2012 Hon. Secretary’s Report

As 2011 rolled gently into 2012 we had little idea that 2012 was to prove to be an epic season for our Club, one with features and highlights that will quite possibly never be matched again!

Novembers AGM 2011 saw a number of changes in the Clubs playing hierarchy with Rob Willoughby taking on the leadership of the Saturday 4th Xl, Tom Greaves the Sunday 1st Xl and Marcus Baker the Sunday 2nd Xl. Stuart Smith took over as Midweek Captain and also provided a welcome younger influx to the RCC General Committee. Mark King undertook the role of Coaching Co-ordinator, but an embarrassing rules related restriction on RCCGC numbers led to stalwart and much respected Committee Members Graham Smith and Paul Garrott withdrawing their nominations to stand for 2012, and thereby taking at least one years rest on the sidelines. After a successful Annual Dinner and Awards Evening at The Jester Hotel in Odsey we looked forward with the usual eager anticipation to the new playing season.

This summer we welcomed Alex Kelly as a new member who required registration as an overseas player from Australia. Alex played as an effective bowler in both the 1st and 2nd Xl’s at various stages of the season and was a vociferous and lively social member and supporter of the Club throughout the Village Cup campaign! Of the 2011 retirees and injured players Simon Jackson returned for a few notable and successful late season appearances in both the 1st and 2nd Xl’s, whilst Will Clark began to play again with conspicuous all round success for the 2nd Xl. Regrettably Graham Wilson never reappeared, a big loss to the Club as his much improved bowling had been a key and respected element in 2010 and early 2011. Hopefully we will see all 3 playing and making full use of their undoubted cricketing talents again in 2012. As the old adage says “You are a long time retired” – and as my father used to say to me “Even longer dead!!” Thankfully Marcus Martin eventually regained sufficient fitness to begin playing again from mid-season onwards, and showed on several occasions both with the bat, and especially in the field, what a key player he can be to a team. We lost the valued services of Chris Peckett in 2012 as he went abroad and spent the year in Australia.

After the exceptionally dry summer of 2011, complete with mandatory water use restrictions, the 2012 weather decided to disprove the “Global Warming” theorists by recording record levels of rainfall!! Right from the start in April and pretty much consistently through to August all our teams suffered significant disruption to their seasons. The luck of the weather draw, the effectiveness of clubs drainage systems, and the availability (or not) of covers, determined whether many matches were able to start or make it to a full conclusion. Reeds home games benefitted from 4 positives. Our excellent new drainage system installed in late 2009, our unique geographical position perched on the sheer edge of the Chiltern Range of Hills, our having a large Sheet Cover (and the commitment/enthusiasm to USE IT!), and also the positive “can do/will do” attitudes of our Groundsman Robbo, our Captains and our Players. Our 1st Xl got off to a flyer recording a 1st match 30pt win whilst the rest of their league was washed out! However our 3rd Xl proved particularly badly affected by the weather and their season was impacted by a high number of washed out matches.

Sunday Cricket in 2011 had thrown up many problems for us. Poor availability for a variety of reasons led to number of cancellations and also to a number of “mismatch” games. 2012 produced a different array of challenges to the scheduled Sunday fixtures. The aforementioned weather, and then also the small matter of a longer than usual Club involvement in the National Village Cup!

Before we move on to that however, I must introduce a somber note by recording and reflecting on the very sad loss of our friend Steve Lovegrove. Steve had been a playing member at Reed for many years and brought his son James up through the Reed Colts system. Steve himself was a consistent performer with the bat and the wicket keeping gloves, and played for many years with our 2nd and 3rd Xl’s. He was a positive, mature and stable influence, and always there to help with required tasks at matches from organising the infrastructure items for a match, to umpiring before, and after, his batting contributions. Little did we think when he cheerfully announced he would be unavailable for selection for the next 2 weeks as he was off on holiday to The Maldives that we would never see him again! After a “Black Armbands and Minutes Silence” tribute at all of one weekends matches, there was a good Club representation at Steve’s funeral where Steve’s friend, and 3rd Xl Captain, Maseeh Naeem made an address. The Club has made a Donation to The Lords Taverners Charity in Steve’s memory.

