Arthurton Set for Trophy Title Defence

Norfolk captain Sam Arthurton believes that there is still improvement to come from his side as they prepare for their defence of the National Counties Trophy.

Norfolk beat Cheshire by six wickets in last August’s final at Wormsley to collect their first silverware in 15 years and begin their title defence with a Group Two East Anglia derby at Fakenham on Sunday.

Success was achieved with a young and mostly homegrown squad, all of whom will be available this season with the only significant change being the recruitment of former Derbyshire and Kent off-spinner Hamidullah Qadri to replace Josh Cobb, who has taken up a coaching appointment in Warwickshire’s academy, as professional.

“The way we went about our cricket last year was really good to watch. You still have got to go out there and execute your skills which we fantastically last year and that gives us confidence going into this season with the same group and another year for the younger lads who have had that experience,” Arthurton said.

“Going into the new season it puts us in a really good place and hopefully a strong position to kick on again.

“Whenever you win a trophy and you beat teams along the way it’s no mean feat. We fully understand going into this year that it’s going to be a tough challenge.

“We still have to execute our skills and nothing is a given. As much as last year was a really fantastic year for us we fully understand that things are never going to be as straightforward going into the new season.

“But winning a trophy It definitely puts us in a great place from having that experience and having improved our white ball cricket from previous years.

“This year is a new opportunity but we just have to stick to the things we did well last year. We are still growing as a team. There are a lot of young boys who are only going to keep on improving with every game and every season. Hopefully we can keep using our experiences to move forward and keep developing as a team.”

Norfolk warmed up for the start of the new National Counties season with victory over London Schools Cricket Association last Sunday and they will now face a Suffolk side who were the only side to beat them in the Trophy last summer with a 19 runs victory at Sudbury in their final group match.

Sunday’s match will be the first Norfolk have played at Fakenham’s Highfield Lawn ground with all their other home matches across the formats being played at Sprowston, the county’s new headquarters after an agreement to continue at Manor Park could not be reached with the Horsford club.

“A lot of our boys have played at Fakenham in league cricket so they have experience of playing there. It’s the same with Sprowston where we played a 50 overs match and T20 games last year,” Arthurton said.

“As a team we are used to going away and playing at different grounds. It’s about being able to adapt to whatever situations and grounds you play on. We crack on and we have ways that we go about things and our plans. Whatever is in front of you then you have to play accordingly.”

Arthurton hopes that there will be a large crowd at Fakenham for Norfolk’s first competitive match since they won the Trophy, a success that was greeted with tearful jubilation by some of their supporters.

“I’d like to think that it put Norfolk on the map a little bit more. I was involved in the previous time we won a trophy and that was in 2009 so it’s been a while,” he said.

“As a team you are always striving to go as far as you can in whatever competition. You always set your stall out to do as well as you can.

“Winning it means a lot to the players, the committee who put a lot of time and effort in and our supporters and family who come and watch us play. It’s a collective thing and we were delighted that we could get over the line and bring that trophy back.

“Having had a taste of that and shown that you can go through the rounds and beat different teams it will hopefully spur our boys on to replicate it in the future.”

Although Arthurton fell cheaply in the final he played a major role in getting them to Wormsley with two centuries and two half-centuries in his previous six innings in the competition.

At 32 he is the elder statesmen in the side but his appetite for run-scoring – more than 8,500 across the formats for Norfolk – shows no sign of diminishing which is bad news for opposition bowlers.

“My drive and energy are still there. I know what I want to try and achieve and I still enjoy the challenge of playing at the level we do against the teams we do,” he said

“I will continue trying to do as best I can and keep working hard to maintain my standards and keep that hunger for runs. If I can do that I can help the team to push on.

“We have a lot of young lads in the side so it’s nice from my perspective as a more senior player to help them come through and guide them through their career.

“One day they will hopefully take this team on when my time will finish. But, as we are now, I am still enjoying it, I still have that drive and nothing changes.”

National Counties Trophy

April 27 (11am)

Group One: Lincolnshire v Cambridgeshire (Bracebridge Heath), Northumberland v Cumbria (South Northumberland CC).

Group Two: Herefordshire v Shropshire (Eastnor), Norfolk v Suffolk (Fakenham).

Group Three: Cornwall v Oxfordshire (St Just), Devon v Buckinghamshire (North Devon CC).

Group Four: Hertfordshire v Cheshire (Hitchin), Wales NC v Dorset (Lisvane).