Reed 1st XI continued their purple patch on Saturday as they firstly recorded the leading score in Sky Sports Calypso Challenge striking the wickets 11 times in 1 minute after their appearance on Cricket AM, and then by obliterating Broxbourne by 62 runs to reach 5th in Division 2 of the Herts League.

Reed elected to bat first after winning the toss, despite missing their main top order talismen, Tom Fulk due to private commitments and Chris Jackson due to a heavily bruised knee. And, as Broxbourne made the initial breakthrough with the score on 8 having James Heslam caught behind for a duck, it seemed like Reed’s fragile batting might be exposed.

William Clarke (14), taking Jackson’s place, and Baz Curtis settled the ship, with Curtis picking up from his explosive innings on Sunday with an equally merciless 68 predominantly in boundaries. When Broxbourne’s left arm spinner finally removed the stubborn Clarke, this allowed Chris Shorrock to the crease who occupied a few overs with Curtis until Curtis fell to a rash stroke and a well judged high catch by mid-off. Reed were wobbling on 95 for 3, but some sensible batting by Shorrock (18) and Simon Jackson (20) settled the boat.

This was continued by James Bell (24) when Shorrock was dismissed, but it was the ever dependable Marcus Martin (29*) who provided a core for player to build around as he picked sensible singles and 2s off their fast bowlers to elevate the score to 237 for 8 off their 53 overs. Andrew Young (24) provided some lusty blows in the lower order including an agricultural six over long on to ensure Reed registered maximum batting points.

With a strong total posted, Reed were confident in being able to gain a draw, but Broxbourne played with determination and flair to race the score on to 89 for 1 off just 15 overs. With Andrew Young bowling with pace from one end, and Peter Tidey controlled swingers from the other, Broxbourne continued to pile on the runs despite some decent bowling, mostly due to a sharp and measured innings from Broxbourne’s former Tasmanian overseas cricketer C Stockdale.

Yet, when Andrew Emms trapped the Australian LBW after Yound dismissed the other top order batsmen, Reed looked like they were on top. Emms and Young bowled effectively in tandem pinning the visitors for runs. This eventually allowed Young to bag 6-63 (his best haul for Reed this season) and Emms 4-25 to wrap up Broxbournes innings in 32 over for 175 runs. Simon Jackson, club skipper, was delighted: “On the back of the Regional Village Cup victory last week, appearing on Sky Sports today and getting back to winning ways in the League, it has turned out to be a bit of a fairy tale month for us…long may it continue!”

This marks Reed’s third consecutive League victory, as they face Old Albanian at home on Saturday as well as Bledlow Ridge in their next National Village Cup game on Sunday