Reed hosted Breachwood Green in the North Herts League division 1 on Sunday, looking for a winning start to their season having had their first scheduled league game rained off at Hatfield two weeks ago. In glorious sunshine and with a good looking track at ‘The Green‘, Reed captain Marcus Martin had no hesitation in batting first after winning the toss. Openers Tom Fulk and Joe Curk then set about posting a good total for the home side. Fulk (9) got off to a quick start, hitting two boundaries off of paceman Yassar, before he was removed by Gibbons after a stunning gully catch. Reed then lost Stuart Smith soon after for a duck, leaving them at 19-2 after 5 Overs. Curk was then joined by Martin in the middle, and the pair began to build Reed’s total. Curk was looking in particularly good nick, as he advanced into the twenties and thirties. A partnership of 42 followed, before Martin was caught and bowled by slow bowler Merchant for 9. This brought the in form Richard Johnson to the crease, and along with Curk, Johnson helped to steady the Reed ship and eventually increase the Reed total. Curk was beginning to find the boundary with alarming ease, and played some sumptuous shots as he reached 50, supported ably by Johnson. The runs kept flowing for Reed, and Curk punished every bad ball, as well as most good balls as he raced towards his maiden century for Reed, brining up his 3 figures with a huge 6. However, getting to 100 did not stem Curk’s run flow, and even after Johnson departed for a well made 35, Curk continued in his brutal but classy run scoring [...]

Capped by an excellent club victory the previous day in the Herts League, Reed advanced to the final 16 in the country for the National Village Cup, by overcoming Buckinghamshire champions, Bledlow Village, by a massive 178 runs, in what proved to be a destructive afternoon.The Bledlow contingent arrived in numbers early to the Reed ground, but they were soon joined by a pulsating crowd of home supporters of all ages, who cheered on the home team with every run and wicket.  Having lost the toss again, James Heslam was asked to bat, in what proved to probably be the worst decision of the day – Reed advanced to 280 for 6 off their 40 overs, marked by a thumping 45 from Baz Curtis, 99 off James Heslam and 70 from Chris Jackson.A Mould (9-0-57-0) was first to the sword as he was flayed to all parts of the ground by Curtis – 40 of his 45 in boundaries.  James Heslam built a superb momentum on the back of his 64 the previous day as he too pressed the boundaries with some powerful strokes laced with an arrogance of an in-form batsman.  With the score on 77, Chapman (5-0-49-1) bowled Curtis, but this only served to worsen the situation as this brought Chris Jackson to the crease who thumped his first 3 deliveries for boundaries through midwicket and the covers.  With Heslam, he shared a partnership of 126 with some huge boundaries and an enormous six over mid wicket from Chris Jackson.When Heslam fell on 99 to King (7-0-49-1), Phil Frenay (2) tried to maintain some momentum but was run out trying to advance the run rate further.  Richard Johnson (16) and K Ward (20*) [...]

Reed overcame local rivals Baldock in comprehensive fashion in Sundays North Herts League Division 1 game at Avenue Park.On a gloriously hot afternoon, Reed captain Marcus Martin won the toss and elected to bat, a decision that turned out to be a good one as Reed’s batsmen made the Baldock bowling attack toil all afternoon in the hot temperatures. Opening up with Ed Blissett and William Dobson, Reed’s start stuttered as Dobson top edged Mackey’s full toss deep cover in only the second Over to earn himself a duck. However Steve Lovegrove joined the evergreen Blissett in the middle, and the pair set about steadying the Reed ship. Both batsmen played the conditions perfectly, as they took time to get settled at the crease before accelerating the scoring around the 12 Over mark. Lovegrove was aggressive in his punishment of the bad balls, and Blissett played with his usual air of calmness as the score advanced to 88-1 at the 20 Over mark. Blissett survived a controversial caught behind appeal before joining Lovegrove in the pursuit of boundaries. Indeed, there was only 4 balls separating each batsman making their half centuries as Lovegrove (69) and then Blissett (62) took Reed well into 3 figures for the 2nd wicket, which arrived when Bracken found Lovegrove’s off stump. Blissett soon followed, stumped off of the off spin of Diplock.Reed found themselves 152-3 with 14 Overs remaining as the sprightly new pair of Phil Frenay and Matt Bowles came to the middle. Frenay was first to find his feet, soon plundering the Baldock attack to the boundary, soon followed by Bowles. A mixture of good running and plenty of well placed boundary shots allowed the pair to increase [...]

Defending regional champions Reed kicked off their 2009 National Village Cup campaign with a comfortable victory over Biddenham on Sunday in the 1st round of the Herts & Bedfordshire section. Biddenham won the toss and elected to bowl on what looked a decent wicket despite there being a few cracks which suggested there may be a little inconsistent bounce. Although this did prove to be the case during the game, on the whole the pitch was conducive to batting and the outfield was fast. Despite the early loss of Heslam for just 3 a big score always seemed on the cards for Reed as Stuart Smith (50) & Phil Frenay (63) immediately looked comfortable and played their shots all around the ground with freedom. The pair both made impressive half centuries in quick time putting on 100 for the 2nd wicket inside 17 overs which put Reed firmly in control of the match. Although they departed in quick succession Tom Fulk (43*) with the help of Marcus Martin (7), Karl Ward (12) and Richard Johsnon (23*) kept the momentum going and saw Reed to a very competitive 246-5 in their 40 overs. In reply Biddenham were always on the back foot as Lee Johnson bowled with good pace and rhythm to dismiss the top 4 before he finished his allotted overs with figures of 9-4-37. Peter Tidey played his part too bowling a good economical spell and picking up a wicket to finish with figures of 1-31 off his 9 overs. 1st change bowlers Richard Johnson (1-24) & Bernie Morss (1-19) kept the pressure on well and with Karl Ward (5-1-19) also bowling tidely, the hosts were restricted to 138-8 and Reed were winners by [...]

The Sunday 1s travelled to Ampthill for a friendly, which unfortunately ended in a loss but some good performances from two of the club’s younger players.Ampthill batted first, with the Reed openers Michael Robertson (1-35) and Mitch “the Titch” Cooper (2-22) bowling well and keeping the run rate low. Ampthill lost 2 quick wickets with Robertson and Richard Johnson (1-39) picking up one each.  Unfortunately instead of Reed kicking on and taking more wickets, the Ampthill batsmen both went onto make centuries before retiring.  Following this Reed were more successful with their bowling and took five more wickets, with Massey Naeem (3-25) and Cooper both striking.  Even though there were some good bowling performances, including that of J. Pallett, Ampthill went onto make a very competitive total of 265 from their 45 overs.After tea Reed came out to bat with captain Marcus Martin and the club’s new boy Joe Curk.  Unfortunately things didn’t start as well as hoped with Martin getting an unlucky duck.  Curk however, showed some exciting shots to rush to 30, before being caught going for another big shot. Chris Jackson added 10, before Tom Greaves made a superb 60 showing patience and some fantastic shots against an experienced bowling attack. Greaves was supported by Matt Austin (3), Richard Johnson (20) who looked in good form, Rob Willoughby (13), and Naeem (23).  Robertson (13) and Cooper (3 not out) added runs at the end, with Jason Pallett not worrying the scorers by being run out before facing a ball.  In the end Reed only made 192 all out in 41 overs, leaving themselves well short, but did try to make a game of it to the end.  Man of the match was [...]