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2022 Match Report

Firsts’ season fizzles out

After last week's euphoria on staying up, the final match of the season was rather anticlimactic. The visitors, Shenley Village, had to win to ensure a place in the play-off for promotion, so they had the motivation to play well. As indeed they did triumphing by 8 wickets. Reed started very well, the partnership of 60 between Will Heslam (23) and Kallum Ward (30) was only bettered twice in the league, but when all ten wickets fell for another 66 runs, it turned out to be the second lowest total this season. The rest of the strong batting side all registered single figures, except for the ever reliable Rob Lankester who batted throughout the carnage for an undefeated 31. This gave him almost 500 runs this year at an average of 41 and it would surely have been many more without the month he missed with a broken thumb. All the Shenley bowlers gave a good account of themselves, although Fakim Akbar (5-29) proved particularly difficult to read. Northants' Charles Thurston set about the reply with gusto, his 54 containing 10 boundaries. Even Reed's two most successful bowlers: Toby Fynn (34 wickets) and Tom Greaves (35) couldn't contain him as Shenley scored 130 for 2 in just 25 overs. Toby would like it reported that his average was marginally below 20, whereas Tom's was marginally above! Overall Reed's supporters can be relieved that the team found some good form in the latter stages of the season, finishing halfway down the league in sixth place. With a fit again Jack Tidey next year, who knows what can be achieved? Match Report submitted by Peter Wholley.

By |2022-09-05T07:02:01+01:00September 5th, 2022|Categories: 2022, 2022 Match Report, Match Reports|Tags: , , , |Comments Off on Firsts’ season fizzles out
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Reed breeze past Broxbourne

For once, Reed Firsts had a comfortable win against a Broxbourne side that had trounced them on The Green earlier this season. Having won the toss, Skipper, Tom Greaves, made what in retrospect was a good decision to insert the opposition. His bowlers all came up to the mark by taking wickets at regular intervals. Toby Fynn and Zac McGuigan opened in their usual miserly fashion, both chipping in with a wicket caught behind by Sean Tidey. The real breakthrough, however, was made by Chris Chambers who clean bowled George Davies and captain, Chris Sargent, with consecutive balls. Davies was the chief architect of Reed's downfall in that aforementioned match, scoring 143. This left Broxbourne on 76 for 5 at the halfway mark. Thereafter the spinners took over with Greaves taking 2-30 and Bertie Scott claiming 4-12 from just 6 overs, including the wicket of top scorer Connor Ridley, well caught on the fence by Will Heslam. Broxbourne 152 all out. With such a strong batting line up, this looked like a walk in the park for Reed and so it proved despite losing two early wickets. Sam Osborne (43) and Rob Lankester then built a century partnership, playing carefully at first then accelerating against the four spinners. They hit 13 boundaries between them and Lankester added two maximums, one of them over the sight screen to end the match with just four wickets down. He was justifiably named man of the match for his 77 not out. With that win, Reed have ensured they will play in the Championship again next year, but first they entertain Shenley Village on The Green next week with the visitors needing to win to secure a play off [...]

By |2022-08-28T19:45:44+01:00August 28th, 2022|Categories: 2022, 2022 Match Report, Match Reports|Comments Off on Reed breeze past Broxbourne
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Reed downcast after narrow Dunstable defeat

The First's winning streak came to an end with another disappointing narrow defeat at the hands of Dunstable Town. Chasing 205 to win, Reed slumped to 22 for 3, but hopes were raised by two half century partnerships between Zac McGuigan (45) firstly with Sam Osborne (20) then with Chris Chambers (36). The latter showed his class making his first big knock for the team, including 14 from an over by Dunstable's most successful bowler this season, Jack Kilduff. Their spinners then dismissed the middle order, only for Sean Tidey (21) to raise the spirits of the home crowd partnering Mitchell Cooper (13) and Bertie Scott (16 not out). However the pace of Harry McBrearty accounted for the last two wickets bringing the total of his victims to 4 all clean bowled. Reed were all out in the last over for 196 to lose by the slender margin of 8 runs. Earlier Toby Fynn(1-15) and McGuigan (1-26) left the visitors 57 for 2 at the halfway mark, but Kilduff (47) and James Bromhall (49) accelerated the scoring despite Scott and Tom Greaves taking two wickets apiece, 204 for 9 proving just beyond the hosts. With two matches left this season Reed need one more win or one of their rivals to slip up in order to stay in the Championship. Match Report submitted by Peter Wholley.

