Reed 1st XI kicked off their Division 3 Herts League campaign with a bang on Saturday by resoundingly crushing Northwood Town by 35 runs. Having lost the toss, Reed batted on a pitch which offered some extremely variable, almost dangerous, bounce.

Northwood Town drew early blood as Doling (6-37) despatched James Heslam early, leaving them on 5-1. Chris Jackson (7) and Michael Curtis (21) managed to settle the ship, until Doling tore through the middle order by exploiting the bounce, reducing Reed to 49 for 7.

Stuart Smith’s 20 revived some respectability to the scorecard, but the tail were unable to support him, and after being questionably adjudged LBW, Reed’s effort flopped to a disappointing 74 all out.

Yet, with demons still in the pitch, and a formidable bowling attack which helped spearhead their promotion last season, Reed’s skipper, Simon Jackson, was always confident that Reed could defend their total. His prediction proved correct as Reed took the field before tea and managed to exploit some of the variability that dogged their innings.

William Clarke (1-12) removed their opener for a duck, but it was Reed stalwart, and leading league wicket taker Peter Tidey (5-19) who profited by bagging 3 wickets before tea, and a further 2 afterwards. He was partnered by Michael Berks (4-8), whose accuracy and venomous pace managed to also exploit the bounce.

The Northwood men had no answer to Berks and Tidey, as they adopted a policy of attack. Several ambitious shots were cut short by sharp catches in the slips by Richard Jerome (on his league debut for the club), or on the boundary by James Heslam, Simon Jackson and Chris Jackson.

The fielding superbly supported the bowlers to maintain the pressure. Northwood eventually crumbled for a paltry 39 all out, allowing Reed to secure a full 30 points, maintain the momentum from last season, and take on local rivals Cottered with confidence next week.

Simon Jackson commented after the match: “This was one of the most extraordinary matches I have ever played in and captained. We always felt that if the pitch remained in the same condition, our bowlers were accurate and supported by some tight fielding, we had a chance to win. This is a sign of things to come”