On the last afternoon of the 2008 season, a Reed XI including a mixture of playing abilities witnessed the most amazing innings at Thorley in a 40/40 friendly.Batting first Reed lost their first wicket in the 3rd over with the score on 23. There then followed a partnership of 103 of which Mitchell Cooper contributed just 17. Reed continued to lose wickets at a steady pace until young Kallum Ward featured in a 5th wicket partnership of 119 by scoring 56. Although this was impressive, batting at the other end and overshadowing everyone else was opening batsman Tom Greaves who scored a massive 179 runs and was out in the 36th over after hitting 22 fours and 7 sixes. Reed finished on 297 for 8.Despite valiant efforts from McRandal (45) and Wells (57), Thorley were none the less outplayed by Reed who prevented any chance of a Thorley victory by introducing into the attack first teamer Bernie Morss (6-1-23-6). Thorley were all out after 33 overs for 147.

Reed Sunday 1st XI travelled to Broxbourne to play Titanic CC hoping to maintain their unbeaten record in the league so far this season. The captaincy was left in the able hands of Phil Frenay, as the regular Sunday captain Marcus Martin, plus Matt Bowles and Joe Curk travelled to Amsterdam for a weekend of sex, drugs and sausage rolls! Frenay won the toss and backed his youthful bowling attack by inserting the opposition on what looked like a decent batting track. The opening bowlers Cooper and R. Martin (1-41) initially found it difficult in the blustery conditions, combined with the small boundaries and aggressive batting. However Mitchell Cooper soon found his line and length to make the breakthrough. Runs were still coming easily to the home side and it took the introduction of Jack Tidey in to the attack to stem the flow of runs. He bowled an excellent line and length and when Fergus Martin (2-29) was introduced at the other end, the young pair were able to exert considerable pressure on the Titanic batsmen. The small boundaries of Broxbourne placed a great deal of pressure on young spinner Jason Pallett, however he rose to the challenge, providing a spell of tight off spin bowling finishing with figures of 1 for 36. With the rotation of the seam bowlers from one end it was James Bloor (0-36) who carried on the spin attack from the other. As wickets fell to the seamers, Titanic took the attack to Bloor who was unlucky to end wicketless as he bowled some very good balls. Tidey (4-30) ripped through the lower order and Cooper (2-26) finished the innings off. Reed fielded and caught well, with the wicketkeeper Rob [...]

Reed 1XI made up for the disappointment of Saturdays defeat by comfortably booking their place in the final of the Hertfordshire section of the National Village Cup on Sunday. Skipper Heslam won the toss and chose to put visitors Long Marston into bat on a good wicket, but one which aided by overnight rain and overcast conditions was bound to offer something for the bowlers to take advantage of. So it proved as helped by some excellent catching notably from 15 year old Mitchell Cooper making his full 1st team debut the visitors were in trouble at 38-3 after 16 overs. Tidey(9-20-2) and Ward(9-16-2) who took a stunning caught and bowled put the pressure right on with very accurate and testing spells against what looked a useful Long Marston top order. Richard Johnson (9-35-3) and Chris Jackson (5-20-1) then carried on the good work as the visitors were stifled and wickets fell regularly so that eventually they were all out for 95. Jason Archer(0.3-0-1) picking up the final wicket in the 33rd over.In reply Reed got off to a shaky start losing Curtis for just 4 in the first over to one that held up a little in the pitch. Frenay (14) and Heslam (48*) went about steadying things until the former was out stumped during a decent spell of slow bowling by Beesley(9-13-1). However, there was no panic and Heslam and Chris Jackson consolidated and saw Reed home comfortably with the winning runs being hit in the 26th over of the allotted 40.Reed will face the winners of Langleybury and Eversholt in the Final and hope to progress to the national knockout stages.   

Reed made it through to the regional semi finals of the National Village Cup on Sunday despite a major scare away to Eversholt. On a beautiful sunny day Reed won the toss and put their Herts League Division 4 opponents into bat. The hosts responded positively by getting off to a decent start on what despite not being the best of pitches was at a high scoring ground with a lightening fast outfield. Despite a typically economical spell from Peter Tidey (9-2-26-0) Eversholt moved onto 65-0 off 12 overs and were at this point going along nicely. However, a breakthrough always looked possible and a good piece of work by Frenay in the covers saw Garratt run out for 19. From then on Reed took a firmer grip of the game and despite the efforts of the in form opener Litchford (65) Eversholt were pegged back to 90-3 at the drinks break. Lee Johnson (1-46) deservedly removing their no.3 in the final over of his spell and Richard Johnson (8-1-35-4) picking up the first of his 4 wickets just before the halfway point. Following this the game swung massively in Reeds favour as further to the run out of Litchford following good work by R.Johnson & Chris Jackson they took control and the home side collapsed to 144 all out inside 33 overs. Tom Greaves making his Village Cup debut and Karl Ward also picking up a wicket a piece. In reply, Reed set out confident of victory with 40 overs to make just 144. However Eversholt opener Avis produced a fine spell of seam bowling to remove the Reed top 4 of James Heslam, Chris Jackson, Tom Fulk and Phil Frenay all for single [...]

