Reed’s Fourth eleven continued their recent good form with a win in their penultimate match against Sawbridgeworth.  Reed captain Alan Ward won the toss and inserted the hosts on the Much Hadham ground.H. Morter (43) made runs for the opposition with contributions from E. Penn (17), R. Devine (20) and W. Boxhall (15*).  But an impressive display of bowling from Christian Martin (15-2-40-4) limited Sawbridgeworth to 157 for 9 from 47 overs thanks also to Ian Roberts (12-5-19-3) who once again struck with regularity.  Lewis Fitzgerald (10-2-39-1) and Luke Cox (5-0-23-1) both took a scalp each.In reply Reed made up the runs in relative comfort thanks to a strong innings by Aiden Swain, (78 not out), as he struck the ball hard, clocking up 15 fours.  He found support in Paul Garrott (19) and Kieren Willoughby (15) before being joined by Alan Ward (17 not out) as the two reached their target leaving Reed winners by 6 wickets.Reed now find themselves in fourth place in the division with one game left.

A frustrated fourth eleven had to come away from their fixture against Stevenage with a draw. Reed batted first and soon found themselves in trouble losing two cheap wickets, but the hard hitting Marcus J.E. Baker made 46 in 18 balls to give the Reed total substance with eleven fours. However, he failed to stay past the eighth over and Reed were once again in hot water at 59 for 3. Reed were then bolstered with an impressive maiden half-century from Robert Willoughby (70) who made essential partnerships with Sam Deville (20), James Bloor (17) and brother Kieren Willoughby (26) all of whom played some fantastic shots to up the Reed total. Some lower order runs from Ian Roberts (21) took Reed to 246 all out. After a stubborn opening partnership between C. Welch (15) and C. Court (8) Reed began to take wickets as they worked through the young Stevenage side. James Bloor (8-0-34-2) struck twice in an over to make the initial breakthrough, Sam Deville (6-1-16-2) took two in two balls and Ian Roberts (8-3-12-4) once again showed his talents. Both Matt Giblin (11-4-10-0) and Luke Cox (5-1-12-0) impressed with the ball by keeping the run rate low but were unlucky not to pick up wickets. Despite their best efforts Reed could not remove the final wickets for the win as Stevenage ended their innings on 115 for 8. There were catches from I. Roberts, P.Baker and S. Deville and special mention must go to the fielding of Kieren Willoughby and Luke Cox who both showed great energy and commitment. Reed come away with eighteen points and remain in fourth place in the division but their performance certainly deserved a victory.

Reed’s Fourth eleven won again for the seventh time taking them into a deserved third place at the end of their debut season in Division 14. Reed hosted Preston at the Freman College ground and having won the toss captain Peter Baker put the visitors into bat. J. Skirrow made 53 for Preston but apart from R. Clark (15) who hung around for a while no one else made runs as a determined Reed side bowled out the opposition for 101 in 37 overs leaving Reed 53 overs to reach the low target. Kallum Ward (11.3-4-18-4) got the ball moving at one end whilst Ian Roberts (12-4-26-6) struck at the other. Reed only needed 24 overs to secure the win, P. Baker and John Heslam made a solid base for the Reed innings making a partnership of 55 before Baker (22) miss hit one to mid wicket. Heslam (30) continued in his stead for a while striking 7 boundaries before he too was caught at mid wicket. Reed then lost two cheap wickets but Paul Garrott (13*) and Alan Ward (16*) were not going to make any mistakes as they took Reed over the finishing line and for the second week in a row won by 6 wickets. Reed needed to play and win and were very lucky not to get interrupted by rain. This victory brings an end to the Fourths first season in the Herts League and everyone should be very proud of some incredible personal and team performances in every game.

Reeds fourth eleven were in dire need of a win to keep their promotion chase alive and facing bottom of the table North Mymms V’s that victory was likely. However, Reed did not make the best of starts. Having won the toss Reed captain Peter Baker decided to bat first at the Freman College ground. The damp track certainly made a profound impact on the game and by the sixteenth over P. Baker was batting with Ward and Reed were in trouble on 28 for 4. The pair then showed their experience and skill as they re-built the Reed innings. Baker went pass 50 and then pass 100 as he finished on 119 not out and Ward, who had supported Baker as hit the ball cleanly (16x4 and 2x6), shared in the glory as he too made fifty before becoming Gregory’s final wicket (15-2-46-5). Reed declared after 45 overs on 209 for 5, with Baker and Ward setting yet another fourth eleven record partnership for the fifth wicket of 174. It did not take long for Reeds bowling talent to start taking wickets and with the exception of Topham (18) and Lawless (17*) no one else of the young North Mymms side got pass 5. All bowled well as the wickets were shared amongst Alex West (6-1-13-2), Oliver Smith (6-1-10-1), Will Kirby (5-2-15-2) and Nick Green (5-2-17-1). North Mymms were finally bowled out in the 26th over for 60 runs, Ian Roberts cleaned up the tail finishing with the average- helping figures of four wickets for no runs from just nine deliveries. With only two games remaining Reed need two more wins to stay in contention for promotion.

