A rearranged fixture from Burghley Park Cricket week, with all the team bar the match manager 25 or under. Leaving the sheep flock looking worried and a few eagle-eyed pensioners traumatised by the CV19 al fresco changing room, WNCC changed, lost the toss and fielded. (West) Norfolk’s next star chef in the making (best fry-up in Wells I hear), Louis Rawlings opened the bowling carving out two quick wickets with late in-swing at pace, Harry Chatfeild-Roberts sprinting up the hill accounting for another, in an opening 6 overs of 3 wickets for 10 runs.
Edd Siddle on debut out-foxed another with his off spin and the one that went the other way, Hubie Watts bowled a tidy line, whilst Edmund Parker bamboozled yet another with his “high action off-the-wrong-footers”, clearly Norfolk traits emerging. Eccentric but effective. 5 down with 30 odd runs on the board and an early outdoor bath in the Burghley Park sheep troughs looming.
Henry Bletsoe, now a veteran of this fixture, then bowled 6 overs on the trot for 4 wickets, with a hotch-potch up the other end chipping in a couple more. BPCC needing runs but losing wickets took their total to 146. Top fielding, excellent catching and keeping from Archie, Harry Kennedy taking an admirable catch at deep mid-off at full stretch.
The second half was typically WNCC. Archie Hancock and Nick Davies got things moving, Nick with a fine four back past the bowler, joined by Josh Lecompte and Edmund Parker, both resisting and fighting back against two good opening bowlers in the groove, taking the score to 80 odd, with Edd Siddle and Josh then seemingly cruising, until Josh was out swinging with WNCC on 130. With 17 to win, 32 overs to bat, and only four WNCC wickets down we then lost 5 wickets for twelve runs, 2 wickets to “Fordy” (clearly these young lads need to learn to despatch a pork pie or two), leaving Kennedy and Bletsoe to crawl over the line with 5 singles. A WNCC win.
Thanks Stuart, Burghley Park CC and their team for yet another great game of cricket at Burghley Park CC, played on an excellent wicket in such a memorable setting.
