Dunstable
Match Report To Follow
East Haddon
Match Report To Follow
Enfield
Match Report To Follow
From relegation to champions
Reed went into this match already assured of returning to Division 6 a year after being relegated. Hexton were also promoted, but the question of who would top the table was still up for grabs. Hexton won the toss and decided there best hope was to bowl Reed out and chase down the runs. Openers Baz Curtis and Phil Freney knew that it was vital Reed didn't lose early wickets and give the visitors an early lift. Reed and Buckas opened the attack for Hexton and both bowled a very good opening spell. The usually aggressive was restricted to just one boundary in his 10 over 7 while Frenay was equally circumspect. Curtis went in the 11 over when the score was on 23. This brought in Skipper Marcus Martin. Martin soon found the boundary the openers had trouble finding and the rate began to climb. The pair had just put on fifty when Andrews bowled Frenay for 22. Rob Lankaster in his first season with the club has had an excellent season at this level and looked in no trouble and had reach 19 in good time before being adjudged LBW. With just over 20 overs to go Reed were well placed at 105-3, but a few wickets now could have turned the match in Hexton's favour. Karl Ward had other ideas. He took a liking to Jetuwa hitting him for six. Martin and Ward added 73 in the next 15 overs to put the home side in touching distance of maximum batting points. Martin went for a fine 72 and Ward followed 5 runs later for 56, bowled by Ladla. Reed still have 7 overs left and it looked like they might post [...]
7th wicket record for Kingshott and Roberts
Due to some very poor availability Reed’s Third Eleven travelled down to top of the table Berkhamsted with only 8 players. For Reed it was a dead rubber but the hosts still needed points to ensure finishing champions. So upon winning the toss Berkhamsted’s captain decided to bat first. With so much space to score runs it was no surprise that the home side raced to 306-4 before declaring after 35 overs. This was despite the very hard work of Reed bowlers George Garrott, Ian Roberts (3) and Reece Fitzgerald (1). For Reed things went from bad to worse as the top 3 batsmen were lost with only 3 on the total. Ray Kingshott and Peter Baker batted well together and added 53 for the fourth wicket before Baker played on for 26. An aggressive knock from George Garrott followed but he was lost after being run out for 15. Reed were in dire straits at 97 for 6 but a sublime seventh (and in this case, final) wicket stand of 111 displayed the true abilities of Reeds third XI. Kingshott and Roberts played magnificently together and proved stubborn in the face of Berkhamsted’s, until then, impressive attack. Roberts then suffered a top edged blow to the face which cut his top lip. However, he refused to leave the field which was fortunate for Kingshott who at the time was on 98. Three figures for the veteran soon followed before being caught two balls later. Reed had given it a fair try and certainly did well to finish on 208 all out. It was a disappointing end for the 3’s who for most of the season had looked real competitors for promotion. But a poor [...]
Willoughby sees 4th XI to victory
Reed 4 finished the season with a fine victory over Shenley Village 4 at Freman. Skipper Rob Willoughby lost the toss and was asked to bowl. Reed opened with father son combination Owen Hughes and Steve Hughes. Both bowling tight lines and backed up by good fielding helped keep the run rate down. Owen picked up the wicket of Shenley captain bowled in the last ball of his first spell. Shenley started to build a good partnership until Rob W picked up his first wicket. Wickets then fell at regular intervals with Owen (2-40) and Steve (1-26) each picking up a wicket in their second spells. Graham Stuart bowled a good spell on his return from injury picking a wicket for 28 runs. Young bowler Jag Lalli then combined well with wicket keeper Ben Moody to firstly get a caught behind and then a stumping in his first over finishing on 2-17. Rob W then picked up the last wicket to finish on 2-28. Shenley posted 182 all out in 44 overs leaving Reed an additional 3 overs. Reed opened with Rob W and Lalli for second week running and both looked assured against the Shenley opening spin attack. Lalli was very unlucky to be out played on for the second week running for 4. This brought the classy Sam Deville to the crease. Rob W and Deville put on a partnership of 98, frequently hitting the boundary. When Deville was out for 44 Reed were on 120 and only needed 63 more to win. John Kershaw and Lloyd Bowman both supported Rob W well picking up 6 and 11 respectively. Rob W was then controversially run out by a direct hit for 94. However [...]
Berkhamsted II
Due to some very poor availability Reed’s Third Eleven travelled down to top of the table Berkhamsted with only 8 players. For Reed it was a dead rubber but the hosts still needed points to ensure finishing champions. So upon winning the toss Berkhamsted’s captain decided to bat first.With so much space to score runs it was no surprise that the home side raced to 306-4 before declaring after 35 overs. This was despite the very hard work of Reed bowlers George Garrott, Ian Roberts (3) and Reece Fitzgerald (1). For Reed things went from bad to worse as the top 3 batsmen were lost with only 3 on the total. Ray Kingshott and Peter Baker batted well together and added 53 for the fourth wicket before Baker played on for 26. An aggressive knock from George Garrott followed but he was lost after being run out for 15. Reed were in dire straits at 97 for 6 but a sublime seventh (and in this case, final) wicket stand of 101 displayed the true abilities of Reeds third XI. Kingshott and Roberts played magnificently together and proved stubborn in the face of Berkhamsted’s, until then, impressive attack. Roberts then suffered a top edged blow to the face which cut his top lip. However, he refused to leave the field which was fortunate for Kingshott who at the time was on 98. Three figures for the veteran soon followed before being caught two balls later. Reed had given it a fair try and certainly did well to finish on 208 all out.It was a disappointing end for the 3’s who for most of the season had looked real competitors for promotion. But a poor final part [...]
