Ed Blissett scored his second consecutive half-century for Reed’s Sunday Second XI when they beat visitors Oakwood by 1 wicket. Burrows had hit a bright 30 for Oakwood earlier but the loss of vital wickets meant that it was struggle for them to reach a defendable target. Fielders happened to be in just the right positions as demonstrated by super catches from John Kershaw, George Greaves, Nick Green and Blissett. These catches and committed ground-fielding supported some fine bowling by Alex West, Chris Martin, George Greaves and Kieran Willoughby who each took one wicket, but George Garrott stood-out with 5 for 14 from just 4 overs. Oakwood were all out for 116. In reply, only Blissett, (50), remained for any length of time but once he was out, Oakwood were definitely in the driving seat with their bowlers bowling fast and short at some of Reed’s young colts. However, the lower order batsmen edged nearer the target until Chris West accepted the invitation to on-drive the winning single in the 37th over. Reed won by 1 wicket.

After some un-wanted pre-match stress Reed’s Sunday Seconds made the journey down to North Enfield for a 40/40 friendly. Reed fielded having lost the toss. Reed started well as brothers Alex and Chris West opened the bowling, Alex (8-3-10-2) struck early having one batsman caught behind by keeper Marcus J.E. Baker and then followed this soon after taking out another with middle stump. Will Kirby and Christian Martin then took over and continued in the same form, Martin (7-1-34-1) took a wicket whilst Kirby showed impressive skill taking two in two balls and then a third soon after and a fourth in a returning spell, he finished with figures of 7-2-14-4. Matt West (5-2-16-1) and Peter Baker (1-0-4-1) also struck and there were some brilliant catches by Graham Hazard, A. West and M. West. Meanwhile, hosting captain D. Macceson gave a vital knock of 56 to take North Enfield to 144 for 9 from their 40 overs. Due to unexpected drop outs Reed were forced to accept the polite offer of a substitute, fortunately he was a class bat and Chris Gilman joined P. Baker out in the middle. Both made aggressive starts. Gilman (48) and Baker (36) made 68 for the first wicket, then John Kershaw (15) made vital runs to take Reed closer to their target. But it was M.J.E. Baker who took Reed over the finishing line, smashing an undefeated 36 in only 16 balls (4x4 and 3x6), in only the twenty second over. Reed winners by 6 wickets.

It was a scorcher and Reed Sunday seconds were playing away at Newport. Despite what seemed a young a possibly inexperienced side the hosting captain decided to bat first. Neil Haslam (5-0-16-1) started proceedings with some nice swing and with Chris West (7-0-40-2) also striking at the other end Reed had soon got into the Newport batsmen. However, Newport were making runs thanks to impressive innings from D. Herd (51), Spanle (13) and Williams (33). Christian Martin (7-1-36-0) bowled well to the middle order but was unlucky not to pick up a wicket. Jack Tidey (6-1-7-3) with intimidating pace and James Bloor’s (5-1-25-3) almost bizarre hat trick were the highlights of Reeds fielding innings. The bowlers supported were by wicket keeper Marcus J.E. Baker who took two catches for no extra runs. Mitchell Cooper (4-1-7-1) finished the Newport innings taking the final wicket for 135. The heat may have accounted for a few-miss fields but generally the fielding was good. George Greaves (36) and Ed Blissett (19) gave Reed a good start with a partnership of 65 until Blissett was caught in the slips followed soon after by Greaves. However, numbers 3 and 4 M. Cooper (30*) and Graham Hazard (31) continued to attack the Newport bowling, Hazard with some classic ‘Bunker’ hard hitting found the boundary often. Soon enough Reed had reached the total Cooper hitting the winning runs finishing on 138 for 3.

