The last day of the season arrived with a feeling of dread that all good things must come to end, but with promotion still a possibility the seasons swansong lead to a trip to already relegated Little Harrowden. After a close inspection of the ground it became apparent that the far boundary was extremely short, less than 40 metres from the wicket, which would ensure that any batsman willing to take risks reaping the benefit, a glut of sixes.
Captain Ryan won the toss and not surprisingly put the opposition in on a wicket that proved to lack pace and reliable bounce. The Harrowden batsmen were from the start prepared to take risks and with the help of a couple of dropped catches took the score to 92 for the loss of only one wicket, until the Cooks grasped the initiative, courtesy of Frankie Perkin and Mark Bird. Frankie started the rot having the remaining Harrowden opener well juggled by Buster. Another wicket fell on the same score this time to Mark trapped LBW, the hosts were now definitely on the back foot, with their three most experienced batsmen now back in the hutch. Forty odd runs were then added with Frankie and Mark taking three more wickets, the Harrowden innings then took a dramatic twist with five wickets falling in quick succession with only six more runs being added to the total. The change bowlers had taken four wickets each to put the Cooks in a strong position at the halfway point of this final game of 2015.
At the resumption of play it soon appeared that the Cooks had overdone the many homemade treats provided by the opposition at teatime . Three wickets had fallen for less than thirty and the Cooks needed an innings of note to gain a victory that would ensure that the pressure would be kept on third placed, Heyford. Fortunately for the Cooks Ryan played a true captains innings and with a little help from Liam, Mark and Dan plus the short boundary, victory was been reached but with only just three wickets in hand. Ryan’s innings comprised of 3 fours, 7 sixes and intriguingly a five, wrapping up victory in frantic fashion. This was a typical innings from Ryan who took full advantage of the short boundary flanked by the recently cut cereals and this was crucial to achieve this hard fought victory.
Two hours after the victory it was learnt that Heyford had overcome Brixworth and hopes of promotion had been dashed. Fourth place in Division 10 was a fine effort by the seconds but with a disappointing run of two defeats in the last three games this season will probably go down by some, as a season of what might have been.