Reed entertained possible promotion rivals Knebworth Park II’s on a glorious day up at the Green, with both teams looking to assert themselves at the top of the table. Skipper Bernie Morss won the toss and elected to bat on what appeared to be a belter of a wicket. Reed’s openers made a solid start to proceedings, negotiating the new ball effectively and punishing some wayward bowling. With the score on 43, Fergus Martin appeared unlucky to be adjudged LBW for 14, when he got an inside edge on to his pad. The wicket brought Chris Jackson to the crease, he, combined with James Heslam set about dominating Kneboworth’s attack, both playing shots all around the ground. Heslam looked in ominous form as he eased towards his third century of the season, and in doing so placed his team in a strong position to post a challenging total. Having put on 122 for the second wicket Chris Jackson was bowled for 46. Tom Fulk was next in and was a victim of trying to force the pace towards the end of the innings, falling for 8. With the score at 193-3 Phil Frenay joined Heslam in the middle. At first Frenay was content to work the single, maintaining Reed’s momentum and allowing the in-form Heslam to hit the boundaries. However by the 51st over at 264-3 when Morss called an end to the innings, Frenay had scored a brisk 29 off 25 balls and Heslam finished with a magnificent 149 not out. Reed started brightly with the new ball, although initially without luck, as Lee Johnson (13-1-66-1) bowled Knebworth Park’s opener only for it to be called a no-ball. Johnson worked up a fair head [...]

Electing to bat first on a hot and humid afternoon, Reed moved off well, until Skipper James Heslam fell to an away-swinging delivery from Siddiqui for 14. Michael Curtis & Joe Curk set about building a 61 run partnership before Curtis fell for 46.  Curk continued the run building with Chris Jackson (31) and Will Dobson (18) before being bowled himself by the left-arm spin of Martins-Craig for 88. Reed finished well to end on 236 for 8 off 53 overs. Martins-Craig was the pick of the visitor's bowlers, with 4 for 41.In reply, the Visitors set off at a reasonable pace before Andy Young (2 for 67) claimed both openers, leaving them 75 for 2. Enter Lee Hodgson and Skipper Simon O'Brien, who built a partnership that at the time seem to be taking Totteridge to a comfortable victory. Joe Curk and Bernie Morss had other ideas though, and turned the match upside down. Curk dismissed O'Brien for 36 and Hodgson for a brilliant 103 as the visitors slumped from 194 for 2 to 224 for 9 with just the last over to come, Curk taking 4 for 21 and Morss 2 for 32 in the process. Reed nearly completed a famous comeback victory as Lee Johnson had an LBW shout with three balls remaining in the final over, however the ball was adjudged to be going down the leg side, and Totteridge Millhillians last batsman Siddiqui played out the remaining three balls to leave the match drawn. Reed pick up nineteen points and remain eighth in the table with six games remaining, and travel away to St Margaretsbury this coming Saturday.

Reed travelled to Totteridge on Saturday for their third Saracens Hertfordshire League match, but were unlucky not to take away 30 points, as they narrowly lost by 8 runs in a nailbiting finish.Despite losing the toss and being asked to field on a dry batting wicket, Reed openers Andrew Young (15-2-61-5) and Lee Johnson (7-0-28-0) bowled with discipline and conviction.  Despite some early runs from A Hussain (17) and A Martins (23), Peter Tidey (15-4-40-2) drew first blood as he had Hussain sharply caught by Chris Jackson at short midwicket, which Jackson shortly followed up with another sharp chance in the same position.  Young then ran through the top order to reduce the hosts to 91-7 again thanks to another sharp catch from wicket keeper Marcus Martin and some astonishing control of his line and length.   The momentum was truly with Reed as Young bowled with venom and accuracy in his finest spell of the season.  Teaming up with Reed veteran Peter Tidey, the pair dried up runs immediately, and pressure mounted on the hosts.  With the prospect of skittling Totteridge and Millhillians for a paltry score, Reed tried to apply pressure, but it wasn’t to be as S Bunyard (50) managed to bolster the score with a handful of lusty blows.  With Young tiring and Tidey beginning to find himself unable to dismiss Bunyard, Johnson returned to the attack to no avail.  It took a slowing of the pace of the ball as B Morss (6.2-0-22-2) came into the attack with his left arm spinners – despite suffering some punishing shots, he made a valuable breakthrough having Pyrke caught by Tidey at point.  William Clarke (3-1-10-1) then had Saddiqui caught thanks to a steepling [...]

