COOKHILL under 11s are through to the Cotswold Hills League Plate final after triumphing in a nail-biting semi-final at Alcester & Ragley.
The junior Roosters, sponsored by Hayward Wright Ltd, were captained by Myles Perry and posted 224-2 as Joseph Walker (5) and Perry (4) led the way.
Cookhill knew an exceptional fielding and bowling performance would be required for them to progress and they soon put a marker down by taking five wickets in the first four overs, including two direct hit run outs from Jack Weaving and Walker.
Alcester responded well by counter-attacking, but the Roosters managed to take regular wickets to peg back the Alcester score.
The pick of the bowlers were Perry (2-11 off three overs), Walker (1-11 off three), Ben Smith (1-9 off two) and Zach Smith (1-10 off two), supported ably by some exceptional wicketkeeping from Ethan Creed.
It all came down to the final over and captain Perry took responsibility to bowl it. With Alcester & Ragley managing to take a slender one-run lead ahead of the final ball, Cookhill needed a wicket, and the skipper came up with the goods by bowling the batsman.
The last-gasp wicket secured a three-run victory, much to the delight of Cookhill’s junior co-ordinator Billy Harris, who said: “This is an outstanding achievement since the club only launched its junior section back in 2014, but it now attracts more than 40 juniors.
“The result is just reward for all the effort and progress all the juniors have made. The club now looks forward to the final and further progression and development of its junior section.”
The final will be played on Sunday, July 17 at Evesham CC. For further information about Cookhill juniors, contact Billy Harris on 07751 580069 or visit the club’s website, Facebook and Twitter pages.
