Norfolk Over 70's XI vrs Sussex at Three Bridges on 6th July 2017
31st July 2017
Norfolk Over 70's. vrs Essex Over 70's
Over 70's victorious over Essex by 14 runs at Barton Turf today.
First of all, this was a great advert for Over 70's cricket. Essex won the toss and inserted Norfolk at Barton Turf. Openers Pearse and Cobb got the home side off to a great start adding 67 runs by the first drinks break at the 15 Over point. 23 more runs added before Cobb (38) holed out to point in the 22nd over. Taylor joined Pearse who had registered yet another half century and the score progressed to 125 before Taylor (24) was caught behind in the 28th over. By the second drinks break at 30 overs, the score stood at 129 for the loss of just two wickets.Dewson provided good support as Pearse progressed towards another ton, however with the score on 183, Dewson departed for 23 with 40 overs gone. A brief flurry from Barnham (7) as Pearse reached three figures and then Pearse opened up and added a further 22 runs to his score along with Broughton adding five to his score. The innings ending on 227-4 from the 45 overs bowled.
Norfolk were confident at the interval that they had enough runs on the board and that it was a total The could comfortably defend.
Stuck and Curtis the openers up against Gale and Over 70's debut boy Ashdown. Steady controlled bowling backed up by good ground fielding meant that at 15 overs Essex were 52 without loss however they should have been a wicket down as Curtis was put down early in his innings. Curtis having scored 18 then retired hurt (hamstring) and was replaced by the hard hitting Carter. 100 without loss however just 11 runs later Carter was bowled by James on his return to the side, replacing the injured Powell..At the second drinks break at 30 overs Essex were sitting pretty at 128-1 and the home side were suddenly not quite so confident in gaining the victory. Stuck and Newman were starting to up their game, Stuck bringing up his half century before falling to a great delivery from Saunders in the 40th over with the score on 187. 41 runs required with five overs remaining. Curtis returned with a runner but could not get bat on ball and retired for a second time. Skipper Gale had to leave the field after jarring his back and vice captain Saunders took charge for the last 4 overs. Excellent bowling by Carmen and Ashdown along with some fine work with the gloves by Broughton brought three wickets in quick time and it was left to Dewson to bowl the final over with a 20 run cushion. In the end Essex finished on 213-5.
A good solid start was built on to produce the first 200+ score, in the main by yet another Pearse century. A little wobble with the ball however once again the bowling unit came up trumps when the pressure was on.
An unfortunate incident occurred which resulted in Martin Pearse's clothes going missing, however a ransom note was received demanding that Martin buy a couple of jugs if he ever wanted to see his clothes again. Martin duly paid the ransom.
27th. July 2017
Norfolk Over 70's vrs Surrey Over 70's
Over 70's lost home fixture at Mundford against Surrey today
Norfolk 137-7 (40 overs) .Surrey 138-2 (37 overs.) Surrey confirm playoff spot alongside Sussex.
Losing the toss, Norfolk Over 70's were inserted by Surrey. Martin Pearse after scoring two boundaries dismissed with the score on 12, caught at slip chasing a wide delivery. Peter Cutmore joined Nobby Cobb and although they found boundaries difficult they added a further 59 runs by excellent running between the wickets before Cobb perished taking one risk too many and was run out for 24.Drinks at 20 overs .Norfolk were on 72-2. Cutmore departed straight after the break ( how often does that happen) having scored 36. RIchard Taylor was in aggressive mode and scored 38 in quick time as he and Derek Dewson added 42 for the 4th wicket.. 118-4 with 7 overs left. Three wickets fell in this period with just another 19 runs added and the innings closed on 137-7 after 40 overs.
