Reed hosted Aston in a Sunday 2s friendly with Rob Willoughby deputising as captain for the absent Marcus Baker. Willoughby won the toss and elected to bat.
Openers Matt Naeem and Dom Mcomish (39) looked comfortable, until Matt Naeem was bowled for 6. However, this meant that Julian Fynn came to the crease desperate for some runs this season. He did not disappoint playing a classy innings to score 101 before retiring. In the meantime, young Freddy Stuart came to the crease batting confidently for 11. Willoughby replaced Fynn and after some lusty blows finished on 32 not out. Other contributions came from Mas Naeem (25) and Tom Walsingham (13 n.o). Reed finished on 266 for 6 off their 40 overs.
After a typically fantastic tea Walsingham and Joe Graves opened the bowling for Reed. Both bowled well with Graves taking the early wickets including the Aston captain. Matt Naeem (6-0-27-1) came into the attack and bowled well, turning the ball a mile. Sam Rice (7-0-33-0) also got a lot of turn and was unlucky not to take a wicket. During this time ex- Reed colt M. Fox batted well with attacking shots to score 59. Other Reed bowlers included Stuart (4-1-24-0), Mike Naeem (3-0-21-1) (although a dodgy wicket!) and Willoughby (2-0-16-0). Graves came back into the attack to take is his first 5-for finishing with impressive figures of 8-1-45-5. Fynn also had two overs to finish a cracking day ending with figures of 2-0-4-2, which included the wicket of Fox thanks to a bizarre catch from Willoughby.
As Aston finished their innings on 205 for 9 from their 40 overs, Reed won an entertaining game with everyone involved by 61 runs.
