On Saturday Reed 2nds travelled down the A10 towards Enfield to take on Holtwhites Trinibis 2nds. With the teams at opposite ends of the table, nothing but a win was acceptable for the away side in their push for promotion.
Reed skipper Ed Garrott won his first toss of the season and opted to bat first on what looked like a good pitch. With usual openers Frenay and Barlow missing, Garrott promoted himself and opened the batting alongside Richard ‘Tonza’ Johnson. The pair looked steady, taking regular quick singles and putting the bad ball away to the boundary, before Garrott inside edged Weston on to his stumps for 13. With the score on 24 in came Chris Jackson who alongside Johnson kept the scoreboard ticking over at a steady rate until Johnson fell for a well-made 41 and Reed were 89-2 from 21 overs. George Teeboon was promoted to number 4 for his first bat of the season. 240 looked to be par and Teeboon and Jackson started to take the attack to the Holtwhites’ bowlers, both presented opportunities but the home side’s fielding was poor and they couldn’t hold on to their catches. Jackson made them pay passing 50 and Teeboon hit some nice boundaries until trying one big shot too many, he was eventually caught for 45. Reed were 182-3 from 39 overs when Mitchell Cooper strode to the crease. Cooper and Jackson both knew they had to score quickly if they were to post a defendable total and they did just that. Cooper hitting the spinner for 2 fours and a six in his first over at the crease. Jackson was in on the attack too hitting boundaries all around the ground, making it very difficult for the Holtwhites captain to set a field. Jackson clipped a half volley down to fine leg and raced back for 2 bringing up a brilliant 100. The pair soon took the total past 250 and Cooper decided he was going to give the crowd what they wanted to see. In an innings that had included 7 fours and 5 sixes (3 of which were in a row) Cooper ended the innings on 62 not out from 25 balls and Reed finished on a massive 297 for 3. However, all the plaudits had to go to legend Jackson who finished unbeaten on 112.
After a very pleasant tea, which included a Mitchell Cooper history lesson on the wildlife of North London. Specifically the feral Ring-necked Parakeets, a species of small parrot whose native range extends across South Asia and Central Africa. Still till this day nobody knows how they ended up across London. Did Jimi Hendrix release a breeding pair in 1968? Did they escape from the set of the film ‘The African Queen’ in 1951? Or did they make their bid for freedom during the Great Storm of 1987? Who knows, that’s for another day!
Reed took to the field. Cooper had the new rock in his hand and looked to make inroads into the Holtwhites’ batting line up. He started with good pace and bounce and immediately had the batsmen on the back foot. Rupert Martin (3-0-22-0) opened from the other end and struggled to find his line and length; giving the umpire a good workout. However, in that time he did manage to find the outside edge of the bat but unfortunately both times they evaded a Reed fielder. Julien Fynn (9-3-11-2) who was a last minute call up from the 3rds replaced Martin and took his opportunity with both hands bowling a beautiful spell of swing bowling and picking up 2 well-deserved wickets both LBW. At the other end Cooper was in to his rhythm and soon joined in on the wickets. He finished with figures of 10-1-20-4. The highlights being a superb diving catch by youngster Kieran McKinna and the other a one-handed diving catch by wicket-keeper Marcus J E Baker. Soon it was time for pace off the ball and spin twins Garrott (3-1-12-1) and Matt Bowles (4-0-10-1) came to the party. The pair who have been devastating in recent weeks found their areas straight away and had the Holtwhites batsmen in all sorts. Wickets continued to tumble and with victory in sight McKinna (3-0-18-0) came into the attack and was very unlucky not to pick up a wicket. Marcus Martin (0.3-0-1) wrapped up the game bowling the number 11 for a comprehensive victory of 198 runs. Holtwhites all out for 99.
After the game Reed skipper Garrott said “Well you know, what can I say really? It was the complete performance. The boys were different class today, I couldn’t have asked for more from them, the batting was destructive and the bowling again was deadly. It’s the second time in as many weeks we’ve bowled a team out for under 100. As skipper it’s very pleasing to see these type of performances at this crucial stage of the season. We go again next week!”
Next week Reed host bottom of the table Sawbridgeworth at Home.
Match Report submitted by MDC.
