Table topping Abington were the hosts, with the Cooks making four changes to the team from last week’s defeat. Russ Coleman continued to skipper the seconds with Ryan still on the side lines as his injured thumb is taking a while to heal. The toss was duly lost and the invitation to bat was made by Abington. From the start it was it was evident there was a few demons in the pitch with the bounce being somewhat inconsistent which was especially evident when Russ was hit on the helmet. The Cooks struggled particularly against opening bowler Merrick who took the first 5 wickets to fall, only skipper Russ and Liam Knight reached double figures, but again the Cooks upper order failed to assert themselves. When the ninth wicket fell on 86 it appeared that even the first batting bonus point would be a pipedream. Sid Mason then joined Frankie Perkin in a last wicket stand that would prove vital. Frankie who had been batting very sensibly combining sound defence and an awareness to ensure all run scoring opportunities bore fruit. Slowly but surely the score edged toward the century reached it for the bonus point. Another 9 runs were added until Sid fell clean bowled, the 23 run partnership at least gave the Cooks a three figure total to try and defend although at this point hopes were not high for victory.
With Tom Smyth steaming in and the returning Tony Bird soon settling in to his usual rhythm, it was not long before this opening bowling combination were in the wickets. It only took this deadly pair 10 overs to reduce the hosts to 27 for 5 wickets. A combination of good line and length together with the pitch continuing to provide variable bounce helped to put the Cooks in an unlikely strong position. Although the sixth wicket partnership somewhat steadied the ship when this was broken by Tony, trapping the batsman LBW . With more wickets falling in quick succession, notably Abington’s number seven who was beginning to find his feet, until he smashed the ball into the offside where Jack Quennell miraculously held on to a spectacular catch diving full length, clasping on one handed to send the batsman trudging back to the pavilion with a look of sheer dis-belief on his face. This superb team effort by the Cooks left Abington teetering on the brink of defeat on 60-9, still 50 odd runs away from their target. The Cooks sensed victory but were thwarted by Abington’s last pair who started to believe that it was possible snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. With some sketchy shots, much playing and missing, Abington were now within 10 runs of the target. Proceedings were becoming a little frantic for both sides with the Abington number 11 requiring a runner and the Cooks realising that this gallant display in the field could count for nothing. Skipper Russ was in the last chance saloon, and with only 4 required, he turned to Tom for one last effort. Tom delivered his first ball and Abington’s saviour launched into the ball sending it seemingly toward the boundary but suddenly like a gazelle, unlikely hero Dave Patrick glided toward the flying missile and made the vital catch, to huge jubilation from the fielders. The Cooks had snared the last elusive wicket to gain an dramatic victory by just 3 runs.
This was a remarkable game which ebbed and flowed throughout with all the batsman from both teams struggling to get to grips with the idiosyncrasies of the wicket, giving an exciting finish. When defending the modest target Cogenhoe’s bowlers took full benefit of the conditions and were well backed up in the field, with all catches going to hand and being gratefully pouched, another great example of how catches win matches!