Joe Cooke’s match-winning return of an unbeaten 66 plus 5/61 against the Essex Eagles at Cardiff in the Royal London One-Day Cup semi-final was the best all-round return by a Glamorgan cricketer in List A cricket for 51 years. (writes Andrew Hignell)
Peter Walker is the only other Glamorgan player to have claimed five wickets and scored 50 runs or more in a List A match having achieved the feat during the Gillette Cup game against Cornwall at Truro in 1970.
In scoring 51 and taking 5/21 against Cornwall, Peter won the Man-of-the Match Award and had a similar accolade been available today at Sophia Gardens, Joe would have undoubtedly been the recipient after his supreme all-round efforts and unbeaten sixth wicket stand of 111 with the doughty Tom Cullen which saw Glamorgan to their first one-day final since 2013.
Joe is now the leading wicket-taker in the competition with 18 wickets at 12.72 apiece, level with Simon Harmer of the Eagles - who Joe gleefully lofted for a massive six into the River Stand to win the game - who has taken 18 wickets at 19.55 for Essex.
For the record, the list below shows the other Glamorgan players to have taken four wickets and made over 50 in a List A match for the Welsh county:
79 and 4/34 – Peter Walker v Staffordshire at Stone, 1971
69 and 4/44 – Rodney Ontong v West Indians at Swansea, 1976
65 and 4/27 – Geoff Holmes v Northamptonshire at Neath, 1986
53 and 4/39 – Colin Ingram v Middlesex at Radlett, 2017
58 and 4/63 – Marchant de Lange v Surrey at Sophia Gardens, 2019