Averages; Saturday 1st XI 2021
Herts Premier League matches only. Also refer to both www.hertsleague.co.uk and www.reed.play-cricket.com for more details. BATTING BOWLING FIELDING HERTS LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION
Averages; Herts T20 XI 2021
Herts T20 XI 2021 GROUP C Played 2, Won 1, Lost 1. 1st Round Hoddesdon 156 for 7 in 20 overs Reed 157 for 4 in 16.5 overs Group Final Harpenden 163 for 6 in 20 overs Reed 94 all out in 12.4 overs
Reed go out with a flourish
At the end of a disappointing season in the Premier League, the Firsts left it with a spirited display against perennial powerhouses Welwyn. Having inserted the opposition, skipper Tom Greaves must have been delighted to see them reduced to 15 for 3 thanks to an opening attack of Matt Giblin (2 for 16) and Toby Fynn (1 for 28). However the entry of ex-England star Owais Shah and Mohammed Rizvi proved to be match changing as the pair built a stand of 112, despite some economical bowling from this year's find, Kapil Dave, who conceded just 28 runs from his 10 overs and often troubled the batsmen. When Shah was finally stumped by Sean Tidey off Greaves for 62 it only served to bring in Van Der Westhuisen who contributed 38 in another century stand with Rizvi. 51 came from the last 4 overs as Rizvi finished on 125 not out, although Rupert Martin took two wickets in the last over as Welwyn totalled 250 for 6. Reed started in fine form with Rob Lankester (47) and William Heslam (41) compiling a century opening stand, only for both to be dismissed pulling in consecutive overs. Greaves then took responsibility for the scoring, making 35 in quick time, only to be out caught in similar fashion. With the innings now petering out, Tidey took control hitting 5 boundaries, but he could not protect the tail and was bowled attempting another big hit, last out for 29. Reed made a commendable total of 189, despite a number of regular players being unavailable. Although they only won two games during the season, another half a dozen were close run affairs, so Reed can take heart from their first [...]
Heartbreak at Hertford
After the heroics of last week's victory over Radlett, a 42 run defeat to Hertford proved to be rather an anti-climax. However Reed Firsts started brightly with early wickets for Matt Giblin and Ed Wharton, the latter a magnificent catch by Sunil Patil form a steepler which swerved viciously over his head. Alex Jones (51) and Richard Leather (32) then dug in and it was not until the introduction of canny spinner, Kapil Dave, that the partnership was broken. Dave finished with 3-32 from his ten overs. At 136 for 6 Reed scented a swift end to the innings, but Max Lawrance (40) and Alan Coulson (31) built a stubborn stand of 56, which proved to be match winning. Toby Fynn and Matt Giblin (3-32) then wrapped up the innings for 203, a competitive total on a slow pitch. Reed started in all too familiar fashion, languishing at 88 for 6 after half the allotted overs, only Tom Greaves (37) putting up sustained resistance. However, a fighting partnership of 52 between Jack Caine (35) and Sean Tidey (30) threatened to take the game away from Hertford. Caine played a nicely controlled innings and it was good to see Tidey back to his swashbuckling best. When he was eventually caught on the boundary attempting another maximum, the innings rather subsided for 161 to young spinner, Jonny Underdown, who took 5 for 30. Welwyn await Reed in their final fixture next week. Can they pull off another Radlett to end the season in style? Match Report submitted by Peter Wholley.
