With some last minute excitement and dropouts Reed seconds were preparing themselves for playing there opening league match of the season with only ten men. It was a situation the Reed players did not relish being in. But then, like Omar Sharif in Laurence of Arabia or a gunslinger strolling into town, Paul Watts came pacing his way across the pitch towards the pavilion. Not needing to be asked twice, Reeds fixture secretary and usual second eleven umpire donned the whites for the first time in six years whilst Marcus Martin thankfully agreed to undertake the umpiring duties.
Reeds captain Peter Tidey won the toss and asked Mark King and Ritchie Barlow to don their pads and open the Reed innings. The pair were just starting to get going when a poor call led to King (14) being left short of the crease. Barlow (7) soon followed as Reed struggled on 28 for 2. Matt Bowles and Mitchell Cooper then occupied the crease for fourteen overs but found difficulty in getting the bowling of Allen (18-5-50-3) and Connah (14-6-44-1) away as the runs began to dry up. Bowles (14) was then stumped and Ed Blissett suffered a second ball duck as Reed found themselves at 52 for 4. Marcus J.E. Baker then joined Cooper as he tried to inject some life into the innings. Both batsmen were now looking comfortable at the crease as they took quick singles and hit some class boundaries as Preston rotated their bowlers. They had put on 50 together before Baker (18) played around a straight one from Murrell (11-3-30-5). Kallum Ward then played some aggressive shots, including a huge six, making 23 before being caught from one big shot too many. Kieran Wheeler making his league debut in England added 10 in a brief cameo before Reed lost their final wicket for 181. All the while Mitchell Cooper had remained at the crease playing a crucial innings of 74 showing maturity as he resisted swinging at the ball choosing instead to play safer and invariably classier shots.
In the second innings Kallum Ward and Chris Peckett opened the bowling, as Pearce made a good start for Preston. However, after some hard toil from Ward (7.5-2-19-1) Preston lost their first wicket which soon became two with a run out, Reed once again showing superior fielding ability. K. Wheeler (12-0-54-1) was first change and got the ball to rip past the bat on several occasions but somehow only managed to take the one wicket. Peter Tidey also bowled well taking 3 for 33. Reed maintained a lot of pressure on the opposition batsmen and gave support to their bowlers as the run rate slowed up during the middle overs, however, an aggressive innings from Garnem (41) undid all of Reeds hard work. Preston overtook Reeds 181 as they won by four wickets.
