Poor weather washed out many of the South Norfolk Community League's final fixtures. But there was still plenty to celebrate in this ninth year of the youth cricket competition as a record 50 entries demonstrated there is still plenty of life in the junior game.

In the U17 league it soon became clear that the main contest would be between title holders Dereham and new boys Gt Melton. Both won all five of their games, setting up a tasty finale, but sadly the match was washed out, which left Dereham to retain the trophy with their marginally superior points total.

Campbell Young's 95 not out for Diss against Mattishall was the best with the bat while Dereham's Sam Inston took 4 for 3 against the same club to bag best bowling.

At U15 Cringleford Lodge blazed a trail, winning all of their games with some big hitting and securing the title well before the season ended. Hardingham finished second and could have run them close had their season not fizzled out in the latter rounds. Gt Melton, last year's champions, were third.

Lodge's Ishan Singh's 108 against Mulbarton was the only century, with Ollie South of Tas Valley returning best bowling figures with his 5 for 16 against Mattishall.

In the larger U13 league, Melton were favourites from the off and duly delivered, losing only one of their games to Gt Melton Girls.

Topcroft also performed strongly as runners-up, winning as many games, followed closely by Tas Valley and Old Buckenham. With compulsory retirement being trialled this season there were no best batting awards in the U13 or U11 age groups but Topcroft's Lewis Reeder dominated with the ball, filling both top slots, his best being 4 for 4 against Rocklands.

Like the U15 age group, there was to be a new name on the U11 Derek Bernard Cup as Mulbarton finally secured a title in their 17th year. Their compact and cohesive squad dominated throughout the summer and never really looked like losing any games.

They finished well clear of the chasing pack led by Topcroft, whose Luke Bettridge scooped best bowling with 4 for 5 against Dereham, with Tas Valley third and Melton fourth, all separated by less than a single point.