Cawston bowlers in top flight

Hansells Norfolk County EBA League

ASPIRING bowls clubs across north Norfolk will be out to emulate last season's pace-setters Cawston when the new season gets under on May 1.

Cawston A won the county-wide battle for a coveted place in the Premier Division of the Hansells Norfolk County EBA League last year - and begin life among the sport's regional elite next week, where they join fellow north Norfolk side North Walsham A.

'It was a pleasure to see a team from this part of the county doing so well and I would love to see another club from the north Norfolk zones setting the pace this summer,' said Hugh Lansdell, Aylsham-based partner in Hansells Solicitors and Financial Advisers, who sponsor both the county EBA association and the league.

'We have offices in Aylsham, Cromer, Sheringham and North Walsham, and each of those towns has clubs which enter teams in the Hansells Norfolk League. It would be really good to see one of those sides carrying the north Norfolk standard into promotion for 2011,' said Lansdell.

'It would also please me immensely to see our local teams do well in the county championships too - and earn the chance to go to Worthing for the national finals.'

Across the county an army of 2,160 eager bowls players will be going all out to ensure that the Norfolk County EBA Association, sponsored for the eighth successive year by Hansells will once again be a formidable national force.

They will be led by new president Brian Howes, a veteran of six Middleton Cup finals. He will be backed all the way by Hansells, who have been impressed by seven seasons of success they have witnessed during a blossoming partnership.

'We have been staggered by the wealth of success Norfolk players have achieved on the local, regional, national and international stage during the seven years we have been sponsors.'

Howes' chosen charity for his year of presidency is the East Anglian Children's Hospices.