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 [...]

The 2nd XI travelled to Northwood on Saturday trying to put their poor run of form behind them. Unfortunately this wasn’t to be the case. Deciding to bat first skipper Baz Curtis set the tone with two poor shots, the second of which he managed to snick to the keeper. Phil Freney tried the exact same thing to the third ball of the match only to snick it over the slips for four. J. Vedener was their tormentor. He was just getting enough movement off the pitch to make driving difficult. William Heslam returning to 2nd XI action look in good form and put the bad ball away before he was also tempted to drive and was caught at mid off. Richard Johnson joined Freney at 27-2 and that soon became 3 as Johnson was out of the last ball of the over LBW for a duck.Freney consolidated with his new partner Matt Bowles. Bowles again looked in good form and the pair had moved the total on to 55 before Freney was caught for 24. Will Dobson joined Bowles and the pair made quick progress put on 60 runs in 11 overs. The run rate wasn’t the issue, it was the loss of wickets. Dobson looked set for another 50, but was out for 49 caught on the boundary going for his fourth six. Bowles had looked in no trouble, but somehow managed to get a get a leading edge and was caught and bowled for 34. Reed were 130-6 with still 20 overs to go. If they could bat their overs a very good total was likely. The remaining batsman all got it, but got out when set. At 164-8 it seemed like [...]

The 2nd XI ended their 2011 league campaign with a convincing win against Letchworth. The visitors were put into bat on what looking like a good batting track. Openers Baz Curtis and William Heslam took advantage of some early wayward bowling and had raced to 28 from 4 overs when Heslam was caught off the bowling of Khan. He removed Curtis as well 2 overs later and Reed were 28 for 2. Richard Johnson and Mitchell Cooper looked in good form, but Johnson was caught behind for 11. Letchworth had fought back well pulling the run rate back to four an over.This brought Roddi Liebenberg to the crease. He and Cooper started to up the pace and brought up the 100 in the 20th over. Liebenberg reached his fifty with some powerful hitting. Only three singles in that 50 and the rest in boundaries. Cooper provided solid support and hit some fine drives as he reached 42. Cooper had looked like a fifty was nailed on, but he chipper one back to Bishton who took an easy catch. The pair had put on 107 for the 4th wicket.Liebenberg was finally removed for 106, his second ton of the season. Reed were now only five runs short of the maximum batting points with 14 overs left. Marcus Baker hit a brisk 14, but it was left to Rupert Martin, promoted from his usual ten spot and Graham Wilson to see Reed to the declaration. Martin on the brink of all rounder status hit a quick 21 not out leaving him averaging over 100 for the season with the bat. Wilson was 6 not out as Reed declared 4 overs early on 249-7The track still looked good [...]

Reed’s 2nd XI took on highflying Hitchin II on Saturday hoping a win would give them an outside chance of promotion. The wicket was very green after the down pour on Friday and the Hitchin skipper had no hesitation in asking the home side to bat. Baz Curtis opened with Fergus Martin and the pair made a solid start against some accurate bowling.Curtis was first to go for 20 when the score was on 37, but it was looking like the wicket wasn’t going to be the minefield the opposition had hoped for. Richard Johnson joined Martin and again the pair looked comfortable. Martin was pushing the ball around nicely and rotating the strike. With a damp outfield the batsman weren’t getting full value for their shots with lots of 2s being run when on other days they would have been 4s. It wasn’t until Martin had got into the 60s before he struck his first boundary and then all of a sudden three came at once.Johnsons was looking assured at the other end and he too reached 50 before being caught off the bowling of Slack who had bowled unchanged from the pavilion end. The pair had put on 128 for the 2nd wicket and it looked like Reed would post a good total. Martin finally fell for 89 when it looked like he was nailed on for his ton. Will Dobson look good for his quick fire 23 and saw Reed to maximum batting points and the declaration. Slack had bowled unchanged and took 3-88 as Reed posted 201-6. The visitor were looking for 10 points to guarantee their promotion, but after putting Reed in had only picked up 1.After tea Graham Wilson [...]

