The thunderstorm which hit Reed on Friday night left the pitch one that ‘Deadly’ Derek Underwood used to dream about in the days of uncovered wickets. As a result it started to dry out, which meant batsmen had to play attritionally. From 84-1, Ampthill slumped to 111-8, mostly against Tom Greaves, who finished with career-best figures of 18-6-37-7. However, once again, Reed could not polish off the innings, not helped by 5 dropped catches in toto. Thus their opponents were well satisfied with a final total of 173.
Sadly only Jack Caine showed the required application in Reed’s innings. Although he scored 16 of their 62 runs, he faced nearly half the 19 overs it took veteran seamer, Will Sneath, (4-30) and Beds’ left arm spinner, George Darlow,(6-31) to rout the hosts.
“Not our best day at the office,” remarked skipper Greaves, although it will be one for him to remember nevertheless.
Match Report submitted by Peter Wholley.