Reed’s Sunday seconds batted first in there friendly game against London Colney at the Green and opening pair David Johnson and Peter Baker were soon making runs. They made a partnership of 101, making a stable base for the Reed innings, before Baker (41) was out caught. Johnson then found support in Hunter Diack (38), giving an impressive performance and Graham Hazard (12) who continued the flow of runs. But it was Johnson’s day as he capped a good return to Reed by hitting his maiden century finishing on 108 not out, ably assisted by George Greaves (20*). Reed finished on 254 for 5, with quite possibly a record number of 3’s (11) due to the large boundary. A miss hit off the bowling of Nick Green (8-0-23-1) bought around a catch and the first wicket in only the second over, from there wickets continued to fall at regular intervals. Some fine spin bowling by Lloyd Bowman (7-0-35-2) and Kieran Willoughby (6-1-34-1) contributed to the wicket tally as did Matt West (6-0-35-1). However, it was George Greaves (6-2-7-3) who tore through the London Colney order and the final wicket fell in the last over with London Colney 101 runs shy finishing on 153 all out. There were some fantastic catches by G. Hazard, P. Baker and a stumping by M.J.E. Baker.

Twelve for one became twenty five for six as Reed’s top order played around the deadly straight bowling of N. Oxborrow (8-4-16-5) in their friendly game against Little Hadham. From losing six wickets in ten overs, 29 more went by before another fell as David Johnson and under thirteen colt player Dominic McComish saw off the visitors bowling. Playing with great maturity and skill the two put on 116 together for the seventh wicket. D. McComish made 26 playing his supporting role perfectly, falling on the fifth ball of the last over. That left Jack Tidy (3*) to run three with D. Johnson (74*) as Reed finished on 144 for 7. In reply Little Hadham had their own collapse as Reed took four quick wickets. Chris West (6-1-13-3) and Jack Tidey (7.3-1-22-1) led the Reed bowling attack as the visitors struggled on 21 for 4. However from there no further wickets fell as F. Jaynes (83*) and N. Oxborrow (16*) made a partnership of 125 to take the opposition over the finishing line.

Reed’s Sunday Second played Knebworth Blue at the main Hitchin Cricket Club ground late in the season for a ten a-side, 40/40 friendly. Having won the toss and opting to bat first Reed captain Peter Baker asked the young partnership of Julian Fynn and Kallum Ward to open the batting. After a close miss from the first ball the pair never looked back and never looked in trouble as they put runs on the board. At 17 overs with the score on 95 the call for another run proved fatal as Ward was run out for 43. P. Baker (11) then joined Fynn out in the middle and stayed with him as Reed went pass the hundred mark. Fynn looked in top form playing the best innings of his season he was eventually stumped out for an impressive 76. In the closing overs of the Reed innings the total was given a sudden boost in acceleration by the partnership of Keiran Willoughby (35*) and Marcus J.E. Baker both of whom struck the ball hard and scored quickly with several boundaries and singles to either batsmen. Baker, having scored 16 from the first three balls of the final over, then skied one ending his incredible innings of 71 from only 25 balls including (8x4’s, 3x 6’s). Reed finished their 40 overs on 246 for 4. It was not until Knebworth Blue had reached 53 that the breakthrough was made, in the second innings, when J. Fynn hit the stumps from a direct throw to run out Rusling (28). From there wickets fell at steady intervals to the bowling of Dominic McComish (6-0-26-2), Peter Baker (6-0-37-2) and Lloyd Bowman (6-0-29-4). Catches from K.L. Ward, P. Baker, L. [...]

After the extreme rain of the day before Reed’s Sunday Seconds were indeed lucky to arrive at Guilden Morden to find a perfectly playable pitch. Due to a local fund rising bbq there were several spectators located around the ground to watch the game. Reed captain George Greaves lost the toss and was subsequently asked to bat first. Greaves went out with Peter Baker and started slowly as the outfield was not giving away many boundaries. Greaves (17) looked in fine touch until a good catch out in the deep ended his innings. Reed then suffered a collapse as four more wickets fell with little to no contribution to the then low total of 50 for 5 from 22 overs. P. Baker was then joined out in the middle by son Marcus who after a shaky first few balls found his eye scoring his first runs with a huge six. The pair rotated the strike as they successfully fended off the Guilden bowling. The Baker boys made an undefeated 117 together in 18 overs, P. Baker made 62 (6x4, 1x6) and M.J.E. Baker made 50 (5x4, 2x6) as Reed finished on the competitive score of 167 for 5. For the opposition Sean Tidey (8-0-30-3) showed his all round ability. Neil Haslam (4-0-43-1) took one in his first over however Guilden could boast having former county player, Ben Ingrey who came in at number 3 and proceeded to take Reed apart. Despite wickets from Matt Giblin (6-0-19-1) and Michael Naeem (3-0-27-1), both of whom held good lines Guilden reached their total in only the nineteenth over, Ingrey scoring 86 and S. Tidey 44.

