Early sunshine greeted Reed II as they travelled to Radlett. Reed captain Jason Archer lost the toss and was asked to field. Radlett's innings got off to a poor start losing T.Johnson for 3 being bowled by P.Tidey (27-6-75-5). T. Malde and N.Nandhra then offered some stubborn resistance before Nandhra was caught and bowled by Tidey for 9. Reed then took two quick wickets leaving the home side on 75-4 at drinks. T.Peck and J.wells looked solid before Mitchell Cooper ran out Peck for 32. Wells was joined by T.Charles and together they started to form a partnership before Jason Archer (14-2-72-3) had Wells Bowled for 41. Sutherland came into bat and was soon caught in the deep by Cooper for 3. Tidey picked up his fifth wicket after bowling Lederman for 3. A.Hussien and Charles put on runs at the end including a 7 off the final ball of the innings to bring their score to 185-9 off the allotted 53 overs. Reed's openers set about getting the target opening with Fergus Martin and William Heslam. Heslam was bowled for 12 with the score on 21 in the ninth over. Martin was joined by Baz Curtis and together they put on 33 before Martin was caught off the bowling of Sutherland (5-0-15-1). Ed Garrott (1), Curtis (25) and Cooper (2) fell in quick sucession leaving the visitors on 67-5. Matt Bowles and Richard Johnson stabalised the innings before Johnson went for 13 caught at mid on. Keeper Sean Tidey was caught and bowled for 1. Rupert Martin (8), Peter Tidey (6) and Jason Archer (4) came in and supported bowles on his way to a quickfire 41 including 6 fours and a huge six as Reed fell 44 runs [...]

Reed marched to the top of the league on Saturday with victory over Northwood Town, who were before Saturday themselves at the summit. Town won the toss and it was no surprise they elected to bat on another delightful deck at The Green. The decision appeared to have backfired as Graham Wilson and Richard Johnson soon had them reeling at 35-3. Town skipper Phil Carter then set about rectifying the damage and with Cotton they put on 70 until Emms had the latter bowled. Carter was a thorn in the side though, cashing in on an early drop to reach his 50 before King had him well caught behind by Robertson. With plenty of overs left and the score on 170-5, skipper Jason Archer brought himself into the attack with Johnson as his foil. The pair removed Town’s last 5 batsmen for just 11 runs. Archer finishing with 4 for 7 off six overs. The total of 181 looked 50 short, in fact it was a long way short as Reed’s innings was to show.Reed’s opening partnership of Fergus Martin and Mark King was superb. Youngster Martin, the perfect foil for swashbuckling King. Fergus embedded himself rotating the strike as King stroked the ball delightfully to all parts of the ground. No bowler was spared as King broke the heart of the oppositions attack. The 50 partnership was reached in the 15th over, the 100 partnership in the 25th and the total of 182 required was reached on the last ball of the 32 over. Reed celebrated a decisive 10 wicket victory with Martin 42 not out and King 130 not out. King’s innings an absolute delight.Archer commented “ What a performance against the league [...]

Reed 2nd XI traveled to London Colney on Saturday for their last warm up game before the league season. Reed lost the toss and were asked to field. Opening bowlers Joe Curk (5 ov 3mdn 0 for 6) and Marcus Martin (7 ov 0 for 19) got Reed off to a good start with tight early season spells of line and length bowling. The first 12 over’s conceding just 30 runs.Colney were under pressure and the introduction of Louis Gearing (7ov 0mdn 1-17) and Michael Robertson (10ov 0mdn 3-33) intensified that, following on from the spells of Curk and Martin in terms of accuracy but picking up 4 wickets along the way. At drinks Colney were 62-4.The last 15 over’s of the innings were going to be crucial for Colney as they looked to push on the scoring rate and set Reed a reasonable target to chase. Reeds “death” bowlers captain Jason Archer (8ov 2mdn 2 for 17) and young leg spin bowler James Bloor kept the run rate down to just over 3 an over but also snaffled 5 big wickets, to rip the heart out of Colney’s middle order. At tea Reed had restricted Colney to 140 for 9 off their allocated 45 over’s.Reed’s young opening double act of Fergus Martin (32) and Tom Greaves (0) suffered an early setback with Greaves getting one that nipped back to knock out his off stump. This brought Chris Jackson (68 no) to the crease. The duo batted superbly putting on 78 for the second wicket, before Martin skied one to extra cover.This brought Joe Curk (32) to the crease and after adapting to the slow paced wicket, scored freely. Jackson completed an outstanding half century [...]

Reed 2s picked up their second victory in 3 outings after a tremendous team performance against high flying Letchworth. Reed lost the toss and were asked to bat, a decision that the Letchworth skipper may have regretted as Mark King (62) & Fergus Martin (53) compiled an opening stand of 80 before King was bowled when looking imperious.Martin, with Smith, Cooper and Fulk then took Reed past the 100 mark and into the points, before falling after a patient innings of quality, peppered with a series of fine boundaries. Kallum and Karl Ward (38) then took over, Karl taking the lead as Reed accelerated past 200 before the innings closed at a competitive 213 - 7.Opening pair Rupert Martin (2-43) and Kallum Ward took the attack to Letchworth, but it was the introduction of skipper Jason Archer that turned the tide. Archer bowled 11 overs taking 7-17 including an all bowled hatrick to record career best figures. Letchworth slumped from 62-2 to 107 all out. Of the 10 wickets Reed took, 8 were clean bowled, one an LBW and the other a fine run out by Ian Fulk a direct hit from square leg with only "one" stump to aim at.After a slow start Reed are now picking up the points they require to make a push for promotion in the second half of the season.

Reed IIs continued their promotion charge and moved to second place in the league after another convincing victory. This weeks opponents Kings Langley won the toss and decided to bat. Reed made an unfortunate start as Peter Tidey tore a hamstring bowling the 4th ball of the day. Richard Johnson (4-47) took over and dismissed the top 3 batsmen. Karl Ward chipped in with his 25th wicket of the season at the other end, but it was Jason Archer (4-30) who ripped the heart out of the middle order as Kings Langley stuttered. Eventually bowled out for 189 in 49 overs. Only Sambrook providing any real resistance with 49 from number 8. Reed made their usual excellent start with Fergus Martin and Mark King completing their fifth fifty plus opening stand in six starts together.King eventually fell for an excellent 51. Marcus Martin (44) and Stuart Smith (55no)then added a further fifty for the third wicket, before the former became Perkins third victim. This proved to be the last wicket to fall as Richard Johnson (32no)joined Smith to see Reed home, with the third major partnership of 74.

Reed second's opened the Saracens League campaign with a fine win away at Hexton. After losing the toss and being asked to field, opening bowlers Karl Ward and Richard Robertson, contained the Hexton batters. With the score on 30 Ward made the breakthrough, having Smith caught by a diving James Bloor at midwicket. This dismissal then opened the floodgates as Ward ripped through the top order taking 6 for 40 off 18 overs. Jason Archer and Michael Robertson also picked up wickets as Hexton crumbled to 112 all out.In reply Fergus Martin and Aidan Swain got Reed off to an ideal start reaching 30 before Martin fell. Ian Fulk came to the crease and batted sensibly with Swain and then Michael Robertson to take Reed to the point of victory. The honour of clinching the 30 points was left to Mitchell Cooper, who pulled Marshall for 4 to seal the victory, with 5 wickets in hand.