket, Mitch is fondly remembered by many players as a selector and manager of the women’s First XI – later the Blaze.

Mitch acted as a highly efficient match manager at the Basin Reserve throughout the 1980s and 1990s, including at the 1992 ICC Cricket World Cup.  Along with Dave Grey and others, Mitch did much to help players, officials and members so that matches ran smoothly.

In 2009 he was presented with an ICC Centenary Medal by Sir Richard Hadlee, one of only 50 New Zealanders so honoured for their years of voluntary service to the sport.

Following his retirement as a director of Wellington architecture firm Gooch Mitchell MacDiarmid, Mitch worked from home for a some time and continued his strong interest in cricket.  He loved nothing more than chatting with his friends and sharing his vast cricket knowledge built up through years of selfless involvement.

Mitch is survived by his sons Nick and Richard, and they plan to hold a function to commemorate their father’s outstanding life early next year.