Reed went down away to Ickleford on Sunday after the home side amassed a large total thanks mainly to a faultless century from Ickleford (not so) regular and Hitchin 1st team captain Millward.Losing the toss, Marcus Martin’s side were put into the field and straight way the task ahead of them looked a tough one, with their young and inexperienced bowling attack being put to the sword by openers Robinson (45) and Millward, in one of his rare appearances for Ickleford.. The pair took the score to beyond 100 inside 17 Overs, and did so without looking troubled by any bowler. Reed then introduced youngster Fergus Martin into the attack, and his 1st ball brought instant rewards, as he had Robinson well caught by Robertson at square leg.Giggle then joined Millward, who had begun to free his arms and plunder boundaries at will. A 40 run partnership ensued, and captain Martin had run out of options having tried all of his regular bowlers on the field. A cometh the hour, cometh the man moment was needed, and Matt Bowles duly obliged. Bowles, bowling for the 1st time on over a year, mixed up leg and off spin in the style of Sachin Tendulker, and was rewarded when Giggles was deceived by the flight and gave Ward a straightforward catch at mid off. However Millward remained, and completed and excellent century, alongside the fast scoring Jenner (55), who was later run out. Millward finished 116 Not Out, and Ickleford were 250-3 off of 40 Overs.In reply, Reed got off to a disastrous start, with Robertson and Frenay being dismissed inside the first 3 Overs, with the score on just 8. Skipper Marcus Martin and the ever [...]

Reed chased 186 in vain this Sunday in an entertaining North Herts League game at home to Ickleford. A frustrating afternoon for the hosts began when they lost Neil Haslam and Karl Ward shortly before the game due to injury and Village cup commitments. However as usual Reed were able to call upon some promising youngsters with Mitchell Cooper and Naeem (Jnr.) both taking three wickets a piece. The warm conditions and suprising lack of bounce at Reed made it hard work for their young bowlers, subsequently waiting untill the twentieth over for the first breakthrough, that of the hard hitting Millword (44)with the score on 84. Incidently many batsman on both teams made good starts but failed to post a substantial score. Ed Blissett looked well set for Reed before being caught on 47, Barlow (19) and Naeem (snr.) (21) perished in the same fashion leaving Reed with a mountain to climb. T. Greaves (5) and captain P. Baker (30) threatened to take the score on but some tight bowling from an experienced Ickleford side sealed a 38 run victory. Reed eventually finishing on 147-8 from their 40 overs.

Reed went down to their heaviest defeat of the Sunday North Herts League Division 1 season on Sunday, after a dismal display against a strong Houghton Town team.Despite the final score, Reed got off to a decent enough start, with Richard Johnson (8-1-26-0) and Andy Wholley (7-1-38-1) bowling well, with Wholley clean bowling Amjad for a duck. However, a good partnership between Faisal (50) and Nariner (32) helped get over the slow start. Captain Marcus Martin then introduced himself into the attack, and began to rip onto the Houghton batsmen with his hostile pace bowling. Martin took 2 key wickets, including that of Nariner. Jason Archer also bowled well, the slow medium bowler taking 2 golden wickets in his 7 over spell, split in half to allow him a to have a liquid break. Karl Ward and Rupert Martin also picked up a wicket apiece, but it was poor fielding that was to cost Reed yet again, and allow Houghton off of the hook. The big hitting Kashie ended up on 84, this despite being dropped no less than 5 times, including once on single figures. When Marcus Martin eventually got his man, to finish on good figures of (5-0-27-3), the damage had already been done. Houghton finished on 241 off of their 40 Overs. Reed’s misery was compounded when they also lost batsman Michael Robertson to a badly injured finger leaving them with only 10 players.Reed’s reply started reasonably enough, with openers Ed Blissett and Phil Frenay putting on 24 for the 1st wicket, before Frenay was bowled by Azad for 10. Arshad then bowled Reed’s other opener Blissett for 12 leaving Reed in some trouble on 34-2 chasing a big total. Richard Johnson [...]

