The Great Enigmas of 87

Many will remember 1987 as the turning point for Rainham Cricket Club. The First XI won the Gravesend & Dartford League for the first time and came Runners Up in the League Cup but there were two characters who had recently arrived and were to leave at the end of the season. Both left their mark and must go down in the annals of the club as being rather different from the average club member.

The first of these was a rather quietly spoken and reserved individual known as Paul Phipps. He turned up at the club professing to be an opening batsman, medium pace bowler and slip catcher who had recently moved to the area after playing for Orpington.

After impressing in the closing stages of the 1986 season he took on the position of Club Secretary in 1987 and went on to score over 1,000 runs during the season. His accurate bowling also made a significant contribution to winning the league and he had a very safe pair of hands in the slips.

Paul Phipps developed the reputation of being a defensive batsman, was very difficult to remove and on many occasions almost batted through the Rainham innings. This had its advantages when the team was under pressure but in limited overs games it could be a problem. With scores of 101 not out against Ditton, 76 against Dover Rangers and 70 against Chestfield he was effective and reliable against friendly opposition but in matches like the Ashes Semi-final against Old Anchorians he contributed to losing the game with slow batting.

Paul Phipps' batting was characterized by his forward defensive shot and his high pitched, child like call of "cooooming" when responding to a call from the other end. He was always a polite individual who did his best but as the season drew to a close his sanity came into question after he was allegedly seen performing in Chatham High Street with the Hare Krishna organization. He also began to shun Rainham Cricket Club members when seen in the street. It was, therefore, not surprising when as the club secretary he failed to turn up at the beginning of the following season and was never seen at the ground again. Some say that he was brainwashed by the Hare Krishna group, others say that he took refuge with them after his wife left him, causing him to become fervently religious. He was later and periodically seen in Allders of Chatham scurrying around carrying carpets and other goods. The real answer to his plight is unknown. His ultimate whereabouts and fate still remains a mystery.

The name Nick Larkins usually brings out a wide variety of emotive comments at Rainham Cricket Club ranging from "great bowler," "thug," "great bloke," "animal," and "oh no, not the honey monster" The list is almost endless.

Nick Larkins was a large, loud, aggressive and larger than life individual from Ash, near Canterbury. Very different from the reserved Paul Phipps he could be described as controversial although some people would say that was a mild way of describing him. He had worked as a night club bouncer in Plymouth, had allegedly been incarcerated for assault and always loudly spoke his mind both on and off the field of play without the slightest inhibition.

Physically he was big and aggressive with a massive frame, almost no neck, a short ginger beard and short cropped ginger hair. He was so imposing that he scared the average person and terrified the timid. To some people he was privately known as the Honey Monster, Nicko or just plain Nick to his face. His voice boomed incredibly loudly and he was an enormously overpowering individual who, on the cricket field, played to win at all cost and modelled himself on Ian Botham. Like Botham his presence was often full of incident and controversy.

His typical manner was seen against Dartford when he came slouching to the wicket wearing his characteristic dentist's shirt buttoned at the shoulder with his stomach protruding over his trousers. Having taken guard he crouched down on the ground to check it against the stumps at the other end. After aggressively staring out the umpire for several seconds he took his guard a second time then after being satisfied that everything was in order prepared to face the bowling. With the first delivery Nick was completely beaten and bowled. Looking into the air he shouted the word "f…k!" so loud that it reverberated around the ground almost deafening those nearby. He then stormed off in an atmosphere of stunned silence. At the time I was umpiring at square leg and a Dartford player fielding nearby turned to me with a look of horror and astonishment on his face and said:

"Who the hell is that? I don't like the look of him."

Nick Larkins was a complex figure to work out. At times incredibly aggressive, argumentative and abusive he could also be very comical, friendly and was capable of participating sensibly in intelligent discussion. He also demonstrated a keen knowledge of cricket and knew a lot about the national game. At first sight he appeared to be bulky, slow and heavy but he could be deceptively quick and very agile. I clearly remember him taking an incredible leaping one handed catch on the boundary edge against St Lawrence & Highland Court, the best seen that season.

As a player Nick Larkins had undoubted ability as shown in his first performance for the club in a mid-week fixture against High Halstow at the end of 1986. Coming into bat at number nine with the score at 80-7 in reply to a score of 244-8, he applied himself immediately and finished with 51 not out in a score of 156-8.

It was as a bowler that Nick Larkins made the biggest contribution during the 1987 championship season. Bowling medium pace seamers he was deadly accurate, could swing the ball in both directions and could seam it both ways off the pitch. This made him a very difficult bowler to play on a slow or rain affected wicket. With many fine bowling performances during the season his best performances were against Frindsbury when he took 8-10 in 12 overs and against Hayes when he took 6-14.

After a series of controversial incidents including the aggressive pursuit of one of his own players during an over at Staplehurst and several other confrontations with Rainham and opposition members, Nick Larkins was asked to leave the club. He disappeared from the local cricket scene as quickly as he had arrived. He was an unforgettable character and nobody made a bigger physical impression on or off the field. He was possibly the greatest enigma Rainham Cricket Club has ever seen.

David Wood 2004