The first major Norfolk Club of the 19th century was that based at Holt and the famous Norfolk v MCC match of 1820, in which William Ward made 278, was in fact the Holt Club with EH Budd, Thomas Vigne and Felix Ladbroke as given men. This was a "borderline" match in terms of its status but, because of its historical importance it is rated first-class. In any case, the addition of the three given men raised the standard of the Holt/Norfolk team above the general run of Holt matches. The Holt club declined from the mid-1820s.
After that, the centre of county cricket was Norwich and a prominent club was founded there on 11 January 1827. For a few seasons, prior to Fuller Pilch's departure for Kent about 1835, Norfolk could put a fairly strong eleven into the field. Their only major county opponent, however, was Sheffield Cricket Club (playing as Yorkshire) and the five games they played in 1833, 1834 (twice), 1835 and 1836 are rated first-class.
Apart from the games against Yorkshire, the main opponents of the Norwich/Norfolk team were Bury/Suffolk and MCC. These games however were not quite in the class of the Yorkshire matches and are not rated first-class. Norfolk played Cambridge Town Club (aka Cambridgeshire) in the 1840s but Norfolk generally fared very poorly and by 1852 the county had ceased to play even MCC.
After the present club was founded in 1876, the county did not again aspire to first-class status and it joined the Minor Counties Championship when it was formed in 1895. It missed the 1896 season, and also did not compete in 1902 and 1903, but otherwise has remained at that level ever since.
Norfolk has won the Minor Counties Championship five times, two of them shared. It won the first Championship in 1895, sharing with Durham and Worcestershire. It won outright in 1905, 1910 and 1913. Its most recent success was a shared title with Herefordshire in 2002.
Norfolk has won the MCCA Knockout Trophy a record five times since its inception in 1983. It won in 1986, 1997, 2001, 2005 and 2009.
