The impressive Reed Under 11s squad continued their excellent start to the season making it a perfect 8 wins out of 8 matches with two further wins for both their A and B teams in the last few weeks. The first of the victories for the A team came against Letchworth at a well-attended sunny Reed Green where although scoring quickly Reed youngsters were in a spot of bother at 33 for 4, however 9 year-old Eddie Heslam accompanied by Jon Green batted with great maturity and stabilised the innings with them both retiring on 25 and 26 respectively as Reed continued through their full 20 overs totalling 135 for 8, a total they felt confident of defending. This proved to be the case as early wickets for the intimidating opening pair of Charlie Ingrey and Josh Heslam saw Reed on their way, and with the usual tight Reed fielding piled on the pressure producing two excellent direct hit run outs from Green and J Heslam so Letchworth were soon struggling in their reply. Further wickets for Ollie Kimsey, Zac Rouse (2-6) and Eddie Heslam saw Letchworth subside to 52 all out in 11.4 overs. A comprehensive win for Reed and a good all-round cricketing performance by all the boys, well martialled by Captain Josh Heslam.
The 2nd win for the Reed A team came in much more comfortable circumstances away to Hatfield Hyde. This time the Reed batting order fired in full force with Josh Heslam and Ethan Fox running superbly together in another fine opening partnership before Fox was unlucky to be run out for a well made 16. Heslam went onto 28 retired as did the in-form Green (25), and with Luke Wilson (15) and the hard hitting Charlie Ingrey (22 not out) continuing the momentum to the end with the visitors racking up 164 for 3 in their 20 overs. In reply Hatfield Hyde never got going against the strong Reed bowling attack. Wickets were shared around with the pick of the bowlers being Rory Longland and Henry Cook both taking 3 wickets supported by some fantastic fielding including a sharp stumping from Fox and a superb diving catch by J Heslam in the gully with the team loudly applauded by the good fun home support attending the game. The two wins leave Reed clear at the top of their division at the halfway mark.
The 3rd league game for the Reed B team saw them convincingly overcome St Margretsbury B away from home. Reed batted first and amassed 289 (Net Score starting at 200) in their 100 balls with top scorers E Heslam (15), Jack Jones (10) and Longland (9) leading the way in a solid batting display. In reply Reed’s economical attack took wickets at regular intervals with the home side being well restricted to just 175, the pick of the bowlers were E Heslam and Isaac Skeggs with 3 wickets a piece closely followed by Rouse, Longland and Jones with two each.
The next win for the B team came in a tighter encounter with Sawbridgeworth B at the Green. Reed again batted first and made their way to a decent score of 283 (Net) with Fox (14), Green (13) and Jackson (9) scoring freely. In reply Sawbridgeworth got quite close but solid Reed bowling secured the victory with 8 wickets shared around with 2 for Skeggs and Ben Pascoe. The admirable run by the Reed Under 11s squad has been great to watch with performances coming in across the entire squad in all formats and a really positive attitude and togetherness from the boys, the key to making it a season to really remember will be to have a short break for half-term and then come back and go again even more so for the second half of the season and hopefully see success in both leagues and another effort at the Herts County Championship quarter-finals with the aim of going one better than last season and making the finals day!
Summary submitted by James Heslam.
N.B. Remember that Scorecards for matches can be viewed at www.reed.play-cricket.com
and that you can see League Tables on www.hertsjuniorleagues.co.uk
Reed’s Under 11 A Team is in Division U11A Group 3, the Under 11 B Team is in Division U11B Group 3.
