Growing up on rugby circuit, how Daryl Mitchell became a world class cricketer

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Read the life story of Mitchel from Sandip G

Daryl Mitchell’s first cricketing memory is of the Lord’s. The Mitchell household was then shuttling between London and Manchester, where his father, John, was coaching English rugby sides, Sales and Wasps. And they would often drive around the stadium, and his father would tell him that it’s the most historic cricket ground in the world. Nothing specifically registered in his mind, except his father’s words and the architectural grandeur. It’s later, when he blossomed into a fine cricketer, that he realised the glow of his first cricketing memory.

Twenty five years later, it turned out to be his temporary home when Middlesex acquired his services. “I felt emotional, and I still remember we used to drive past [Lord’s] and all of that as a little kid. I think I was about five years old, so it was pretty cool,” he told stuff.co.nz.

Mitchell, on Wednesday, made his cricketing journey more rewarding by guiding New Zealand to the World T20 final. His 47 ball 72 and his late six hitting steak gave him the Man of the Match award in the tense semi final against England.

Mitchell has had homes around the world. It was another coaching stint of his father that shaped his cricketing career. When he was about 16, his father shifted to Perth to coach Western Force. While his father was busy resurrecting the club and making it a powerhouse—the side beat all Australian Super 14 rivals in 2009, and beating every province in his four-year-stay, he was busy honing his batting skills under an Australian legend, Justin Langer at the Scarborough Cricket Club in the outskirts of Perth.

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By then Langer had retired and embarked into coaching duties. But intermittently, he would drop by and play premiership games. “In my first year playing alongside Justin we won a premiership. That was pretty special, just being able to share a dressing room with him. He’s been a lot of help to me. He used to share a lot of experience about his playing days, used to tell me that batting is a lot about mental strength and really made us more ambitious,” he said in that interview.

It was from Langer that he perhaps learned to pace his innings. The Australian would begin warily, ducking and weaving from punches, before he would unleash a flurry of counterpunches at his opponent. Mitchell, against England, began cautiously, before accelerating in scintillating fashion.

Three years later, his father joined a club in Johannesburg, but he didn’t tag along

with him, but went back home to chart his career for the country. By that time, his new-balls skills too had improved. “I bowl medium-pacers, with a bit of out-swing, nothing too flash.” Of late, he has looked to crank up pace, and believes he has succeeded. “I think I’m quick but no-one else does,” he said in a press conference.

Some of the Indian batsmen who toured New Zealand in 2020 would remember the venom of his out-swing during a warm-up game in Hamilton. In the second innings, he devoured Prithvi Shaw, Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant.

Fortunately, his father was not fussy about him picking cricket over rugby. Rather, he only encouraged him and used to play driveway cricket with him. “He’s useless at cricket. I remember playing him when I was about 10-years-old in the backyard and I had him covered even then. He loves his cricket and he’s a massive supporter to me and my sister, but at the same time he’s just a normal dad. He gives you a bit of stick and it’s good fun,” he recollected in a conversation with Waikato Radio. He, though, keeps his dad’s All Blacks jumper next to his first Black Caps’ one. “Both are special to me,” he said.

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But he is such a fan of his father that he supported England in the Rugby World Cup semifinals. “It’s a strange watch, to be fair. Your whole life you grow up supporting the All Blacks, but at the same time you want your old man to do well. At the end of the day, I wanted the old man to do well. To get a chance to win a World Cup final is pretty cool. The whole family is supporting him,” he said in a press conference.

There was another England connection too—in 2016, to enlarge the canvas of his sporting journey, he turned up for Blackpool in the Northern Premier League, struck 762 runs at 44.82 and taking 37 wickets at 15.40 to help them to second place. But his ascent to the national team was a sweaty trek, built on patience and consistency. But when he finally got a break, at the not-so-young age of 29, he made it count, first with a Test hundred against Pakistan, coming in at No 7, before the most defining hour of his career yet, the unbeaten 72 not out in the World Cup semifinal.

There is also that unflinching belief in his skills. “I will do anything to win games for my team,” he once said. Like opening in a T20 game for his country in a World Cup. Only during the warm-up games did they decide on trying him as an opener. And he responded positively. “I pride myself on having the ability to adapt to whatever position I’ve got to do. After the initial conversation, I was just really excited to get the opportunity to play for New Zealand at a World Cup,” he said in a press conference.

Coach Gary Stead was bowled over by his competitiveness. “He’s got a lot of really strong attributes that we like. We love his competitiveness and the way he takes on teams as well. I think sometimes you do have to be brave, and you run with what feels right at the time, and it felt right, and we’ve given Daryl that opportunity, and he’s repaid us in spades.” He said this before the semifinal, bur every word is as timely and relevant.

But unlike the Lord’s memory, the Abu Dhabi knock is a bit of blur for Mitchell. “Obviously a bit of a whirlwind there. I can’t really remember what was going on for the last half [of that] but it’s nice to get the job done and move on to the big dance,” he said after the game.