With 17 players from the First and Second XIs either unavailable or injured, clearly both sides were on a hiding to nothing. Reed Firsts even included two injured quick bowlers to make up numbers! Their opponents duly obliged as Broxbourne recorded two century stands, George Davies leading both with 143 not out , well supported by Niles Robinson (68) and Darcy Murphy (32 not out). Toby Fynn and Matt Giblin both claimed a couple of wickets, but Broxbourne racked up an impressive 290 for 5 declared.
To make matters much worse, Reed slumped to 11 for 5 against the pace of Connor Ridley and Murphy, the former finishing with 4 for 32. Thankfully Matt Sampson (61) and Stuart Smith (29) survived to compile their own century stand, giving the score some semblance of respectability. However, their departure wasn’t the end as the last 3 wickets added 64, mainly through Sean Tidey (18) and Toby Fynn (27), plus a penalty 5 runs for a helmet infringement! Aussie Murphy had the final say though, his pace accounting for 3 of the last 4 wickets to fall.
Let’s hope more players are available for the trip to Shenley Village next week as we reach the halfway mark in the season.
Match Report submitted by Peter Wholley.
