The thirds troubles worsened when they faced Knebworth Park fifth eleven at St Edmunds College.  On arrival finding a disappointing track captain Peter Baker decided that having won the toss the best thing to do would be to insert the hosts.Knebworth started aggressively hitting the ball hard until opening bowler Kallum Ward (5-0-17-1) removed Tompkins (8).  Opener Digweed (25) was then joined by the young Patel (28) and the two made a good partnership making runs at a steady pace.  Spinner Jason Pallet (18-1-47-4) took up residence at one end for the remainder of the innings with Michael Robertson at the other (18-3-54-3), the two successfully dislodged several wickets both taking catches of their own bowling but also thanks to the alert field.  Trouble came from Woods (25*) and opposition captain Inman (21) until he was brilliantly caught down the leg side by keeper Marcus J.E. Baker.  Robertson took the wicket of Martin (11), who had offered some late resistance, on the last ball of the innings with the score on 176 for 8.Reeds chase once again never got going, the rain damaged pitch was hard to predict and the Knebworth captain set a very successful field for his bowlers and the conditions.  With the score only on 13 Reed lost their first wicket and then on 24 Reed lost a further two wickets in two balls.  The only major resistance came from Robertson (37) who hit out, supported by Kallum Ward (13).  The only other man to get into double figures was number 11 Pallet (10) was finally dislodged by Murphy (7.3-0-27-5) who along with Martin (11-3-23-4) took the majority of the Reed wickets.  The final score was 99 all out from 29.3 overs.

The 3's still optimistic for promotion and needing a win were left dissapointed when they lost to Hertingfordbury by 5 wickets.  Reed captain Alan Ward lost the toss and was asked to bat first by the hosting captain.Reeds innings did not start well as wickets fell and they found themselves at one point on 65 for 5.  But the sixth wicket partnership of 86 between Mitchell Cooper (28) and Ian Fulk saved the situation.  Displaying good team work the two gave Reed atleast a chance at defending a total.  Although Cooper was eventualy run out Fulk continued to reach his hundred.  Reed ended their 47 overs on 196 for 8.  Pick of the opposition bowling was Ives (19-7-42-4) and Brydon (5-0-42-2).In reply Hertinfordbury had their own shaky start when Rymer (0) was bowled by Rupert Martin(10.3-1-60-1) in his second over.  But despite a steady flow of wickets Reed could not find a way to stop their opposition as performances by Dwyel (24) and Harley (34) supported the impressive innings of Rogers (91*) who found the boundary with ease and saw the hosts home with 5 wickets and 3 balls remaining.  

Reeds third eleven arrived at the King George V playing fields for their match against Hatfield Hyde II in the dull weather which was to last the entire match.  The ground was wet and over night the pitch had been vandalised by a motorbike creating a muddy track at one end.  Never the less, captain Peter Baker went out for the toss and winning put the home side into bat.Opening the bowling was Kallum Ward (5-1-17-1) and returning David Hill (7-1-28-0) playing his first game since the end of the last season.  Ward took the first wicket when he bowled Richardson (17) trying to pull a straight one.  Spinner Jason Pallet (15-4-40-2) came on early and put pressure on the hosts along with Ian Roberts (16-3-39-3) as runs became hard to come by and wickets fell at steady intervals.  Eventually the partnership of McCann (27) and Arnott (26) started to put runs on the board.  After 47 overs Hatfield Hyde had made 162 runs for the loss of 6 wickets, forty runs more than was hoped for thanks to Hussain (20 and Luke (14) leaving them with a defendable score.  Despite heavy showers play was not stopped during the first innings and did not again shower during the second but the pitch was by this point already a muddy mess which the Reed side found hard to bat on.  Openers Peter Baker and Aiden Swain really struggled to get any momentum against the Hyde openers, spinners Chavda (21-5-50-0) and McCann (13-2-40-4).  Although protecting their wickets Reed could not get any runs especially with the field placements which meant that in the entire innings only nine 4’s were scored.  Having lost Baker (10) Reed continued and [...]

