The Cooks U11s had the unenviable task of playing both West Haddon & Guilsborough [WHG] this weekend at the home of cricket (thankfully they were only allowed 8 players the same as us!). After Bugbrooke had conceded the previous week, this was the first game for two weeks for the U11s.
Yet again Cogenhoe won the toss and WHG were batting. Having spent 25 mins warming up, hopes were high for a good bowling performance from the team. WHG’s opening pair were very hard on anything short and racked up 35-2 [net 25] at the end of their 4 overs. The next pair seemed equally intent on finding the boundary at every opportunity and assisted by some very wayward Cogenhoe bowling took the WHG score onto 69-3 [net 54] at the halfway point of the innings.
The 3rd and 4th pairs for WHG were more conservative but with more inconsistent bowling and fielding took their final score onto 98-4, setting Cogenhoe 79 runs to win.
At times the fielding was excellent, Aidan Garratt pouching a great catch in the outfield and Liam taking 3-5 including two ‘c&b’ from his three overs, but too many extras [30] and misfields meant that the Cooks had contributed significantly to their own downfall.
One of the highlights had to be George Thompson finally being vindicated. For a couple of years George has been teased for insisting on wearing his box in the field, but no-one was laughing when the ball flew through his hands and hit him royally in the nether regions, the noise echoed round the field, followed by some curious looks from the WHG parents as to what George had in his trousers that made such a sound!
After the break, opening pair of Aidan and Prasil showed intent, but the opening WHG bowlers kept it tight and after 4 overs, Cogenhoe were 5-2 [net minus-5] and the game was already over as a contest. George and Mohit again tried to play positively, but lost wickets and at the halfway point we were 18-4 [net minus-2].
Anya and Jacob got us on the right side of a positive score, with Jacob one of only two batsmen to not finish on a minus score with a considered 2no. Last pair of Liam and Jake wagged briefly and got the final score up to 46-7 [net 11], with Liam hitting 14no to show there were no real demons in the wicket.
This was a learning experience for the team, as after two close matches previously, this was the first time this season that they had been properly thumped by the opposition. Often you learn more from losing as you do from winning, so this was a harsh lesson that we need to get our basics right.
Thanks to Charlie for umpiring and Sid for scoring. It was also good to see so many people at the ground supporting the juniors, thank you!
No junior fixtures next weekend, so the next match for the U11s is at Grange Park on Sunday June 5th.