Not a too daunting target for the visitors, just a steady rate of 3.5 runs per over required, however Surrey were finding runs just as difficult to score as the home side had. David Powell bowled his usual tight line with great support from both Geoff Saunders and Ray Carman and when opener Greenwood-Hone departed in the 17th over, Surrey were 47-1, ten runs behind Norfolk at the corresponding point. David Powell had to leave the field with a leg injury having bowled 6 of his allotted 8, which enable Surrey (John Hitchman in particular) to release the pressure. Derek Dewson dismissed Skipper Mike Byford for 3(straight after the drinks break again) with Surrey still 19 runs behind Norfolk at this point. Hitchman and partner Roger Maynard set about upping the rate as skipper David Gale rotated his bowlers. Two catches not taken, one off each of the batsmen were to prove crucial as these two batsmen upped the rate. Having lost Powell from his attack, a sixth bowler was needed and part-time bowler Mike Smith ( hadn't bowled for three seasons) and it's fair to say that it was at this point that all chance of winning the game disappeared. 14 runs from his two overs left Surrey the winners after 37 overs.
In the end Norfolk had made a real fist of it. A failure to capitalise at the back of the innings left them 30 runs or so short. two chances spurned in the field, the loss of David Powell from the attack ( 0-11 from 6) and 11 wides / no balls contributed to the loss. However Surrey have qualified for the play offs and have not been pushed this close for quite a few games.
20th July 2017
Hertfordshire Over 70's vrs Norfolk Over 70's
Norfolks Over 70's travelled to Watford yesterday for their match against Hertfordshire Over 70's. Inserted by the home side on what appeared to be a good batting track, openers M.Pearse and N.Cobb found run scoring difficult against the tight bowling of both Newland and Bassill and the field placing by the Home skipper. Only 26 runs were scored from the first ten overs, however by the drinks break at 23 overs, M.Pearse had reached his half century and The score had moved on to 71. N.Cobb went with the score on 82 quickly followed byD.Dewson and P.Cutmore with only 17 more runs added, R.Taylor helped himself to a quick fire 23 off as many balls ( including an all ran 4) as M.Pearse continued on his way to a century.156-4 when Taylor departed and another flurry of wickets as both M.Smith and G.Saunders perished as they tried to push the score along.M.Pearse duly reached his century before he too perished in the cause with the score on 169 in the 43rd over. A spirited knock by both A.Broughton and D .Powell added 17 more runs as the innings ended on 186-7.
Needing to both bowl and field well, the Visitors struck in the first Over when the potentially dangerous T.Levey was 'gleefully ' snapped up at slip by D.Dewson off the bowling of skipper D.Gale..D.Powell at the other end as miserly as ever bowled his 9 overs straight through and finished with 1-13 as Hertfordshire lost wickets at key points in the game.G.Saunders replaced Gale after 5 overs (1-14) and promptly had Johnson caught by D.Powell in his first over. 24-2 from 11 overs and all the bowlers on song R. Carman into the attack to replace Powell and 10 runs conceded from the first over, however his next 8 brought him 2 wickets for just 26 runs. D.Dewson replaced Saunders and there was no let up as Hertfordshire fell further and further behind the run rate. By the time both Gale and Saunders returned to the attack the game was dead and buried with Norfolk emerging victorious by 68 runs.
All the 5 bowlers were excellent, Saunders 2-12 , Gale 2-23 , Carman 2-36, Powell 1-13 and Dewson 1-23. The fielding was top class with every catch being taken and the solid start followed by the innings being held together by M.Pearse with his 105 arguably produced the TEAMS best performance of the season.
13th July 2017
Norfolk Over 70's vrs Kent Over 70's
Norfolk Over 70's recorded a 32 run victory over Kent at Old Buckenham yesterday. Norfolk batted first and the openers added 60 for the first wicket at a steady pace . M.Pearse 53 off 93 received good support from P. Cutmore 44 of 50 ( before he had to retire hurt). some controlled aggression from R.Taylor helped lift the score to 183-5 after 45 overs.
