Reed progressed to the Herts and Beds Final of the National Village Cup after thumping Biddenham at Reed on Sunday for the second year in succession.

After losing the toss and being put into bat, Reed got off to a flying start with James Heslam (82) and Tom Fulk (53) putting on 150 for the 1st wicket. However once the opening pair were dismissed it bought together the inform Chris Jackson (49) and Baz Curtis (49), who both missed out on 50s for the 2nd day on the trot. Reed set Biddenham a very testing target 274 for 4 in 40 overs.

Biddenham’s opening pair proved resilient as they raced to 80 for no wicket off a handful of overs, but when Richard Johnson had their main run-scorer caught behind by Simon Jackson, the rot began. Tight bowling by old boys Pete Tidey, Richard Jerome and Chris Jackson slowed down the run rate and chipped away at the opposition on a regular basis. William Clarke took two catches on the boundary, before Jim Allsopp wrapped up Biddenham’s innings tidily with 2 wickets leaving the visitors stranded on 138 all out, the final wicket being a neat caught and bowled opportunity. Richard Jerome was the pick of the Reed bowlers taking 4 for 26 off his 9 over allocation, whilst all-rounder Chris Jackson took 3 for 27.

Reed skipper Simon Jackson commented “This was a superb victory for us. We batted as well as I have seen us for a long while on Sunday. Everybody is excited about the final versus Langleybury, especially as it gives us the chance to play against the team currently top of the Saracens Division 1. However we have 2 important league games before then to concentrate on!”

Reed will play division 1 leaders, Langleybury, in the final on 13th June away. A victory will see Reed crowned regional winners, and allow them to progress to play other regional winners in their bid to emulate England’s glorious Test victory at Lords later this summer.