Cowdrey 3rd team had another fantastic season to finish the Division 5 – Central league table at the second position, this feat is significant as the team was promoted to Division 5 this year. Simon Lawson was in prime form throughout the year and finished as the league’s top scorer with 385 runs. Simon was supported well by Anuj Chauhan, young Tattv Kakroo and Vice-captain Oliver Hardy Smith On the bowling department Captain Birendra Singh lead the bowling finishing as the league’s second-highest wicket-taker with 22 wickets, he was very well supported by John Cherian who had a very good season with the cricket ball and finished as league’s 3rd highest wicket-taker with 20 wickets. Young Luke Hardy Smith and Olly Trace chipped in with important bowling performances too at various stages of the season.
Our season was defined by the ‘Win attitude’ of the team and as a team, we were able to back each other and hold the nerve to get over the finish line. We won 5 very close matches including the season opener when we defended a low total of 90 runs and we also defended our lowest total of 89 runs playing against Minster. This match was very important as we were playing against the third-placed team and the winner had a very good chance to end the season in 2nd position. Our defence was led by Vineet Kakroo who took 3 wicket upfront and then Miheer Singh who bowled with pace to rock through Minster middle order by taking 3 wickets and when Minster needed just 6 runs young Will Austen bowled over of his life, taking 2 Minster wickets in just four bowls to seal the victory for Cowdrey. We also chased down opponent’s score and won 3 tight matches, against High Halstow chasing a score of 87, John Cherian and Luke Hardy Smith had a partnership of 15 runs for the 10th wickets, against The Mote Simon Lawson and Birendra Singh had a partnership of 23 runs for the 8th wickets and against Minster Oliver Hardy Smith and Birendra Singh had a partnership of 20 runs for the 8th wickets. Winning these tight matches ensured a second-position finish for Cowdrey.
The 3rd XI is used as a platform to introduce colts into league cricket. This year we had three very notable performances, Tattv Kakroo relished the opportunity to bat at number 3/4 and played couple of important innings of 40s, against High Halstow on debut, Archie played a superb inning of 67, we also had Will Austen take 2 wickets in four balls to win the match against Minster. In addition Luke Lawrence, Aurther Bindermann, Dexter Collins and George Sullivan played important parts as well. On top of this Luke Hardy Smith and Olly Trace gained more experience playing for the 3rd team and were rewarded with a debut in the 2nd team. The season has come to end but we are already looking forward to our Winter nets to start preparing for the next season and enjoying the game of cricket.
