Little did Mike Fisher know that his first steps towards his journey in cricket in 1958 would result in 65 years of unbroken and unwavering commitment to the game of cricket as a player, scorer, coach, selector, manager, official and administrator.

While Mike has advised that he is retiring from his position as Operations Manager for the CMCA, he will continue this summer working for Canterbury Cricket and will no doubt remain involved in some capacity as he progresses towards his platinum jubilee of involvement with cricket.

Like many youngsters of his day, cricket was Mike’s chosen sport, commencing his career with the Old Collegians Club at the age of eight. A brief foray as a wicket keeper ended thanks to a painful blow to the knee, and out of that a batsman was born.

It was, however, with some trepidation, that Mike even came back for a second season, as his first netted a grand total of zero runs. The memorable highlight of season two was hitting a four at Elmwood Park and after that, the young boy was hooked on the game. 

In 1959 Mike started as scorer for the West Christchurch University CC senior side. Mike was welcomed by the team and invited to train with the squad at Hagley Park. It was at this time that opening bowler Jim Cahill took Mike aside for his first serious cricket coaching, and a move to the St Andrew’s College Prep School the following year signalled a turn-around in fortunes.

As he progressed through to St Andrew’s College Mike quickly made his way  into the 1st XI and held a spot as a  top batsman for three seasons, captaining the side in his final  two years.

Throughout his school years, Mike had retained his connection with West Christchurch University through practices so it was an easy decision to join the club after leaving school. The Senior side of the time featured New Zealand and Canterbury players including Graham Dowling, Brian Hastings, Terry Jarvis, David Trist. Gary Bartlett, Chris Kirk, Peter Sharp and Neville Huxford so Mike started in the 2A side, but his promise was soon recognised as he moved up to the Senior team. 

The West Christchurch team of the era was very successful, winning a number of competitions and excelling in the early years of One-Day cricket. Mike contributed to this success, amassing four hundreds for the club including a memorable 175* in an ANZ Knockout One-Day match in 1972.During these early seasons, Mike was selected for the Canterbury Brabin team (Under 20), Rothman’s team (Under 23) and the Canterbury B team.

He also captained the New Zealand University team against Australia. During this period, Mike also played cricket for Canterbury University team at the University tournament to be held at Massey University in 1968. He boarded the Wahine on its fateful journey from Lyttleton to Wellington. Three years ago, in 2018, at the Wahine’s fiftieth anniversary, Mike re-united with a fifty year old women who Mike had saved as a baby on the ill-fated vessel.

In 1973 Mike started his teaching career at Greymouth High School, commuting to Christchurch each Friday after work for the weekend’s game, while returning to Greymouth on Sunday afternoon, or,  if there was something to celebrate, early on the Monday morning! After one year at Greymouth High School Mike made the tough decision to leave the South Island to take up a teaching role at Rathkeale College in Masterton.

Cricket was still to the forefront in Mike’s time, playing and coaching for the College and forging a 16-year career in the Hawke Cup with Wairarapa while also playing for and captaining Central Districts “B”.It was at the age of 38 that Mike retired from serious cricket. In his last club match against Greytown he scored a century, as he did in his last innings for the Wairarapa Hawke Cup team.

In 1991, Mike took his family on a year’s school exchange to Cranleigh School in Surrey, returning briefly to Rathkeale, before taking up a position as Headmaster of Waihi School in Winchester, South Canterbury in 1994.

For over 25 years Mike had immersed himself in the culture of boarding school life, strongly supported by wife Susan and watching his young family of three grow. With oldest son at boarding school in Christchurch and other children soon to follow, the decision was made to return home to Christchurch.Mike’s skills were quickly snapped up as the Christ’s College 1st XI Coach and the Head of Cricket while also supporting rugby, basketball and house sport at the College in coaching and administrative roles.

In 2006 Mike was appointed to the role of Assistant Manager of Operations at Canterbury Cricket, initially under Richard Reid’s leadership, then under Lee Germon. Mike very much appreciated the support of Trudy Anderson, his senior colleague in  these early years.Since 2006 Mike has continued a similar but ever evolving role, moving to Christchurch Metro Cricket as the Operations Manager when the organisation was formed in 2012 to focus solely on club cricket in Christchurch.

Reflecting on his past years, sport has always been a big part of Mike’s life: as a rep player in cricket, rugby, golf and basketball. Coaching was also to the forefront with 39 years of coaching cricket and rugby with positions of administration and management in golf and basketball.

Mike was on the Canterbury Golf Association, Wairarapa Secondary Schools Rugby Association and the Wairarapa Cricket Association. He was also a Canterbury Under 19 selector, assistant coach and team manager. 

