Rainford reaping their rewards after many years of hard slog

Apr 11 2008 by Nick Smith, Liverpool Daily Post

DECADES of devoted service by past and present officials of Rainford CC will receive their due reward tomorrow when the club plays its first matches in the Business Assistance Liverpool Competition.

Dave Tully’s side earned promotion by finishing top of the Merseyside and Southport Cricket Alliance last September, but club chairman John Williams identifies that fine achievement as simply putting the seal on years of planning and dreaming.

“Everyone’s proud, pleased, excited,” he said. “It’s something we’ve been aiming for since the Alliance was formed and we’ve been getting stronger each year.”

While top-five finishes in each of the last four seasons bear out Williams’ judgement, Rainford’s development from a club in the Division II of the Southport & District League has involved far more than good league positions.

For example, Tully’s side at Wigan tomorrow will contain seven players to come through the club’s junior teams, a fact from which Williams derives both particular pleasure and considerable relief.

“We’ve boys who deserve to play at a higher level,” he said. “Thankfully Rainford can give them that opportunity and I’m just glad we were promoted last season because otherwise I think we’d have lost those players to other clubs.”

Rainford’s young bucks include Williams’s own son, Mark, and Chris Tonge, both of whom are genuine all-rounders, but there are also high hopes at the Recreation Ground for wicket-keeper/batsman Tom Meredith, who has played for Lancashire at every level from under-11s to under-17s.

Williams’s own cricketing involvement – he played a huge role in Rainford’s junior development, is a former secretary of the club and currently manages Lancashire under-12s – establishes his own commitment to the game beyond serious doubt. In that respect he is following in the footsteps of the late Tony Hemingway who, as secretary and president of Rainford, was a major architect of the club’s current status.

“It’s all paid dividends from what Tony created,” pointed out Dave Tully. “The club’s present position is a testament to the work he put in.”

For his part John Williams is mindful of the points deductions levied on both the promoted clubs early last season and is hoping to avoid a similar fate.

“I’ll be hoping that we get through the first game safely and don’t end up with a minus points total on Saturday evening.”

Maybe so, but if the dynamism of the club’s leaders is anything to go by, there will be plenty of pluses for Rainford come September.