It was a young side that hosted Wandering Crows at The Green for a 40/40 friendly, with that fact in mind both captains agreed that the visitors should bat first.Runs came a’ plenty for the Crows as they took advantage of some inconsistent bowling. Opening for the away team was Joe Mariani and 15 year old Kassy Harris who both played with control and skill and put close to everything away to the boundary. Their daunting partnership was only broken when Mariani (93) was caught by Rob Willoughby in the deep off the bowling of Sam Rice (5-34-1) who had taken some punishment but also tricked both batsmen with his spin. Jack Hart bowled well with a tight line however the odd wider ball still found its way to the boundary, the young Harris now looking unstoppable. However, the bowling of Rob Willoughby proved his undoing as he was stumped for a fantastic 132, his wicket ball being the only bad shot he had played. Runs in the closing overs from Leat (28) and Brown (33) pushed The Crows over 300 finishing on 315 for just 2.Reeds reply got off well with Peter Baker and Mathew Naeem both scoring fluently and quickly. They made 42 together before M.H. Naeem was caught for 12 this was followed soon after by Baker going, also caught, for 24. Elder brother Michael Naeem hit a few lusty blows making 14 whilst their father Masseh made 19. Young Jack Caine (20) again impressed with some crisp shots, but tried the aerial route one too many times. Rob Willoughby top scored with 30 but for Reed it was all a bit too much. Having kept a good run rate the host [...]

It was a disappointing encounter with Saracens that took place at Freman College. Reed’s second ground was being used unusually on a Sunday as the first eleven played host in the Village Cup.Despite being the obviously younger and weaker side, the opposition captain inserted Reed having won the toss. Marcus J.E. Baker and Cemal Ramadam opened the innings, the intention being to start aggressively however that plan back fired as Baker was caught swinging after a wide ball. Reed then utterly collapsed as R. Goth (4 for 21) and M. Ayre (2 for 23) filled their boots and despite the one sided score line bowled their full 8 over spells. Resistance came from Freddy Stuart (10) and Rob Willoughby (14). Stuart played with patience and picked up singles finding the gaps in the field, whilst Willoughby tried his hardest to get Reed to a defendable score. None the less the end came all too soon for Reed with only 56 on the board.L. Mongston hit some boundaries for Saracens in the opening few overs of the second innings. Joe Graves held his nerve against these shots and was rewarded by bowling Mongston. Graves was backed up in the field by his team mates who all stuck to their guns and showed real resilience, making what should have been a simple target a hard one to get. Bowling from the other end was Jack Childs who also bowled well and took a wicket thanks to a fantastic catch in the deep by Freddy Stuart. Scott Caine also took a good catch in the covers and throughout the innings showed us all why he is one of the best fielders in the club. Despite a very impressive [...]

The weather was mostly overcast on the second day of September as Reed Sunday seconds hosted Outlaws at the Green. The track was clearly suited for batting and with confidence in a strong order the Reed skipper, Marcus J.E. Baker, elected to bat first having won the toss.Opening for the hosts were Dom McOmish and Jack Tidey. McOmish smashed two balls through the off side for four in the first over which was followed by Tidey blasting another two for four in the second over before being caught softly at point. However, the momentum stayed with Reed with Kallum Ward coming in at three, who wasted no time in making his intentions clear. His aggressive innings was well complemented with McOmish’s more traditional stroke play. Their partnership of 67 came to an end with the loss of McOmish. Sean Tidey came in at 5 and took pressure off of Ward by smashing his first three balls for four.Ward, who had by now reached a superb 50, was now taking a back seat as the younger Tidey displayed his dominance of the bowling. Ward eventually fell in the first over after drinks for 66 and despite the team total being an impressive 167 for 5, M.J.E. Baker knew that it was important for his side to bat their full 40 overs and not collapse. So Baker stuck with Tidey as he reached his 50 and the total passed 200. Baker was too getting into his stride with some lusty blows before being adjudged (and we all know what that means) LBW for 17. Tidey’s knock also finished in the same over for a blistering 72 that included 13 fours but only the 1 six. Peter Baker [...]

Reed travelled to Hitchen to face off against Knebworth Blue in a 40/40 friendly. The hosts had won the toss and asked Reed to field first.Jack Caine and Joe Graves opened the attack for Reed and both bowled superbly as the decision to bat first looked like a mistake. Graves finished his spell unfortunately without a wicket but none-the less had bowled well. Caine meanwhile had taken the first wicket of the day thanks to a simple catch in the covers. Reed captain Marcus J.E. Baker wanted to maintain the pressure on the opposition after the opening spells of Graves and Caine and so asked Maseeh and Mathew Naeem to replace them. This proved the right call as by drinks the hosts were on 84 for 4. Saunders (36) had begun to look dangerous before a fantastic catch at deep square leg by Matt Naeem off his father’s bowling ended his attack.However, things then took a turn for the worse as Wallis and Gill began to bludgeon the ball to the boundary. The pair added 156 together in close to no time. Julian Fynn (6-0-31-1) removed Gill (74) and a returning Caine (8-3-21-2) took Wallis (76) but the damage was already done. The Blues finished with 241 for 6, Masseh Naeem (5-0-31-1) had held a good line whilst Matt Naeem’s figures (8-1-55-2) took a bit of damage in his last two overs as Wallis and Gill were getting going.Reeds top three then struggled to read the pitch which was now not getting up at all due to the slow pace of the opposition bowling. Steve Lovegrove and Jack Caine then stopped the rot with a fine partnership. Caine displayed both his all round ability and [...]

