Paul Winterbone was the star of the show with 4-28, as Cromer continued their impressive league campaign with a great team performance to seal maximum points at Topcroft.
Cromer were inserted on a hard, green wicket, and openers Kimber and Gascoyne were soon back in the pavilion. This brought skipper Alan Lithins to the crease, in his trademark baggy trousers, and he stopped the madness and avoided any embarrasment as he eased the score along. Lithins had been described in the dressing room as yesterday’s man, but here he went one step beyond and, as the clouds gathered, he consolidated the innings in the sun and the rain.
Lithins fell, slashing at the spinner’s first ball, for a confident 38, but Richard Graveling was starting to find the middle of the bat at the other end. With John Battrick, the pair eased the score along before Battrick fell for a cool 22. Gavin Neale had been short of runs but he proved that class is permanent as he and Graveling accelerated, running well between the wickets and picking off the Topcroft attack with some fine strokes.
Graveling reached his hundred, and soon Neale was also taking the appaluse for a superb half-century. The pair put on an unbeaten ninety, with last week’s batting hero Dave Green left in the pavilion, and set up a challenging target of 244-4.
It proved to be more than enough, as Winterbone swept the Topcroft reply aside with some dominant swing and seam bowling to take 4-28 and effectively end the game as a contest, with Battrick finding some lively pace down the hill. The Cromer fielding was in the groove, with good catches from Gavin Neale and Lithins, a reflex, diving grab from Graveling at gully and a sharply-taken Gascoyne snaffle at slip.
Taylor replaced Battrick with a hostile, fiery four-over spell, but it was Kevin Neale who mopped up with three wickets to decimate the Topcroft tail. When Dave Green ran out the last man Cromer were out of Dodge with a maximum 25 points and their tails up, consolidating third place in Division Five. They now have five weeks of massive matches looming, starting with the game that will go a long way to determining the destiny of the league - leaders Halvergate, who visit the Norton Warnes on Saturday (1pm).