Michael Eric John Charles Norman (born 19 January 1933) is a former professional cricketer who played for Northamptonshire and Leicestershire. He was born at Northampton in 1933.

Mick Norman
Personal information
Full name
Michael Eric John Charles Norman
Born (1933-01-19) 19 January 1933 (age 91)
Northampton, Northamptonshire, England
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm leg-spin
RoleBatsman
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1952–1965Northamptonshire
1966–1975Leicestershire
Career statistics
Competition First-class List A
Matches 363 120
Runs scored 17,441 2,412
Batting average 29.26 25.65
100s/50s 24/80 0/11
Top score 221* 90*
Balls bowled 190
Wickets 2
Bowling average 82.00
5 wickets in innings 0
10 wickets in match 0
Best bowling 2/0
Catches/stumpings 161/– 30/–
Source: CricketArchive, 16 June 2010

Career

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Norman's first-class debut, against India in 1952, coincided with that of Frank Tyson, who regarded the young Northampton Grammar School old boy as "another Dennis Brookes in the making". It took several seasons for Norman to establish himself in the first team. A Catholic, he spent two years in a seminary before finally deciding on a cricket career.[1]

In 1959, Brookes' last season, Norman made his presence felt with just over 1,000 runs and a maiden Championship century against Warwickshire. The following year, when he established a long-running opening partnership with Brian Reynolds, Norman "improved immensely", according to the club's Annual Report, and the four summers between 1960 and 1963 brought him 7,150 county runs. His four hundreds in 1963 included 152 against Nottinghamshire at Northampton,[2] his highest for the county. However, in the next two seasons he struggled for consistency. Against Glamorgan in 1964 he suffered the miserable experience of a king pair (falling to the first ball of each innings) in one day, to Ossie Wheatley each time.[3]

At the end of 1965 Norman moved to Leicestershire and enjoyed a new lease of cricketing life. He played on until 1975, combining cricket with teaching in the last few years of his career. He adapted with conspicuous success to the rough-and-tumble of the John Player League which Leicestershire won, with Norman's help, in 1974.[4]

In the 1976–77 season, Norman was a member of the MCC team that was the first international cricket team to tour Bangladesh.

References

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  1. ^ Chalke, Stephen (1999). Caught in the Memory. Bath: Fairfield Books. pp. 129–43. ISBN 0-9531-1961-0.
  2. ^ Scorecard: Northamptonshire v Nottinghamshire in 1963 CricketArchive. Retrieved 19 June 2010.
  3. ^ Scorecard: Glamorgan v Northamptonshire in 1964 CricketArchive. Retrieved 17 June 2010.
  4. ^ Radd, Andrew (2001). 100 Greats: Northamptonshire County Cricket Club. Northampton: Tempus Publishing Limited. ISBN 0-7524-2195-6.
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