Men against boys. Reed IV’s travelled to the far end of the County (not the best part) to play their first league game of the season. A team was scrambled together by our injured Captain Rob Willoughby, consisting of 3 under 15’s, 2 under 17’s and a mixture of experience and enthusiasm.
Reed won the toss and decided to insert the opposition on a very damp soft green wicket. In the back ground was a large tent with a travelling circus and at one point our stand in skipper trying to field the ball in the covers did his own impersonation of coco the clown (much to the delight of the younger players!).
The skipper’s decision to open up with the hugely talented Jack Caine and Rhodri Hughes soon paid off, as three early wickets put the opposition under pressure. N Ilyas who went on to score over 90 was dropped early on and had we managed to take his wicket the total could have been under 50 as 9 of their players failed to reach double figures. There was good fielding from all of the team notably Scott Caine who patrolled the deep cover boundary with speed.
After the openers had bowled their first spell Joe Graves replaced Jack Caine from one end and was unlucky not to take wickets as he beat the bat on a number of occasions, and the experienced Christian Martin took over from Rhodri Hughes taking 2 for 30. Reed continued to take wickets at regular intervals with Jack Caine taking 5 for 41 on debut. Reed had managed to bowl out Bushey for 156 in 46 overs.
After tea Adain Swain and Peter Baker opened up for Reed and got off to a quick start scoring 16 of the first 4 overs. Swain went on to score 18 before being trapped LBW by Sharif. This brought Chris West to the crease. On the journey to the game West told the skipper that he batted a bit and so was put in at number 3. On the way home he told the skipper that he actually batted at number 10!
After losing a flurry of quick wickets Dom McCormish steadied the ship, finishing with 31. At 30 for 6 Reed looked in real trouble but Steve Lovegrove had other ideas and hit out scoring a very quick 19 dispatching the opener Sharif with some lusty blows until he was bowled. This bought stand in skipper Mark King to the crease to begin a mini revival. Bushey brought on the leg spinner Usaan Ahmed from one end and the off spinner Hanza from the other. King took full advantage of the slow bowlers by hitting 6 fours and a 6 before playing on. Reed were finally bowled out for 136 with Sharif taking 5 for 39.
Next week Reed take on Hatfield III at home.
