Reed were frustrated by the rain on their opening day of the season in division 1 when they travelled to Luton Town.  Having lost the toss, skipper James Heslam was not surprised to be put into bat with the weather looking ominously close to raining at any given time.   Reed opened up with brothers James and William Heslam and it was clear from early on that there was something in the wicket for the Luton bowlers.  Manzor was looking particularly dangerous however it was Ishaq at the other end who took the first Reed scalp of the season, shaping one away from William Heslam without troubling the scorers.  Joe Curk and James Heslam struck some lusty blows before Curk (8) and Heslam (14) were dismissed by Ishaq and Manzor respectively.  At 34-3 Reed were in a precarious position; however Chris Jackson (54) and Tom Greaves (53) steadied the ship and batted with relative ease in an excellent partnership of 81, affected by several rain breaks.  Tom Greaves was caught out for a fine innings of 53, whilst Jackson was ably supported by Mitchell Cooper before he was bowled by Manzor for 54.  Cooper (30) turned up the heat and played some expansive strokes, and between him and Sean Tidey (19) they put Reed into an excellent position.  Cooper and Tidey however both fell on their sword valiantly, before Jack Tidey (12) came to middle to continue where Cooper and his younger brother had left off.  Reed declared on 200-8, setting Luton a gettable yet challenging target. As the rain loomed in, Reed opened with the spin of Greaves and Morse.  However, the inevitable occurred and despite both side’s gallant efforts to play, the weather [...]

Heslam and Tidey’s efforts not enough to secure win Reed were left frustrated on Saturday with another good display not producing the win against Luton Town. On a hot afternoon Reed again won a toss they would have preferred to lose and elected to bat.Much like last week they got off to an excellent start with James and William Heslam taking the score to 91 off just 16 overs before William (43) was unfortunate to be run out by a direct hit. Joe Curk then continued where William Heslam left off scoring a fluent 28 before he was given lbw. Chris Jackson joined Heslam who was now in full flow and making his way to 100 inside 35 overs taking the Reed score above the 200 mark for maximum batting points. Following this Heslam opened his shoulders before departing for 132 off 122 balls with 13 fours and 5 sixes. Jackson (47 not out) then guided Reed to 292-5 off 47 overs when Heslam declared giving Luton incentive to go for the win with 53 overs to get the runs.In reply Luton were in big trouble as Jack Tidey produced a fine spell of fast bowling hitting the pitch and beating the Luton batsman for pace on his way to figures of 5-54. Mitchell Cooper also made an important early breakthrough which left Luton in disarray at 58-6 off 13 overs. However, from this point onwards the Luton batsman played more cautiously and with the field in benefited from many boundary chances. The main exploiter of this was Bashir who made his way to a fantastic 160 not out holding the Luton innings together in an entertaining way. Greaves (2-52) and the other Reed bowlers [...]

Match Report To Follow

Match Report To Follow

Match Report To Follow

Match Report To Follow

Early season Herts SHCL Division 1 leaders Reed let their lead slip away as they lost away against Old Finchleians. Reed finished the match with only a 5 point return as they paid the price for putting their opponents in to bat and then failed to secure the win.Despite the previous days rain the wicket proved less helpful to the bowlers than they had hoped and the home side passed 50 without loss as the Reed bowlers offered too many loose deliveries and failed to exert the required and expected pressure. The introduction of Mitchell Cooper and Tom Greaves into the attack improved Reeds fortunes somewhat but approaching the halfway stage of the Finchleians innings they were comfortably placed only 3 wickets down and well past the 100 mark. The home side went on to declare after 51 of their possible 53 overs with their score at 226-7. Tom Greaves proved the pick of the Reed bowlers with 4 wickets.In reply Reed got off to a steady start but skipper James Heslam fell for 18 with score at 30. Brother Will fell for 19 soon afterwards and Smith and Jackson also made it into the teens without going on to a threatening score. Tom Greaves briefly threatened to put Reed back into the match with a sprightly 40 but after he departed only Sean Tidey with 38 and Richard Johnson, cruelly adjudged LBW when looking promising, made any significant runs. Reed were eventually all out for 180, 47 short of their required target with 8.4 overs still available to them.

Bang Tidey! Reed Get Back on Track in style! Reed returned to winning ways in style on Saturday with a convincing win over 2nd place Old Finchleians. Reed were pleased to lose the toss and be put in the field on a day when rain was forecast and the main chance of a win seemed to be to bowl the opposition out cheaply and knock the runs off quickly. Reed needed a good start and that is exactly what they got with Mitchell Cooper and the increasingly prolific Jack Tidey bowling well early on. Cooper (7-0-13) was unfortunate not to take a wicket but Tidey grabbed two early ones forcing Old Finchleians onto the back foot at 47-2 after 13 overs. However, no-one could have predicted what was to come next as Tidey and Hertfordshire stags bowler Tom Greaves swept through the visitors middle and lower order to skittle them for just 75 in 22.3 overs. Greaves picking up 4-11 and Tidey 5-46. Some excellent fielding and tempo by all of Reed’s players supported their bowlers superbly inparticular an impressive direct hit run out by Will Heslam. With the forecast remaining very uncertain Reed moved pinch hitter Sean Tidey (26) up the order to try to get the game won as quickly as possible and he followed orders in some style hitting the 2nd over of the innings for 22. James Heslam (43 not out) took a similar policy and despite a misjudgement by Heslam resulting in the run out of Greaves Reed finished the game off in some style reaching 79-2 in just 9 overs with Will Heslam also not out on 8 at the end. The result puts Reed into 4th place, one point behind Old Finchleians in [...]

Match Report To Follow