A First for the Firsts
When captain Tom Greaves clipped a ball to leg and scampered through for the two runs required to register the First's first win of the season, he must have been reflecting contentedly on winning the toss and inserting West Herts on a drying wicket. As a result, a rampant Ed Wharton scythed through their top order, including the scalp of Sri Lankan international, Perrera, caught skilfully at slip by a diving Rob Lankester. That capped a fine opening spell of 3 for 22 in 11 overs. Toby Fynn then carried on the attack with a mammoth 16-over stint, finishing with 2 for 41 and 5 maidens. He was ably supported by Greaves who took 2 for 51, finally bagging the resolute Zaidi for 52, the first of Sean Tidey's two stumpings. The innings was quickly polished off by Kapil Dave's spin as he tricked the remaining three batsmen into false strokes, conceding just 25 runs. The pick of these was a finely judged catch on the midwicket boundary by Jack Caine. West Herts must have been disappointed with their total of 155 achieved in the final over of their allotted 50, due to a prolonged rain delay at the start of their innings. To be frank, Reed always looked in control of their reply with Will Heslam leading the way, making a fluent 37, including 5 crisply struck boundaries. When he was bowled by the dangerous Perrera, Reed already had 70 on the board as Rob Lankester took over the onslaught, putting on another 50 runs with the watchful Matt Sampson (16). With just 18 needed, Lankester was finally adjudged LBW for a scintillating 74. A measure of his dominance can be gauged by his [...]
Greaves and Wharton thwart the Whitewash!
After a tense finish on Harpenden Common the Firsts edged a draw to prevent this season being a total whitewash. This was in no small measure due to some excellent individual performances, notably by Tom Greaves and Ed Wharton. A familiar pattern seemed to be emerging when, on a superb batting track, James Latham and 16-year-old Danyaal Khaliid built a chanceless 235-run partnership for Harpenden's second wicket. When Khalid slapped Wharton in his second spell to Greaves at silly mid-wicket for 84 a total beyond 300 appeared inevitable. However, Wharton curtailed Harpenden's ambitions with a typically aggressive spell, exerting bounce out of the placid wicket to finish with 6 for 72 in a total of 271 for 6 declared after 52 overs. This included three wickets in his final over as well as the scalp of Latham for a magnificent 147. Reed replied in customary fashion losing two quick wickets, but Rob Lankester and Greaves repeated their stand earlier in the season against their hosts, putting on 91 invaluable runs. When Lankester was out L.B.W. for a patient 51, Greaves and Wharton took over in more characteristic Reed style, smashing another 68 runs in just 10 overs leaving Harpenden beginning to rue their early declaration. However, with Wharton's departure for 29 Reed's vicissitudes started to show. Earlier Sunil Patil had been drafted into the team to keep Wicket after the late withdrawal of Sean Tidey and Michael Juckes had bravely stepped up for his first team debut as Sam Osborne, last week's top scorer, was suffering from back spasms. Worse was to follow when Patil badly jarred his shoulder when keeping. As a result, the lower order looked particularly vulnerable. Greaves did his best to [...]
Another Hoddie nailbiter
15-year-old Sam Osborne starred as Reed Firsts slipped agonisingly to defeat against Hoddesdon yet again. After losing the 50-over league match earlier this season by two wickets, Reed repeated the result in the 60-over "timed" format. However, there were times during the game when a much bigger defeat seemed likely. In customary fashion this year, Reed lost three quick wickets, but the innings was steadied by a 62 run partnership between captain Tom Greaves and youngster Sam Osborne. Greaves started patiently soaking up the pressure from the opening seam attack and Osborne followed his example. When the spinners came on for their 39 over marathon, Greaves cut loose making 43 runs before he was adjudged LBW. Osborne remained calm while others perished and at 114 for 8 a paltry score seemed on the cards. At this point he opened up and was last man out for a flawless 58 with one over to spare and 166 on the board. Despite Ed Wharton bowling skipper Rob Walters, Hoddie looked like they would walk the game at 78-1, but the introduction of spinner Kapil Dave made the breakthrough with the help of a sensational catch by Max Sanderson off a steepling skyer at midwicket. Further catches removed the rest of the top order, Dave finishing with 3-46. Greaves (2-45) then chipped-in with a couple of dismissals and when Wharton took two wickets in his returning over Hoddesdon's nerves started to show. Monger, however, guided them home to the disappointment of the Reed faithful. Wharton ended with 3-36 from his 14 overs. Another frustrating result, but an enjoyable, keenly fought game with Reed taking a meagre 6 points from such a closely fought contest. Match report submitted by [...]