Reed bowed out of the National Village Cup on Sunday against Essex's High Roding. Electing to bat the home side were in deep trouble at 23 for 3 after a hostile opening burst from Andy Young. Butterman and captain Hussain steadied things but Butterman's wicket left High Roding precariously placed at 69 for 4. Enter Blackwell with a quick fire 39 of 39 balls. When Hussain was out for 52, High Roding were 150 for 6 with still eight overs left to bat, Reed didn't count though on Clarke (30) and Farley-Clarke (46 off just 22 balls) striking the ball to all corners of the field and Reed were left with a testing 231 to chase for victory. Curtis & Heslam gave Reed a solid foundation of 43 before Curtis was out LBW  for 19, Heslam soon followed for 16. Chris Jackson & Phil Frenay with the help of some wayward bowling took Reed to 95 before Frenay was run out. This then served as a catalyst for skipper Hussain and Sargent to spin High Roding's fightback and expose Reed's middle order.  Both took three wickets as Reed slumped from 103 for 4 to 132 for 9, only tail end resistance from Will Clarke and Pete Tidey gave Reed's score respectability but they were dismissed for 148 in the 33rd over. The Essex side victorious by 82 runs.   

Reed’s Second XI took on Ickleford in a high scoring match in the North Herts Sunday League whilst most of the usual Sunday First Teamers were unavailable. Batting first Ickleford posted 264 for 5, thanks mainly to Howard (27), Dermont (34), Causebrook (24*) and top scorer Peareth who managed to reach 100 not out. Their total included a significant 54 extras!Despite valiant efforts from Ed Blisset (41), Darren Radford (38), Graham Hazzard (17) and a superb 83 from the teenaged Mitchell Cooper, Reed did not benefit from a similar amount of extras and their innings ended on 221 for 8, just 43 runs below target.

Reed hosted Hatfield in the North Herts League Division 1 on Sunday, and managed to beat the wet weather to record a 4 wicket victory.Reed captain Marcus Martin won the toss and invited the visitors to bat first on a slightly damp but good looking track. Hatfield’s opening pair of B. Golder (47) and Shah (14) got them off to a flying start with 32 runs coming off of the opening 3 Overs, helped by some ill disciplined fielding by Reed. However Lee Johnson’s (6-1-21-1) pace was to prove too much for Shah, as he edged behind to Willoughby in the 5th Over. Rupert Martin (8-3-22-2) then got in on the act, taking 2 wickets in 2 balls to remove Waterman (1) and Wynne for a first ball duck. Joe Curk also bowled well, and took with wicket of Whitehead (8) to finish with figures of (6-1-21-1). However, some good batting by R. Golder (35) and some wayward bowling from Marcus Martin and Phil Frenay allowed Hatfield off of the hook. It was left to Reed’s spin twins, Jason Pallett and Will Dobson, to help remove the remaining Hatfield batsmen. Dobson (6-1-20-1) struck first to remove the dangerous B. Golder after a stunning, if slightly bizarre catch from keeper Robert Willoughby. This signalled the beginning of the Jason Pallett show, as he ripped into the middle order by bowling T. Jakes, and having R. Golder caught by Smith. Marcus Martin then took a good catch in the deep to remove A. Jakes, before Matt Bowles stunned the crowd with a  breath taking diving catch to give Pallett his 4th wicket and removing Biggley. Pallett then completed his first ever 5 wicket hall by bowling D. [...]

Reed remain unbeaten in the North Herts League Division 1 after comprehensively beating the table topping Crawley Green Nomads at The Green on Sunday.In glorious sunshine, Reed captain Marcus Martin won the toss and chose to bat on a typically good Reed wicket. Opening pair Richard Johnson and Matt Bowles did well to negotiate the Opening 10 Overs, bowled well by A. Jethwa and M. Jethwa, as they took the score to 33 before Bowles was bowled by Reed for 4. Johnson was then joined by Joe Curk, and the pair set about upping the scoring rate and setting a good total. Curk (47) soon got into the groove, as he plundered two 4s and five 6s before G. Hull had him caught in the deep. Johnson remained composed however, and played some classy shots as he passed 50, ably supported by Phil Frenay. Frenay looked in good nick as he began to find the boundary too regularly for the visitors liking. Johnson eventually went in the 37th Over for a superb 64, but Frenay remained not out on 44, helped by some very handy late runs from Fergus Martin (3) and the big hitting Graham Hazard (11 Not Out). Reed finishing on a good 216-4 off of their allotted 40 Overs.After Richard Johnson’s superb showing with the bat, it was left to another Johnson to star with the ball. Lee Johnson ripped through the hapless Crawley Green batsmen with a spell of vicious and accurate pace bowling. Johnson ended up with figures of 7-1-21-6, and of those 6 wickets, 5 were clean bowled. Marcus Martin (6-1-27-2) also bowled well as he took two wickets, including the dangerous A. Jethwa (32). The final two wickets [...]

Reed bounced back from their Saturday disappointment in great style to win their National Village Cup Area Final at Eversholt by Five wickets. Batting first Eversholt kept up a good run rate despite losing two early wickets to Richard Johnson 1 For 37 and the evergreen Peter Tidey 1 for 29. A 91 partnership between Muzawazi and Litchfield upped the rate and at 177 for 3 the hosts looked good for a score in excess of 250. However, Chris Jackson with his leg spin took 3 for 55 and the cunning medium pace of Jason Archer 1 for 44, stopped the free hitting and held Eversholt to 230 for 9 in their 40 overs. Reed set off like an express train in pursuit of their target. A cameo 28 from Michael Curtis led things off but Captain James Heslam with an 83 ball 96 led the visitors home. Chris Jackson 31, Phil Frenay 21 and an unbeaten 23 from Tom Fulk saw Reed Home with 13 balls to spare. They now meet the winners of the Bucks Area Final in the next round.