Norfolk Premier faced defending Inter-County Champions West Mids Premier in the final at Daventry with West Mids determined to win the title for the third year in a row. Norfolk were looking to win the title for the third time having previously been champions in 1996 and 2016. Unfortunately for Norfolk they failed to get the good start they wanted and found themselves chasing the match after that. The first session saw Bob Carter’s Gary Best win by 14-9 in the singles against Craig Strong. But with Hempnall’s Neil Davidson losing 18-4 to Ross Dunkley, Simon Willies and Jamie Forster losing 15-7 and Owen Cranston and Keith Cooke losing 16-10 Norfolk found themselves 6-2 down. On came the triples and fours to try and recover the situation. Nigel Willard, Robbie Lamb, Rob Howlett & Melvin Woods won 9-8 and Elaine Willies, Debbie Sparham & Jon Sparham drew 11-11. West Mids though increased their lead to 11-5 on points as Jack Marshall, Jason Woods and Morgan Warnes lost 15-9 and Kerry Greenacre, Ryan Fox, John Turner and David Lamb lost 11-9. The next session of singles and pairs saw West Mids cross the finishing line with a session to spare as they reached the magic points total of 21 to achieve their sixth I.C.C Premier title. West Mids won on three mats with only the pair of Owen Cranston & Keith Cooke winning 14-11 for Norfolk. On the other mats Neil Davidson lost 12-10 against Strong, Gary Best lost 18-6 against Dunkley and Simon Willies and Jamie Forster lost 18-12 against Warr and Follis. The final session was still played though with Kerry Greenacre, Ryan Fox, John Turner and David Lamb drawing 12-12 and Donna Lamb, Robbie Lamb, Rob Howlett and Melly Woods drawing 14-14. Both triples games were lost though with John Jeffery, Jason Woods & Morgan Warnes losing 18-10 and Elaine Willies, Debbie Sparham & Jon Sparham losing 15-11. This left West Mids celebrating a comprehensive 31-9 win on points, 211-162 on shots as they had collected the bonus points in all four disciplines. It turned out to be a remarkable day of success for the Midlanders as West Mids “A” beat Buckinghamshire in the I.C.C “A” Team Final. The Norfolk Premier team are pictured after the Presentation Ceremony.
