Reed cruised to victory on Saturday against Hatfield Hyde thanks to inspired batting from James Heslam and Chris Jackson. Bowling first Reed got off so a superb start with Will Clarke cleaning up 2 of the Hatfield batsman in consecutive balls in his 2nd over. However McCann and Somani put on 135 for the 3rd wicket to put Reed back on the back foot. With Jackson bowling a marathon spell of 18 overs (2 for 60) of tight slow bowling and Richard Johnson bowling tightly from the other end meant that Hatfield Hyde had to attack and the reintroduction of Clarke (6 for 47) saw Reed bowl out the opposition of 218. In reply Reed got of to a pacy start with Baz Curtis scored 26 off 8 overs before falling with the score on 26. However this bought to the wicket the in form Chris Jackson to bat alongside James Heslam. With both batsmen looking in no trouble, they started to stroke the attack to all corners of the ground. With both batsman passing 50 without offering any chances to the opposition Reed looked in a solid position. Jackson went for 58 and Heslam went shortly after for 82. However with Reed only needing 38 to win Johnson and Stuart Smith, who in doing so scored their first league runs of the season saw Reed home with 7 overs to spare.

Reed failed to maintain their 100% Hertfordshire league record when they failed to overcome a strong County Hall side. Reed welcomed the return of veteran swing bowler Peter Tidey after a short return for "Uncle Pete" to Steeple Morden. Dropped catches were the order of the day for Reed with Jackson (Chris not Simon this time!) dropping 2, Heslam 1 and even Steve Dunn with gloves on dropped one. Tidey staked his claim for a regular first team place with a spell of tight bowling and devastating swing which saw him finish with figures of 5 for 41 with Reed restricting the home side to 181 For 9. Other notable performances were Michael "3 attempts to bowl 1 delivery" Berks and Ben "Im not gonna juggle one again" Bowles who finally became the first player to finally make a catch. I also believe some catches were caught when the ball was being thrown back to the bowler but there wasnt many. In reply Baz Curtis got Reed off to a customary good start before wickets started to tumble. Reed`s middle order gave little support to Curtis who eventually was out for 42. Poor shot selection was to blame for Reed`s batting collapse aided by their persistence to chase the opposing total. Australian quickie Bruce "I think Ill clean up Tidey first ball, after what has come before him" Johnston picked up 6 for 27 and was the pick of the County Hall bowlers. However all-rounder Tidey became the crowd pleaser stepping down the wicket on numerous occassions to the Aussie. Reed were eventually bowled out for 100 leaving captain Simon Jackson bewildered by his sides collapse. More concern for Reed has got to be captain [...]

Reed cruised to their 2nd consecutive league victory at home to Wheathampstead IIs on Saturday. Reed were put into bat on a wicket that would give bowlers the edge early on however Baz Curtis and and in form James Heslam put on 64 for the 1st wicket for their 2nd consecutive 50 opening partnership. In previous seasons when Curtis was out Reed would normally slump however this year there seems to be new found confidence in the batting line up. With two ex-county colts captains at the crease in Heslam and Christophe Jackson, the scoreboard kept ticking at a fair rate and Reed reached the 100 off only 21 overs. Heslam was unlucky to fall short of his 2nd league 50 of the season when caught slogging to the deep. With Jackson falling shortly afterwards it bought together university student Will “Ill only play one game till it warms up and Im properly fit” Clarke to the wicket and Trev “I do play that shot with my eyes open “Saunders. Saunders hit the ball with his usual power with Clarke helping Saunders to the majority of the strike - and Will even hit a couple of boundaris. Shortly after Saunders reached his 50, Reed then declared on 209 for 4 off 45 overs. The reason for this could be; - watch the FA Cup Final - saving Skipper Jackson from getting another duck or - giving themselves an extra 8 overs to bowl out Wheathampstead In reply W'Hampstead never got going with Reeds attack boasting the luxury of Michael “Im under 19 so can only bowl 7 overs” Berks and Will Clarke in the fast bowling stakes with Ian “oldest swinger in town” Roberts tying [...]

