Reed's Under 12s had the measure of Letchworth Garden City's youngsters this week. Sam Osborne (30 not out) and Ross Gardner (17) were the major contributors in Reed's 97 for 6. Letchworth were 72 all out thanks to Adam Gardner recording figures of 3 for 11, and Jack Beber 2 for 12. Reed won by 25 runs.
Reed III's hosted Langleybury III's for mid table Saracens Herts League Clash, both teams were looking to secure crucial points in the match. Reed won the toss and elected to bat, which seemed a good decision as Willoughby (12) crunched his first three deliveries to the boundary, however the over excitement got the better of him as he was caught on the fourth. This set the tone for much the innings, with Peter Baker (0) and Zac Conley (6) following soon after. Rhodri Hughes (10) and Mike Robertson (11) both made starts but again fell cheaply, Father and son Maseeh (10) and Matt (0) Naeem also followed suit with the bowling of Cooper (8.5-48-6) doing the most damage. It was Owen Hughes (26*) who steadied the ship, calmly facing out overs and increasing the total with contributions from Ian Roberts (5) aggressive stroke play from Josh Conley (17) and tail end flair from Joe Graves (26) pushing Reed on to the meagre total of 155 all out. Langleybury had plenty of overs to get the runs and Reed thought that they would be lucky to prevent them chasing the runs down. However veteran Ian Roberts put in the performance of his life. Langleybury lost their first wicket in the first over by Owen Hughes, when he bowled Denham. Roberts then had Mullipudi caught with his second ball and bowled Honey with his 12th. Over the next 30 overs Roberts, bowling an immaculate length and swinging the ball away accounted for six more batsmen, ending with 15 overs, 4 maidens, 8 wickets for 38 runs. Opening batsman Gunning being left stranded on 41 not out out of a total of 76 all out. Reed 30 points, [...]
Saturday: 1st XI: Match abandoned without a ball bowled. Reportedly, the outfield at Flitwick was flooded. Reed remain in 2nd position in the Championship Division. Elsewhere, there was a draw, a win and a loss. Nevertheless, the 2nds, the 3rds, and the 4ths are all in fifth position in their respective Divisions at the close of play today. The 2nd XI scored 236 for 4 largely due to 78 from Richard Johnson and 48 from the acting skipper, Phil Frenay. Broxbourne were 43 runs shy of their target, closing at 193 for 4, Pete Tidey claiming 3 for 49. At the Freman Oval, the 3rds were rescued from 60 for 8 by Owen Hughes (26 not out), Josh Conley and Joe Graves (26) who added a further 90+ runs for the last 2 wickets against Langleybury. Having that extra comfort provided the setting for Ian Roberts to take 8 wickets for 30 as the visitors were bowled-out for 77. The loss came at Northampton Exiles when the 4th XI were bundled out for 96 (Bill Mansfield's 29 was top score), and managing to take only 1 wicket thereby losing by 9 wickets. Full details, fixtures and results of all Herts League matches can be found on:- www.hertsleague.co.uk Sunday: The 1st XI marched-on to the 5th round of the National Village Cup after dismissing Long Marston soon after they had passed 150. Sean Tidey (4) and Reece Fitzgerald (3) were the main wicket-takers before Richard Wharton, with another fifty, and James Heslam, (75 not out), overhauled the target. Now as the Herts & Beds Area Champions, Reed will play at home against the Champions of the West Sussex area in the National Round next Sunday, the [...]
Because of the rain last Sunday that abandoned the 4th Round match in the National Village Cup against Long Marston, the tie will now have to be played at their ground starting at 1300hrs on Sunday the 19th June. See the Events Calendar for address and map. Consequently, the Herts 20/20 match Away versus Letchworth, scheduled for the morning of Sunday the 19th, has been postponed to a date yet to be finalised. The Sunday (Friendly) XI have had a change of opposition and a change of venue. It's no longer Preston at Home, but Little Hadham Away. There will be no match at Reed on Sunday afternoon. PGB.
Reed scrambled a draw against Hoddesdon in an exciting game, which went down to the wire. An excellent partnership of 187 between South African Neels Bergh (92) and Todd Sturdy (113) formed the backbone of the visitors’ 262-9, after Ed Wharton had taken two wickets in the first over. When Sean Tidey and Tom Greaves had accounted for the top scorers, Wharton roared back to finish with 14-2-62-6. A century stand between William Heslam and Chris Jackson (41) gave Reed a chance of winning, but when Richard Wharton (28) was run out and Heslam stumped for a fine knock of 95, the lower order were forced to go hard. As a result several perished to brilliant catches in the deep. Bergh (19-2-68-5) was again the danger man with his leg-spin. Hoddesdon squeezed 20 overs into the last hour in a desperate effort to winkle out their hosts, but Mitchell Cooper calmly played out time, leaving Reed on 226-9. Report submitted by Peter Wholley.