Reed 1st XI travelled to Harpenden II’s last Saturday on a hot and humid summer’s day. Reed won the toss and elected to bat on what appeared to be a hard and true pitch. Reed had revised their batting order slightly for this game, with Richard Johnson accompanying the in form James Heslam at the top of the order. Unfortunately this had little affect as R Johnson was bowled for 2. This brought Chris Jackson to the crease, hoping to prolong his recent run of good form. However he did not last long as he was run out comfortably having slipped over, also for 2. Tom Greaves was next in and he and Heslam set about stabilising the innings. Greaves, having survived a blow to the helmet from his first delivery, was the aggressor. He played a number of thumping drives down the ground and classy flicks over square leg. He was ably supported by Heslam who took the more cautious approach. Having put on 93 for the 3rd wicket and both registered there half centuries, Reed suffered a double with both Greaves and Heslam going in quick succession. Greaves was caught at mid-wicket, pulling, for 56 and Heslam was caught behind for 51. This sparked a spectacular batting collapse which resulted in the last 8 wickets falling for just 40 runs. First to go was Phil Frenay who misjudged an inswinging full toss and was given out LBW for 0. Ed Garrott was soon to follow, caught behind for 3. Si Jackson offered some resistance facing 35 balls for his 9 before being run out, with same fate happening to Lee Johnson, out for 1. Kallum Ward on his 1st team debut made a [...]

Reed 1XI narrowly lost out again in another hard fought division one encounter this time at home to St Margaretsbury. At 10:00 it was looking like the game may not go-ahead due to heavy rain for much of the week leading up to the fixture but thanks to the hardwork of the Reed ground staff the match was able to begin at 1:30 just with the aid of a shortened boundary on one side of the green.Captain Heslam lost the toss and Reed were put into bat on what was obviously a wet wicket, but one that although holding up a little still played decently enough. Having said this the visitors did take advantage with the early wickets of Heslam (9) adjudged LBW in the 5th over and the in-form Joe Curk out without scoring who was through his shot too early in the slower conditions. Despite this shaky start Michael Curtis (33) continued his good form and along with Chris Jackson (76*) helped take Reed to 61-2 after just 13 overs. St Margetsbury then turned to their slower and medium pace bowlers and runs began to dry up. This period also saw the end of Curtis and then Fulk for 12. This then brought Simon Jackson (36) to the crease and along with his brother forged an excellent partnership of 74 that really gave the innings the boost it needed. With excellent running between the wickets and some useful boundaries they were able to initially consolidate and then propel the innings to 161 before Jackson S was 5th man out with 4.4 overs still left to go. Jackson then helped the Reed total up to a respectable 188-9.In reply Reed achieved an early breakthrough [...]

Reed travelled to Flitwick on Saturday in need of a victory to maintain their promotion push. On what was a glorious day for cricket, Bernie Morss won the toss and elected to bat despite the pitch looking lush after a week of showers. Reed lost opener Phil Frenay early on as he was yorked for 3. This brought the in-form Chris Jackson to the crease and he and James Heslam looked to rebuild the innings. C. Jackson was soon into his stride and scored at a comfortable rate, taking advantage of some over pitched bowling. Heslam, although not scoring as fluently as Jackson, was looking in ominous form. The pair looked set for big scores, but just as C. Jackson made it to his half century, an error of judgement led to him being caught at point for a well made 53, leaving Reed 101-2. Tom Greaves was next in, however his stay was short as he was adjudged caught behind for 0. Marcus Martin looked comfortable at the crease until he was bowled for 4 which brought in Richard Johnson. Johnson (15) played some delightful drives and it looked as though he and Heslam could form a meaningful partnership. Unfortunately for the team however, Heslam perished, run out for 63, and with him went Reed’s hopes of making a total much over 200. Next out was R. Johnson, caught for 15. Some lusty blows from Lee Johnson (16) and quick running between the wickets from Si Jackson edged the total closer to 200, however after L. Johnson was run out, both Bernie Morss and Graham Wilson could not add much to the tally, both making 1 and leaving Andy Young 0 not out. Despite [...]

Reed's first eleven fell to a disappointing defeat against St Albans at The Green on Saturday.  Put into bat on a breezy afternoon, skipper James Heslam fell early without troubling the scorer. Michael Curtis & Joe Curk built a fifty run partnership before Curtis was out for 25, the first of three wickets for seamer O'Toole. Dobson & Frenay fell cheaply and when Curk himself was dismissed for 42, the home side were 86 for 5 approaching the thirtieth Over. Reed were then shown an expert spell of Off-Spin by Murty Hussein (20-7-20-4) and they crumbled to 127 All Out off 48 Overs. Only Richard Johnson of the lower middle order reaching double figures (13) The visitors set off quickly in pursuit of their target. Caley fell to Andy Young (1-36). Hart & Arafat then set about building a platform for victory. Reed shuffled their bowling pack but to no avail. Despite Dobson (1-28) bowling Hart for 33 and Pete Tidey (1-29) bowling Arafat for 32. St. Albans cruised to their target and a six wicket victory. Reed pick up four points and they remain ninth in the table with a 25 point cushion on tenth place Hoddesdon. They face Dunstable at home on Saturday.