Rodmersham Cricket Club - A Brief History

 

The Early Years

 

The first official transaction of The Rodmersham Cricket Club took place on March 2nd 1885 when a Committee was formed and J. Dixon appointed captain. The first match appears to have been played on June 6th 1885 against a mixed eleven from Newnham and Doddington and was played at Sharsted. Rodmersham won the match. By 1893 there were fixtures against Borden School, Newnham, Faversham School, Milstead and the Artillery. According to the club minutes, by 1898 the fixture card had eight home and eight return matches.

 

To begin with the Club played on a ground offered by Mr. Mercer at Rodmersham Court Farm, but after 1898 early enthusiasm waned and the first break in the club's playing history lasted until 1906.This was the year Kent won the county championship for the first time which may have contributed to cricket's revival at Rodmersham. In the first restart year of 1906,under the captaincy of Mr. Strouts, the club won twelve of the sixteen matches played.

 

Rodmersham played no official cricket during the war years 1915 to 1918. After the first post-war season of 1919 enthusiasm was high and in 1920 a second eleven was formed mainly to encourage young players. The 1920s then saw a mixture of enthusiasm and problems. The second eleven was discontinued in 1929 and the club then disbanded on the 13th October 1929. October 1933 saw the club reinstated, but the minute book for the 1930s records only a few meetings. Although little is formally known about this period, it is known that the club had a flourishing period under the leadership of the ex-Kent player Charlie Wright. Lack of documentary information means that the next period of the club's history comes from personal memories, particular those of the late Frank Packham who had an association with the club for over 70 years.

 

The Memories of Frank Packham

 

Frank Packham's first memories of Rodmersham Cricket Club related to when he was 8 or 9 years old before the First World War. Around 1913/1914 the club played on the field past the chapel end of Rodmersham Green through the hop garden in the "Cricket Meadow". The club was always strong between the wars and the captains of the times include John Strouts and W. J. Thomas who was involved with the club for 23 years. Frank Packham took over the captaincy in the 1930s. During the Second World War the club, not surprisingly, again went into abeyance. The club's minute book was actually used for the minutes and records of The Local Home Guard detachment. After the war, the original ground having been planted, Sir Leslie Doubleday offered a ground bordering Canterbury Road. The club played there for 2 years and then moved to The King George playing field. Frank Packham stopped playing cricket in 1951 "to let the young players come through". He became an umpire and saw the club make the significant move to Rectory Field near Snipes hill. Following this move, throughout the 1950s and 1960s,the club became much stronger, attracting more and better players. The 1960s saw Rodmersham's first appearance in the Doug Wood Cup Final.

 

The Ground at Bottles Lane

 

The ground at Bottles Lane was first mentioned in the minutes of 1965.Cyril Barratt, John Mallion and Derek Cheesman negotiated for the ground and the club is very grateful to the Feakes Family who have always been understanding landlords. Following much hard work by members, the ground and pavilion at Bottles Lane were officially opened on April 29th 1972.Due to bad weather, the opening ceremony was moved to the new village hall where Sir Leslie Doubleday, then the Club President, unveiled a plaque to mark the occasion. The bad weather prevented the celebratory match between the club and Mr. Cyril Barratt's team (The Chairman's Eleven) from taking place. The club's current pavilion, the first phase of which was opened in April 1982, is known as the "Cyril Barratt Pavilion" in memory of his long service to the Club. Costing some £17000,this phase was built with the aid of grants from The Sports Council and Swale Council. It was at about this time that the Cricket Club entered into a formal alliance with Old Bordenian Hockey Club to ensure that a valuable sporting facility was used all year round and the running costs shared. The resulting Rodmersham Cricket and Hockey Club formed a Ladies Hockey section soon after this (Rodmersham Ladies Hockey Club) and in 1987 a phase 2 building project extended the Pavilion to its' current size.

 

In April 2003 the alliance with Old Bordenian Hockey Club was ended following their earlier partnership agreement with Borden Grammer School to create a sports facility with an artificial surface on which to play Hockey. Rodmersham Ladies Hockey Club also opted to depart and become a section of Old Bordenian Hockey Club.

 

First Class Cricketers at Rodmersham

 

Over the years, several eminent cricketers have played for Rodmersham. The first, who would have been playing when the club was founded, was the Rev. Edward William Tetley Taylor-Jones. In 1894 he made the full Kent side but played in only two matches. In his fifties, when he became curate of Rodmersham, he was a very effective batsman. He continued playing until he was passed the age of 65. The next celebrity to play for Rodmersham, A. J. Evans, did so only once or twice as far as can be determined. He played for Kent through residence in the county in Sittingbourne in 1913.He was a stylish batsman, a useful right hand medium paced bowler and an excellent slip fielder. The third distinguished of whom we have records who turned out for Rodmersham was Charlie Wright. He played his first game for Kent in 1921 and played for the county a total of 225 times On retiring he became landlord of The Fruiterers Arms for 4 years. While he was there interest in the village cricket team grew. Several players, from outside the village were drawn by this outstanding first class player. This caused some resentment among local players who had to give up their place in the team.

