The season got fully underway for Cogenhoe as both sides had fixtures for the first time this season. The first team travelled to Kettering and after losing a hour to rain which saw the game reduced to 44 overs per side, Dan won the toss and put Kettering seconds into bat. A solid start of 46 was brought to an end by the impressive James Ashby when he had the dangerous Hallam Knapp caught by Alex Harvey-Jones. Nick Lester then struck twice along with Tom Smyth thanks to an Ashley Davis catch to reduce the hosts to 84-4. The experience of Martin Reece with 47 and a fine 48 no by Matt Earl then put on a vital 80 for the fifth wicket ,before the return of James with two wickets in an over put the brakes on a Kettering innings that threatened to take the game away from the Cooks and eventually they finished on 189-6 with James finishing with figures of 12-3-31-3.
The Cogenhoe reply was equally as solid as their Kettering counterparts as Gareth Goddard 39 and James 25 put on 58 before James became one of Jeremy Lines 4 lbw victims. Gareth Tompkins with 25 also kept the score ticking over nicely and despite losing both Gareths and Ashley the Cooks were well placed at 166-5 with 5 overs left. But the lose of Henry Swallow for a dominant 40 was the turning point and with Jason Roberts going 8 runs later the Cooks chances diminished and although they continued to chase the total they eventually saw out the last 5 balls to finish on 181-9.The games was played in a great spirit and unusually by two clubs who both had umpires and scorers which made a refreshing change.
Over at the newly named Compton International Arena a strong seconds line up were opening their season with a visit from Overstone Park IV`s.The seconds were put into bat and like the first team got off to an excellent start with openers Russ Coleman 26 and Matt Golby 69. That gave Matt Morrissey the platform to take the innings on with an unbeaten 65 and aided by Mark Bird with 21 not out to guide the Cooks to 210-5 from their 45 overs and maximum batting points.
In the field the seconds were quite superb obviously inspired by Matt Mo`s newly implemented fines system. Tony Bird carried on where he left off last season with match winning figures of 6-23, Matt Irons with 3-18 and a wicket for Syd Mason saw Overstone dismissed for 84 and a whopping 126 run winning margin. A special mention in dispatches for Ryan Knight with 4 catches and a superb catch by Mark off his Dad`s bowling. So a maximum 30 point start for the seconds and a seventh straight win on the trot and with a testing trip to Medbourne to come which will tell us just how good the seconds are.