Swardeston begin their defence of their 40-over national club championship title this weekend. The 2019 ECB National Club Championship winners face fellow East Anglian Premier League club Sudbury at The Common this Sunday with a 1pm start.
Victory in the 2019 final at Lord’s against Cheshire’s Nantwich was a never-to-be-forgotten day for the Norfolk club and the beginning of a remarkable seven days which also saw Swardeston triumph in the national Vitality T20 competition at Derbyshire CCC.
Swardeston 1st skipper Joe Gatting said: “There’s no doubt we have a very tough game on Sunday in this year’s first round. Sudbury are a very good team and we will need to be at the top of our game to go through. The day at Lord’s is still a massive memory for our players and we hope that will inspire us on Sunday. Our team is largely made up of the same players as those that appeared at Lord’s apart from one or two changes.”
The 2020 competition was cancelled by the ECB as Covid lockdown restrictions meant it proved impossible for the competition to be staged across the country.
The ECB National Club Championship competition has been running since 1969 and is currently sponsored by Royal London. For the 2021 competition, all ECB Premier Leagues put forward their best clubs to compete in the draw of 128 clubs.
There are 16 regional groups with Swardeston in Group 13. Winners of Sunday’s match will face an away trip in the second round to the winners of the Cambridge v Frinton tie.
