Reed look to have sealed their promotion bid to Division 1 in the Saracens Herts League, after securing an 18 point draw on Saturday at Potters Bar in a dour match on a flat batting wicket. This was aided as Flitwick were beaten by Old Finchleians whilst gaining 14 points.
Winning the toss, Reed elected to bat, and James Heslam (64) and Baz Curtis (14) immediately put the hosts to the sword as they ensured Reed got a solid start reaching 36 before Curtis was caught at first slip off young spinner Luke Owers (22-3-70-2). With the in-form Chris Jackson (6) joining skipper Heslam, Reed aimed to progress the scoring towards 200 and a guaranteed 10 points, but Owers had his way as Jackson uncharacteristically miscued a shot through midwicket straight to the fielder. With Reed on 52 for 2, one batsmen needed to take responsibility. This responsibility fell upon the shoulders of Heslam and Phil Frenay (57) who both completed half centuries with a range of well placed drives, cuts and pull strokes, punishing some wayward bowling from D Brown (6-0-31-1), and the openers G Hodge (9-0-44-0) and C Hodge (10-0-37-0). It was only when Heslam miscued a pull stroke off Brown to be caught on the boundary that Potters Bar made a breakthrough.
Tom Fulk (43*), who returned early that morning from a break in Sheffield, then joined Frenay, who was now opening his shoulders and punishing some loose deliveries from Owers. Fulk ran off the cobwebs induced through excessive consumption of alcohol the previous evening, and he and Frenay dragged the score to 177. When Frenay went to one drive too many off part time spinner D Pett (6-0-24-1) to be caught at mid off, William Clarke (0) came to the crease to join Fulk, but Clarke was run-out early thanks to some shortsighted running from Fulk.
However, this proved to be an inspired decision from Fulk, as he joined Simon Jackson (26*) to run hard, turning singles into 2s and take the score to 228-5 off 52 overs, when skipper James Heslam called in his men.
Following tea, William Clarke (13-5-54-2) and Peter Tidey (15-6-27-3) took the new ball. The pair started tightly restricting runs to openers T Pett (15) and C Hodge (12). The pressure caused C Hodge to play a rash stroke, caught at mid on thanks to Richard Johnson’s maiden catch of the season. With Tidey shortly bowling Pett afterwards, Potters Bar were on 25-2. Tidey then followed up as he snared D Pett (9), striking his middle stump. Clarke continued by tying down first teamer M Webb (13), before he then had him play a rash stroke to mid wicket where Chris Jackson took a simple chance. It was not Reed’s day in the field however, as they downed a number of catches, and their ground fielding left something to be desired. Reed continued with The Bar on 53-4 off 21 overs. Potters Bar never looked like they were willing to chase the total, making Reed’s ability to take wickets even harder. Andrew Emms (8-2-27-1) tried hard, only capturing a wicket in his second spell. When Owers and M Evans (31) dug their heels in the end of the game an inevitable draw was on the cards until Ed Garrott (3-0-22-1) managed to have Evans caught at mid on. And when Owers was run out, Reed saw he chance to dismiss Potters Bar, but with such few overs in hand, and the hosts’ mind clearly set on a draw, Reed could only manage to squeeze a couple of late wickets to leave Potters Bar 8 wickets down.
James Heslam commented: “It was a frustrating game for Reed – we came close to a win, but Im delighted to have put ourselves in a great position to get promoted. Im very happy we consistently are scoring over 200 and our bowlers are hitting good lines and lengths.”