The score looked to be about 35 runs below par especially with the Kent openers adding 61 for the first wicket. The prospects didn't look too good for the home side as 5 catches went down albeit two were extremely difficult. All the bowlers were putting in an excellent shift and apart from the catching, the ground fielding was excellent, two run outs proving how good the fielding was. Derek Dewson took 4 wickets for 25 however it was the controlled tight bowling by all the bowlers that allowed this smaller than expected total to be defended. A victory snatched from the jaws of defeat with Kent finishing on 151-8.
6th July 2017
Sussex Over 70's vrs Norfolk Over 70's
Whilst Norwich suffered torrential rain yesterday, the Over 70's played Sussex in blazing sunshine at Three Bridges in Sussex. Batting first after winning the toss, Norfolk found the bowling of the two Sussex openers hard to get away with just 22 coming off the first ten overs. 42 from Derek Dewson whilst the middle order collapsed around him provided the anchor before Geoff Saunders 41 from 33 balls and David Powell 23 from 32 added 53 runs in an unbroken partnership that took the innings score to 182-7.
Sussex in reply also struggled at first as they scored just 30 from their first ten overs and in the process lost the Sussex run machine Mark Shimmons for just 2 from 23, clean bowled by David Powell. Andy Meads was fortunate when put down with the score on 26. At the first drinks break Norfolk were still in with a chance however, Peter Crees was scoring at will. Meads retired hurt and the Norfolk bowlers were taking wickets. 3 wickets in quick succession saw the return of retired batsman Mead (52 not out from 73 balls) and although David Gale rotated and changed his bowlers, none could control the impressive Crees (85 not out from 79 balls.) Sussex reached 183-4 after 36.5 overs.
22nd June 2017
Holkham Select vrs Norfolk Over 70's (friendly)
Over 70's put into bat by the home side and soon found the opppsition much stronger than expected. Forty overs only produced 117 runs the loss of 7 wickets. Holkham then plated'retirement ' cricket as five batsmen scored around 20 runs in reaching 118-1 from just 30.3 overs
15th June 2017
Essex Over 70's vrs Norfolk Over 70's
Norfolk Over 70's recorded their first win of the season today with a 10 run victory over Essex in a low scoring game. Skipper Dave Gale leading from the front with 4-29
Norfolk 152-7 (45 overs); Essex 142-8 (45 overs))
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8th June 2017
Norfolk Over 70's vrs Worcestershire Seniors touring team (friendly)
The visitors were given fist use of the Barton Turf wicket and rattled up 183-4 (two batsmen retiring) from 40 overs. Norfolk in reply reached 152 all out in the 39th over with 34 from and 33 from I.Parkin
June1st 2017
Norfolk Over 70's vrs Suffolk Over 70's
The Over 70's completed a miserable week for Norfolk, losing to Suffolk at Bradfield yesterday.
Batting first, Suffolk amassed 224, losing just 4 wickets in the process. Norfolk's initial reply started slowly however a fine 100+ partnership by Cutmore(82) and Norman (40) put the home side in with a chance. However the loss of these two batsmen ended any real chance of victory. Norfolk finishing on 211-8
25th May 2017
Surrey Over 70's vrs Norfolk Over 70's
Over 70's well beaten by Surrey yesterday. Surrey batting first scored 242-9 from 45 overs. Norfolk in reply struggled and were all out for just 114 from 44.3 overs.
11th May 2017
Kent Over 70's vrs Norfolk Over 70's
Winning the toss, the home side scored 214 for the loss of 6 wickets from their 45 overs. Norfolks with the exception of Cutmore (35) and Dewson f(33) found runs difficult to come by and were dismissed for 151 in the 42nd over
4th May 2017
Norfolk Over 70's vrs Sussex Over 70's
Over 70's lost their first Championship game against Sussex at Mattishall yesterday by 8 wickets. Richard Taylor on debut scored 48 before getting run out as Norfolk reached 160 for 6 in 45 overs.
Sussex in reply made short work of reaching 161-2 from just 25 overs.
Unfortunately for Norfolk, David Powell dislocated a finger whilst attempting a caught and bowled chance and took no further part in the game. He later went to hospital.
