Sunday, 16th August 2009. The sun is blazing down on Reed Green and both the square and outfield look in excellent condition, thanks to the efforts of groundsman Richard “ride-on” Robertson. It is the most eagerly awaited day of the season for settling old scores as father plays son, brother plays brother, and sister plays on her Nintendo DS as she dreams of being somewhere else, anywhere else, other than Reed Green on President’s day. As the players make their way out, your scribes are eagerly awaiting to report on the proceedings, but as we are also expected to keep scores and serve drinks all bloody day long we do not want to hear any complaints about the accuracy of what follows. From our vantage point on the pavilion veranda we have a near perfect view of playing area. It would be a completely perfect view was it not for the hanging baskets so thoughtlessly, sorry thoughtfully, placed in our line of vision by Andrew “that’s my boy” Emms. But these are just minor distractions compared to the wasps which appear to be nesting in them. Only joking. So, without further ado let us proceed to the days events, so eagerly anticipated by all and sundry in the club. Even now it is obvious that some of the members are already very sundry indeed, and we have only just opened the bar (more of which later). The teams have been selected and the draw pitches Morss’s Marauders against Wardie’s Warriors in the first game of six in the round-robin. This was a very dull affair indeed with nothing of note to report, excepting that the Marauders (55 for 2) beat the Warriors (52 for 2). [...]

Reed I’s travelled for a high profile fixture away to Hoddesdon I’s on Sunday, on what turned out to be a glorious day. With England gaining control of the Ashes at the Oval, Reed skipper Marcus Martin won the toss and elected to bat on what looked a belting track. Opening batsmen Tom Greaves and Fergus Martin soon took advantage of the lightening quick outfield, with Greaves in particular getting off to a flyer. The tubby all-rounder (or “fat slogger” as he was referred to on a number of occasions) dispatched the first ball of the innings over the midwicket boundary for a pull shot six, and followed this up by hitting a glorious straight six over the sightscreen off the first ball of the second over. Greaves was in no mood for messing about, as he seemingly dispatched nearly every ball he faced for a boundary, even taking one hapless bowler for 24 in an over, all of which were 4s! Greaves’ half century came up in 21 deliveries, despite him looking nervous on 49, playing out 4 dots. Greaves made a stunning 65 off of 31 balls before he went for one big hit too many, falling after a woeful swish across the line, to be bowled. By this point Fergus Martin had already departed, caught behind for a well made 24, as Reed raced towards 3 figures. Stuart Smith also made 26 in fairly rapid fashion, before he was caught in the covers, as the game continued at break neck pace. Numbers 4 and 5 batsmen, Phil Frenay and Richard Barlow then carried on where Martin and Greaves had left off. Frenay looked imperious as he struck the ball cleanly down the [...]

Reed made it through to the regional semi finals of the National Village Cup on Sunday despite a major scare away to Eversholt. On a beautiful sunny day Reed won the toss and put their Herts League Division 4 opponents into bat. The hosts responded positively by getting off to a decent start on what despite not being the best of pitches was at a high scoring ground with a lightening fast outfield. Despite a typically economical spell from Peter Tidey (9-2-26-0) Eversholt moved onto 65-0 off 12 overs and were at this point going along nicely. However, a breakthrough always looked possible and a good piece of work by Frenay in the covers saw Garratt run out for 19. From then on Reed took a firmer grip of the game and despite the efforts of the in form opener Litchford (65) Eversholt were pegged back to 90-3 at the drinks break. Lee Johnson (1-46) deservedly removing their no.3 in the final over of his spell and Richard Johnson (8-1-35-4) picking up the first of his 4 wickets just before the halfway point. Following this the game swung massively in Reeds favour as further to the run out of Litchford following good work by R.Johnson & Chris Jackson they took control and the home side collapsed to 144 all out inside 33 overs. Tom Greaves making his Village Cup debut and Karl Ward also picking up a wicket a piece. In reply, Reed set out confident of victory with 40 overs to make just 144. However Eversholt opener Avis produced a fine spell of seam bowling to remove the Reed top 4 of James Heslam, Chris Jackson, Tom Fulk and Phil Frenay all for single [...]

Defending regional champions Reed kicked off their 2009 National Village Cup campaign with a comfortable victory over Biddenham on Sunday in the 1st round of the Herts & Bedfordshire section. Biddenham won the toss and elected to bowl on what looked a decent wicket despite there being a few cracks which suggested there may be a little inconsistent bounce. Although this did prove to be the case during the game, on the whole the pitch was conducive to batting and the outfield was fast. Despite the early loss of Heslam for just 3 a big score always seemed on the cards for Reed as Stuart Smith (50) & Phil Frenay (63) immediately looked comfortable and played their shots all around the ground with freedom. The pair both made impressive half centuries in quick time putting on 100 for the 2nd wicket inside 17 overs which put Reed firmly in control of the match. Although they departed in quick succession Tom Fulk (43*) with the help of Marcus Martin (7), Karl Ward (12) and Richard Johsnon (23*) kept the momentum going and saw Reed to a very competitive 246-5 in their 40 overs. In reply Biddenham were always on the back foot as Lee Johnson bowled with good pace and rhythm to dismiss the top 4 before he finished his allotted overs with figures of 9-4-37. Peter Tidey played his part too bowling a good economical spell and picking up a wicket to finish with figures of 1-31 off his 9 overs. 1st change bowlers Richard Johnson (1-24) & Bernie Morss (1-19) kept the pressure on well and with Karl Ward (5-1-19) also bowling tidely, the hosts were restricted to 138-8 and Reed were winners by [...]