Lives in Cricket No 15 - Michael Falcon

In the match between the Norfolk XI and the All-Edrich XI in 1955, organised as part of Geoff Edrich’s benefit, Bill Edrich finally showed a Norfolk audience the full range of his talent. He scored an unbeaten 167 out of a total of 221 for 9 declared. Among the heavy scoring, Falcon’s bowling still had a command of line and length and he conceded only 13 runs from his eight overs. Going into bat at eight, after an upper-order collapse, he joined another Norfolk stalwart from before the war, Frank Cunliffe, and they added 81 runs for the sixth wicket, thereby saving the game. Falcon’s share was an unbeaten 37 which contained several powerful drives through the covers. Perhaps the final important match in Michael Falcon’s ‘social’ cricket career occurred in 1959, at the age of 71, when he captained an eleven against Norwich Union in celebration of the opening of the new pavilion at the club’s ground at Pinebanks. The match, which was ruined by rain – Falcon neither batted nor bowled – was notable in that Falcon’s side contained no fewer than six Norfolk captains, past, present and future. Apart from Falcon himself, the past captains were Wilfrid Thompson (1947-1950); Laurie Barrett (1951-1954); and Peter Powell (1955-1958). The ‘present’ captain was the then newly-appointed Bill Edrich (1959-1968); and the future captain was the Repton schoolboy David Pilch (1972-1975). Life After Big-Time Cricket 111 Just one last match. Michael Falcon, at the age of 71, led this side, including six Norfolk captains, at the opening of the new Norwich Union sports ground in 1959.