Brixworth vs Cogenhoe – Sunday 6th May
A lovely May morning saw the cooks arrive at the scenic Dallas Burston ground in Brixworth, eventually! A road closure did not help our cause but coach Jon Smith did a fine job in the warm up and we were ready to go on time, just! Good job Lead Coach Matt was watching Liam play for the County and will never know….ooops!
Anya skippered the side for the first time and got off to a flyer by winning the toss and we sent Brixworth in for a bat.
Prashil and Niamh opened the bowling and got us off to a great start. Prashil bowling 1 batsman and Niamh creating pressure leading to a run out chance which Archie duly delivered with an excellent direct hit. The second pair arrived at the crease and were met by Aidan and Will in top form. Aidan opened with a maiden and then a terrific caught and bowled in his second over. Will made his under 11 debut and took a wicket with his first delivery. The batsman smacked it towards Niamh and the Cogenhoe faithful held its breath but Niamh held on comfortably and celebrated in style #heelflick. Aidan and Will took a wicket a piece for just 3 runs between them and no wides. Brilliant. The third pair arrived and Mohit and Anya took up responsibilities with the ball. Mohit took two wickets both clean bowled and we were well in the game at this point. Unfortunately Archie found the last pair in inspired form and despite taking our 7th wicket, again clean bowled, the last pair put on net 31 runs with some really positive, powerful hitting which would in the end be the difference between the sides. It left the Cooks requiring a net score of 46. It was a really good effort from the Cooks in the field, talking, encouraging, holding onto catches and some fine bowling. A pleasure to watch.
After a digestive biscuit and a glass of squash Mohit and Archie took to the crease with communication and positive play the order of the day. They got us off to a solid start both with positive net scores with good calling and positive play. Anya and Niamh came in next with both trying their best to swing the bat hard and get some runs on the board. An unfortunate run out with a good direct hit with Niamh short of her ground and then Anya got hold of one only for the fielder to hold onto a looping catch. The girls were really positive and gave a good account of themselves. Aidan and Mikey were our 3rd pair and despite some big swings they could not pierce the ring of fielders. In an effort to gain an extra run Mikey was run out with another direct hit from the same player – pick your fielders lads! Prashil and Will were tasked to bring us home but the task of net 33 from the last 4 overs was a bridge too far for them. Neither lost their wicket and every time they made a solid connection, against what was undoubtedly Brixworth’s best bowlers they manage to find a fielder. We ended up 25 runs short of our net target. We only lost 3 wickets to our opponents 7 so if we can miss a fielder or two next week and work on our shot timing at practice the runs will definitely come.
Overall a team performance to be proud of, everyone listened, tried their best and enjoyed their morning’s cricket as did the coaches, parents and spectators at the ground.
Thanks as ever for Charlie for umpiring and supporting the kids out on the field. Jon Smith for his support coaching and the warm up and Cogenhoe youth stalwart George “Tavare” Thompson for scoring on the new app, he is better at it than me already!
Ben Garratt