Norfolk must maintain their standards against Cumberland to earn first victory of 2017 Norfolk Festival of Cricket
Action from Norfolk's draw with Suffolk at Manor Park - Rob Taylor with his maiden century for Norfolk. Picture: Tim Ferley - Credit: Tim Ferley
It may have been a frustrating start to the Norfolk Festival of Cricket but captain Chris Brown hopes Norfolk can replicate their performance levels in game two.
Action from Norfolk's draw with Suffolk at Manor Park - Chris Brown 450 wickets and a half century. Picture: Tim Ferley - Credit: Tim Ferley
A rain-affected clash saw Suffolk play out a draw without allowing the hosts a proper chance to chase but Brown feels more of the same will cause Cumberland problems at Manor Park.
'We bowled well in the first innings, I think it was quite an important toss to win, so to restrict them to what we did (declaring on 300 for nine) was quite good,' the long-serving spinner said.
'We then lost two quick wickets so to get within 11 runs of our target was a really good effort. But with the rain on the first day losing us four hours or so, for Rob Taylor to get his first hundred for the county, particularly at home, was pleasing and I was fortunate enough to chip in with 69 myself.
'We bowled exceptionally well, too well, in the second innings because it never set up anything for Suffolk, so it was frustrating that they didn't even try to go for the win but the boys stayed disciplined later in the game.
Action from Norfolk's draw with Suffolk at Manor Park - Ben France receives congratulations for his fifth wicket. Picture: Tim Ferley - Credit: Tim Ferley
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'So a bit frustrating but we did get close to them and the table looks okay, if we get a result against Cumberland then we could go joint top with Lincolnshire, so it's all to play for.'
The three-day game starts at 11am tomorrow, with Norfolk making one change. They had hoped to bring in another spin option in Ryan Findley but the Horsford skipper is unavailable so Ben Coote comes in for Adam Todd.
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Cumberland arrive on the back of a five-wicket home win over Northumberland, in which Toby Bulcock took 11 of the wickets and Mattie McKiernan contributed 186 runs. Ben France also took eight wickets and Brown six in Norfolk's draw with Suffolk though, so a good match is in prospect.
'Suffolk were six down after lunch on the final day but to be fair to their lower order they dug in,' Brown added. 'So there wasn't much between us. If we play like that against other teams, we'll come out on top.
Norfolk: James Spelman, Sam Arthurton, Jason Reynolds, Rob Taylor, James Hale, Ben France, John Ewart, Ben Coote, Chris Brown (C), Ben Stolworthy, Sam Groves (WK)