Reed’s 2nd XI for the second week running fell one wicket short of victory. After winning the toss Baz Curtis decided to bat first. Curtis opening with inform Matt Bowles put on 71 for the first ticket and neither batsman seemed in much trouble. Curtis misjudged a drive off the leg spin off Chandracant and was caught at midwicket for 39. The run rate slowed as Mitchell Cooper and Bowles got back on track. Bowles continued to put the bad ball away with some fine drives. He had reached 49 when while plane spotting missed a ball that turned and was bowled. Richard Johnson had no answer to the leg spin and was bowled around his legs for a duck. Suddenly it was 108-3. That soon became 110-4 and Hoddesdon looked back in the match.Phil Freney was joined by Roddi Liebenberg and the pair began to rebuild. Freney played a fine supporting role pushing the ball around and picking up the odd boundary when the bad ball came along. Liebenberg’s first six scoring shots were all fours and they pair were soon on top. A score of 200 for the home side looked again possible. Freney went for 25 when he became Chandracant forth victim. Will Dobson came in to bat and along with Liebenberg moved Reed from 162-5 to 242-5 off 47 overs. Liebenberg raced to his 50 and was left 81 not out when Curtis decided to declare giving their guests 51 overs to chase the 243 to win.Opening bowlers Mitchell Cooper and Peter Tidey bowled tight opening spells and Tidey struck when the score was only 5. Hoddesdon’s skipper Nick Gandon came in and played a solid innings and Reed lived to [...]

Reed lost the toss and were put into bat on a damp track after midweek rain. Baz Curtis and William Heslam opened for the visitors and made a solid start on the tricky wicket. The pair had put on 41 in 9 overs when Heslam drove at one and was caught at point. Curtis was joined by Fergus Martin. The youngest took time to get used to the conditions, but slowly found his range. Curtis had moved past 50 and looked well set for a really big score when he was out LBW off the bowling of Amos for 74. At the half was stage of the innings Reed were 97-2.Runs became hard to come by and in the next 7 overs Reed could only muster 14 runs. Will Dobson joined Martin and they both upped the pace. Doboson was working the ball around nicely and with some good running and some lusty blows put on 42 in 7 overs. Martin was caught for 46 and Dobson bowled for 19. This only brought in Roddi Liebenberg and Mitchell Cooper. Liebenberg was soon in his stride hitting the unfortunate Gilbert for 16 in his only over. He raced to 50 and with Cooper hitting a good 14 including a big six over extra cover, Reed managed to declare on 232-5 from 50 overs.In reply Hertford made a good start with Reed finding it hard to make the break through. Cooper was again unlucky not to get a wicket when a catch went down at slip. Rupert Martin struck first for the visitors having Davey caught behind. He then struck again bowling Hesla. Gilbert decided attack was the best form of defence, but he became one of [...]

Reed lost the toss and were put into bat on a damp track after midweek rain. Baz Curtis and William Heslam opened for the visitors and made a solid start on the tricky wicket. The pair had put on 41 in 9 overs when Heslam drove at one and was caught at point. Curtis was joined by Fergus Martin. The youngest took time to get used to the conditions, but slowly found his range. Curtis had moved past 50 and looked well set for a really big score when he was out LBW off the bowling of Amos for 74. At the half was stage of the innings Reed were 97-2.Runs became hard to come by and in the next 7 overs Reed could only muster 14 runs. Will Dobson joined Martin and they both upped the pace. Doboson was working the ball around nicely and with some good running and some lusty blows put on 42 in 7 overs. Martin was caught for 46 and Dobson bowled for 19. This only brought in Roddi Liebenberg and Mitchell Cooper. Liebenberg was soon in his stride hitting the unfortunate Gilbert for 16 in his only over. He raced to 50 and with Cooper hitting a good 14 including a big six over extra cover, Reed managed to declare on 232-5 from 50 overs.In reply Hertford made a good start with Reed finding it hard to make the break through. Cooper was again unlucky not to get a wicket when a catch went down at slip. Rupert Martin struck first for the visitors having Davey caught behind. He then struck again bowling Hesla. Gilbert decided attack was the best form of defence, but he became one of [...]

Match report to follow