Annual Quiz to be held on Friday 21st July starting promptly at 1930hrs. This will be open to all Players, Non-Playing Members, Non-Members, Colts (& their parents / guardians), Friends and Supporters of Reed Cricket Club; in fact everyone! Then register your interest by contacting Matt Bowles direct on Mobile 07742 449885 or email him at waccoe@hotmail.com
On Sunday, 2012 winners Reed travelled to local rivals and 2015 finalists Foxton in the last 32 of the National Village Cup. With a lot more than bragging rights at stake, Foxton skipper Adam Webster won the toss and chose to bat. Foxton got off to a flying start, finding the boundary before Toby Fynn (7-0-31-2) made a breakthrough for Reed, having Alex Hooley caught behind by Richard Wharton for 14 in the 7th over. Dave Fagan and Webster kept on the front foot and accelerated The Foxes to 94-1 in the 16th over before Karl Ward (8-0-27-2) had Webster caught by William Heslam at cover for a well constructed 40. Jeff Douglas was the next Foxton batsman to the crease and after a change of bats, he too succumbed to Ward, holing out to Reed skipper Jack Tidey on the edge of the ring at mid off. At 104-3, the tide of the game was changing and when James Coe was well caught by Toby Fynn off the bowling of Matt Sampson (8-0-34-1) , Reed began to put the squeeze on the opposition. However, not to be deterred by wickets falling, Fagan was plodding away at the other end and he soon had Paul Dean (35) for support in the middle, taking the score to 165-4. A rush of blood accounted for Fagan as he was bowled by part-time spinner Rob Lankester (2-0-12-2) for 68 and 165-5 soon became 165-6 as Ed Goff patted one back to Lankester for his second wicket in as many overs. Dean soon followed after a sharp catch behind the stumps from Wharton off the bowling of Sean Tidey (8-0-29-2) as the Foxton innings began to capitulate and wickets [...]
Reed Fourths welcomed Old Albanians Fourths to the Freman Oval on Saturday. Buoyed with a full complement of players, Lloyd Bowman won the toss and elected to bat. Opening with the bowling attack of Neil Haslam and Martin Johnson. OAs seized on some early loose bowling and Johnson was soon replaced by Kieran McKinna who couldn’t stem the flow from the Reed end. Meanwhile after a jittery first couple of overs Haslam settled into a rhythm and the left-hander Turner in particular found his late swing difficult to judge. Short after reaching his fifty Haslam bowled a ball that both swung and moved away and was pouched one-handed at slip by Matt Giblin (90-1). Haslam ended his spell with figures of 8-0-42-1 and was unlucky not to have added to his tally. Zac Conley took up the attack and his first three overs conceded only five runs; however Goodien upped the tempo with some superb square cutting and some poor Reed ground fielding. 13-year-old Jack Beber on his adult cricket debut took a wicket in his first spell (4-0-16-1) trapping S. Rabbitt lbw for 7 (141-2). Goodien powered on and was supported by Wakeling as OAs looked for a score well in excess of 250. Johnson (8-0-46-1) returned to bowl Wakeling for 29, Thakar with an unbeaten 13 and Goodien with a faultless 167 not out took the visitors to 296-3 off 40 overs. Peter Baker and Martin Johnson opened Reed’s reply and steadily reached 41 before an Iqbal off-cutter bowled Baker for 17. Johnson was forced to retire with cramp so Benj Mansfield and Zac Conley took up the response. The score reached 99 when Mansfield was bowled for 18. Johnson returned and Conley [...]
