Reed Cricket Club U11 Report
Pre season the U11’s team started with 5 registered players and we were unsure if we could get a team to fulfill the fixtures, but by hook or crook we managed to get sign on 8 more new players, some new to cricket and some much more experienced.
In the first match we only had 7 players and being 10 a side pairs we, not surprisingly, lost heavily.
The addition of a couple of new players; Sam Osborne and Charlie Walters made a big improvement this year and the league season ended with 5 wins and 5 defeats. Our team was the youngest team in the league and the only matches we lost were against teams who were a lot older.
On the batting side; Sam Osborne scored 66 runs, only being out once in nine matches. Ross Gardner was the second highest run scorer with 57 runs in nine matches.
On the bowling side; Sam Osborne and Adam Gardner both took 10 wickets closely followed by Charlie Walters who took 9, including 2 wickets from the last two balls of the match to beat Foxton.
Sam Osborne and Ross Gardner have both played Area cricket for North Herts this year and have both been pre-selected for 2016. Hopefully they will be joined by Adam Gardner and Charlie Walters who will be taking part in the North Area trials in November.
All in all, this season has turned out much better than we could have hoped. Where we lacked in numbers we certainly made up for in quality, as we had a nucleus of some very good players being backed up by some enthusiastic newcomers which bodes well for the future.
Report by Neil Gardner, Squad Manager, RCC Under 11 Colts
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Reed Cricket Club U13 Report
The young men of Reed U13’s had a difficult and short 2015 season. Many teams, including Reed suffered from low numbers leading to matches being delayed or cancelled, however there were still some wonderful performances from a great group of U13’s and some promising U11’s.
The first game of the season was against Foxton at Reed, unfortunately Foxton were victorious, but there were some solid performances, notably the bowling of Richard Stuart and Freddie Ancliff, and an unbeaten 21 from Freddie.
The return game against Foxton saw Reed defeated again, however some wonderful bowling from Cormac Hosie, and youngsters Seb Busby and Sam Osborne showed that the Reed youth really have a great deal of potential.
Reed’s second pair of games were played against Thriplow and saw two more defeats. The first of the two games saw a steady start from Freddie Ancliff and Stephen Bishop, but Richard Stuart’s quick fire 17 stole the show. Wickets were taken by Denis Stuart, Sam Osborne and Freddie Ancliff, but it was a fantastic spell of 3 overs, 3 wickets for 29 runs that stole the show.
The final game of the season away against Thriplow and Whittlesford, once again saw positive performances with the ball, from Richard Stuart, Jonno Adam, Mike Catt and Sam Osborne. In response to a high total, Reed persevered to no avail, however and undefeated 33 from Mike Catt and a determined 15 from Sam Osborne meant the Reed boys went home with their heads held high.
Despite the low turnout for the U13’s this year, there were some excellent performances with some great promise being shown throughout the season. We have a great group of youngsters who will hopefully continue to take the club to great heights.
Report by Mike Robertson, Squad Manager, RCC Under 13 Colts
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Reed Cricket Club U15 Report
When the fixtures were published for the Under 15s Colts 2015 season and some very strong teams were included in the same division it was clear that the matches were going to be very competitive. With a squad that was made up of equal numbers of Under 15s and Under 13s, our very young team was often playing against much bigger, older players but in spite of this, they tested the opposition in all the matches. Although the team won one out of the eight games, they were never swept away, in fact the team batted out their twenty overs in all but two of the matches.
The first match at home to Buntingford started promisingly with Reed restricting the opposition to 84. Freddie Ancliff in his first game for the older age group taking a couple of wickets and Toby Emes taking two more in one over. The game ended with a win for Buntingford as the inexperienced Reed batting fell short of the total.
Another good start in the next match saw Reed reduce Royston to 29 for 3 before the opposition recovered to post a competitive score. In response, Tom Nussey set about knocking off the total and finished on 46 not out but the target was just out of reach of the team.
Two back-to-back matches against a strong Saffron Walden side produced some good performances with Toby Emes returning the best figures of the season (5 for 21) as part of the eight wickets taken in the home game.
Away to Royston, Reed delivered their best performance of the season and were deserved winners. Setting Royston a target of 120, an excellent spell of bowling reduced Royston to 23 for 5, Ed Haselden being the pick of the bowlers taking 2 for 11 from 4 overs.
In the next match when the opposition decided to pick a strong team that could not arrive until 25 minutes late, Tom Nussey produced another memorable performance scoring 43 in the first 10 overs. Inevitably the run rate then slowed and although Reed set a target of 6 an over, the opponents managed to overhaul the total.
The final two games of the season against the strong batting sides of Buntingford and Cambridge Granta saw Reed chasing challenging totals. In the Cambridge game, an impressive quick scoring opening partnership between Tom Nussey and Mike Catt playing his only game of the season (and scoring a half century before being retired) showed some true fighting spirit.
Throughout the season the fielding was generally sharp with some excellent catches and also a couple of stunning run outs from direct hits and the team found a wicketkeeper in Ben Mansfield who had not kept before but rose to the challenge and improved in every game.
The spinners took most of the wickets with Ed Kershaw and Toby Emes helping themselves to eight apiece and were supported by Brenden Salter and Matt Yates who usually had the responsibility of opening the attack. Tom Nussey also took five wickets to add to his impressive batting performances and George Adam, who opened the batting in most of the matches, also stepped up to take the wickets of some of the best opposition batsman in a couple of the matches.
Toby Emes did a fine job of captaining the side, giving both the senior and the younger players a chance to bowl or bat and the enthusiasm and team spirit of our young side was even recognised by one of the opposition managers who made a point of commenting on what a good atmosphere there was when our team was out in the field.
The players can look back on a season where they have put in some fine performances, developed as cricketers and been a credit to their club.
Report by Jerry Yates, Squad Manager, RCC Under 15 Colts
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