Firsts stumble at Totteridge
Fielding a side weakened by absence, injury and isolation, Reed could muster just half a dozen regular first team players. Nevertheless, they battled hard in the heat to earn some bowling points. When skipper Tom Greaves lost the toss for the sixth time in a row, he must have been relieved to hear the home captain decide to bat for a change. This meant his attack could have a sustained period of bowling against a classy set of batsmen. Former Northants batsman, Ben Howgego, (69) and captain Jed Miles (30) established an opening partnership of 80 with some cultured stroke play. Thus it fell to the spin duo of Greaves and Kapil Dave in a 40-over marathon stint to contain the top order to the tune of 134 for 4. However Eoin Morgan's friend, Sean O'Brien (75) and youngster Charles Plummer (47) compiled a century stand, although they survived four sharp chances close to the bat. Dave finished with figures of 3 for 93 and Greaves took 1-74 from their 20 overs apiece. Matt Giblin (1-42) and Toby Fynn (2-25) plus a run-out picked up valuable bowling points at the end to leave Totteridge on 254 for 8. Reed started their reply brightly with Rob Lankester (30) and Will Heslam (19, striking four boundaries), but the introduction of the deadly Iresh Saxena, who took 2 for 4 in his 10 overs earlier in the season spelt the beginning of a slide. His mesmeric spin accounted for three scalps this time and in tandem with Sean O'Brien the innings threatened to subside before reaching three figures once more. Some bold hitting by the tail took the score to 129 however, with Dave 15 not out and [...]
Firsts face their punishment at the Bar
The Firsts continued their disappointing run with an 8 wicket defeat by high flying Potters Bar. Put in on a difficult, slow wicket, only Richard Wharton (23) managed to tame the Bar's opening attack. Mehta (2-39) and Duke (3-28) tore through Reed's top order so that at 49-5 an embarrassing score seemed on the cards. However, late call up, Stuart Smith (16 not out) dropped anchor while Ed Wharton played his usual swashbuckling innings for 35 runs. Between them they doubled the score. When Chapman turned the ball square though, he ran through the tail in just 5 overs, taking 5 for 9 to leave Reed 120 all out. It took Potters Bar just 27 overs to reach their target for the loss of 2 wickets, but this does not reflect the excellence of Ed Wharton's spell (14-1-46-1). He bowled unchanged, beat the bat time after time with no luck and deserved more wickets: a man of the match performance. Match report submitted by Peter Wholley.
The tail wags, but still Mymms win
After a solid opening partnership of 43 between Ed Wharton (19) and Will Heslam (28), the Firsts seemed to be slipping to their customary collapse at 100 for 6, with Sri Lankan spinner, Ruwarisiri bagging 5 scalps. However this time the lower order stood up to be counted. Kallum Ward started the momentum with an aggressive 23, followed by some determined stroke play from Sean Tidey (26) and top scorer, Jack Caine (37). To cap a heartening display, 15 year old Sam Osborne on debut built a chanceless, classy, innings of 36, ably assisted by Toby Fynn (20) as the tenth wicket thwarted the spin attack to the tune of 49 unbeaten runs. 225-9 was a creditable score after so many mediocre batting displays this season. Once again Ed Wharton struck early trapping keeper Millard without scoring and having Bamford caught behind by Tidey, but then Reed ran up against another powerful Asian middle order. Ahmed (81) first with Ruwansiri (42) and then Randhawa (43) built two substantial partnerships making the outcome inevitable. Nevertheless, Osborne sneaked one past the skilful Ruwansiri and Wharton, toiling tirelessly in the heat, had two more victims caught by Stuart Smith and Tidey to finish with excellent figures of 16-2-50-4. It was left to captain Lewis to strike the winning runs with 10 overs remaining. Reed gained 9 bonus points, their largest haul of the season so far, but such gallant performances are reaping scant reward for their efforts. Match report submitted by Peter Wholley.