Letchworth III

On a scorching hot afternoon, Reed skipper Marcus Martin lost the toss and his side were asked to take to the field. A lightening fast outfield and a track resembling the M25 indicated that a long afternoon could ensue for the visitors, who had Peter Tidey and the returning Tom Walsingham sharing the new ball.

Despite the favourable batting conditions, a combination of excellent line and length bowling and superb fielding kept the scoring very tight in the early exchanges. This scoreboard pressure eventually told as the evergreen Peter Tidey trapped one of the Letchworth openers plumb LBW, and then a few overs later forced the other one to drive uppishly into the gleeful hands of Marcus Martin. A quiet and relatively uneventful period then followed from overs 17 until 34, as Reed continued to frustrate the hosts with good bowling and tight fielding. Walsingham (10-3-34-0) had been replaced by Alex Kelly (12-2-36-0) and Karl Ward (12-3-60-0) replaced Tidey.

The home side knew they needed to score more quickly, and began to play some more expansive strokes. The fast outfield meant full value for shots and the scoring rate began to rise, though still Reed pegged the home side back as excellent run outs from Matt Bowles, Alex Kelly and Marcus Martin. Ward toiled away from one end and was then joined again by Peter Tidey (19-4-71-4) who continued his magnificent form as he approaches 30 wickets at just over the halfway stage of the season. Letchworth managed to creep over the 200 mark and secure all 10 batting points, as they eventually finished their allotted 53 overs on a challenging, though perhaps slightly below par 210-7.

Reed’s reply got off to the worst possible start as Baz Curtis skied a ball in the 2nd over and was well caught by long off. This brought skipper Martin to the crease to join Phil Frenay as they both negotiated the early bowling well. Letchworth had taken the particularly positive and attacking step of opening with (and continuing throughout the whole innings with) the old ball, a tactic allowed in certain divisions within the league structure, but not others. No further comment. Despite this, Phil Frenay looked to play positively against the leg spinner, however after a booming shot back down the ground, he got a leading edge back to the bowler and Reed looked in a little bit of trouble.

If anyone in the away dressing room was nervous however, they needn’t have been, as Richard Johnson came out and played a masterful, classy innings full of excellent, elegant cricket shots. Johnson used his feet to the spinners and played numerous glorious shots down the ground, whilst also keeping his composure well in the midst of some rather bizarre and misinformed chirp from a man in a white trilby who had done nothing of note himself in the entire game. Skipper Martin also played his part, punishing anything short, as the run-rate increased. However, the hot sun was proving a factor too and with around 100 runs still to get, a tired looking Martin (48) wafted at one outside off stump and was caught well in the slips, giving the home side a glimmer of hope.

Karl Ward strode to the crease to join the ever more confident Johnson as he pummelled the bowling to all parts. Ward was also getting in on the act with some sensible stroke play as the target came down to around 4 runs an over, when Johnson was eventually bowled for 77. Roddi Liebenberg was in next and it was he who smashed home to winning runs, with Ward (49 Not Out) left unbeaten as Reed clinched all 30 points going into their top of the table clash with Abbotts Langley next weekend.