 

The Colts

 

Colts fixtures first appeared on the fixture card in 1976 although matches had been played before. Following the move to Bottles Lane the development of the Colts was a major step forward, offering a regular supply of keen young players who often went on to play for the first eleven. The Colts initiative has produced many outstanding players who over the years have gone on to represent the County at Schoolboy, Kent Colt or AKCC level. Most recently, in 1998, the Club had County representatives at the under 11, under 12 and under 13 levels. This success is a credit to those who give freely of their time to coach the youngsters and provide the administration that is vital to an efficient Colts section.                                                

 

The Doug Wood Cup

 

Rodmersham played in the inaugural Doug Wood Cup competition in 1954.In 1962 they reached the final but lost to Bobbing Court. They again reached the final in 1964 when the result was a comfortable win for Gore Court. Bob Packham, deserves a special mention for his performance in this match, scoring 52 runs out of a total of 97,and taking all 5 wickets for 71 runs in Gore Court's innings of 250 for 5. In 1974 Rodmersham beat Bowaters to win the cup for the first time. The match was very close, Rodmersham winning only in the last over of Bowaters innings. Since then, the Club has reached the Final on several occasions, winning in 1979, 1981, 1984, 1988 and 1989.

 

Centenary Celebrations

 

The Club Centenary was celebrated with a Cricket Week from Saturday July 27th to Friday 2nd August 1985.Matches were played against Bobbing Court, Milstead, The Royal Engineers, The Primary Club, The M.C.C., The A.K.C.C. and the Presidents XI. Following this last match, a Centenary Celebration Dinner was held in a marquee pitched on the outfield. The dinner consisted of 5 courses with 4 wines and a string quartet provided background music. All 140 guests had a night to remember. Among the luminaries in attendance were Garth Doubleday (Club President) and Robin Leigh - Pemberton, then Governor of the Bank of England, now Lord Kingsdown.

                                                           

League Cricket

 

The Club’s first experience of League Cricket was in 1977 when they joined the Mid - Kent League. After a year of acclimatisation the Club created an impressive record over the next 5 years being runners-up in 1979 and 1981 and winning the League title in 1980, 1982 and 1983. Seeking to play in a higher standard of cricket, the Club joined the East Kent League in 1984 and won the League title in 1990.In the early 90’s plans were drawn up to restructure Club Cricket in Kent by absorbing the top leagues into a single Kent League comprising Premier, 1st and 2nd Divisions. Thus the Club became members of the Kent League in 1996.They finished second in Division 2 in 1998 and were promoted to Division 1, or so they thought. The fast pace of change within the Kent League dictated that two day cricket would be played by those Clubs finishing in the top half of the Premier Division in 1998.The bottom half of the Premier Division became the 1st Division, the 1st Division became the 2nd etc.Thus the Club were promoted from the 2nd Division(old) to the 2nd Division(new)!Life is nothing if not interesting in the Kent League.

1000 runs and 100 wickets

 

In 1984 Chris Annand became the first Rodmersham player to achieve the double of 100 wickets and 1000 runs. In the early 1960s Graham Piesley, at the age of 17,almost achieved the double but missing eight matches proved crucial.

                                   

Overseas Players

 

1993 saw overseas players at Rodmersham for the first time, when Tony Morgan from Australia played for the first eleven. Australians again represented Rodmersham in 1996(Steve Pardy & Andy Cohen) and 1997 (Tony Morgan). 1998 saw New Zealander Richard Pudney create a Kent League second division batting record with an innings of 193,and a season's aggregate of 914 for an average of 65.3.

 

 Indoors cricket

 

Some of the success of Rodmersham in recent years is due to much hard work during the winter months in indoor nets and competitions. The club won the Ken Day Knockout Cup in 1984 as well as the Swale Indoor Cricket League. With the exception of 1988 and 1992 the team has won the Swale Indoor League every year up to 1999. In February 1985 Rodmersham went on to win the Kent Indoor Trophy.

 

Conclusion

 

The cricket that is now played at Bottles Lane is Club Cricket as opposed to Village Cricket, and it is now not possible to identify Rodmersham as a Village club. It is the strength of the cricket club, attracting so many members from outside the Parish that has taken it so far away from its origins. Also, there are fewer men remaining in the village able or willing to play cricket.

 

 

 

 

Referenced from The History of Rodmersham Cricket Club, 1885-1985 by Jon Adams.