On Sunday morning before the start of play in the NCCA Cluberly County Championship match between Norfolk CCC and Bedfordshire at Sprowston CC there was a presentation by Norfolk of county caps to Alfie Cooper and Charlie Hood.
County caps are awarded in recognition of the achievements and contributions made by the players over a period of time and both Alfie and Charlie have put in excellent performances on a consistent basis over recent seasons.
Alfie made his debut for Norfolk in 2022 against Cheshire in the NCCA One-Day Trophy. In the same season he scored a century on his County Championship debut against Suffolk CCC at Woolpit becoming the first Norfolk player ever to do so. This was followed by 125 in the first innings of the last championship game that season against Lincolnshire CCC at Manor Park.
Alfie was averaging 52.8 in County Championship cricket at the end of 2025 and 39 in the One-Day Trophy competition. His record shows five scores over 50 in the One-Day Trophy and 3 in the County Championship in addition to the two centuries.
Charlie made his first appearance for the county in 2024 and whilst not originally thought of as a white-ball player circumstance dictated that he played in the first white ball game of the season and he has played every game since.
As at the end of 2025 Charlie was averaging 40.6 in the One-Day Trophy with a highest score of 73 n.o, 32 in the T20 competition and 21 in the County Championship where he had two half centuries to his name. He had also taken 41 catches and 3 stumpings.
It was a special day for Charlie on Monday when he celebrated his county cap in style by bringing up his first championship century against Bedfordshire CCC. He is a highly talented young wicketkeeper/batsman who came through the academy at Northamptonshire CCC.
On making the presentations, Chair of Cricket David Bowker said, “both players are fully deserving of their awards and have produced some excellent performances for Norfolk. We know that there is a lot more to come from both of them over the coming years.”
Norfolk’s strategy over the last few seasons has been to play some young players who have come through the pathway system run by the Norfolk Cricket Foundation and this policy has really started to pay dividends over the last two/three years. In 2024 Norfolk lifted the NCCA One-Day Trophy for the first time since 2009 when they beat Cheshire CCC at Wormsley and in 2025 they won the NCCA T20 trophy again at Wormsley for the first time.
In the squad of 12 for the championship game against Beds this week Norfolk fielded 11 players who had graduated from the pathway including debutant Enoch Uthayarajan who came close to emulating Cooper’s achievement of making a hundred on debut when he scored 87. The only player from outside the area was professional Hami Qadri.
Pictures taken by Adam Pryke
