Cromer v Downham (a)

Norfolk Alliance Premier Division

Cromer made the long trip to Downham to take on the league leaders, on what was a glorious sunny day. Tom Davies won the toss and decided to bat first.

The visitors made a bad start with both Davies and Clarke going with just 5 on the board. Turner and Brown brought some stability with a brief stand of 32. Runs were difficult to come by and wickets were falling regularly for the North Norfolk side. After 25 overs Cromer were 63 for 4.

The Downham bowlers were on top, continuing to take wickets and they quickly got through the Cromer tail end. They were all out in the 41^st over for 122. Extras (38) were the main contributor to the score, with David Turner the top scoring batsman with 24. Todd, Tulett and Barnard all took three wickets a piece.

The Downham reply was by no means as straight forward as they would have hoped. Cromer also took two early wickets, including that of New Zealander Murdoch for a duck. But the partnership of Tulett and Yates pushed Downham towards their victory total. But when their stand was broken after they had put on 78 the Downham middle order collapsed from 87 for 3 to 89 for 6.

Suddenly there was a chance of Cromer pulling off a surprise victory considering the state of the game. But Lanchester and Todd moved the hosts within touching distance of victory and although they did lose two more wickets the reigning champions reached their target with two wickets in hand.

Colin Brown finished with excellent figures of 3 for 8 from 7 overs whilst James Craske and Kristian Regis both got two wickets each.

After a disappointing display with the bat Cromer did superbly with the ball and in the field. They showed the belief that they could get something from the game and although they only picked four points they can go into Saturday’s return fixture with great confidence and there is no reason why they can’t inflict the first league defeat of the season on Downham.

Cromer 122 all out (4pts) lost to Downham 125-8 (21pts) by two wickets

Cromer Innings

T. Davies            bowled A. Todd                                    1

B. Clarke            bowled A. Stuart                        0

D. Turner            c. J. Stuart b. P. Barnard             24

C. Brown            bowled G. Tulett                                    7

R. Charlwood            c. R. King b. P. Barnard             12

M. Warnes            bowled G. Tulett                                    12

K. Regis            c. D. Lanchester b. P. Barnard            18

D. Elliott            c. D. Tulett b. G. Tulett                2

L. Barrett            c. D. Lanchester b. A. Todd            4

L. Davies            lbw A. Todd                            0

J. Craske            Not Out                                     4

                                                            Extras            38

                                                Total (all out) 122 from 40.3 overs

Downham Bowling

A. Stuart 4-0-20-1, A. Todd 7-0-20-3, S. Murdoch 6-2-10-0, G. Tulett 13-4-32-3,

P. Barnard 10.3-2-29-3.

Downham Innings

D. Tulett            c. M. Warnes b. C.Brown            39

A. Stuart            c. L. Barrett b. J. Craske              4

S. Murdoch            c. L. Barrett b. M. Warnes 0

P. Yates            c. M. Warnes b. K. Regis   26

J. Stuart            c. M. Warnes b. C. Brown   1

A. Corbett            c. L. Barrett b. K. Regis               0

D. Lanchester            Not Out                                     17

A. Todd                        c. B. Clarke b. C. Brown               13

P. Barnard            c. L. Barrett b. J. Craske              1

R. King             Not Out                                     0

                                                            Extras            24

                                                Total (for 8)    125 from 35 overs

Cromer Bowling

M. Warnes 7-1-21-1, J. Craske 8-0-23-2, D. Elliott 4-0-18-0, R. Charlwood 3-0-17-0,

C. Brown 7-2-8-3, K. Regis 4-1-13-2, D. Turner 2-0-11-0.