Reed won an entertaining and bizarre low scoring match away to Crawley Green Nomads on Sunday, this despite only having 10 players and suffering a huge batting collapse.
Reed lost bowling all-rounder Rupert Martin before the match due to unforeseen circumstances, and were forced to field only 10 players against the Luton side. Captain Marcus Martin won the toss and put the home side into bat on a strip that resembled a bowling green more than a cricket pitch.
Martin’s decision looked entirely justified as his opening bowler Richard Johnson (8-0-41-4) and ripped into the Crawley Green top order, whilst fellow opener Karl Ward (8-2-18-0) tied the hosts down with a sublime spell of line and length bowling. Johnson’s fiery quick bowling was too much for the Nomad’s batsmen, on what was proving to be a challenging pitch, after 12 Overs the home team were left reeling on 36-4 with Reed ‘keeper Robert Willoughby excelling with 3 catches, including one contender for ‘catch of the season’.
Skipper Martin then introduced himself into the bowling attack, and his own brand of hostile pace bowling brought instant rewards. Martin took 3 wickets in 4 balls, including that of Y. Jethwa (19) who had looked dangerous. Martin went on to take a fourth wicket in his highly productive 6 Over spell, which yielded 4 wickets for only 14 runs. Crawley Green stalwart G. Hill (28) did manage to take his sides score up towards three figures, but young off spinner Ed Garrott accounted for his off stump with a brilliant ball before he could do too much damage. Jason Pallett also picked up a wicket to end the Crawley Green innings on 96, after just 30.4 of the allotted 40 Overs.
Due to the premature ending of the Crawley Green innings, it was decided that Reed should bat for 10 Overs before the tea interval. Tom Fulk and Phil Frenay then set about the Nomads total in some style, as they reached 38 without loss after the ten Over period. However the tea break caused a lack of concentration, and combined with some superb bowling on what was a very hard pitch to bat on, the hosts got the breakthrough they were looking for. Frenay (12) was trapped LBW by swing king A. Jethwa (10–6-8-3). Jethwa then also accounted for Fulk (29) two Overs later to leave Reed with 2 new batsmen at the crease, in the differing shapes of Michael Robertson and Matt Bowles.
The nagging bowling of Hill (9-2-17-3) was also soon to trouble Reed however, as first he removed Robertson (3) and then captain Martin for a two ball duck. When Jethwa then had Johnson given out LBW in dubious circumstances, and Hill had bowled Ward for just 1, Reed were reeling on 46-6. Bowles remained however, and he looked in defiant mood as he negotiated the tricky pitch to help steady the Reed ship along with Garrott. Both batsmen batted very patiently, fending off the many good balls being bowled at them, especially from Jethwa, whilst also scoring runs off of the bad balls. The Reed total progressed slowly but surely towards its target, with the away side at 89-6, however a mix up in calling meant that Garrott was run out for 11.
With only 10 men and with 8 runs still needed, Reed could ill afford another slip up, and luckily for them Bowles and new man Willoughby had no intention of providing this. The pair added to the score responsibly, with Willoughby (4 Not Out) then smashing a pull shot over the boundary to wrap the game up for Reed with a four. Bowles remained unbeaten on a gritty and entertaining 11 Not Out, from just 20 Overs.
Afterwards, captain Marcus Martin praised his teams fighting spirit “We did brilliantly bowling and fielding, especially on the back of last week’s debacle. I’m so pleased for the lads, they really worked hard, especially as we only had 10 men.
Martin was also quick to brush off concerns over his sides second batting collapse in two games “It was a very hard pitch to bat on, and the Crawley Green bowlers bowled very well too. Tom Fulk and Phil Frenay got us off to a good start, but I think they ate too much tea and lost concentration! I always felt we had enough batting to get the total though, and so it showed with Matt Bowles playing the situation well with good support from Ed Garrott”.