Reed travelled to Hemel Hempstead and bowled first having lost the toss. Rupert Martin got things started for Reed bowling down the hill, whilst Owen Hughes came up. Martin was settling into a superb spell. However, despite good bowling, wickets could not be found as the openers made 89. Eventually Martin had Stokes (44) playing on and Samuels (36) caught to remove both openers. Sam Rice, now coming up the hill, then got stuck in as he quickly accounted for a further three wickets. Martin (15-2-29-2) was replaced by Owen Hughes, who found greater success coming down the hill. However, Hemel’s late middle order showed resistance with a partnership of 97. But in the dying overs the deadly Steve Hughes tucked into the tail taking 4 for 13 including two stumpings from the dependable Ben Moody. A run out from Owen Hughes added to the chaos as the hosts lost five wickets for 4 runs ending on 222 all out. Reed's response did not start well with two early wickets. But a superb recovery from Jean-Marc Maujean and Rhodri Hughes ended any panic and took back the initiative as they added 75 together. Both batsmen looked to play genuine, positive shots until Maujean was caught for a well-constructed 37. Hughes continued undeterred and combined strike rotation and placement to upset the hosts. M.J.E. Baker worked with Hughes to make a 99 run partnership whilst Hughes went past 50. The game was setting up for close finish because despite closing in on their target, overs were running out. Hughes fell for a brilliant 66, which put pressure on the incoming Ben Moody (19 not out) to score quickly, which he accomplished by smashing 16 in an [...]
COLTS: The Under 13s continued their undefeated run in the Herts Junior League by beating Welwyn Garden City on the Green on Tuesday. The visitors scored 78 for the loss of 7 wickets in their 20 overs. There was 1 wicket each for William Green and Adam Gardner, 2 for 15 for Charlie Walters and 3 for 6 by Sam Osborne. Osborne (31 not out) and Ross Gardner (14 not out) were at the wicket when the winning runs came to secure the U13s' position at the top of the Division. The Under 11s also had a good win against near neighbours, Cokenach. Reed set a net score of 279 for 6 with Charlie Walters hitting 33 not out. Cokenach came close with 271 for 5, wickets falling economically to Jacob Vincent, Adam Gardner and Charlie Walters but Reed won by 8 runs. SATURDAY: Starring with the bat for the 1st XI were William Heslam, Rob Lankester and Tom Greaves who all scored half-centuries in Reed's 274 for 9, then Ed Wharton took 5 wickets when Flitwick capitulated to 122 all out. This places Reed in 2nd position in the Championship Division. Richard Johnson's fifty and Ed Garrott's 41 were in vain in the Second's run chase at home against Chorleywood. The visitors made 226 for 9 with 4 wickets to Karl Ward and 3 to Marcus Martin, but Reed could gather only 180 in reply. The Seconds are 5th in Division 4B. With another successful run-chase, this time away at Hemel Hempstead, the Thirds are 2nd in Division 9A. Sam Rice spun his way to 3 wickets and Steve Hughes notched-up 4 in the host's 222 all out but scores in the sixties by [...]
Stuart Smith’s inaugural Chairman’s Match is anticipated to be a hard-fought contest between his XI and a team led by the wily veteran bowler.
Veteran opener Peter Baker rolled back the years to score a match winning century on a hot June day to reaffirm his title as Reed's oldest centurion. Earlier in the piece Matt Giblin took wickets in the opening over to put early pressure on Harpenden Dolphins. Steve Hughes backed up this start with a wicket of his own. The visitors then made a gradual recovery working in singles. Marcus J.E. Baker then broke the deadlock thanks to catch from Rhodri Hughes. S.Hughes then claimed his second and the advantage was truly with Reed. Some big hitting towards the end frustrated Reed but could not stop what was a fantastic bowling performance by the home side. Giblin (3-22), Baker (3-35), Hughes (2-39) and Ed Kershaw (1-51) restricted Dolphins to 192. In the second innings Peter Baker (103) and Paul Garrott (17) saw off the new ball and made a superb opening stand of 70. Bill Mansfield (12) and Rhodri Hughes (24) kept the scorer busy, whilst Baker approached three figures. His full day in the sun came to an end just short of victory leaving M.J.E. Baker (24 not out) and Maseeh Naeem (5 not out) to see Reed home to a 6 wicket win. Report submitted by MJEB.
