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Swardeston Cricket Club Narrowly Miss Out on Trophy in National T20 Final

02 October 2018

Swardeston faced Yorkshire cricket club Hanging Heaton in the Vitality Club T20 competition, with a team that included three Old Norvicensians and a member of staff.

In a competition that attracts an initial entry of 850 clubs from 32 leagues across England and Wales, Swardeston reached the final, held in Derby, but were ultimately defeated by five wickets. The club were facing the absence of their captain, Joe Gatting, through illness and their regular new ball bowlers Thomas Oxley and Freddie Ruffell because of holiday commitments.

The side included three Old Norvicensians: 2018 leavers Alfie Cooper and Joe Flatt, and Mark Thomas (86-95), who was acting captain.

Speaking after the match, Mark said: “It was a good game of cricket and it could easily have gone either way. It was a great effort from our lads. We always knew we were a couple of seamers short which meant we had to bowl spin and the rain didn’t help. Losing Joe Gatting was a blow because he’s our captain and our best player but the boys did well without him…We’d like to be back next year. We have a good young team, the two opening bowlers we were missing are both 21 so hopefully we will be.”

As well as a contingent of ONs, Swardeston also benefitted from the skills of Richard Sims, Norwich School teacher and former Zimbabwe international cricketer. Despite Richard taking two wickets in his final over, it was not enough to clinch victory from Hanging Heaton, who became the first Yorkshire club to win the Vitality Club T20.