Gabba curator Kevin Mitchell Jr to retire

One of the most familiar cricket curators in Australia Kevin Mitchell Jr, will retire this year after the Ashes Test in November. Mitchell has been the curator of the Gabba in Brisbane which has produced some breath taking matches in the history of cricket.

Mitchell’s departure marks the second retirement of an Australian Test curator this winter, after Tom Parker, the SCG curator, announced earlier this year that he was stepping down after 20 years of preparing the Sydney pitches. Mitchell has been in charge of the Gabba playing surface for 27 years, having started as assistant curator under his father and predecessor, Kevin Mitchell Sr, in 1984.

“In the ’80s we had the really good West Indies teams touring with the likes of Clive Lloyd, Viv Richards and the big four fast bowlers and that was an eye-opener for me, I thought what a great place to work,” Mitchell told the Courier-Mail. “Then in 1995 we won our first Sheffield Shield final and that was really game-changing for Queensland cricket,” he added.

Kevin meant so much to Gabba

Gabba manager Blair Conaghan showered praise on the experienced curator and credited him for Australian team’s success on this ground. “Kevvie Mitchell has meant so much to the Gabba and his work on the playing surface has really been instrumental in a lot of our success as a venue,” Blair said.

He also congratulated Kevin for his fantastic journey over the years. “It’s been a fantastic journey for him, from the days when it included the old greyhound track to its transformation into the more modern facility it is today and to consistently deliver over such a long period of time is an incredible achievement,” the manager concluded.

The Gabba pitch has been regarded as one of the best in Australia as it not only offers seam movement and spin but also gives an opportunity to the batsmen to score big. The ground has been given the nickname “Gabbatoir” owing to Australia’s utter dominance in Test cricket. The last time the home side was beaten here in longest format was in 1988 by West Indies. Recently too only 2 Tests have been drawn out of 13. Gabba wicket is surely going to miss the touch of Kevin Mitchell Jr.