Saturday:
William Heslam led the way by scoring 117 in Reed 1st XI’s 258 for 8. Brother James reached the forties.
Stevenage made an uninspiring display after losing 3 early wickets by using 58 overs to close on 217 for 6. The match was as grey as the overhead sky! The Firsts slipped to 4th position in the Division.
At Ampthill, Reed 2nd XI scored 211 for 9. Skipper, Marcus Martin, hit a ton but this total was too much for the hosts. Karl Ward took 3 wickets but Ampthill scored only 186 for 6 in their reply. Reed are in 3rd place.
The only “result” match of the day was at Freman College where most of the runs came from the in-form Rob Willoughby, Maseeh Naeem and Mike Robertson. The Third XI reached 175 but Pirton lost 6 wickets, 3 of them to Matt Naeem, before they completed the “double” for this season. At the close of the day, the 3rds are in 7th position.
The Fourths did not play. A non-league match had been arranged but was cancelled thus leaving the 4th XI stagnating in 5th place.
Sunday:
The bad news first. Reed’s involvement in the 2016 National Village Cup has ended after defeat against Sibton Park. The Kent side made 186 for 9, five of the wickets taken by Mitchell Cooper. In the run-chase, William Heslam again went past fifty with support from Richard Wharton but after losing 8 wickets, Reed required a single off the last delivery. In a nail-biting finish, Sibton Park completed a run-out leaving Stuart Smith 44 not out!
Best of luck to Sibton Park in the Quarter Finals in a fortnight.
The better news. Reed’s “friendly XI” travelled to Fairfield Park to play Knebworth Blue CC. MJE Baker retired after reaching three figures, Zac Conley retired on 71 and Rhodri Hughes on 52. Joe Graves made 43 not out for the second match running leaving Reed on 314. In his first outing of the season, Sammy Rice claimed 3 wickets as Reed won by 157 runs.
Expect Match Reports to follow shortly.
PGB
