Throwback Thursday - Norwell creates history with the bat
1 June 2017
As part of our #ThrowbackThursday series, we take a look at when Liam Norwell carved his name into the Gloucestershire history books.
In a home fixture against Derbyshire in 2016 Norwell completed his maiden hundred and became the first night watchman in Gloucestershire's history to pass three figures.
Gloucestershire began the morning with a deficit of 334 on first innings, and still needing 135 runs to avoid the follow-on. Night watchman Liam Norwell had done the essential job of surviving through to the close on Monday evening, but his achievement on the third day was far beyond what anyone could have expected.
Listen to the thoughts of centurions Liam Norwell and Chris Dent here :
Norwell edged a hook over the slips off Andy Carter early on, but a couple of firm drives in the same over - one through extra cover and one past mid off - showed there were no demons in the pitch.
As you might expect with someone with a career average of 12.56, there were a handful of lusty blows alongside some well timed strokes as Norwell increasingly took the aerial route, due in no small measure to the dominance of the bottom hand in his scoring shots.
He gave one chance when on 62, but it was spilled by Hughes at short extra cover, and the cheers from the crowd grew louder as Norwell's score advanced and the ball dropped safely in the outfield.
Norwell went to lunch on 88 not out, having passed his previous best score of 78 made against Worcestershire at Cheltenham in 2014.
He was nearly bowled after missing a full toss from the occasional spin of Chesney Hughes on 94, but Norwell regained his composure and punched Ben Cotton through the covers before raising both hands in celebration at reaching his hundred from only 120 balls.
Finally, he got in a tangle against Hughes and was trapped lbw for 102, but his stand with Dent had added 168 in 41 overs and had gloriously entertained a large Championship crowd.
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