That first win of the season remained elusive for Reed’s Fourth XI when they once again had their opposition 9 wickets down at the conclusion. Batting first on an artificial wicket in Welwyn Garden City, Reed’s young opening pair of George Garrott and Will Heslam quickly posted a half-century stand in only 7 overs with some rasping shots to the boundary. Heslam was unfortunate to pick-out the backward square leg fielder with a cleanly hit pull that just carried enough and he departed for 21. Garrott continued to reach 46 which included nine boundaries. Richard Robertson came and went thus leaving Josh Conley and John Kershaw together with the score on 90 for 3 after 17 overs. Conley played his usual role by hitting balls in his arc to the boundary and he too scored 21. John Heslam made 16 by the time he was caught at the wicket which brought in the captain, Peter Baker, at number 7 when the score was 174 for 5 with just 10 overs left. Kershaw had passed his second successive fifty and he and Baker then accelerated. They completed an unbroken alliance of 83 for the 6th wicket as the innings concluded at 257 for 5. Baker was 28 not out, but outstandingly John Kershaw notched-up an undefeated 101 in the last over.With an array of bowlers packed in the Reed team, Christian Martin and Chris West opened the bowling. West picked-up 2 for 34 before he was replaced by young leg-spinner Rhoddri Hughes. Ian Roberts was brought on in place of Martin and in an economical spell of 8 overs took 1 for 16. Meanwhile Hughes, assisted by some excellent catching by the fielders and glove work [...]

Reed IVs dropped lower in the Division as a result of their poor showing in the match against Watford Town on Saturday. A contentious umpiring decision that went in favour of Watford’s opening batsman who went on to make 76 did not help Reed’s cause but after that the fielders did not support the bowlers and spilled 5 catches as Watford compiled 243 for 5 at the declaration after 45 overs. Christian Martin found some form by taking 3 for 40. Young leg-break bowler, Rhoddri Hughes, snared the other 2 wickets to fall. Cemal Ramadan fielded brilliantly and must have saved an estimated 25 runs in the outfield by his committed chasing, retrieving and throwing.Needing a solid start, the worst happened as skipper, Peter Baker, drilled a long-hop towards the bowler’s head in the second over of Reed’s innings and he managed to cling-on to the catch. Richard Robertson, (14), stayed for a while but everyone else apart from young Ramadan failed to pass 7. Cemal simply had fearless fun and scored 40 out of Reed’s final total of 74. After a defeat to Hatfield Hyde, an abandoned match and this loss to Watford Town, Reed IVs have notched-up only 15 points in the last three matches. Midway through the season, they now need to start putting some consistently good performances together to re-establish their standing if they hope to contest a promotion spot. Reed IV 0 points; Watford Town III 30 points.

Reed decided to bat first after winning the toss but inexplicably were soon in trouble at 27 for 4. Step forward two of the promising youngsters from Reed’s Colts’ structure. Calmly, Dominick McOmish, (26), and Jack Caine, (17), added another 47 for the 5th wicket with some well-timed boundaries. The scoring rate was never a problem although wickets tumbled regularly thereafter. Richard Robertson scored 20 and Reece Fitzgerald 15, and with some further resistance from the rest of the lower order, Reed were all-out for just 125 in only 24 overs. This meant that Shenley Village had a total of 66 overs in which to achieve their required target at fewer than 2 runs per over.Tea was taken after the first fifteen-over session. At this point, the hosts were already 4 wickets down. Veteran campaigners, Ian Roberts and Richard Robertson, had opened the bowling attack for Reed and once in their stride had made life difficult for the batsmen. Robertson took 3 for 40 before being replaced by 13-year-old Reece Fitzgerald whose stature as an off-spin bowler has grown match-by-match this season. Ian Roberts continued and settled into a long spell of 16 overs eventually ending with an economical 2 for 25 as he mesmerised the batsmen with his trademark full-length out-swingers.Fitzgerald meanwhile flighted his deliveries and varied his pace trapping 2 batters early-on in his spell. Warren Seeley batting at number 4 saw his team-mates come and go and virtually played a lone hand although Woodward stayed with him for a period that looked as if they might see Shenley home to victory. Alan Ward took-over from the tiring Roberts and conceded only 11 runs from 7 overs, but it was young Fitzgerald who [...]

When Chris Marshall and George Garrott ripped through the Rosedale top-order batting taking 3 wickets a-piece, it was only a matter of time before Reed achieved victory. Because of bowling restrictions on young pace bowlers, Under 15 colt Marshall had figures of 3 for 22 from 6 overs and Garrott, 3 for 14 in his 7 over spell before they both had to be replaced. Reeling with 6 wickets down only the opening batsman, Colin Winter, got into double figures for the hosts as he top-scored with 43 before he became the second of Reece Fitzgerald's three scalps. Change bowlers Ian Roberts took 1 for 17 from 9 overs, and Fitzgerald, (from Reed's Under 13s squad), returned figures of 3 for 21 from his 9 overs of off-spin.Earlier, Reed's innings had faltered at 24 for 2 but George Garrott, (31), then added 94 in partnership with Dominick McOmish, (41), in a display of finely-placed and sweetly-timed shots. Alan Ward scored 37 whilst some lusty hitting was produced by Rob Willoughby, (17), and Ian Roberts, (16 n.o.), enabling Reed to close on a strong 216 for 7.The rout ended with Rosedale all-out for 88 some 128 short of their target as wicket keeper Ian Curtis and fielders Swain, Baker and Fitzgerald supported the bowlers by taking some excellent catches. Reed have now improved 5 positions in their Division in the past 2 weeks and have clambered away from the relegation zone with four matches to play.

On the Second ground at Rickmansworth which was full of weeds with stones scattered on parts of the outfield, Reed’s openers set-off in watchful fashion. The pitch had been dampened and each delivery was unpredictable, but Peter Baker and Paul Garrott were solid enough until Baker mis-judged the capabilities of the mid-on fielder and was run-out for 13 with the score on 18. Enter Richard Robertson who accompanied Garrott until both had passed their half-centuries. Robertson in particular applied excellent footwork in straight driving the bowlers. The partnership had added 117 when Robertson was bowled for 51. Rob Willoughby began in belligerent mood by cracking successive boundaries through and over the on-side. Paul Garrott eventually fell for a more than competent 88 but Willoughby continued in hard-hitting form and pressed on to 71 not out when the innings closed on 258 for 4.Christian Martin was soon amongst the wickets when Rickmansworth batted and his spell of 10 overs provided him with 3 for 21. Spinner Nick Green flighted his deliveries well to take 1 for 21 and Alan Ward took 1 for 9, but chief wicket-taker was Ian Roberts who returned 4 for 31. Frustratingly for Reed however, the number 11 held-out for the last 3 overs thus earning the draw, although 134 runs behind at the end. Match Drawn. Reed IV 19 points; Rickmansworth IV 1 point.

Paul Garrott’s amazing run-gathering continued on Saturday as he remained undefeated on 74 not out when the Reed innings closed at 184 for 4. This was his third successive half-century in the three league matches played so far. Alan Ward, (16 n.o.), is yet to be dismissed this season and after useful contributions from Ben Bowles, (22), and the double six-hitting Josh Conley, (19), Reed once again achieved maximum batting points.However, what was quite an uneven and, at time, dangerous pitch early-on, appeared to have smoothed-out for the Old Elizabethans’ reply. Reed were able to take only 3 wickets, (2 of them by Richard Robertson), as they went down by 7 wickets with 3 overs to spare.