Reed administered a crushing blow over unbeaten Herts league leaders, Hertford IIs, on Saturday, as they trounced them by 8 wickets, demoting them to third, and raising Reed to the helm.

The one sided contest began positively for Hertford as they won the toss, and elected to bat on Reed’s batting friendly wicket, but openers William Clarke (12-5-28-2) and Michael Berks (8-2-18-1) soon changed the game as they removed the top three cheaply. Reed talisman Peter Tidey (15-5-42-2), and Richard Jerome (14-6-28-3) sailed through the middle order, thanks to two sharp catches and a direct hit run-out opportunity by Clarke, exposing the Hertford tail. With the score on 139-9 after their 53 overs, the target was well within Reed’s sight.

However, Hertford’s reply with the ball was typically tight, as left armed spinners J.James (14-4-41-1) and S.Hansill (12-4-28-0) managed to removed opener James Heslam LBW 14 leaving the hosts on 16-1. This brought Clarke (45), promoted from number 9 to 3 in the absence of regular Chris Jackson, to the crease.

Combined with Tom Fulk (70*), they very patiently stabilised the innings, by seeing off the spinners and then forging a 112 run partnership marked by exquisite drives and pull strokes, to guide Reed to 128 before Clarke was unlucky to depart to a streaky edge. Reed skipper Simon Jackson said: “This match showed we have the class to play Division 2. We not only picked up 30 points against the League’s only unbeaten side, but kept them to only 2. As a captain I couldn’t have dreamt of anything better.”