Reed 1st team went down to their 4th defeat of the season on Saturday against fellow promotion hopefuls Totteridge all but eliminating any hopes of moving up to Herts division three next year. The game began well for the home side with Clarke taking 3 early wickets, With Tidey keeping runs down at the other end with his usual controlled swing bowling Reed were well placed. Totteridge were moving at just 2 runs an over up until the 33rd over. However, then Poland who had stuck it out at number 3 began to open his shoulders and with the help of Goldsmith amongst others in the lower order managed to help Totteridge to a decent score of 201-8 after 50 overs. Paceman Clarke was the pick of the bowlers with 5-65(his second 5 wicket haul in as many weeks) putting in an excellent performance once again. In reply, reed got off to a good start with Heslam (35)and Curtis(19) putting on 50 for the first wicket inside 10 overs. This was despite being up against a useful opening pair and with the likelihood of lesser bowlers to come on reed looked well set. However, Curtis was out soon after followed by Chris Jackson and later Heslam with the score at just 66. This meant the middle order had a big part to play and despite a good knock by the inform Rich Johnson(29), opener Hall managed to keep bowling at a reasonable pace throughout the innings doing the main damage taking 6-68. This meant that reed only managed to reach 138 before Tidey was last man out in the 37th over.

Reed were unfortunate not to win against Millhillians despite a classy 118 from Chris Jackson. Jacksons score included 16 4s and was ably supported by James Heslam, Paul Watts, Will Clarke and debutant Richard Barlow. Reed amassed 232 in their 53 overs leaving them 47 overs to bowl out the opposition. The opening spell of bowling from Michael Berks and Will Clarke was a true spell of quality fast bowling. With Berks taking the first 2 wickets. However a hard hitting 79 from Doherty started to turn around the game into Millhillians favour. But a tight spell of swing bowling from Pete Tidey (2 for 35 off 14) saw the chance of victory disappear for the home side but Reeds strong bowling attack could not bowl out Millhillians on a good batting track and Reed had to settle for a draw

Reed romped home to their third maximum points win of the season with a solid all round team performance against a strong Old Camdonians side. Reed were put into bat and got off to the best possible start with Baz Curtis and James Heslam caressing the ball to all sides of the ground putting together an opening stand of 146, before Curtis fell for an impressive 74. The fall of Curtis did little to hamper young Heslam`s fine form, seeing him crash 3 sixes and 8 fours to reach his secound league century of the season. Heslam eventually fell for 111 with Reed declaring on 223 for 5. Old Camdenians fielded a strong batting side, and for times it looked like the win was in their sights. However an early break through made by Ian Roberts and the vital wicket of the impressive Aslam by Reed`s quickie Michael Berks put Reed into a advantageous situation. The thorn in Reed`s side was the immaculate innings of the opposition's opener Shquib who like his counterpart James Heslam notched a superb century to put his side into a winning situation. This saw the introduction of the inform Pete Tidey who picked up 4 of the Old Camdenions middle order wickets. Still going for the win, the opposition stretched the home side to their limit of which they responded with tight fielding and attacking bowling. Michael Berks eventually succeeded in getting Shquib for 110 Which saw the end to Ol;d Camdenians and accounted for another 30 points for home side. Reed skipper, Simon Jackson praised his players and their consistent performances; "in our last four games we have achieved 39 out 40 possible wickets, and scored well over seven [...]

Reed lost by 5 wickets on Saturday againt Old Haberdashers despite winning the toss and deciding to bat. Old H's lost the toss despite using a bowler to TOSS due to their captains inability to PERFORM FOR THE TEAM. The wicket was OK, the outfield was @#%£ and the sight screens were smaller than my.......... garage door. No wonder they were refused permission to go up last year due to their facilities. Reed got off to the worst possible start losing their prolific batting line up of Curtis, Heslam and Chris Jackson with only 22 runs on the board. Reed offered no resistance to the unpredictability of the pitch and only Simon Jackson and Ben Bowles of the batsman showed any way of seeing off the Old H's bowlers. With the Old H's attack going through Reed batsman like a hot knife through butter only Reed fast bowler Michael Berks showed he knew which end of the bat to hold. Berksie came to the wicket and managed to outperform all the "batsman" and top score with 17. Reed finished on 85 which was far less than even the poor facilities deserved. In reply Reed got off to a good start and managed to get Old H's on the back foot. Berksie (as bowler) with 3 for 16 was the star of show in his early spell and had H's on 41 for 5. However ex-England Universities batsman Bajuki and Mir saw the home side through to see Reed lose their second game of the season. Reed skipper Simon Jackson was not happy with the batting display however was encouraged with the fielding display. "Despite dropping 3 catches, through Heslam, Chris Jackson and Bowlesie - we [...]