Reed Fourths travelled to Hitchin Boys' School to meet Letchworth Fifths. With only eight players after late withdrawals, Skipper Lloyd Bowman won the toss and asked the hosts to bat on an oppressively hot day. Reed opened with Neil Haslam and Martin Johnson and it was Haslam who took the first wicket of J Cruttenden with a ball that cutback to hit middle stump. This brought Robert to the wicket to join Harry Cruttenden and they made the most of the gaps in the field and the run rate increased significantly. Haslam and Johnson made way for Harry Hawes (4-0-44-0) and Jake Gifford (4-0-47-0) whose figures disguised exactly how much effort they expended, in extreme conditions. Both Cruttenden and Robert passed their fifties and an enormous total was on the cards. Kieran McKinna's spell of 6-0-33-0 helped put the brakes on for several overs but Cruttenden reached a deserved century. Shortly after Mike Hubbard (4-0-42-1) forced him to drag the ball onto his stumps for 105. Bowman gave the wicket keeping pads to Benj Mansfield and dismissed Robert for 92. He snatched a second wicket (7-0-64-2) that of Bridges for 28. Letchworth continued to accumulate runs with K Knoland and J Knoland, Johnson returned and had figures of 8-1-46-0 and Haslam bowled J Knoland with the last ball of the innings to return figures of 7-0-63-2. Letchworth scored 352-5 in their 40 Overs. Reed looked to Johnson and McKinna to set a good start. However McKinna fell for just 2 to a ball that kept low. Benj Mansfield and Jake Gifford fell in a similar way and at 16 for 3 the omens weren't good.Hubbard & Johnson rebuilt the reply. Johnson with his good driving [...]
Reed 2nds came back from their trip to Hertford 3rds this weekend with an emphatic victory. Stand-in skipper Ward had little hesitation in electing to bat in the hot Hertfordshire sun. Bowles (30) and Johnson (57) got Reed off to an excellent start as they carefully negotiated the new ball. The pair put on 83 for the first wicket before Bowles picked out the man on the long on boundary. Johnson was joined by Ed Garrott (17) and soon passed fifty in typically elegant fashion before a mix up left Johnson run out. Garrott then fell having looked set and Reed were in danger of losing their impetus. Enter George Teeboon (78) who plundered the Hertford change bowlers all over Balls Park, ably supported by the in form George Garrott (31). The pair took the score from 123-3 in the 31st over to 220 in the 42nd over when Garrott was out caught. Teeboon fell soon after, caught & bowled, but the damage was done by this point. There was still time for Ward (28) to play a cameo role with the bat as Reed got to 274-9 declared off of 49 Overs. With 51 overs to chase Reed's total, the last thing the hosts needed were early wickets. However, Joe Graves (10-2-28-3) struck in only the 3rd over thanks to a sharp catch by keeper Tim Tidey. A calamitous run out soon followed before Ed Garrott took a spectacular catch at gulley off of Graves to leave Hertford 31-3. Ward (6-1-20-2) and the returning Julien Fynn struck (8.4-1-29-2) thanks to some great catching by Rob Willoughby. Matt Bowles (7-1-29-1) and George Garrott (4-1-15-1) also got in on the action. A few spurned chances from [...]
Reed became the first team this season to defeat league leaders, West Herts, with a strong all-round performance. However, Sean Tidey caught the eye by top scoring with 46 not out coming in at no.9, keeping to the opening bowlers, pouching a catch at slip and tying down the middle order with 2-28 from 13 overs. After two quick dismissals to the fiery Will Jones (15-3-47-4) Ed Wharton (35) and Chris Jackson (31) rebuilt the Reed innings, only for their demises in consecutive overs. This left Stuart Smith (42) to maintain some impetus, but when he was joined by Tidey with 124-7 on the board, the match seemed lost. Together they scored steadily and, even with Smith’s dismissal, a quick-fire undefeated 14 from 7 balls by Toby Fynn enabled Tidey and Reed to reach a respectable 199-9 against a formidable attack containing two county bowlers. West Herts’s openers started brightly, but Ed Wharton (2-34) and Jack Tidey (1-26) breached their defences, which led to the regular fall of wickets to Sean Tidey and Toby Fynn (8-1-35-3). Tom Greaves, who had marshalled his bowling attack skilfully, wrapped up the innings with two late wickets. Mention must also be made of some excellent leg side catches by Rob Lankester (3) and Matt Sampson (2), whilst Chris Jackson, deputising for Tidey behind the stumps, snaffled a brace of his own. West Herts were dismissed for 132, leaving Reed with a comfortable 67 run winning margin and moving them up to fourth in the table. Report submitted by Peter Wholley