In his cricketing work life, Mike reflects fondly on a number of legacy projects that have left the community game in a better place than when he arrived and have all played a significant role in helping grow the game for players, officials and volunteers and some of these highlights have included: 

In his early time with Canterbury Cricket, Mike identified an opportunity for the CCA to support clubs and schools with the improvement of playing surfaces.  Out of this came the Autumn renovation programme, with the then CCA and now CMCA Turf Advisor Chris Lewis completing work on premier grounds post-season. This has now motivated the Christchurch City Council to follow suit with the pitches they prepare.

• Mike has formed a close professional bond with the Christchurch City Council and through this relationship the community cricket grounds of Christchurch continue to be the best going around. Club cricket now has full rebuilds of Hospital Corner, Sydenham Park, Woolston Park, Lancaster Park and St Albans Park and a vastly improved outfield mowing programme during the spring and early summer.
• A player transfer system that ensures the players who move clubs are financially settled and have returned gear and equipment. There are numerous examples over the years where this process has supported clubs in making sure that debts  are paid.
• The evolution of the Craig McMillan Series for intellectually disabled  players, initially brought to life with support from Justin Muschamp from the Halberg Trust and continued through Mike’s passion and the relationship he developed with TraceyAnne Cook who worked at Skillwise.
• The change in club management process involved with the establishment of Christchurch Metro Cricket out of the Christchurch Suburban Association and CCA Community arm. Two entities with proud histories and strong personalities were brought together to provide a springboard for the future of cricket in Christchurch.  Mike acknowledged the vision of  Lee Germon and Roger Georgieff in this amalgamation.
• Working closely with the four Chairmen of Christchurch Metro Cricket: Kerry Dellaca, Ashley Taggart, Ric Horsfall and Bruce Findlay.  Each Chair has brought a different set of skills to the role but their common ground has been a passion and desire to ensure the success of CMCA. Their vision will hold club cricket in good stead in the future.
• The Morning Grade cricket structures that have stood the test of time. These were established in 2008 by a working group including Scott Pawson, Andrew Ellis, Aaron Johnstone, Lee Germon, Brian Adams and Mike. The group’s modus operandi was to establish a two- day structure that was primarily  for club cricketers. Records show, with an average of 24 of the 28 two day matches resulting with outright wins, the success and popularity  of this structure.
• The CMCA Annual Report and Handbook publications which are user-friendly and helpful for players, officials and administrators while the Annual Report provides an historical record for future generations. • The eight-team structure for Afternoon grades which is clear, simple and provides a pathway  for ambitious teams to move up  the grades.

Throughout Mike’s time he has overseen significant projects, competitions and events that have morphed and grown, and now make a significant contribution to community cricket and these include; 

• The Twenty20 Cavaliers grade that started 10 years ago with five teams and is now a thriving 30 team grade with three sections
• Twilight Cricket has grown from  8 teams to more than 20 teams and  is flourishing on a Monday night at the Polo grounds
• The re-emergence of the Presidents grade, which went from a struggling grade to a successful grade with Mike working alongside leaders from within the grade including Dave Robertson and Scott Mason.
• The evolution of the complaints, disputes and Code of Conduct processes and the management of the Code of Conduct Commissioners • The increasing and diverse make-up of the CMCA teams
• The delivery of a consistent approach to the Women’s grades alongside the passionate volunteers that Mike has worked with over the years.

Relationship building has been a great strength of Mike. He loves watching cricket and the relationships with players and supporters have been developed over many a deep conversation about the state of play  on the boundary of a club field.Mike has particularly embraced working with club and school volunteers and readily provides support with grounds, planning, and Council relationships.

Thanks to this collaborative approach there are now robust systems in place  to support the club network.Mike’s visibility on a summer Saturday has helped with the player relationships with open discussions and feedback being provided which has enabled Mike to keep abreast with the thinking of players and ensure that competitions structures continue to meet their needs.

The Umpires have been another passion for Mike, once again, taking the time to develop strong relationships.Having worked with Canterbury Cricket and Christchurch Metro Cricket for over 16 years, Mike has had a major influence on the colleagues he has worked alongside. His passion to provide the best possible service is infectious and due to his extensive experience and leadership qualities he is a person whose knowledge is respected and opinions valued.

He is open to having a hearty debate but is willing to listen to others and always comes back to his underling philosophy of making decisions on what is best for club cricket in Christchurch.As Christchurch Metro Cricket farewells Mike, we are thankful that his skills  and knowledge will not be completely lost to the game, as he will be working for Canterbury Cricket as a match manager for Hagley fixtures over the 2022-23 summer.

Article added: Tuesday 30 August 2022