And so back to on-field performance issues. Captains Reports for all the playing Xl’s are available on the Club website. In League Terms the overall season was mixed. The 1st Xl led the way being crowned Champions of the SHCL Division 2 and hence once again returning to Division 1 status. They led their table early on but then a midseason blip of losing 3 consecutive matches to the combination of rain affected pitches, allied to fragile batting, saw them slip down the league. However a very strong finish to the season saw them hit the top of the table again with 2 games to go and a fine win at Dunstable in the last match of the season confirmed promotion and League Champions status. Unfortunately the 2nd Xl had a very poor season with a team that appeared strong on paper failing to deliver, particularly with the bat, and they ultimately suffered a surprise relegation. Our aforementioned 3rd Xl suffered a badly rain affected season and they never recovered from an above average number of match cancellations and ended the season mid-table. The 4th Xl also had a mixed season. After a poor start when overall Club availability badly impacted the side, we flirted with the relegation places early on but a strong finish saw us rapidly climb the table to finish 5th, one spot short of promotion. Rob Willoughby deserves full credit for his determination to put out a side every week, for his own contributions with bat and ball, and for the performances he drew out from the extremes of very young, and pretty old, players around him!

There was one rare and outstanding individual performance this season in a Reed 2nd Xl SHCL Match. On 23rd June 2012 playing for Reed 2nd Xl v Radlett 3rd Xl veteran Reed bowler Peter Tidey took ALL 10 WICKETS in the Radlett innings. 7 of Peters victim were clean bowled, 2 LBW and one caught by Tom Walsingham. Radlett were dismissed for 65 in 26 overs Peter bowling unchanged from one end. Many congratulations to Peter on achieving this very rare feat. Reed even managed to win the match – an almost equally rare feat in 2012!

In Midweek Cricket we played more matches than in past seasons (despite the weather) and new skipper Stuart Smith did well to again win the Keatley Cup, this time beating South Cambs Tucker League Champions Foxton comfortably in the re-played Final (1st attempt washed out!!) at Reed. Jack Tidey took the Man of the Match Trophy for his 4 wickets.

At County level, William Heslam was again selected into the Cambridgeshire U17 Squad and played in all of their matches thereby concluding an 8 year County Colts Career that had seem him an ever present with Cambridgeshire County squads from the age of 10 to 17.

Our Colts season suffered from the wet summer even more than the adults cricket and in truth there were few highlights on the field where many matches were lost to the weather and a good number conceded.

And so to the National Village Cup! As I reported in my 2011 Report last year we seemed to have missed a big opportunity to improve on our 1988 previous best performance in the competition, when we lost in the last 16 to eventual 2011 Lords Finalists Rottingdean. As I reported then: “..poised to win the match, a painful and dramatic collapse saw us throw away our winning chance and ultimately lose by 2 runs, losing our last wicket to the second ball of the final over. A long and sombre journey home to Reed ensued and Rottingdean subsequently went on to reach the Village Cup Final at Lords! A great opportunity missed.” This experience could be said to have toughened up the team, or maybe it was just that several of them were a year older, and a year wiser?

The 2012 National Village Cup Competition proved interesting and challenging from the start, a tricky match on a wet wicket away at Botany Bay, where we confronted at least one player who we were convinced did not qualify to play in the competition. However thanks to a superb bowling spell from Rupert Martin and a match winning innings from Sean Tidey the match was settled on the pitch and not in the “Stewards Room”! Langleybury next, and at Home after a Week 1 washout, a match that saw us win a game that ebbed and flowed both ways. The Herts & Beds Area Final played at Reed provided another tight match win against Eton Bray mainly thanks to a fine all round performance from Tom Greaves.
And so into the “inter-county” rounds again! First stop – not too far away – Cambridgeshire Champions Foxton. A fine day for a change and the first really big crowd of the competition. Fielding first we had them on the rack until old war horse Ian Cambridge batting at 8 hit a cultured 47 and the Foxton score of 230 was going to be challenging. A rampaging 64 from James Heslam in the first 10 overs got us off to a flyer and with Chris Jackson marshaling the rest of the innings we overcame a mini middle order collapse to win an exciting match 8 down and with around 2 overs to spare. A

great match with a great atmosphere between the supporters many of whom had played Cricket and Football with and against each other for many years. Nice to come out on top of that one. Local bragging rights secured! We then got a rare scheduled home match, this time against Essex Champions Mistley CC. Another good crowd and one got the distinct impression pre-match that they thought they were going to win. By the time they trooped off at tea with Reed having put together 200 on a slow wicket and damp outfield they seemed somewhat dejected and a lot less confident. They were correct in being so, as they were never allowed into the match by our very tight bowling and impeccable fielding and catching – an aspect of our 1st Xl Cricket that was becoming an increasingly notable trademark as the season progressed. And so we had done it – we had reached the last 8 of the competition!! 1988 re-visited!! The bogey beaten, or at least matched!. The “old farts” silenced!! Now to shut them up for good!!!