As the Season comes to an end might we be approaching a “Tipping” Point?”
Promoted to Herts League Division 1 this season our 1st Xl have performed marvellously well winning 7 of the 15 matches played to date. At times in recent weeks we have also put out winning Reed 1st Xl teams that have comprised 11 x Ex Reed Colts. A great achievement, and possibly unique, at SHCL Division 1 level!! As of this morning our 1st Xl sits in 2nd position in the Division 1 table, but some 41 points behind league leaders Hertford (relegated from HCPL East last season). In the last 2 weeks Hertford recorded wins off the last ball of the match against Flitwick, and then this week beat Old Finchleians when 9 wickets down. Those 2 hard fought and narrow wins put Hertford in a seemingly uncatchable position at the top of the Div 1 table with only 3 matches left to play. For some weeks now our Club Focus has been on achieving wins to get to 2nd spot in the league, and grab that perceived 2nd promotion spot! Having impressively won 4 matches in a row and put ourselves in that position where 2nd spot is now ours to lose – we then find that because of the historical “idiosyncrasies” of the HCPL/SHCL promotion/relegation relationship – there is seemingly likely to be only ONE promotion place from the SHCL Div 1 to HSPL (E) in 2013! Equally, there would then also be only ONE promotion spot from SHCL Division 2 into SHCL Division 1. As we know, to our cost, Division 2 is a very difficult division to get out of, but having only ONE promotion place available to 20 Clubs who have fought a 19-match season is surely not fair [...]
As the Season comes to an end we ARE approaching a “Tipping” Point?
Two weeks ago I wrote about the prospective challenges and issues that promotion of our 1st Xl to the Home Counties Premier League (East) might bring. Those 18 days ago it seemed that the promotion dream was unlikely for 2012, as our SHCL League had published promotion lined League Tables that showed only ONE side being promoted from Division 1 in 2012. That side seemed certain to be Hertford CC, and that issue has been confirmed and settled since, when on Saturday we went down to a last over defeat at their ground. However, within 24 Hours of my article being published on this website the SHCL had suddenly remembered their own rules (!!) and announced that an error had been made and that TWO sides are always promoted from Division 1, and that when necessary an extra side will be relegated from HCPL(E)!! We all know how keen the SHCL are on FINES for maladministration errors (Facilities and Umpires Reports being missed/late etc..) – I wonder if they will be fining themselves!! So with one week of the league season to go our 2nd Xl are already guaranteed promotion, and need just to avoid defeat and get at least 6 points, or Win, or lose and get at least 16 POINTS, from their last fixture against 2nd placed Hexton to go up as Champions!! Good luck to them with that match and really well done to have already gained promotion – and all this despite the 14 point penalty from the 1st match “Selection-gate” issue!! The 1st Xl, after taking 9 wickets and passing the 185 run mark on Saturday v Hertford are still just in 2nd place in Division 1, and a win [...]
1st XI Promotions Looms
Despite losing the top of the table clash with Hertford, Reed maintained their position 2nd in Herts League Division One heading into the final round of matches this Saturday. Hertford skipper Gale won the toss and elected to bat for the first time this season knowing 5 bonus points were all they would need to confirm their promotion. He then proceeded to impressively hit the first 4 balls of the match to the boundary to set the tone for the Hertford innings. Despite this Reed fought back hard and picked up their 1st wicket at 34-1 in the 5th over with Jack Tidey (1-42) rushing McGregor into a mistimed pull shot. Despite this breakthrough, Hertford continued to make good progress led by Gale who played a captains innings of 77 in quick time. He was supported by solid middle order contributions from the Ray brothers and Joyce. At 178-3 in the 40th over Hertford looked on course but when Gale became one of the impressive Tom Greaves (5-78) five wickets the innings faltered. With Curk (3-35) bowling well in partnership with Greaves, Reed were able to avoid Hertford racking up a very big total restricting them to 232-9 in 53 overs. So there was hope for Reed in the chase on what was a good batting wicket and short boundary one side. Reed got off to a decent start with the Heslam brothers taking the score onto 67-0 in 15 overs with Will Heslam (41) playing very impressively scoring at an excellent rate. However James Heslam (27) was then controversially dismissed caught behind and Greaves fell immediately after turning the game in the space of four balls. Will Heslam then fell leaving Reed at 75-3 [...]