After Friday’s abandonment against Horton, the Cooks travelled to Nether Heyford knowing the weather would not be a factor as it was warm and sunny.
Heyford won the toss and asked us to bat, so a chance to set a score was imposed on the team for the first time in a few weeks. The team was unchanged, as was the batting order as Jake and Aidan opened the innings for the 2nd straight match with a target for us to be a net 15 at the quarter point.
A combination of extras and good running by the Jake [8no] and Aidan [4] saw us reach 25-1 [net 20]. Aidan conceded the only wicket as he was caught from a ball that lifted higher than expected from the artificial wicket, but each week his batting gets more confident.
Next pair of George ‘Tonker’ Thompson [1no] and Mohit ‘the scythe’ Hellan [3no] were then able to take us onto 39-1 with a few scary runs, Mohit even escaping a run out when the wicket keeper broke the stumps before the ball arrived. At one stage I think the boys discussed what they were having for lunch in the middle of the pitch, as the ball was being fielded! Anya [1no] and Jacob [1no] kept a watchful eye on the erratic bowling from Heyford and moved us onto 55-1, with some nice defensive play and some good running between the stumps.
Liam [15no] and Prashil [1no] then finished the innings well, taking us onto 75-1, setting Heyford 71 to win.
Tight bowling was again the order of the day as Heyford could only reach 17-0 after 8 overs and the tight fielding was building the pressure. Collectively, the 9 wides bowled was the fewest number we had conceded for a number of years, and when Jake sensibly ran out the third pair and left them 29-1 [net 24] with 4 overs left, the game was effectively over.
Liam then collected another two wickets in two balls thanks to good catches from Jake at mid-on and George in the gully to see Heyford end up on 44-3 and an overall 41 run victory. Special mention to Anya behind the stumps who really kept well today having had a few difficulties over the last two games, but who has been practicing really hard.
What I noticed was that Heyford are definitely in a developmental stage that we have been in for the last two or three seasons and they all tried really hard to improve. We are now seeing the benefits of the hard work that our boys and girls are putting in. All of them contributed to the two good performances in the last two games.
Thanks to Charlie for umpiring and Syd for scoring, as well as to the hospitality from the parents and coaches at Heyford. The endless tea, biscuits and muffins were superb.
Next U11s match will be on Sunday 26th June at home to Saints, but there will be an early start, probably 9.30am [to be confirmed].