Reed’s Fourth XI hosted Letchworth’s Fifth XI at the Freman Oval on Saturday. Lloyd Bowman won the toss and asked the visitors to bat. Reed opened the bowling with youngsters Jake Gifford (Buntingford End) and Jack Wilkerson (Reed End). After a cautious opening couple of overs Letchworth Opener Connor Pond from set off on a match defining innings. He punished both Gifford (7-0-53-0) and Wilkerson (4-0-47-0) as the 50 was brought up in the sixth over. A change of bowling altered nothing and Pond took a particular liking to Steve Hughes (4-0-74-0) hitting him for thirty in one over, although he was dropped on the boundary three times in the process. The run rate accelerated to above ten an over and the 100 came up in just the eleventh over. Reed was looking down the barrel of a gigantic score. On Pond went, passing his own century and 150 before the eighteenth over. Martin Johnson bowled Letchworth’s other opener Cruttenden for 20 out of an opening partnership of 189. Nowland soon followed for just 4 also bowled by Johnson. Heath joined Pond and on he went on, although pushing his luck as Reed failed to pouch a further three chances to dismiss him. He brought up his double century with yet another boundary. With Letchworth’s score on 284, it proved to be lucky seven for the hosts when Johnson bowled a beautiful slower ball to Pond who picked out Ben Mansfield at deep mid-on and he was finally out for 229. Reed needed to limit Pond’s damage and Neil Haslam (8-0-51-4) with his inswing and away cut and Johnson’s variety of pace (7-0-70-3) put the brakes on Letchworth’s middle order as wickets began to fall [...]
Saturday - No wins in the League! 1sts: A draw in the first of the "timed" formats. Reed held-on at 226 for 9 chasing Hoddesdon's 261 for 9. Ed Wharton was again in the wickets with 6 and Will Heslam battled to 95 before being stumped. 2nds: A long way behind at 187 all-out chasing 253 for 7 at Hertford. Ian Osbourne took 3 wickets and followed-up with a score in the forties. There were also forties for Richard Johnson and Rich Barlow but not enough others chipped-in to get close to the target. 3rds: Even further behind and losing by 135 runs. 202 was not a massive challenge after Joe Graves and Josh Conley had taken 2 wickets each, but St Albans had other ideas and the only major contributor with the bat was Rob Willoughby's 26 in a poor 67 all-out. 4ths: Letchworth hit 304 for 7 declared in just 31 overs at the Freman Oval. Astonishingly, one batsman had scored 249 of those! Wickets fell to Neil Haslam, (4), and Martin Johnson, (3). Reed hit back with 201 thus gaining some useful bonus points despite the defeat. Runs came from the bats of Martin Johnson, (60), Bill Mansfield, (50), and young Jack Wilkerson (21). Sunday (4th Round, Village Cup): Even on Sunday, the only winner was the weather! Reed batted first and closed their 40 overs on 262 with Chris Jackson top-scoring on 85. The match was abandoned because of rain after Long Marston had reached 58 for 1. The fixture will now have to be replayed anew, away at Long Marston at 1300hrs on Sunday 19th June. Their address is Marlins, Cheddington Lane, Long Marston, Near Tring, Herts, HP23 4QP. Expect [...]
The Under 12s played against Knebworth Park on 9th June. Reed scored a reasonable total of 98 for 3 in their 20 overs mainly responsible to Ross Gardner hitting 28 and Sam Osbourne 27. However, Knebworth Park hit-back with 101 for the loss of only 2 wickets; 1 each for Sam Osbourne and Adam Gardner. It must be recorded that the majority of the Reed side are playing matches against opposing players that are up to 3 years older than they are.
I have in my possession a small book published in 1906 entitled "Don’ts for Cricketers". Under the section on captaincy it includes the entry ‘Don’t Appoint as a captain a man from these three classes: a) nervous and excitable men; b) dull and apathetic men; c) bowling captains, with an aversion to seeing anybody bowl but themselves.’ Knowing this Marcus J.E. Baker asked Rob Lankester if he fancied a go leading the Sunday friendly eleven. What was to come was one of the best captain's knocks ever seen for the club. Lankester had won the toss and inserted the opposition, Outlaws. A fantastic opening spell from Joe Graves saw him remove two early wickets. A third wicket partnership between C. Scutt and G. Saffery fought back and both men looked settled at the crease. Both had the potential to hang about and make big scores but an edge from Saffrey (48) was gladly accepted by Baker at first slip. Graham Stuart having broken this partnership followed up by bowling the number 5, second ball. C. Scutt continued at the same tempo having got passed 50 but Lankester was able to remove him trapping him in front for 74. Baker bowling at the other end took two wickets, one bowled and one caught behind by Rhodri Hughes. Outlaws finished on a competitive 205 for 7. In response John Kershaw and Rhodri Hughes attacked the opening bowlers with positive results. Kershaw (18) in particular looked in good form but a top edge saw him removed followed shortly after by both Lloyd Bowman and Hughes (10). Coming in at number 5 Lankester found his side on 35 for 3. Lankester himself must have looked at my book and [...]
Reed Third X1 hosted Harpenden 4th X1 at Freman College and on winning the toss opted to bat. Opening bowlers Owen Hughes ( 6 overs 1 for 25) and Ian Roberts (10 overs 3 for 16) made immediate inroads into the Harpenden batting. They were ably supported by Julien Fynn (7 overs 3 for 12) and reduced the visitors to 47 for 6 off 20 overs. This was soon to become 74 for 9 of 31 overs with wickets from Josh Conley and Mathew Naeem. However, Harpenden fought back with a spirited last wicket partnership of 56 with Killen scoring 64 and Machey 6no leaving Reed to chase 130. In reply, opener Ed Garrott batted sensibly for 29 but two silly run outs and the wicket of George Garrott (14) left Reed on 66 for 4 after 13 overs. However this brought Michael Robertson (44no) and Julien Fynn (23no) to the crease and in the next 11 overs they put on 67 runs for the loss of no wickets to seal the win for Reed. Reed 30 points, Harpenden 5 points, taking Reed to a mid table position. Report submitted by Richard Robertson.