Diss Mafia comfortably won the inaugural Junior Carter Cup at a sun drenched Manor Park on Sunday. Batting positively from the start Diss posted a challenging 204 -9 total (36 ovrs) with solid contributions all the way down the batting order. Chris Cooper top scoring with 28, Simon Smith 24, Liam Brown 22 and Adam Smith 23 n.o all helped it has to be said, by some woeful ground fielding from the Swardeston Sharks. Tim Price 3-28 and James Christopher 3-50 were the Sharks most successful bowlers. Highlight of the innings was a extraordinary catch in the deep by Ben Shearing, good enough to grace any Cup Final anywhere in the land.
Swardeston’s reply never really gained the sufficient momentum to seriously challenge the Diss total . Tight bowling from the opening pair of Henry Rush 6-1-13-2 and Chris German 5-1-15-0 ensured the Sharks didn’t get away to their customary fast start. Impetus from Tim Price 41 , James Christopher 25 and a brief cameo from Josh Rowe got Swardeston to 171 a.o and gave some respectability to the scorecard , but in truth the Sharks were outplayed in all departments by a good all round Diss team. Diss Captain Chris Cooper was deservedly awarded the Man-Of-The-Match award from adjudicator Richard Jefferson for his fine all-round contribution. Special awards on behalf of Norfolk Youth Cricket were also made to Cooper again, and to Henry Ayers of Swardeston for contributions/sportsmanship throughout the 2005 Competition.
Swardeston team manager Stuart Shearing was disappointed in how his team performed on the day “You will never win matches fielding how we did today. We set high standards at Swardeston and the standard of ground fielding just wasn’t acceptable. Diss outplayed us in all departments and are worthy Champions.”
Reflecting on the Competition as a whole Shearing added “The boys have loved it, Coloured clothing, white balls and blacked out sightscreens have made it a great spectacle . The format may need a little tampering with but we have thoroughly enjoyed it and hope it continues in future seasons.”