By |2022-08-22T07:27:42+01:00August 22nd, 2022|Categories: 2022, 2022 Match Report, Match Reports|Tags: , , , |Comments Off on Reed downcast after narrow Dunstable defeat
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Reed Firsts win last ball thriller

The Firsts won their third match in a row, but only off the last ball of an exciting, high scoring game against high flying Hemel Hempstead Town. Ilangaratne (58) and Penny (39) established a fine base for the host's innings with a century stand, so skipper, Tom Greaves turned to his young leg break bowler, Sam Osborne, who had both caught trying to hit over the field. Osborne (3-40) , the frugal Toby Fynn (2-27) and Bertie Scott (1-37) soon had Hemel floundering at 138-5, but Doodson (26) , Australian Billy Jones (49 not out) and Parkins (35 not out) took control, the latter two scoring 49 from the last four overs to finish on 251-6. Reed were always behind the run rate, although a partnership of 66 for the fourth wicket between Rob Lankester (75) and Matt Sampson (36) gave some hope at 138-4. However when Lankester was brilliantly caught aiming for a maximum on the long straight boundary and Greaves (29) was bowled by opposing captain, Nick Hodgins (3-42), the game seemed to be over. Reed were left needing 49 from 5 overs, but with only 2 wickets remaining. This did not phase the Tidey brothers with Sean attacking the bowling and Jack alternating the strike, they powered their way through to the last over needing fifteen for victory. Two sixes and a wide meant just 2 were required from two balls. A desperate scramble on a misfield saw Jack run out, but they had one of the runs and Sean finished proceedings on the last delivery, easing the ball over the infield to claim an unlikely victory. Once again Sean Tidey was the hero with a fabulous knock of 57 from 32 [...]

By |2022-08-18T09:26:57+01:00August 18th, 2022|Categories: 2022, 2022 Match Report, Match Reports|Tags: , , , |Comments Off on Reed Firsts win last ball thriller
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Reed win close contest – At Last!

Having lost 3 recent close games from a winning position, the Firsts seemed destined to throw away another against Flitwick. Needing just 136, they collapsed to 114 for 7, but this time an unbroken eighth wicket stand saw them home. The hosts at fist seemed on course for a big total when they cruised to 77 for 1, but for once it was the opposition who collapsed. Only two batters reached double figures as Zac McGuigan and Tom Greaves tore through their line up with the help of two terrible run outs. When both Thurstances were dismissed without scoring, the innings started to unwind, (McGuigan the instigator with an LBW and run out). Then Sri Lankan Wankhade holed out to Bertie Scott from Greaves's bowling for 63. 123-6 at lunch soon became 135 all out as Greaves (4-24) and Scott with a wicket maiden polished off the tail. A special mention should be made of McGuigan who, in Toby Fynn's absence, bowled unchanged throughout the innings, never dropping his express pace to record figures of 20-3-77-3, which made sure the Flitwick batters were unable to settle. In a mirror image of their innings, Reed started well with Rob Lankester (38) and McGuigan (28) mastering Flitwick's talented spin trio, taking the score to 75 for 2. However the inevitable collapse of the middle order happened with Lankester's demise. Skipper George Thurstance then rolled the dice with the introduction of leggie, Lowe, who immediately bowled McGuigan with his first ball and Greaves with his fifth. 22 were needed by the last 3 wickets and as Reed lost the same number for no runs against Old Owens when only 6 were required, the writing was on the wall. [...]

