Karl McDermott, guest at the Dorset Cricket Society's meeting at Hurn Bridge, Christchurch on Thursday afternoon (1.45pm), took an unlikely route to one of the top jobs in world cricket having been appointed head groundsman at Lord’s several years ago.
The 43-year-old Dubliner started a once-in-a-lifetime role, literally, after taking over from Mick Hunt who held the post for 49 distinguished years.
Yet as a youngster, McDermott was more interested in tennis and hockey and only a chance request from one of his teachers in Dublin set him on the path to the Home of Cricket.
“My maths teacher at school was the groundsman at my local cricket club, Clontarf. I didn’t play cricket, I knew nothing about it,” he explained.
“I was 14 and he was looking for a non-cricketer to give him a hand in the summer. I did it for a couple of hours a week, for five Irish pounds.
“And I sort of kept it up really, summer after summer, and the opportunity arose to step into his shoes when he’d had enough.
“Clontarf held C&G and NatWest Trophy matches so we always had one county over here pre-season. That gave me a bug for professional groundsmanship.
“We had a World Cup game in 1999, West Indies played Bangladesh, so that was probably to date my favourite moment of my career. And then to get into Test cricket was the challenge.”
McDermott spent 17 years at Clontarf before taking up a role at Hampshire in 2009, becoming head groundsman in 2016.
Three Test matches were held at the Ageas Bowl during that time, but the schedule at Lord’s is a little more hectic, as he will tell the DCS on Thursday afternoon.
The meeting is open to all cricket enthusiasts for £3.
The 43-year-old Dubliner started a once-in-a-lifetime role, literally, after taking over from Mick Hunt who held the post for 49 distinguished years.
Yet as a youngster, McDermott was more interested in tennis and hockey and only a chance request from one of his teachers in Dublin set him on the path to the Home of Cricket.
“My maths teacher at school was the groundsman at my local cricket club, Clontarf. I didn’t play cricket, I knew nothing about it,” he explained.
“I was 14 and he was looking for a non-cricketer to give him a hand in the summer. I did it for a couple of hours a week, for five Irish pounds.
“And I sort of kept it up really, summer after summer, and the opportunity arose to step into his shoes when he’d had enough.
“Clontarf held C&G and NatWest Trophy matches so we always had one county over here pre-season. That gave me a bug for professional groundsmanship.
“We had a World Cup game in 1999, West Indies played Bangladesh, so that was probably to date my favourite moment of my career. And then to get into Test cricket was the challenge.”
McDermott spent 17 years at Clontarf before taking up a role at Hampshire in 2009, becoming head groundsman in 2016.
Three Test matches were held at the Ageas Bowl during that time, but the schedule at Lord’s is a little more hectic, as he will tell the DCS on Thursday afternoon.
The meeting is open to all cricket enthusiasts for £3.