Reed got back to winning ways last weekend against league rivals Claredon. Reed fielding 7 players under 20 were always going to find it tough playing a team 2 places higher than them in the division 4 table. They weren’t helped by losing a vital toss and being put into bat. A shower just before the start had made the wicket very skiddy. Baz Curtis and James Heslam put on 32 for the first wicket before Curtis became the first of Wise’s five wickets. William Clarke and Stuart Smith soon follow each scoring 2. James Heslam looked in control, but was bowled for 36 and Reed were deep in trouble. Andrew Emms batting at six decided to show some aggression against Wise, hitting the left arm spinner for two huge six’s with minimum effort!! Peter Costen showed equal aggression smashing 27, but when they both went Reed crumbled and were all out for 130. Reed needed early wickets and despite beating the bat on numerous occassions nothing went for the home side. Clarendon were making good if not quick progress, but with 57 overs to reach their total it wasn’t a problem. Michael Berks replaced William Clarke and immediately got a break through. By the end of his seven over spell he had 4 wickets and Reed has a chance. Wise had other ideas and was smashing anything lose. William Clarke now back on up the hill switched to around the wicket and first ball had wise caught for 38. Clarke came out of Berks shadow and took 4 more wickets in his 18 overs for just 46 runs. The run rate slowed to a trickle, but Caldicott was proving hard to shift and Wess [...]

Reed lost at home to local rivals Braughing on Saturday. After winning the toss and batting first Reed got off to another poor start finding themselves 20 for 3. However this bought together the Jackson brothers Chris and Simon. Some solid defence from Simon and good shots from Chris saw Reed to a healthier position of 64 until Simon was unlucky to be out LBW after dancing down the wicket. Chris was joined by Peter Costen making his league debut for the 2001 season however despite a few good blows saw Costen being the first of 4 wickets Reed lost in the 90s. However this only bought in the ever-dependable Steve Dunn. Jackson and Dunn put on 54 for the 9th wicket before Dunn was run out of the last ball of the innings trying to run a bye with the ball in the keepers hands! Reed got of to the acustomary good reply against Braughing with Michael Berks getting Radbourne out 3rd ball of the innings however this bought in ex-Reed colt Chris Chambers with the hard hitting Banks. Chambers rode his luck early on however the 2 batsman saw Braughing race to 80 for 1. However old warhorse Pete Tidey and slow bowler Chris Jackson saw Reed get back into the game. Tidey bowled tightly in a 17 over spell seeing him take 3 for 35 and give Reed a sight of victory. However a fine 8th wicket partnership saw Braughing to the maximum 30 points. The thoughts to ponder after the game must be; - where did Braughing get the bloke in the white coat who could easily have shouted "HELLLLLLLLLO, Im on the cricket field!!!!!!!!!!!!" - why the captain has to [...]

Reed deservedly gained 30 points with an exciting win away at Boxmoor on Saturday. Being put into bat by the home side, Reed, with 4 of their normal top 5 missing, got off to worst possible start losing opener Paul Watts early on. In came the prolific Chris Jackson to the crease where him and his brother Simon caressed the ball to all ends of the ground. The Boxmoor attack had no answer to the shot selection and shear power of the Jackson brothers, which saw them putting together a second wicket partnership of 148. Simon was first to fall for 61 and was later followed by Chris for 81. Boxmoor then turned the heat up and skittled through Reed`s depleted batting line-up. Set a total of 187 the game was ideally placed for Boxmoor to chase. On a lively wicket the pace of Clarke and Berks was too much for the Boxmoor early order batmen. Positioned at 120 for 4 Boxmoor were well in chase for victory. But three quick wickets from Peter Costen turned the game and halted Boxmoors progress. Needing 25 runs to win with 3 wickets remaining Reed turned the screw to complete their second straight win with a number of key players missing.