Ernest Willmott Norton, registered at birth as Ernest Willmott (19 June 1889 - 14 March 1972) was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 cricketer

Cricketer

A cricketer is a person who plays the sport of cricket. Official and long-established cricket publications prefer the traditional word "cricketer" over the rarely used term "cricket player"....

 who played eight first-class

First-class cricket

First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...

 matches in the early 1920s: two for Warwickshire

Warwickshire County Cricket Club

Warwickshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Warwickshire. Its limited overs team is called the Warwickshire Bears. Their kit colours are black and gold and the shirt sponsor...

 and then six for Worcestershire

Worcestershire County Cricket Club

Worcestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Worcestershire...

.

Norton made his debut for Warwickshire against Leicestershire

Leicestershire County Cricket Club

Leicestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Leicestershire. It has also been representative of the county of Rutland....

 at Edgbaston at the end of June 1920, making an unbeaten 26 (which was to remain his career best) from number ten in his only innings. Immediately afterwards, he appeared against Sussex

Sussex County Cricket Club

Sussex County Cricket Club is the oldest of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Sussex. The club was founded as a successor to Brighton Cricket Club which was a representative of the county of Sussex as a...

 at the same venue, but only 58 overs were possible and his only contribution was five wicketless overs for 19 runs.

His next first-class appearance was not for almost two years, and when he did play again in June 1922 it was for a very weak Worcestershire side destined to finish bottom of the County Championship

County Championship

The County Championship is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales...

. His second game for his new county, against Northamptonshire

Gloucestershire County Cricket Club

Gloucestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Gloucestershire. Its limited overs team is called the Gloucestershire Gladiators....

 at Worcester

New Road, Worcester

New Road, Worcester, England, has been the home cricket ground of Worcestershire County Cricket Club since 1896. Immediately to the northwest is a road called New Road, part of the A44, hence the name.- Overview :...

, brought him his first wicket (that of John Howman) and indeed what were to remain his best bowling figures of 3-74.

Norton played four more times for Worcestershire, but the county lost them all: indeed, in his eight-match first-class career he was never part of a winning side. His final game was his only appearance of 1923, at Gravesend against Kent

Kent County Cricket Club

Kent County Cricket Club is one of the 18 first class county county cricket clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the county of Kent...

, and in an eight-wicket defeat his ten overs went without reward.

Norton was born in Sparkbrook

Sparkbrook

Sparkbrook is an inner-city area in south-east Birmingham, England. It is one of the four wards forming the Hall Green formal district within Birmingham City Council.-Etymology:...

, Birmingham

Birmingham

Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

; he died in Five Ways

Five Ways, Birmingham

Five Ways is an area of Birmingham, England. It takes its name from a major road junction, now a busy roundabout to the south-west of the city centre which lies at the outward end of Broad Street, where the Birmingham Middle ring road crosses the start of the A456 .-History:The name of Five Ways...

, also Birmingham, at the age of 82.

External links

• Statistical summary from CricketArchive
  CricketArchive
  CricketArchive is a website that aims to provide a comprehensive archive of records relating to the sport of cricket. It claims to be the most comprehensive cricket database on the internet, including scorecards for all matches of first-class cricket , List A cricket , Women's Test cricket and...