Sam Alford is a talented and calm 15-year-old who has played the last two games as a specialist wicketkeeper in Romsey’s McIntyre Cup 1sts.
He has a long-term ambition of improving his cricketing skills to eventually become a quality ‘keeper-batsman.
And what does Sam like so much about standing behind the stumps, waiting for a batter to make a mistake, giving him a catch or stumping chance?
“You’re always in the game,” Sam told me during a prolonged rain break in the Romsey versus Woodend McIntyre Cup match at Romsey on Saturday.
He attends Braemar College and has played cricket for several years from the time he was at St Mary’s Primary School in Lancefield.
Sam is number 11 in Romsey’s batting order and hopes to eventually relinquish that spot as his batting improves in the not-too-distant future.
He said he has enjoyed the matches he’s played with Romsey at different levels and gives great credit to cricket and football stalwarts Chris and Matt Burkett for encouraging him at training sessions.
To play with such a fine captain-coach as Ben Way at Romsey is a step in the right direction for Sam.
“They wanted to use Tom Boyer – regular 1sts ‘keeper – to bowl, and I was asked to step up,” he explained.
Sam was pleased to have a brief conversation with Woodend captain Marcus Stewart during the ongoing rain break mid-afternoon.
Stewart wished him “Good luck’ for the future, and that was appreciated by the keen-on-cricket youngster.
There’s plenty of bowlers who really value having a top ‘keeper behind the stumps at any level. It’s possible Sam could well be in demand at higher levels in the future.
Sam has grown up in a trotting environment at Bolinda; his father is legendary reinsman Chris Alford who has driven over 8000 winners in an illustrious career that has had the 55-year-old at the top of his career sport for many years.
The late Barry Alford (father of Chris) was a jockey who started his career with trainer Bill McNabb at Kyneton and later switched to trotters/pacers when harness trainer Graham Lang came to Romsey.
The Alford name is renowned for horse involvement across generations at Romsey.
