1st XI REPORT 2020
A lot of positives to take out of a very strange first Premier League season.
We managed to get 8 games in and although we only won 1, we pushed most teams hard and made a bit of a name for ourselves in the League that we won’t be push overs. Will Heslam made a sublime 100 whilst chasing 227 over at Welwyn. A game in which ex-Test match player Owais Shah was playing. We ended 7 runs short in one of the games of the season. This ended up being a bit of a habit and probably a lack of experience at the top level cost us a couple of times. However huge positives were to be taken from performances by Jack Tidey in particular. Home grown and proving to be the number 1 bowler in the Premier League at his first time of asking was a huge achievement and I’m sure only a small sign of things to come. Mitchell Cooper also played superbly well averaging well into the 40s showing great maturity with the bat coupled with ball striking on another level.
We hope that things get back to some kind of normality for the 2021 season. With plenty of positives to take into the spring my hope is that we can maintain our Premier League status, look to continue to build our squad and play lots of entertaining cricket at the green.
In the meanwhile I hope you all stay safe, and that current times will all be a distant memory soon. Fingers crossed I’ll share a cold one with you all during the summer.
Go well!
Tom Greaves, Club Captain, RCC.
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2nd XI REPORT 2020
In these unprecedented times, it was great to be able to be able to play some cricket, albeit only half a season. Having been promoted in 2019 to Division 3B we were hoping to be able to continue the momentum in 2020 and we gave a really good showing finishing in 3rd position having had a chance to win the league on the final day of the season.
From the nine games that we played there were some really strong team performances and some outstanding individual performances. On the batting front Chris Jackson again led the way with 310 runs at an average of 62 including three 50s with a top score of 98 against Harpenden 3s. Tom Greaves scored two imposing half centuries and Stuart Smith scored a match winning 66 away on a tricky pitch at Hemel Hempstead 2s.
In terms of bowling Rupert Martin took 13 wickets at an average on 9.7, closely matched by Julien Fynn who took 12 wickets at an average of 13.4, both taking a 5-for. They were well supported by Matt Bowles who took 9 wickets. In the limited matches that they played Matt Giblin, Karl Ward and Marcus Martin also bowled well.
We had some great games across the season but perhaps the highlight, although we were on the losing side, was the final game of the season at home against West Herts 2s. We didn’t have our strongest side due to availability and were bowled out for 90. However Rupert Martin and Scott Nash both took 4 wickets and we only lost by 1 wicket with the winning run scored with an inside edge that was so close to the stumps.
Overall I think it was a very positive first season for the 2s in Division 3B and I look forward to hopefully a full 2021 season where we can see how we fare when availability across the league is stronger. Let’s hope we can secure another promotion.
Stay Safe.
Ed Garrott, Captain, RCC Second XI.
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3rd XI REPORT 2020
In this strange year the 2020 cricket season finally got under way in July, with various restrictions and protocol measures in place. We were due to play our first game on the 18th of July, but could not convince enough people to travel a long distance and that cricket could be played in a safe and secure way.
We played our first game on Saturday 25th July at Freman College versus Harpenden; this was duly was cut short by heavy rain! Overall we managed to complete just 3 games and 2 half-games. We had 2 cancelled because of rain and the remaining fixtures cancelled due to travelling long distances and poor availability.
Batting-wise Rob Willoughby was the stand out performer with 3 fifties and a top score of 94 against Hitchin. Scott Nash played a couple of useful knocks, George Garrott scored a commanding 70 against Letchworth, Richard Johnson made an appearance in the final fixture against Hitchin scoring 78 and Kieran Willoughby hit 44 not out against Rickmansworth.
On the Bowling front there was one stand out performance, from 15 year-old William Archer who took 5 for 18 against Letchworth. Owen Hughes was successful with the ball in the games he played picking up 7 wickets in 3 matches for not many runs. Joe Graves, Steve Hughes and Greg Mckinnell all bowled well, and 13 year-old Charlie Waters is a great prospect with both bat and ball.
So all in all, it was just nice to get back out on the field of play, and to see some good signs for the future!
Let’s hope next season we can get back to some sort of Norm!
Paul Garrott, Acting Captain, RCC Third XI.
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SUNDAY XI REPORT 2020
In a season that didn’t see as many fixtures as hoped for – given the unprecedented circumstances delaying the start of the season – there were still plenty of positives to report from the 4 games played by the Sunday XI.
As usual, there was a great mix of youth and experience in the teams fielded for each fixture. What was especially good to see was the senior players across each of the 3 Saturday teams welcoming in and providing support and guidance to the younger members of the side beginning their journey in adult cricket.
