SATURDAY: No real joy for the League teams as the 1sts and 3rds lost, the 2nds drew and the 4ths conceded. The First XI were all-out for 149 chasing Chorleywood's 216. Mitchell Cooper scored 47 and Chris Jackson 42 after Reed's bowlers, Tom Greaves (3 wickets), Ed Wharton (2) and Cooper (2) had kept the visitors to a gettable total, but it was not to be. The last delivery of the match was hit to the Hoddesdon boundary in the Second XI match. But was it a 4 or a 6? That was the debatable question and eventually the umpires decided it was a four. A six would have meant a Hoddesdon victory by 5 wickets. But as it was only a four, the match was drawn with Reed 1 run ahead. Crucially, Karl Ward had reached the 70s in Reed's 225 for 9 with support in the lower order from Stuart Smith when Reed were in trouble at 140 for 7. League newcomers Potten End showed why they are top of Division 9A and will probably find their true playing level further up the ladder within 3 or 4 more seasons when they declared on 256 for 4 on the Freman Oval. MJE Baker took 3 wickets and Neil Haslam 1. The weakened Third XI managed only 56 in their innings, MJEB (14) and Bill Mansfield (10) were the only batsmen to reach double figures. Because of lack of players throughout the club, the knock-on effect hit the Fourth Team badly and they had to concede their match against Harpenden. This is their 4th concession this season and they face possible expulsion from the League if they concede once more. After 9 weeks and [...]

SATURDAY: Hooray! - the 4th Team managed to put a side in the field. Boo! there were only 8 of them and they were thrashed by Letchworth who scored 352 for 5, Neil Haslam and Lloyd Bowman took 2 wickets each. When Reed batted Martin Johnson scored 40 and Michael Hubbard 19 but were all-out for 86. The Firsts had another impressive win. Scoring only 199, (46 not out to Sean Tidey and 42 to Stuart Smith), West Herts were scuppered for 132 in the 43rd over. Toby Fynn took 3 wickets whilst Ed Wharton and Sean Tidey took 2 each. On Hertford's second ground, Reed 2nd XI declared on 274 for 9 after 49 overs. Richard Johnson and George Teeboon notched-up half centuries for Reed then Joe Graves (3 wickets), Julien Fynn (2) and Karl Ward (2) contributed to Hertford's downfall to 151 all-out. On the Freman Oval, Harpenden Dolphins lost regular wickets to Matt Giblin (3), Marcus Baker (3) and Steve Hughes (2) but still made it to 192 all-out. Peter Baker led the reply and had just passed his ton when finally holing-out with 6 runs required. MJEB was not out 24 as Reed claimed victory by 6 wickets. SUNDAY: The match was changed to Datchworth away but Reed struggled to find a full team. However the MJEB octet put up a good fight and ended on 213 in response to Datchworth's 232. Joe "Digger" Graves continued his wicket-taking form with 4 for 35 and Rhodri Hughes's 70 and Marcus Baker's 41 were the major contributions with the bat. COLTS: Earlier in the week the Under 13s (81 for 4) beat Broxbourne (51). Sam Osborne scored 26 and Charlie Walters 22, then [...]

SATURDAY: The 1sts had a good win at Hoddesdon when Tom Greaves scored 90 batting at number 6 and Stuart Smith 48 overhauling the 245 set by the hosts with 4 wickets in-hand. Earlier Sean Tidey took 4 for 54. At Reed, the 2nds went down by 71 runs against West Herts who had been all-out for 190. Karl Ward (4 wickets), Ian Osborne (3) and Alex Kelly (3) had done the damage. But Reed fell well short as only Ward and Osborne managed credible scores in the thirties in response. Over at Hatfield Hyde, Paul Garrott continued the run-making with 67 but collectively Reed's 206 for 6 wasn't enough when H-H knocked-off the runs with 5 wickets down and 5 overs to spare. 2 wickets for Matt Yates. The 4ths again had to concede because of lack of available players. A well-attended Curry Evening after Saturday's matches offset the disappointments and celebrated the successes of the day. Thank you Marion and Paul Watts for your splendid curries. SUNDAY: The friendly fixture against Hare Street & Hormead was initially moved to the Meads because of the Village Cup match taking precedence at Reed, but even so there weren't enough players and the match was cancelled. The Reed XI played Preston in the Herts / Beds Regional Final of the National Village Cup on the Green. Losing early wickets to Jack Tidey, (3 for 16 from 8 overs), Preston made it to 149 for 8, Sean Tidey and Karl Ward picked-up 2 wickets each. Reed comfortably reached their target in the 34th over thanks to Will Heslam (28), Richard Wharton (52) and Rob Lankester (60). Reed will now be away to neighbouring rivals, Foxton, (winners of [...]