Reed-veteran Peter Tidey snatched an overdue 40th birthday present on Saturday, as he recorded his season’s best haul of 7-33 off 19 overs on Saturday. Reed dominated throughout over top-of-the-table Totteridge in Herts League Division 4, after arriving as clear underdogs. Showing their pedigree, Reed skittled the League leaders for a mere 74 runs. Taking advantage of a lively green wicket, Tidey’s pin-point accuracy made it difficult to bat with any consistency, forcing the Totteridge batsmen into some rash strokes. Only Leaderman (25) offered any resistance, but he too fell to some intelligent and mature bowling, as Tidey plucked a stunning catch off his own bowling – clearly to the surprise of his team-mates too!
The fielders supported these heroics well by holding all chances and ensuring runs were kept to a minimum.

In reply, Reed suffered from early jitters, as Poland also extracted some steep bounce to help reduce the away side to 17-3, giving Totteridge the chance to sneak a victory. However, this plan was thwarted as Chris Jackson engineered an imposing 45, despite the lively bounce and movement, to shatter Totteridge’s confidence. It was perhaps fitting that Geoffrey Wornham, who patiently supported Jackson’s innings throughout, blasted a six to end the match allowing Reed to record their second successive League victory – a marked U-turn from their recent spate of poor form. In response to the thrashing, Reed CC Press Officer, William Clarke, commented: “This was a truly stunning performance by Reed, reflective of our form last season. If we can perform as we have done in the last 2-3 weeks, promotion could be within our sights.”