The Analysis: Sam Cook delivers in a men's Hundred final for the purists

NICK HOWSON AT LORD'S: Traditionally a red-ball bowler getting the ball to nibble off a helpful Chelmsford pitch, the Essex seamer has developed to a skilful operator of a white ball

Sam Cook has been damned with faint praise ever since stepping into the professional game.

Essex's 'Little Chef', the spare part of a multi-LV= Insurance County Championship-winning side and a red-ball line-and-length specialist benefitting from assistance from a helpful Chelmsford pitch; compliments have forever been backhanded.

Last summer, he was a wildcard pick for Trent Rockets rather than originally drafted. Later that year he was a late addition to the Lions squad for the Australia trip, after bizarrely being overlooked. It was a repeat of the previous trip down under when he was added as cover while playing club cricket for Prahran in Melbourne.

In producing a remarkable bowling performance, returning 4 for 18 from 20 deliveries, bowling 11 dots and shipping just two boundaries as Trent Rockets won the second edition of the men's Hundred, he illuminated a Lord's final. There can be no ignoring that.

Cook has transformed from a key pillar of two Championship-winning sides into a fine new white ball bowler. He has 32 T20 Blast wickets at 22.96 across the last two campaigns and has become an expert at the start of the innings.

Not just reliant on putting the ball in an area, trimming the scoring rate and looking to frustrate, Cook has perfected the short ball and a deceptive slower delivery.

^{Lewis Gregory celebrates securing the title (Alex Davidson/Getty Images)}

But the key to this performance was hitting a wicked yorker length. The margin for error for bowlers has reduced so much in white-ball cricket, seamers will do anything to avoid it to try and limit the damage. A slow, skiddy pitch with the ball keeping low meant Cook could afford to go fuller and limit batters for room.

All four wickets came from fuller, yorker-length deliveries. He crashed into Laurie Evans' pads, beat Wayne Madsen's attempted scoop for pace, bowled Tom Lammonby's leg-stump and satisfyingly took out middle as Richard Gleeson was tied up.

It was during a conversation with then-England chief selector Ed Smith in Australia that he nailed down the skills required.

"From a personal point of view, I had a brief chat with Ed Smith in Australia," he told The Cricketer at the start of last season.

"It was actually quite refreshing to hear it from himself, saying that he wanted us to be outstanding in two or three areas – whether that’s pace, accuracy or skill. To hear it from the direct point of view for me gave me a big boost."

A scoring rate of a little over a run a ball across both finals, bowlers taking charge, a veteran Samit Patel being on a hat-trick; this can hardly be what the ECB envisaged when they committed to spending £312 million during the first cycle of the competition. Manchester Originals only hit 11 boundaries during their innings, with Rockets only needing 13.

Richard Gleeson was handed the final set but couldn't take Manchester Originals through (Alex Davidson/Getty Images)

There is nothing wrong with low-scoring matches, but getting back for the second, running through sets and active backing up from the non-striker's end isn't going to shift another half a million tickets in 2023. It was one for the purists when the mainstream are the real target.

As solid as much of the Originals' catching was, as well as Paul Walter bowled while appearing from out behind the umpire, it felt like a chase whereby the Rockets were injecting the drama with their own errors. 

Gleeson wasn't really meant to be here. Just months ago he was faced with retirement, a stress fracture set to ruin his career. Of all the players who could suffer the disappointment of a final set defeat, it didn't deserve to be him. And yet, he might be one of the best placed to deal with it.

Lewis Gregory has been here before. In Karachi, he smashed 49 from 31 balls for Islamabad United to beat Multan Sultans. At Lord's, he broke Manchester hearts with a magnificent flat-six from an 89mph yorker from Gleeson. That kind of shot earned the leg-side full toss that followed.

A young person's format saw a 30-year-old hit the winning runs after a 37-year-old had bamboozled the opposition. A night for the purists - maybe The Hundred is intended for them after all.

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