The way these individuals have performed in these games has been highly impressive. The first notable mention goes to Will Archer, who played in each of the 4 fixtures, and was able to regularly showcase his pinpoint off-break bowling and rapidly-improving batting abilities. Young superstar Josh Heslam also made his adult debut in a thrilling encounter against Hormead & Hare Street, who went for just 6 runs from his 3 overs, and showed the senior members of the side his unbelievable ability in the field, saving countless runs and getting a highly-deserved run out with his rocket arm.
As a member of the coaching team at the club, it has been especially fantastic to see the
hard work that has been put into the colts’ coaching sessions (by both the players, the coaches, and everybody else involved in making these coaching sessions happen) coming to fruition in the adult game. This is very exciting for the future of the club, as hopefully in the forthcoming seasons, these individuals can continue making the transition from the colts set-up into the various adult sides – with the Sunday XI experience helping with the fluidity of this transition.
Going from youth to experience, there was also several standout performances. Firstly, the ever-reliable Bill Mansfield tore apart Aston’s batting line-up with figures of 5-41. The picture on son Ben’s face when Bill took the fifth wicket was phenomenal. Matt Giblin ended the season with a bang against Stansted Hall, where the hard work put into his batting throughout the season paid dividends with an unbeaten 99. Unfortunately, Matt’s own miscalculations denied him his first ever century, since he ran a 2 when on 97, with the team needing just 2 runs to win. Hopefully the upcoming season will see him reach the 3-figure milestone.
As another positive, of the 4 close and competitive games played this season, the Sunday XI went unbeaten, with 3 wins and an enthralling tie. Since all of these games were in the balance all the way until the final couple of overs (and the last ball/wicket in 2 of the 4 games), this made them all the more enjoyable.
I would also like to thank a number of people for their contributions that made these fixtures possible this season. In particular, thanks to Peter Wholley for arranging the fixtures, and of course to Richard Robertson for preparing the wickets and the ground, which all travelling opposition commented very positively on. Also, many thanks to those that helped out behind the bar, especially Bethan Smith and Peter McMeekin.
I hope everyone is staying safe, and look forward to seeing you all soon. Fingers crossed circumstances improve and some more cricket can be played this year.
Rob Lankester, Captain, RCC Sunday XI.
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COLTS’ LIAISON OFFICER’S REPORT 2020
At points last season we didn’t think there was going to be any likelihood of getting Colts training let alone matches up and running. But, as Lockdown restrictions were eased, Richard Barlow and Ian Osborne, along with the Club Coaches, managed to successfully run social distanced U15s outdoors nets sessions, which were all very well attended. Thank you for all their efforts. This was later followed by getting the rest of the Colts training sessions re started (U9s, U10s and U12s) on different evenings to allow for more space and safe distancing. We also managed to fit in All Stars for 4 sessions allowing the youngest Reed members a chance to get some cricket in and a run around, some sessions in some very wet conditions! Thank you to Graham and co for all their efforts!
The training sessions provided some good practice for league matches for the U15s and friendly matches for the other age groups and were very well participated and enjoyed by the children by this point in the year desperate for some sport back in their lives!
Having spoken to other clubs, I think we all did a good job getting training and matches on, with some local clubs only managing to get adult training and fixtures.
Thanks as always goes to Richard Robertson and Peter Wholley for preparing excellent pitches, some at very short notice due to rearranged matches due to late summer weather! Thank you also to all the managers and coaches for giving the children a shortened version of the cricket season, which they very much enjoyed and most likely weren’t expecting.
Hannah Heslam, Colts’ Liaison Officer, RCC.
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The Under 9 Team:
The Under 9s season was the season that nearly never was. Training was delayed until late July and we only had 1 game. Training was fun, everyone enjoyed it, everyone improved and hopefully will be cricket players for years to come.
We only played 1 game against a strong Hitchin team but our team of 5 players who had played a game before and 5 players making their cricket match debuts, got beaten by the stronger side. But importantly everyone enjoyed it, got a bat and got a bowl, which is what junior cricket is about.
Roll on 2021 for the players to come back with some sunshine, less covid and the enthusiasm they had for cricket in 2020.
Simon Jackson, U9 Manager, RCC.
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The Under 10 Team:
Somehow the U10s managed to get what seemed close to a cricket season into a compacted and extended 6 weeks in late summer including several re-scheduled fixtures after the rain! This was great to achieve at an important time for the children as they progressed from U9s Incrediball (softball) cricket into hardball. Having personally grown up in an era without Incrediball cricket I can appreciate how that and the All-Stars cricket initiative for 5-8 year olds has provided the children with an excellent grounding in the game to take the next step into hardball and I’ve no doubt this contributed to the confidence they have shown in making the change so seamlessly.
