50 years in the scorebox
Stalwart Andrew Finney marks half a century as 1st team scorer
As Rainhill Cricket Club reaches the milestone of 150 years one of its most popular characters, Andrew Finney, marks 50 seasons as the first team scorer.
Andrew's association with the club stretches back to his late father Harry, himself a long-standing treasurer of the club, who brought Andrew to the ground as a teenager. In his early years with the club he did ‘don the whites’ but his true passion has always been in the scorebox.
Andrew is a significant figure in the club and is known for his friendliness, loyalty, and reliability. He predominately scores for the first team, hardly missing any matches and steps in to score for all teams at the club. Andrew enthusiastically carries out the scorer’s role on an unpaid basis and gives up his free time to get involved with all club activities.
Andrew is a great ambassador for Rainhill Cricket Club and he enjoys the interaction with fellow scorers during matches. He is highly respected by all the members of the club - and as well as opposition players, scorers and officials - and enjoys a couple of shandies after matches.
With the club reaching 150 years old and reflecting on its history Andrew has been a valuable source of memory and stories. He has diplomatically answered questions about his views on 'best teams’ and ‘best players’ over his 50 years. Andrew has always been keen to praise but never critical. He has seen the first team, who now sit proudly in the Premier League of the Liverpool and District Cricket Competition, move across five league competitions over his half century in the scorebox. So many teams and players are astonished to be told of Andrew's commitment and longevity in scoring for the team.
Rainhill Cricket Club president Peter Mercer, who has known Andrew really well since the mid 1970’s, said: ‘we are immensely proud of Andrew’s superb achievement, and we are very lucky to have such a fantastic person volunteering for us for so long’.
Andrew has no desire to give up scoring any time soon and is setting his sights on a much bigger score than 50 not out.
The club is currently planning for a new scorebox and there is little doubt we already have the perfect the name for it!