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The Return of the Prodigal Son.
Ryan’s troops ventured into rural Leicestershire for the first skirmish of the 2015 season. Newly promoted to Division 10, the Cooks second string face many challenges if they are to emulate the last two successful seasons in the NCL.
The skipper lost the toss and unsurprisingly the Cooks were invited to bat on an typical early season wicket. Drama ensued from the first ball when opener Russ managed to steer a friendly full pitch straight to mid-on and the catch was gratefully accepted. Enter Liam Knight (Ryan’s brother) who has returned to cricket after a while on the side lines. The drama continued with Liam smashing his second ball for six. The proceedings calmed down a little with Liam finding a willing partner in Dan Harris who added over fifty before Dan was bowled for 13. Things then started to slide, although Liam was still batting confidently, none of the next three batsman stayed for long and when Liam departed for a cultured 63 a challenging total was beginning to unlikely. Frankie Perkin and Adam Longley had other ideas, their stand of 58 runs proved crucial, with mixture of stout defence and a few lusty blows, they used the overs available to them to push the score closer to 150. When they both quickly departed a Matt Irons cameo ensured that a target of 157 would give the twirlers of Cogenhoe something to defend on a wicket giving the bowlers some help especially from the variable bounce on this damp grassy track.
After tea, opening bowlers young Tom Robinson (Smokey) and not so young Tony Bird kept the Gumley batsman in check. Tony then made the breakthrough in his eight over with a well disguised slower ball which completely deceived the Gumley opener. Son Mark replaced the injured Smokey to continue to thwart Gumley’s efforts of increasing the scoring rate. Inevitably Tony gained two more wickets in his allotted spell to ensure the games was evenly poised at 71-3 after 25 overs. Fresh from his exploits with the bat (36) Frankie was now brought on to bowl and after a couple of looseners bowled one of the four Pickering’s to swing the game in favour of the Cooks. Mark and Frankie then bowled tightly, picking up wickets at regular intervals and ensuring the game was eventually put out of Gumley’s reach.
Given Gumley’s proven track record at this level the Cooks display gave much encouragement for the season ahead. Although one swallow does not makes a summer, this performance indicates that the seconds could be in the mix for honours given suitable player availability.