Eric Norton

Who is Eric Norton?

Eric Bertram "Pop" Norton, was a South African cricketer and educationist.

Norton made his debut for Eastern Province in the Currie Cup in 1936-37 against Transvaal in Johannesburg at the age of 17. Batting at number five he hit the second ball he faced for six, and scored 45 and 26 in a low-scoring match. He was less successful in four more games that season and in his only game in 1937-38.

After war service with the Royal Marine Commandos and graduation from Rhodes University, he resumed his cricket career with a few unsuccessful matches for Eastern Province in 1946-47 and 1947-48. At this stage his eleven first-class matches had produced only 217 runs at 12.76. He next played in 1950-51, when a full season batting at various positions in the order yielded 241 runs at 30.12, including 39 and 54 not out against Griqualand West in Kimberley.

His outstanding season was 1951-52, when, captaining Eastern Province, he made 578 runs at 64.22, topping the national batting averages and coming fourth in the aggregates. In the second match, batting at number four against Western Province in Cape Town, he scored 111 and 31 not out. In the fourth match, against Natal in Port Elizabeth, he made 69 and 79 not out. In the sixth match, against Natal in Durban, he made 102 not out in a team total of 239. In each of the latter two innings he ran out of partners as the rest of the batsmen struggled.