The history of Norfolk County Cricket Club falls
fairly neatly into six periods; from 1827 (the year of original
foundation) to 1894; from 1895, the inaugural season of the Minor
Counties Championship, until 1914; the inter-war years; 1946 to
1958; the Edrich era (1959-1970); and more recent events.
A name to conjure with from 1827 was, of course,
that of Fuller Pilch who later gained fame with Kent but who, before
leaving his native County, had helped them to achieve, in 1831,
the reputation of being "now the next Club to the Marylebone".
He twice defeated the Single Wicket Champion, Tom Marsden, by enormous
margins and in 1834 played a large part in Norfolk defeating Yorkshire
by 272 runs at Norwich. Pilch's individual scores of 87 not out
and 73 in themselves exceeded the Yorkshire totals of 37 and 97
by 26 runs. The following season, in a rain shortened match, also
against the might of Yorkshire, he made 157 not out in Norfolk's
second innings 289 for 6.
There were two gaps in the Club's existence - from
1848 to 1862, and from 1871 to 1876, from which year it has prospered
continuously. The Norwich Cricket Week started in 1881, and prominent
names from this period include the brothers L. K. and C. J. E. Jarvis,
G. B. Raikes (later the Revd. G. B. Raikes, who had the distinction
of winning a full International "Cap" for England at Association
Football. and played cricket also for Hampshire between his two
Norfolk periods) and the professional Charlie Shore who, coming
from Nottinghamshire, took 555 wickets for Norfolk in twelve seasons.
There were only seven Counties in the inaugural Minor
Counties Championship (the Title being shared by Norfolk, Durham
and Worcestershire), and it is remarkable how far the Counties were
prepared to travel in those early days. Durham and Norfolk frequently
met both home and away. and it was against that County that Charlie
Shore took all ten wickets (for 50 runs) in an innings and, for
good measure, captured a further 6-22 in the second innings. Albert
Relf played for Norfolk in 1898 and 1899 scoring 856 runs and taking
65 wickets, before going on to represent Sussex and England. G.
B. Raikes - one of a number of clergymen to play for Norfolk around
this time - led Norfolk to another Championship in 1905 (7 matches
won out of 8) and in 1910 it was Raikes again who captained his
County to the Championship Title. By this time G. A. Stevens and
M. Falcon - the latter of whom, in 1912, succeeded Raikes as Captain
- had started notable careers with the County, who became Champions
again in 1913. In 1912 Norfolk had again won 7 matches out of 8
to head the Table, but it proved impossible to arrange a Challenge
Match against Staffordshire, and the table was left in abeyance.
The inter-war years were a period of great cricketing
prosperity for Norfolk, under Falcon's leadership, despite the lack
of a Title to show for it. The opinion has often been expressed
that, at times in this period, Norfolk would have more than held
their own as a First Class County. As well as Falcon, who had played
for Cambridge University against Oxford in 1908, 1909, 1910 and
1911, five other "Blues" featured in the side - two of
the Rought-Rought brothers (Cambridge) and the Oxford Blues D. F.
Walker, M. R. Barton and T. G. L. Ballance while the Edrich brothers
Bill, Eric and Geoffrey were also regular players for the County.
1946 to 1958 were, generally speaking, years of struggle.
Michael Falcon led the side through the first post-war season and
thus achieved the unique distinction of having captained his County
before the first World War and after the second! He retired having
scored in excess of 11,000 runs and taken more than 700 wickets
and continued to serve as Committee man, Chairman and President.
But the loss of leading players killed during the war, and the departure
to Lancashire of Eric and Geoffrey Edrich had weakened the County
considerably. Morale was boosted by the emergence of the young
Peter Parfitt and John Edrich in the 1950's before they, too, went
on to higher things. Prominent in the side were fine players such
as Nigel Moore and Peter Walmsley and the sole professional, C.
S. R. Boswell; but although in 1953 and 1955 form improved, it was
not until the return of W. J. Edrich that any consistent success
was achieved.
Bill Edrich, returning from Middlesex in 1959, took
over the captaincy of the side and brought about an immediate transformation.
Thirteen postwar seasons had brought just twelve victories; Edrich
increased the overall tally by four in his very first season, taking
the side to seventh place. The professional, E. G. Witherden, scored
1031 runs in the ten matches. 1960 brought a further six victories,
and top place in the Table but Norfolk lost the Challenge Match
to a Lancashire side who included two former Test Match bowlers.
Andrew Corran (later Captain of Nottinghamshire) and Henry Blofeld
(latterly of Test Match Special) had achieved "Blues"
at Oxford and Cambridge respectively and Norfolk's well-balanced
side proved a formidable combination. Clive Radley - another future
Test player - came into the side which was later in the period,
strengthened further by players such as Graham Saville. Ronnie Bell
and Richard Jefferson to add to the burgeoning local talents of
Billy Rose, Doug Mattocks, Quorn Handley, Robin Huggins and Tracey
Moore. All in all this was a period which almost matched that of
the inter-war period.
Whoever had to follow the charismatic Bill Edrich
was bound to find the going hard - and so it has proved, with success
since 1970 taking on a more cyclical guise. Players such as Steve
Plumb, Parvez Mir, Terry Barnes and Phil Sharpe brought success,
but not consistent cricketing riches. The side came second in the
Table in 1981, topped its geographical Division in 1996 (before
losing the Play-off to Devon) and shared the Title in 2002, a year
in which Carl Rogers and Carl Amos, with a partnership of 335 against
Hertfordshire established a new record opening stand for all Minor
County cricket. Norfolk also took the Minor Counties One-day Title,
in 1986 (under Quorn Handley) and again (at Lord's, under Paul Newman)
in 1997 and 2001.
Prominent in the side at that time were Roger Finney, Steve Goldsmith and Tim Boon, whilst Martin Saggers appeared briefly for his native county before heading for Durham, Kent and later the England Test XI. 2001 also saw the club move to a new “home”, Manor Park, Horsford on the northern outskirts of Norwich. A painful decision for many at the time, the departure from Lakenham after more than a century, has proved to be completely correct, giving the county access to one of the friendliest, pleasant and well appointed grounds on the Minor Counties circuit.
Bradshaw succeeded Newman as captain in 2003 as the county entered another period of change and re-building. Neither 2003 nor 2004 brought meaningful success, although there were the inevitable highlights and individual achievements, including the introduction of former Kent and Leicestershire batsman Trevor Ward. “Normal service” was restored in 2005 with another visit to Lord’s, again meeting Western Division opposition, Wiltshire. Sadly, a big Norfolk following left for home disappointed as rain prevented any play on the allocated day. Nevertheless, both clubs readily agreed to the idea of a “replay” which was staged at Slough nine days later and Norfolk came out on top by six wickets – their third one-day trophy in 8 years.
By now Amos and Rogers – the leading Minor Counties batsman in 2005 – were established as a feared and reliable opening pair and Bradshaw as one of the competition’s brightest young captains. Chris Brown had become a reliable and regular wicket-taker and with Chris Borrett fulfilling the “all-rounder” role the core of the side available to the Norfolk selectors is one of the strongest since the heady days of the “public school boy and gentlemen cricketers” of the 1930s.
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