Frank enters the Hall of Fame

If you don't know who Frank is you have little knowledge of Rodmersham Cricket Club. Even in the later days of the redoubtable Frank (Mr Rodmersham) Packham, the name Frank was synonymous with one person- Graham Piesley.

As you are all aware, Graham is an accomplished sportsman who puts his success down to "keeping it simple". He carried this concept into his private life by calling all his friends, male or female, Frank and insisted that they did the same. He reasoned that this made life very simple as you never forgot anyone's name and were spared the embarrassment associated with mistaken identity. Simple as it was for those in the know, it inevitably caused total confusion amongst our opposition who could not believe that everyone in our Club, including the women, was called Frank! So it was in the early 1970's that "Frankmania", a product of Graham Piesley's impish sense of humour, took a firm hold on the Club. We should all be grateful that whilst "Frank Syndrome" has lasted into the new millennium, it is in a much diluted form.

The above serves to illustrate the positive impact that Graham Piesley's personality has had on the Club over the years. However, his prowess as player has had a far greater impact. In 1959, at the tender age of 14, Graham scored his first century for Rodmersham. This proved to be the first of many notable achievements by this outstanding Club cricketer, which culminated in season 2000 with him creating a unique record of scoring centuries in each of the last six decades.

It was rare for a match to go by without Graham making an outstanding contribution with bat or ball or both. Come the end of a season it was most unusual if he had not scored at least 1000 runs and taken at least 50 wickets. In the 18 year period 1975 to 1992 alone  he scored 18,868 runs (including 25 centuries and 130 fifties) at an average of 50.05 and took 432 wickets at an average of13.42. During this period he also held 172 catches. In 1998 he was invited to play for Kent over 50’s in Inter-County matches and scored a century on debut. Statistical information on Graham is always impressive but does not reveal positive effect of his personality and infectious sense of humour on team morale.

Being the good Clubman that he is, Graham has expended considerable effort  in his role as Colts Manager. He has successfully coached our various Colts sides who have won many trophies under his expert guidance. He introduces Colts to senior cricket by playing with them in our second XI. It was in one of these matches in season 2000 that he scored a century to create a unique record of scoring centuries in each of the last six decades (50’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80,s, 90,s and 2000).

In 1998 the Club Cricket Conference introduced their "Cricketer of the Year" awards whereby, each year, 5 Club Cricketers are inducted into their "Hall Of Fame". The Club was delighted to learn that Graham had been named as one of the illustrious five for the season 2000. To be fair, Graham was not too happy with this news as he had no knowledge that his name had been put forward! Indeed, he showed a marked reluctance to even attend the presentation ceremony. Nonetheless, he succumbed to a bit of friendly persuasion and attended the ceremony at the Cricketer Club in London in February 2001 where he received his prestigious award and, dare it be said, appeared to have a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

Congratulations Frank!