Reed lost at home to Shenley on Saturday despite being in good positions in the game with the bat and ball. Shenley got off to an inconspicuous start with Vadgana and the slow scoring Middlesex youngster Thurston, who put on 36 for the 1st wicket in 12 overs before Reed openers Lee Johnson and Graham Wilson both starting hitting their straps. The bowlers split the first 7 wickets with keeper Simon Jackson taking 5 catches. With Johnson (5-72 off 16 overs) using his pace to rip through the batsman working in a great partnership with the wily Wilson (3-35 off 17 overs).
With Shenley now slumped to 73-7 off 24 overs it bought to the wicket the classy Stanley and Hameed. Both batsman looked far better than the batsman before them as they slowly built a solid total. They defended well and put away the bad ball superbly before the Reed spinners of Tom Greaves and Will Dobson got their wickets. Johnson took the final wicket bowling out Shenley for 198.
In reply Reed were unlucky to lose Greaves in the first over, playing onto his stumped. This was followed by the Shenley bowler giving the Reed batsman a send-off not dissimilar to something seen on a football field. Skipper James Heslam (26) and Liam McKechnie added the stability to the Reed innings seeing Reed to 51 off 11 overs before losing McKechnie (23), who again witnessed the beautiful spirit of the game which was to carry on throughout the Reed innings.
Phil Frenay and Will Dobson nearly saw Reed in to a match winning position before Frenay (19) was unlucky to be adjudged out caught behind. Dobson (27) kept going before suffering a back injury, which restricted his movement and his shot selection, needing him to use Heslam as a runner. Reed batsman continued to get in and then get out without getting Reed above the scoring rate. Shenley ended up bowling Reed out for 160 with nearly 5 overs left. The most successful of the Shenley footballers was the bowler who started everything off at the beginning of the innings taking 5-45. Captain Heslam said “it was a big disappointment to lose today after getting them 73-7 and for 5 of our top 7 scoring between 19 and 27 and not going on to make a match winning innings. Their numbers 8 and 9 batted like we would have liked two of our guys batting and if we did we would have won the game. I would hope that we can bounceback against Potters Bar IIs on Saturday with our bowlers bowling well and our batsman batting well”