Batting first, Reed’s Sunday Second XI racked-up an impressive 227 for 5 in their 40 over innings. George Garrott got off to a flyer by scoring a dozen in the first over although was out for 23 soon after. John Kershaw batting at number 3 played well for his 41 and Richie Barlow continued his good early-season form with 40. Mitchell Cooper, (36), and Paul Garrott, (43 not out), then put-on 85 for the 5th wicket before the innings ended. Scott Mills took 3 for 49 for Guilden Morden. The visitors had a disastrous start from which they did not recover. 10 for 3 became 40 for 5 as Neil Haslam lead the Reed attack with 4 for 13 at that stage. Neil Dolby and Sam Ingrey stayed together for a while before Mitchell Copper was introduced into the attack in the 21st over and bowled Ingrey for 37. Cooper returned figures of 3 for just 6 runs from 5.3 overs whilst Barlow chipped-in with 2 for 24. Reed displayed some excellent catching and ground fielding as Guilden Morden were all-out in the 31st over for 127 runs; Dolby was 49 not out. Reed won by 100 runs.

Whilst Reeds future in the Village Cup was decided at the Green, the Sunday second eleven travelled to Elmdon for a 40/40 friendly. Reed batted first having lost the toss and started steadily as George Greaves and Ed Blissett played themselves in. Whilst Greaves (13) eventually fell, Blissett remained at the crease and with some sensible stroke play made fifty assisted by Richie Barlow (7) and Marcus Martin (14). Runs down the order from James Bloor (12), Kallum Ward (34*) and Jack Tidey (6*) took Reed to a stable 183 for 7. Elmdons innings saw wickets fall at regular intervals from the bowling of Neil Haslam (8-2-25-3), K.L. Ward (8-3-22-3), R. Barlow (5-0-27-2) and J.Bloor (6-0-33-1). M. Martin displayed some brilliant fielding as did R. Barlow who took a fantastic catch at square leg before having keeper M.J.E. Baker catch one from his first ball. Despite having the hosts at 79 for 8 an impressive partnership between A. Gale (42) and A. Dixon (44*) led Elmdon to victory. The weary Reed side left the fixture naturally disappointed with the outcome but can hopefully come away with some lessons for the future.

With the heavy morning rain it was expected that both Reed games would be called off, but that was not the case and Reed II XI made the excursion down to Cheshunt for a 40/40 friendly. The brothers Greaves opened the batting for Reed and Tom (24) was soon making runs, dominating the crease until he put one in the air, caught from the bowling of Gough (8-1-31-3). Reed then lost two more quick wickets and were struggling on 38 for 3, but another vital partnership between George Greaves and Marcus J.E. Baker (14) stopped the flow of wickets and started putting runs on the board again. G. Greaves who had taken along time to get off the mark was now playing a brilliant innings with some impressive shots. With a large boundary and slow outfield quick running was the name of the game and the two put on 51 until Baker was also out caught. A nice knock from Steve Lovegrove (20) followed and then Mitchell Cooper (21*)made 67 runs with G. Greaves as they attacked the Cheshunt bowling in the closing overs of the Reed innings as they reached 196 for 5. But it was George Greaves finally getting his half century that was highlight of the day ending 40 overs worth of batting on 90 not out.In reply most of Cheshunt’s batting got going but could not hold on against Reed’s bowling talent. The wickets were shared amongst Neil Haslam (8-0-29-1), Chris West (7-2-21-1), Peter Baker (6-0-25-2), Jack Tidey (6-2-13-1), Maseeh Naeem (4-3-4-1) and Mitchell Cooper (6-1-13-1). Cheshunt finished on 125 for 7 from their 40 overs leaving Reed victors. Once again Reed had been exemplary in the field and there were [...]