Having got word that their arranged fixture against neighbours Therfield would sadly not happen due to lack of availability on their part, Reeds Sunday seconds were forced to go to conference to find suitable opponents and so it was Datchworth that arrived at The Green for a 40/40 friendly. With Peter Baker out with a broken thumb captaincy passed down to his son Marcus who having won the toss decided to bat first and sent out Aiden Swain and Matt Bowles. Reed soon found themselves in trouble at 28 for 2 after the loss of two cheap wickets, but Matt Bowles held firm at the crease and continued to attack the Datchworth bowling. Kallum Ward in at number 4 supported Bowles before he was out caught for 28 with the score on 52 for 3 from 15 overs. Joining Ward was M.J.E. Baker and the two went about saving the innings and gradually began to build a crucial partnership. They had put on 90 together when Ward, who had been hitting the ball well went for one shot too many and was out caught for a fantastic 43. Meanwhile, Baker continued to punish the bad balls and eventually reached 50 before also being caught trying to up the run rate in the last ten overs for 54. The last six overs saw Dominic McComish and Matt Giblin add 32 with some impressive running between the wickets. Reed finished on 191 for 6, McComish 21* and Giblin 11*. In reply Christian Martin (6-1-32-1) struck first, followed soon after by first change bowlers Neil Haslam (6-1-22-3) and Matt Giblin (7-1-23-3). Mathew Naeem (4-0-21-1) also chipped in with a wicket but the win came in the single over [...]

Reed yet again did not get a full game of cricket on a Sunday when they travelled down to Cheshunt. Reed batted first, opening were Aiden Swain, playing his first game of the season and Fergus Martin playing in his first weekend back since returning from his expedition to east Africa. Swain made 5 but fell to the bowling of Moss (5-1-10-1). Reed then lost another cheap wicket but then Richie Barlow walked out to the crease and both he and Martin fell into synch as they made runs. They made a partnership of 101 before both fell, Barlow for 70 and Martin for 56. Paul Garrott (10*) and Marcus J.E. Baker (8*) were at the crease when heavy rain began to fall. With the rain still not going away after an early tea the game was abandoned and the players retired to the bar to watch England teach Australia a thing or two in the T20 world cup final.

Reed batted first when they hosted Codicote at The Green for a 40/40 friendly. Liam Mckechnie and Tom Greaves, both usually first teamers, were vacationing in the seconds and proved to be the difference between the teams as McKechnie (125) hit a class century and Greaves a hard hit 73 batting at number 8. Sam Deville also contributed a well formed 17 to the final total of 251. In the second innings Reed had the disadvantage of losing two men to injury and had to field with only nine for a good deal of the reply, hopefully both will be able to contribute in weeks to come. Sam Deville (7-2-27-0) opened coming down the hill and held a good line whilst Ben Walker (4-0-22-0) bowling left arm over came up. Neil Haslam (7-0-16-0) kept his end quiet when he replaced Walker but the first wicket fell to Matt Giblin (8-1-46-2) who took a second thanks to catch by McKechnie at mid-wicket. Kieren Willoughby (3-0-27-1) took the vital wicket of J. Day (28) before Greaves and McKechnie bowled for the last ten overs as Reed won by 27 runs. Greaves finished with 2 for 42 and McKechnie 3 for 22. Special Mention must go to Scott Caine who gave a master class display of athletic fielding in the covers.

It was always going to be an uphill battle for Reed when they played away to Boxmoor, for one reason the large slope at one end of the pitch, the other reason being they only had 9 players. Reed fielded first despite the further disadvantage of starting with only 7 players as two were caught in traffic. With the score on 38 A. Rasheed (15) came walking down to Neil Haslam only to be stumped by Marcus J.E. Baker, Haslam bowled out his eight overs holding a good line throughout his spell finishing with one for twenty. That wicket brought in Dukes who along with Chapman made a partnership of 215 for the second wicket, Dukes finished on 103 not out, whilst Josh Conley (8-0-31-2) took two wickets in the last two balls of the innings including that of Chapman (97). Boxmoor finished on 254 for 3. In reply Reed lost an early wicket by Kieren Willoughby (24) frustrated the opposition by making a partnership of 43 with Peter Bradford (16). After they were both lost Boxmoor must have thought that they had Reed up against the ropes, but they had not counted on father and son due Peter and Marcus Baker both of whom played class shots as they brought up their half centuries. Marcus was then adjudged LBW for 60 but the elder Baker continued the fight with the tail before being stumped for an excellent 84. Josh Conley and Christian Martin both added 7 each to the total but reality set in as Reed were bowled all out for 235 but had certainly made a good go at it loosing by only 19 runs, a much smaller deficit than either teams had [...]

Match Report To Follow

Reed enjoyed a convincing win over Aston in sunny conditions on one of the last days of an otherwise mostly wet May. Peter Baker won the toss and informed the hosting captain that Reed will bat first. The track was slightly green but was firm despite the rain from the day before producing a true bounce. Opening for Reed were George Garrott and Aiden Swain who took the leading role in the partnership scoring the first runs of the innings with a fine pull, a shot he would use affectively many times more. Swain looked in good touch and reached his half century whilst Garrott supported, still at that time in single figures. However, he quickly upped his tempo and was soon enough making runs with some class shots. The pair made 122 together in 19 overs when Swain fell LBW for 57 from the bowling of White (7-0-59-1). Garrott was then joined out in the middle by Sam Deville and the pair shared a short but effective partnership of 57 from only 7 overs before Garrott (56) was caught for another impressive half century. Reeds number 4 was Marcus J.E. Baker who took time to get his eye in but with Deville at the other end smashing several boundaries there was no pressure on the batsmen as they took the total past 200. Now seeing the ball well, Baker joined in on the heavy hitting with Deville, (who also reached 50) putting on 104 in 14 overs. Reed finished their 40 overs on a strong 283 for 2, Baker was the odd man out as he didn’t quite reach his half ton ending on 43 not out, whilst Deville top scored with a powerful [...]