Reed lost out to North Herts League Division 1 champions Holwell on Sunday in a high scoring game on ‘The Green’, after poor fielding let the home side down.Winning the toss and batting first, Reed openers Tom Fulk (8) and Phil Frenay (0) both fell early, victims of Howell’s ‘pacemen’ Parkins and Dixon respectively. Dixon also accounted for Michael Robertson (4) to leave Reed struggling on 17-3. Richard Barlow and Karl Ward showed good resilience for Reed however, with Barlow looking solid and Ward finding boundaries to take Reed over the 50 mark. However, Dixon struck again, first to remove Ward for 22, and then Barlow for 11 to leave the home side in deep trouble on 64-5 after 14 Overs.Reed captain Marcus Martin and Richard Johnson then set about Salvaging the innings. Both Batsmen showed their class, with a fine array of shots played on both sides of the wicket. Martin was playing a captains innings, and Johnson’s sublime technique gave the Holwell bowlers a tough time. Martin reached his 50 with 8 boundaries, and Johnson also made 50 hitting six 4’s. Johnson was eventually bowled by off spinner Paola for 53, but Martin remained unbeaten at this point. Matt Bowles joined his captain in the middle with Overs running out, and the pair took the score to 197, before Martin was caught for a magnificent 76. Bowles then hit his way to 14 not out, and Reed finished their 40 Overs on 213-7.In reply, Holwell were faced with the pace attack of Andy Wholley and Rupert Martin. Despite some good bowling, especially early on from Wholley, Holwell’s opening batsmen Parkins and Rudder remained, and began to free their arms and find the boundaries. [...]

Reed travelled to Great Gaddesden under the new captain Marcus Martin. Martin won the toss and chose to bat on what looked like a good batting track. Baz Curtis and Furgus Martin opened for Reed. They both looked comfortable until Martin fell LBW for 5. Marcus Martin (29) came to the crease and joins Curtis, both scoring runs all around the park . Curtis was caught behind for 36. Other Reed batsmen to score runs were Robert Costen (17), Richard Johnson (27) and Karl Ward (22). The pick of the Great Gaddesden bowlers were Cheeseman senior with 2-34 and Cheeseman junior 3-25. Reed took to the field with express pacemen Richard Johnson 2-40 and Graham Wilson 3-13 both bowling with good pace. They both took key wickets to put victory in the captains eyes. Reed's fielding was generally tight with a superb catch by Costen at slip. Fergus Martin took a difficult catch at point to remove a threatening batsman. David Hill also bowled well finishing with 2-27 taking two wickets in two balls after catch by Ward and a catch by part time wicket keeper Marcus Martin. Neil Haslam kept on nagging away with a good line and length and finshied with 3-18. Captain Martin was happy with his teams performance and was glad to get his first victory under his belt.

Reed captain Marcus Martin won the toss and elected to field. Reed opened the bowling with Richard Johnson and Andrew Wholley, and the pair got Reed off to a great start with some good pace and swing. Both bowlers bowled 8 Overs straight, with Wholley impressing with figures of 8-1-2-22, and Johnson also picking up 2 wickets with figures of 8-0-2-45, leaving Hatfield struggling a bit on 57 for 4. Hitchiner scored 20 quickly, but was caught well at backwards point by Bowles off of Wholley, who also bowled Causton for 4. Johnson’s 2 wickets came about with 2 sharp catches by wicket keeper Graham Hazard.However, Hatfield dug themselves out of a hole well and showed why they are pushing for honours in the league, after superb innings from Golder and Whitehead. Golder scored 48 before he was eventually run out, and Whitehead scored a cultured 41 before youngster Mitchell Cooper performed heroics to catch him 1 handed off of the pacey bowling of Marcus Martin. Cooper also impressed with the ball, and was unlucky to have come away without reward from his 5 Overs. Jason Pallett was also in good form, his clever off spin only going fro 32 in 7 Overs, bowing at the death. A good partnership from Braine (11 Not Out) and Wynne (31 Not Out) at the end of the innings pushed Hatfield’s score above 200 to a challenging 214 for 7 off of their 40 Overs.In reply, Reed sent out Fergus Martin and Phil Frenay to open their innings. Frenay got out of the traps well, and looked classy as he kept Reed up with the run rate early on. Martin was a perfect foil at the other end, [...]