To summarise the team played 6 matches, won 3 and lost 3 and each defeat was a close game including on one occasion against an U11s side to enable an extra game to happen and another that went down to the last ball against Broxbourne in which the standard of batting, bowling and fielding was fantastic from both sides. Add to this that the majority of the squad were at least one year below the age group and match time was shared between lots of different players with many people taking advantage of the end to lockdown it was an excellent performance by the group. I must also say thanks to my wife Hannah for the tireless re-scheduling of rained off games in mid/late August, a motivation no doubt helped by having two cricket loving children still not back at School with no summer holiday this year!
The top 10 batsman and bowlers in the matches are below and I was so proud of all of the children and the courage, attitude and ability they showed in their first experience of hardball cricket and I look forward to working with them plus some additional graduates from the U9s squad as we move into Under 11s cricket this season.
Batting
Name Games Runs Average
Josh Heslam 6 62 10.33
Ethan Fox 2 16 8.00
Matthew Barons 2 12 6.00
Liam Nash 2 12 6.00
Oliver Walters 3 16 5.33
Joseph Rhodes 5 24 4.80
Eddie Heslam 6 23 3.83
Aaron Nash 2 6 3.00
Jamie Rogers 3 7 2.33
Bowling
Name Overs Runs Wickets Average Economy
Eddie Heslam 12 38 10 3.80 3.17
Matthew Barons 4 15 3 5.00 3.75
Joseph Rhodes 10 36 5 7.20 3.60
Jamie Rogers 7 30 3 10.00 4.29
Josh Heslam 15 56 5 11.20 3.73
Daf Hill 4 28 2 14.00 7.00
Toby Cook 4 14 1 14.00 3.50
Oliver Kimsey 4 30 2 15.00 7.50
James Heslam, U10 Manager, RCC.
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The Under 12 Team:
In this disjointed season, Reed U12s played 6 matches this season. While U12s in name, only 6 players were 12 years old, with most of the squad in the U11s age category. With a squad size of 15, Reed regularly fielded Under 9s and in one case an Under 7 player – With Josh Heslam (9) becoming a regular and welcome addition to the matchday team.
While Reed lost all their matches this season, the progression from the first to last match was tangible – where the losing margin reduced from 52 runs v Broxbourne, to just 7 runs against St. Margaretsbury in the last game of the season.
The key contributor to this change, was the improvement in bowling, where No Balls and Wides were virtually eliminated from the bowling by the end of the season.
The switch away from “Pairs” cricket is a big step, with the vast majority of the players never having had to protect their wicket quite as rigorously – Having to walk off the field after facing a single ball is a tough lesson to learn, but by the end of the season there was a marked reduction in Ducks, with some players (notably Callum Rickets, Daniel Vincent, Thomas green and Eddie Cook) showing Boycott-like resilience at the wicket.
The next step next season is to turn dot-balls into singles, understanding that with just 20 overs to set a total, steeling quick runs is the name of the game.
Everyone played a part, either with bat or ball; and everyone contributed in the field – which with a hard ball can be tricky at this age – So it bodes well for the upcoming season. Some statistical highlights:
Pick of the Bowlers:
Callum Ricketts: 17 Overs. 5 Wickets for 77 Runs
Charlie Hawker: 7 Overs. 4 Wickets for 49 Runs
Thomas Green: 16 Overs. 4 Wickets for 86 Runs
Eddie Heslam: 2 Overs. 3 Wickets for 1 Run (aged 7!)
Eddie Cook: 9 Overs. 3 Wickets for 48 Runs
Pick of the Batting:
Callum Ricketts: 6 Innings. 107 Runs from 205 Balls. Average 35.67
Daniel Vincent: 5 Innings. 63 Runs from 60 Balls. Average 15.75
Thomas Green: 5 Innings. 37 Runs from 56 Balls. Average 7.40
Josh Heslam: 3 Innings. 34 Runs from 80 Balls. Average 11.33 (aged 9!)
Eddie Cook: 4 Innings. 28 Runs from 74 Balls. Average 14.00
Lee Vincent, U12 Manager, RCC.
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The Under 15 Team:
The U15s had 4 games; we lost two against Little Shelford and Saffron Walden and won one against Waresley, the other being a mixed game with Little Shelford. As in recent seasons though all games were of a high standard testing the boys against the higher ability children in Cambridgeshire. Key statistics are as per below:
Top batsmen
Sam Osborne 33, 30, 33 (all Not Out).
Max Sanderson 30, 30, 32 (all Not Out). Reed cc Colts report
Top bowlers
Olu Agboola 9 Overs 0 Maidens 41 Runs 4 Wickets.
Oliver Cambridge 5 Overs 1 Maidens 30 Runs 3 Wickets.
Sam Osborne 8 Overs 0 Maidens 40 Runs 3 Wickets.
Ian Osborne, U13 Manager, RCC.
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