Norman Palmer ANDREWS 1899-1971

	Player number 102 (f-c debut for Northamptonshire – 6 May 1922)
Birthplace	Sydenham, London
First-Class	6 matches, 122 runs @11.09

After Westminster School and war service in France as an officer in the Grenadier Guards, Norman Andrews made an unpromising Northamptonshire debut in a grim defeat against Yorkshire at the start of the 1922 season – selection for which was surely the County’s answer to Lord Derby’s ‘Who? Who? Ministry’ of 1852. But the club persisted with him, remembering a polished innings of 65 for Northamptonshire Colts against the Kettering and District League XI at Wantage Road the previous summer, and his unbeaten 45 against Essex a few weeks later helped to save the match after Northamptonshire had followed on 311 runs adrift. Andrews managed only three more first-class appearances but retained a keen interest in the club’s affairs; as a committee member (and the son of a solicitor) he was scathing in his criticism of the running of the side at a crisis meeting in September 1931, complaining about poor discipline and a lack of ‘ginger’ on the field. ‘Northamptonshire have a wonderful lot of professionals,’ he added, ‘but they are young and need bringing out in the right way.’ Andrews played later for the Kent-based Cyphers CC, and when a fundraising appeal was launched by Northamptonshire in 1946 to prepare for the resumption of county cricket it was Andrews who volunteered to oversee efforts in the Northampton town area.