By |2022-08-07T06:06:40+01:00August 7th, 2022|Categories: 2022, 2022 Match Report, Match Reports|Tags: , , , |Comments Off on Reed win close contest – At Last!
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Firsts slip up again

For the fourth match running, the Firsts found themselves in a tense finish, despite holding a dominant position at one stage, and for the third time they let the game slip away. Luton Town and Indians needed 13 runs from the final over and top scorer, Jeetan Patel smashed two boundaries and a maximum with one ball left. This was after Reed bossed the majority of the match. Will Heslam set the tone with a speedy 58 until he was brilliantly caught over his shoulder by mid-on running back. There followed a procession of batters getting set, but not pushing on for a big score: Kallum Ward (24), Matt Sampson (37), Zac McGuigan (28), Rob Lankester (27) and James Heslam (24) . This left Reed with a total of 246 all out, but at last they made use of all 60 allotted overs. On a hard, fast pitch and outfield, the opposition were confident of overhauling that score, but their first 30 overs seemed to suggest otherwise. Toby Fynn started remarkably with 8 consecutive maidens and a wicket, leaving Luton 20 for 2 from 16 overs. At 85 for 5 from 30 a draw was probably their best outcome, but then the game changed dramatically. Kevin Whitehall joined Patel and made a half century in just 18 balls (9 fours and 2 sixes). After 9 balls he was scoring at a rate of 333%! Even when he skyed a catch to Sean Tidey behind the wicket, the tail enders joined in with the fun maintaining a rate of of 6 an over in tandem with Patel who finished on 79 not out. As chances went down, even Tom Greaves could not staunch the flow as [...]

By |2022-07-26T07:27:43+01:00July 26th, 2022|Categories: 2022, 2022 Match Report, Match Reports|Tags: , , , |Comments Off on Firsts slip up again
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Reed U11s win League unbeaten but suffer Quarter-Final heartbreak

Reed Under 11s completed a fantastic unbeaten league season but suffered an agonisingly close defeat in the Hertfordshire Junior League (HJL) Quarter-Final last Monday evening at Reed to Wheathampstead the eventual Hertfordshire Championship winners at Finals Day on the following Sunday. The Reed boys were the stand-out team across all of the HJL groups winning every match and by some staggering margins. Like in the first round of 4 matches already reported on this season, the team were dominant and even more so playing some outstanding cricket in the second half of their campaign. The first of the second set of their league matches was likely to be the league decider against a strong Hitchin team (who themselves lost out in a close Quarter-Final encounter this week) and Reed put in probably their performance of the season with some fine bowling and fielding. The Heslam brothers did the damage with the ball with Josh picking up two early wickets and then 9 year-old younger brother Eddie Heslam producing figures of 5 for 17 ripping through the dangerous Hitchin middle order. This was well supported by Henry Cook (2 for 5) and superb fielding, Rory Longland with two excellent catches, E Heslam direct hit run out and a fine stumping by wicket keeper Ethan Fox. Reed put the icing on the cake with J Heslam and Fox knocking off the runs with no wickets down only Heslam retiring at 25 and it was left to Cook to secure the winning runs. The next game saw a comfortable victory over Datchworth with Reed racking up 158-3 in their 20 overs. Runs for J Heslam (16), Fox (25 retired), Cook (25 retired), E Heslam (24) and Jon Green [...]

By |2022-07-21T00:07:32+01:00July 20th, 2022|Categories: 2022, 2022 Match Report, Match Reports|Tags: , , , |Comments Off on Reed U11s win League unbeaten but suffer Quarter-Final heartbreak
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Owens squeeze home

For the third week running Reed was involved in a close match and this time they fell just short. With 6 needed and two batters set, they lost the last 3 wickets in 4 balls to slip agonisingly to defeat against the league leaders, Old Owens. However, at tea, with the score on 64 for 6 victory seemed a distant prospect until Mitchell Cooper (35) was joined first by Bertie Scott (25) and then Rob Lankester (19) doubling the score with aggressive stroke play. What was more remarkable, Lankester was a late replacement as he was still suffering from the thumb he broke over a month ago at Dunstable. What's more he hit the spinner over his head for two straight sixes! Yet just as an unlikely win was on the cards, he fell followed by Cooper and Julien Fynn to give Owens a 5 run victory. Earlier, Reed bowled well as Zac McGuigan sent back the first four Owens' batters for 40 runs with Scott (9-5-19-4) and Skipper, Tom Greaves, (2-24) mopping up the tail. Even then Old Owens felt confident that 133 was enough, but Reed's middle order so nearly proved them wrong. A disappointing end to a fine fighting display against a top bowling outfit. Match Report submitted by Peter Wholley.

