Alfie
Some members
may remember the film Alfie, starring Michael Caine in the title
role as a smooth, fast-talking cockney puller of women, but Rainham
had its own Alfie. He reigned as a local goal scorer, became one
of the biggest all time run scorers at Rainham Cricket Club and
is now a successful golfer at Gillingham Golf Club.
I first remember
Alfie Fisher as a schoolboy playing football on Rainham Recreation
Ground during the school holidays, a fourteen-year-old striker closing
down on my goal with a white plastic ball at his feet as I came
out to meet him. He was quiet, light on his feet and had the ability
to score goals. In those days he wasn’t famous for his sherbets
(a slang term for alcoholic drinks, usually a Brown Ale and Bitter
in Alfie’s case) but more for his goal-scoring prowess. Like
most natural sportsmen he had a good eye for the ball and this is
what I noticed about him when I first saw him play football and
cricket.
I was asked
to guest for Stockbury Cricket Club as a fifteen-year-old and Alfie
accompanied me on his bike. We arrived at the ground behind the
Stockbury Village Hall to play against Swale and opened the batting.
I got out cheaply on an awful wicket but Alfie stuck it out with
characteristic grit and made 30. The quiet boy had a sound defensive
technique of placing his bat in front of his left pad and playing
off the front foot. He was an immediate hit for the village club.
After several
matches for Stockbury, Alfie totally disappeared from the local
cricket scene and instead concentrated on his football. After making
an impact for Eastcourt United in the Kent Amateur League by scoring
two goals on his debut he ended up at Tonbridge where he scored
many more goals for the Kent club.
Alfie decided
to make a cricket comeback in the late seventies for Rainham. By
now a familiar figure in the drinking houses of Rainham, married
and a father of two children, the future run machine of Rainham
began turning out for Rainham Second XI, just for a bit of fun on
the weekends. In 1980 he was soon scoring the odd twenty with 28
against Davington Priory and 26 against Newington. Being naturally
competitive, his scores began to increase and inevitably he soon
found himself in the First XI for whom he scored a very commendable
51 against Chatham Nomads in 1981. The following season he did even
better with a very good 86 against the same side. These periodic
successes suddenly became the norm in 1984 as the local goal scorer
instead became a local run scoring sensation by hitting no less
than 2,000 runs in the season, the most runs ever scored in a season
by an individual for Rainham Cricket Club. His achievements included
123 against Charing, 122 against Davington Priory and 90 against
Harvel. The run marvel Alfie had not only made his mark at Rainham
but also on the local cricket scene as his name made almost weekly
headlines on the sports pages of the Chatham News.
Inevitably other
clubs viewed the Rainham run machine as a more than useful acquisition
and the Rainham opener was soon turning out for Old Anchorians in
the East Kent League and the Gore Court midweek XI. The cricketing
“rags to riches” scenario became reality for Alfie as
he piled up the runs for Anchorians, but his social life was important
and his heritage as a Rainham boy came first, so when Rainham joined
the Gravesend & Dartford League Alfie was soon back with his
old club, scoring 52 in the final league game against Cray Darts
to help Rainham secure the championship in 1987.
From the late
1980s until the mid 1990s Alfie became a regular opening force with
Keith Morris and they became an essential part of the Rainham successes
of the 1990s with their big first wicket stands. Their successful
partnerships must rank them as one of the most successful opening
pairs in the history of the club. They also formed a fearsome partnership
in the bar, opening the drinking on many occasions in post-game
sessions as Alfie developed a reputation of putting away his sherbets
with much the same efficiency as he scored runs.
Although Alfie
never took on any official positions within the committee, he did
periodically captain the First XI successfully and proved to be
a wily and astute captain.
In 1990 Alfie
got into the record books again when he was involved in a record
opening partnership of 284 with Steve Day against Bexley in a match
where four players scored centuries. This record partnership still
stands today. In 1993 he scored two centuries on the same weekend
with 133 not out against Teynham & Lynsted and 111 not out against
Bexley Hospital. In 1995 he scored two consecutive centuries of
126 against Chatham Nomads and 106 against Betsham on consecutive
weekends.
Alfie continued
piling up the runs for Rainham until the 1997 season, then decided
to give up the game in favour of golf as old football injuries were
affecting his knees and therefore his mobility in the field. His
last recorded big score was 90 against New Ifield for the Second
XI in 1997.
Since becoming
a Rainham run making wonder Alfie has moved on to greater things
in life, has seen his son Ray and daughter Becky grow up and move
away, has escaped the Sheerness Steel mill once and for all and
periodically spends time abroad with his wife Maggie, where he can
work on his golf and has time to recall his past cricketing memories.
He may not have been a Michael Caine but Alfie could certainly score
runs and put away those sherbets.
David Wood 2005