It was a back and forth game to finish the 2012 season where both sides had time on top. Tom Greaves and his army of young, yet talented faces played host to annual rivals Knebworth Blue. Dave Saunders captaining the visitors won the toss and elected to bat first at The Green.Saunders himself led the way with a brutal attack on the opening bowlers Tom Walsingham and Joe Graves. Both where unlucky with some simple catches dropped, letting Reeds usually high fielding standards down. Both Walsingham and Graves would return for second spells but it was the replacement of Graves for Sean Tidey that brought about the first wicket, Saunders bowled for a brutal 49. This was followed not long after with Marcus J.E. Baker getting the wicket of Pomery (18) thanks to a catch at mid off by Rhodri Hughes. Although Baker was getting good turn and would later claim another wicket his lack of consistency allowed Knebworth Blue to again gain the advantage with several boundaries coming in the middle overs of the innings. With Matt Bowles replacing Baker and Alex Kelly (5-1-4-1) beginning an impressive spell coming up the hill, Reed began to close The Blues scoring options, leading to Kelly catching off his own bowling Wallis (89) who had skied one in frustrat ion. Walsingham (8-2-27-1) came back to claim one, whilst Will Heslam took 2 in his solitary over as the opposition finished their 40 overs on a par score of 255 for 8.Will Heslam and Dominic McOmish opened the Reed response and soon found the gaps as both made runs easily. Heslam especially was finding the boundary regularly as the pair went past 100. However, this good partnership came [...]

Reed travelled to Hitchen to face off against Knebworth Blue in a 40/40 friendly. The hosts had won the toss and asked Reed to field first.Jack Caine and Joe Graves opened the attack for Reed and both bowled superbly as the decision to bat first looked like a mistake. Graves finished his spell unfortunately without a wicket but none-the less had bowled well. Caine meanwhile had taken the first wicket of the day thanks to a simple catch in the covers. Reed captain Marcus J.E. Baker wanted to maintain the pressure on the opposition after the opening spells of Graves and Caine and so asked Maseeh and Mathew Naeem to replace them. This proved the right call as by drinks the hosts were on 84 for 4. Saunders (36) had begun to look dangerous before a fantastic catch at deep square leg by Matt Naeem off his father’s bowling ended his attack.However, things then took a turn for the worse as Wallis and Gill began to bludgeon the ball to the boundary. The pair added 156 together in close to no time. Julian Fynn (6-0-31-1) removed Gill (74) and a returning Caine (8-3-21-2) took Wallis (76) but the damage was already done. The Blues finished with 241 for 6, Masseh Naeem (5-0-31-1) had held a good line whilst Matt Naeem’s figures (8-1-55-2) took a bit of damage in his last two overs as Wallis and Gill were getting going.Reeds top three then struggled to read the pitch which was now not getting up at all due to the slow pace of the opposition bowling. Steve Lovegrove and Jack Caine then stopped the rot with a fine partnership. Caine displayed both his all round ability and [...]

Reed hosted Aston in a Sunday 2s friendly with Rob Willoughby deputising as captain for the absent Marcus Baker. Willoughby won the toss and elected to bat.Openers Matt Naeem and Dom Mcomish (39) looked comfortable, until Matt Naeem was bowled for 6. However, this meant that Julian Fynn came to the crease desperate for some runs this season. He did not disappoint playing a classy innings to score 101 before retiring. In the meantime, young Freddy Stuart came to the crease batting confidently for 11. Willoughby replaced Fynn and after some lusty blows finished on 32 not out. Other contributions came from Mas Naeem (25) and Tom Walsingham (13 n.o). Reed finished on 266 for 6 off their 40 overs.After a typically fantastic tea Walsingham and Joe Graves opened the bowling for Reed. Both bowled well with Graves taking the early wickets including the Aston captain. Matt Naeem (6-0-27-1) came into the attack and bowled well, turning the ball a mile. Sam Rice (7-0-33-0) also got a lot of turn and was unlucky not to take a wicket. During this time ex- Reed colt M. Fox batted well with attacking shots to score 59. Other Reed bowlers included Stuart (4-1-24-0), Mike Naeem (3-0-21-1) (although a dodgy wicket!) and Willoughby (2-0-16-0). Graves came back into the attack to take is his first 5-for finishing with impressive figures of 8-1-45-5. Fynn also had two overs to finish a cracking day ending with figures of 2-0-4-2, which included the wicket of Fox thanks to a bizarre catch from Willoughby.As Aston finished their innings on 205 for 9 from their 40 overs, Reed won an entertaining game with everyone involved by 61 runs.