Reed III's maintained their impressive start to the season with a comprehensive victory over Frogmore. Skipper Peter Baker won the toss and with a strong batting line up elected to bat on a scorching summers day. However, things did not start smoothly, Aidan Swain (8) fell early on to the experience bowling of Salt, then the Skipper, Peter Baker, ran out the inform Tom Greaves, who was then himself run out by Ben Bowles, leaving Reed on 18 for 3. Big hitting Masseh Naeem joined Bowles at the crease and the pair "steadied the ship" before Bowles (17) fell to a sharp caught and bowled by Sanders. Naeem (45) went on to hit some lusty blows in partnership with Alan Ward (29) as Reed took command, but both then fell in quick succession to Frogmores slower bowlers. Reed then lost Marcus Baker (13) and Kallum Ward (3) but this brought the unorthodox Graham Hazard (28 not out) and youngster Mitchell Cooper (20 not out) to the crease. Hazards took his no nonsense style to the Frogmore bowlers and guided Reed to 179 for 8 from their allotted overs.After tea Reed bowled tightly with impressive youngsters Mitchell Cooper and Kallum Ward, Cooper removed opener Baskett restricting Frogmore early on, but could not get a further break through. Tom Greaves and Veteran swinger Ian Roberts then took over, Greaves took 2 wickets in a tidy spell, whilst Roberts rolled back the years with 4 wickets for just 24 runs in his 10 overs. Frogmores batsmen then dug deep to try and save the game but the introduction of wiley medium pacer Alan Ward dented any hope Frogmore had, his 2 wickets in 1.3 overs won Reed the [...]

Reed III’s suffered their first defeat of the season on Saturday, in a low scoring but thrilling game away at fellow high flyers Great Gaddesden.Reed batted first on a tough and rain soaked track, getting off to a bad start by losing 3 early wickets with the score on only 32. It took big hitters Tom Greaves (21) and Masseh Naeem (27) to help Reed avoid a crisis, with the pair increasing the score to 76-3 at drinks with some lusty blows. However, the drinks break was the signal for another Reed collapse as first Naeem and then Greaves fell in quick succession. As two further wickets then fell, Reed looked to be heading for a sub 100 score at 82-8, until Karl Ward and Rupert Martin came together in the middle. Ward looked in especially good touch as he stroked the ball around with class, ably supported by Martin. The pair put on 40 runs for the next wicket, when Ward was well caught at short mid wicket for a well made and crucial 34. Martin(14) managed to up the Reed score in conjunction with skipper Peter Baker (5 Not Out) but in the end good bowling and fielding meant Reed finished on 138 All Out from 45 Overs. In reply the hosts began positively and got over the early loss of captain Warren, who was caught well by Ben Bowles off of the bowling of Ward. Great Gaddesden were seemingly cruising, all be it in fairly slow fashion, towards their target of 139. Cheeseman Snr (45) and Crawley (39) were looking well set as the home side made it to 3 figures with only the one wicket down. However the re-introduction of the [...]

The third eleven finally found the victory that had eluded them for 6 weeks when they defeated the 2nd placed Codicote at St Christopher School, Letchworth.  Reed captain Peter Baker won the toss and put the opposition into bat.Rupert Martin (10-1-25-3) opened proceedings and with his fourth ball took the first wicket, at the other end Kallum Ward (6.5-2-11-4) matched this feat.  However, Reed then found resistance in number three Poulton (62*) whose steady innings saved Codicote from disaster as the wickets continued to fall at a regular intervals.  Bowlers Ian Roberts (12-5-21-2) and Michael Robertson (8-0-43-1) contributed to the wicket tally, but it was Martin and Ward returning in their second spells that mopped up the Codicote tail.  Codicote limped to 120 all out from 42.5 overs, thanks to several useless contributions from the order including four ducks, three of them golden.  Reeds own batting performance started badly itself when P. Baker (0) was caught fifth ball of the innings.  But to Codicote’s own misery this allowed the hard hitting Michael Robertson to come to the crease.  Robertson (45) supported by Matt Bowles (23) took quick singles and boundaries with some precise shots and aggressive batting.  The partnership of 58 ended when Robertson was caught looking for his half century.  However, from one problem to another Codicote then faced Masseh Naeem who despite a shaky start, smacked 30.  A succession of quick wickets then followed but Reed were in not going to allow this win slip through their fingers.  Marcus J.E. Baker (11*) and Rupert Martin (4*) finished the job with 15.5 overs to go.  Father and son C. Richards (14-5-57-2) and L. Richards (5.1-1-22-3) the only two of the Codicote bowling talent to [...]