Away again in the last 8 (just like 1988!) this time to Plumpton in East Sussex – less than a furlong from the Racecourse. A dilemma for me – away on holiday in Spain for matchday – bit the bullet and painfully paid Ryanair penalty charges for youngest son William to fly home early to play in the match! On match day I eventually settled down by our villas pool awaiting text updates! Purgatory – we did well – bowled them out for just over 100. How would we perform against an “all spin” attack? Some dodgy moments but after 57 texts from Plumpton to Spain the message came through – “Won by 4 Wkts” – in the Semi Final! A new best ever for the Club!! Now the potential worst moments of all – a potential nightmare – Lose in the Semi-Final? Miss Lords by ONE match!!

Away again – this time in Wiltshire – against past Finalists and Cup winners Goatacre! At home – my wife goes down with Shingles – she can’t travel – “I won’t go without you” – it’s the day of the match – she’s still not well enough – 10.30am last attempt at persuading her to go – she won’t travel – eventually the words “you had better go on your own” emanate – I just hear the “..own” as I run out, slam the front door and jump in the car! I’m going to be late! 1.05pm (match started at 1.00pm) I am at Reading West on the M4!! Text beeps – “1st Over – we are batting – we are are 0-2 Wkts”!!! Is it worth continuing?? Cricket or Shingles patient back at home? – Cricket wins!

Arrive at ground around 1.40pm. Wet postage stamp ground – massive crowd – Reed recovery in progress at 50 – 2. Another slump – the Stuart Smith blitzkrieg 100 – a fine Karl Ward knock. Looks like we might make 270. They got 330 in the last round though!. Another collapse – 224 all out – Is it enough? After pausing for breath at tea there then followed one of the finest bowling and fielding performances in the history of Reed Cricket Club. The bowling was accurate and tight, the fielding was aggressive and 100% focus and concentration. The catching was flawless – every chance was taken. The home crowd hushed – the writing was on the wall – another desperate tail enders attempt to reach the boundary – the catch well taken by Lee Johnson – Pandemonium on the outfield – the Fat Lady Sang and we were in the Lords Final – winners by 50+ runs with around 4 overs to play!! We are at LORDS – it will be a great experience – a wonderful day Win or Lose. We have done it!

3 weeks of hectic planning and preparation followed. We need a Club Flag – What about Spectators Coaches – Who can stay at the Team Hotel – Who should represent the Club at the Match Dinner – What are the Players Suit Sizes – Who gets Complimentary Tickets – How will we get to the Hotel from Dunstable CC in time for the Saturday Evening Reception – Arrange sponsored embroidered kit for the final – Recce the O/Nt Hotel and viable local eateries – and so it went on, but it was a labour of love and well worth it!!

Meanwhile in the SHCL League we need to WIN our match the day before the NVC Final in order to ensure promotion to Division 1 and to win the Division 2 Championship.

The big weekend arrives – Saturday 8th September – A glorious sunny day for a change. 9.30am – Players, Kit Bags and Overnight Cases board the “Myles Flyer” at Royston Bus Station for a scheduled 12.00pm start at Dunstable. By 3pm Reed have amassed almost 300 in their innings thanks to 119 from skipper James Heslam and a fine 70+ from Tom Greaves. 10 points in the bag – We are PROMOTED. By 4.45 we have secured 3 wickets – 13 points in the bag – “We are THE CHAMPIONS!!”” By 5.45 – Match over – 30 Points in the bag – No time to celebrate – Shower, Pack Up and in the Coach to The Marriot Hotel in Regents Park. End of Part One!

Arrive Hotel – some problems with room bookings – bit of a rush to make the drinks reception – see opposition arriving – very smart – been here before – know what it’s about –they won their league today as well – BUT – “Can they really play”??!!