By |2022-07-18T05:48:53+01:00July 18th, 2022|Categories: 2022, 2022 Match Report, Match Reports|Tags: , , , |Comments Off on Owens squeeze home
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Under 13s Await Title Crown!

Our Under 13 Team is expected to be crowned one of the Cambridgeshire League Champions having only lost one game all season! The team has developed substantially this year and very nearly stayed unbeaten eventually losing their final game by two runs! We now have a handful of friendly matches left and a fun Hundred-style game with our Under 11s on the President's Day Sunday 24th July. Some of our Under 13s have already started to make the step up to the Under 15 team and the confidence the Under 13 league wins have given our children is great to see. Notable batting performances this season have been Josh Heslam scoring over 100 runs and averaging 39 which is staggering considering he is an Under 11 and has to retire on 30 so there have been several Not Outs there. Aaron Nash and Sam Dawson have also chipped in with some important runs, Aaron often anchoring the innings as captain. Lewis Karim clicked recently at Thriplow with 22 not out and continues to show great potential, meanwhile Lily Hall has been gradually creeping up the batting order with some valuable runs late on in games. A special mention to Oliver Walters too who has looked technically very correct in games as well. Lily has however emphatically taken the bowling crown though with an amazing 18 wickets at 5.67. Josh Heslam backed up his impressive batting performances with 8 wickets at 6.25. Sam Dawson was slightly unlucky not to get more wickets as our strike bowler got quicker and more accurate as the season progressed. A special mention to Finn Wisson who took a wicket with his first ball in competitive cricket at Wenden! Our fielding [...]

By |2022-07-15T18:35:37+01:00July 15th, 2022|Categories: 2022, 2022 Match Report, Match Reports, News|Tags: , , , |Comments Off on Under 13s Await Title Crown!
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Reed win despite Wharton’s ton!

Ed Wharton reminded Reed how much they miss him with an imperious ton, but even he could not stop the Firsts from registering victory, albeit with just over two overs to go. Reed dominated from the start with an opening partnership of 77 at nearly a run a ball by Will Heslam (40) and Kallum Ward (43). The latter scored all but a single run in boundaries. The momentum was maintained by Tom Greaves (28) and Zac McGuigan (34), but it was Matt Sampson who took the game away from Preston racing to 82 from 85 balls, including 7 boundaries and 6 maximums. It was a breathtaking innings, seeing off the leg spinner with 26 in one over. Even when he was caught on the boundary, Sean Tidey (19) and Bertie Scott (24) took the score to 296, frustratingly just short of the 300 mark with two overs left of the 60 allocated. When Toby Fynn, McGuigan and Greaves bagged 2 wickets apiece the game seemed done and dusted, but from 92 for 6 Ed Wharton, accompanied by keeper, Will Gillimore (36), doubled the score and Peter Murrell (32) helped Preston on to 223 for 7. With a minimum of a dozen overs left all three results were possible, but at last Wharton snicked McGuigan behind to Tidey for a scintillating 114 with 14 boundaries and 4 sixes at a rate of 121. Reed have struggled to close down matches this season, but Greaves juggled his bowlers astutely so that McGuigan (4-73) and Fynn (3-84) did the job with a little more than 2 overs to go. The skipper, himself, finished with 3-65 as Preston were bowled out for 262. The first timed-match win of [...]

By |2022-07-10T07:39:06+01:00July 10th, 2022|Categories: 2022, 2022 Match Report, Match Reports|Tags: , , , |Comments Off on Reed win despite Wharton’s ton!
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