Reed’s fourth eleven campaign continued with another victory this week against Langlebury fours at Freman College. Having won the toss captain Peter Baker elected to bat first. Again Peter (8) and Marcus J.E. Baker (12) opened but they were unable to replicate the same performances from the week before as they found difficulty in facing the opening bowling of Usman (9-1-22-2) and Ross (11-1-43-1). Reed, consisting of a lot of colts, struggled to make runs and protect their wicket as they sunk to 56 for 5. But clever innings down the order from Alan Ward (14), Mathew Naeem (12), Lloyd Bowman (13) and Luke Cox (8) kept Reed going with the main intention of using up as many overs as possible. However, a fantastic 10th wicket partnership of 49 between Ian Roberts (33) and Kieran Willoughby (13*) took Reed to the defendable score of 159 leaving Langlebury with no extra overs. Mallapudi (7.2-3-43-3) and King (11-2-49-3) also performed well with the ball. After a rapid start Langlebury were halted in their tracks when I. Roberts (11.1-1-29-2) made the breakthrough bowling King (20). Christian Martin (12-3-26-3) also got into the opposition batsmen, opening from the other end. After a partnership between Anderson (31) and McHugh (16) Reed were once again knocking off the wickets, yet again showing superiority in the field with some outstanding catches from Robert Willoughby, A.Ward, P.Baker, L. Bowman and M.J.E. Baker who took two catches and a tidy stumping with the gloves after a blow to the head. More exemplary bowling from L. Cox (5-0-10-0) went unrewarded but A. Ward (8-1-20-3) and P. Baker (4-0-23-2) both took scalps as Reed bowled out Langlebury winning by 36 runs.

Reed’s newly established fourth eleven got their league campaign off to a good start with a hard fought victory over Knebworth Park VI. Reed won the toss and captain Peter Baker elected to bat first on the Freman College pitch. Baker batted well for his 45 runs, protecting his wicket whilst others fell for little runs. Left hander Alan Ward then took over scoring a blistering 75 runs, finding the boundary with ease and notching up quick singles supported by Scott Caine (9) and Luke Cox (10). Reed’s total was greatly assisted by Knebworth themselves who gave away 53 runs in extras. Reed declared on 238 for 7 from 45 overs, with Ward and Will Kirby (31) the men not out having added an impressive undefeated 86 run partnership for the eighth wicket. Wickets fell to the bowling of E. Large (5-1-70-4), B. Murphy (5-0-28-2) and M. Darlow (11-1-39-1). In reply Knebworth did look like competing for the win early on in their innings, partnerships by S. Jenkins (59) with L. Hutchinson (34) and I. Nurril (31) frustrated the bowling of Cox (3-0-22-0), Baker (5-0-22-0) and Christian Martin (5-0-25-0). Kirby (5-0-13-1) picked up a wicket after some impressive pace bowling. Ian Roberts also got in on the act showing his skill finishing with figures of 9.4-1-28-3. But it was Alex West who troubled the opposition the most picking up a much deserved 5 for 48 from 12 overs catching D. Hennessy (29) off his own bowling to pick up his fifth. Reed’s ability in the field was very much in contrast to that of Knebworth who lost by 75 runs. The fourth’s season has started well and will require much of the same to get [...]

The fourths got their second win of their debut season in style as they defeated Kings Langley IV’s by a massive 189 runs. Father and son duo Peter and Marcus J.E. Baker opened for Reed having won the toss, the first over was left for a maiden but it would be the only one of the innings. The pair made runs easily combining quick singles with boundaries to rack up a fourth eleven record opening partnership of 82 in 16 overs which ended when P. Baker (25) put one up in the air from the bowling of Hunt (7-0-46-1). Despite the loss Reed did not suffer as eighteen came off the next over bringing up the 100 in only 17, which M.J.E. Baker and number 3 John Kershaw bested 10 overs later bring up the 200 in the 27th. The pair set yet another fourth eleven record for the 2nd wicket scoring 188 in 17 overs. M.J.E. Baker was then adjudged out LBW for a blistering 175 in the 34th over recording not only a personal best score but a divisional high score, hitting 8 sixes and 21 fours. John Kershaw followed not long after caught behind from the bowling of Walker (7-0-32-2) with yet another fantastic half century scoring 62. Darren Radford (2*) and Graham Hazard (10*) were the men not out as Reed declared 10 over’s early with a dominating 290 for 3 from 37 overs on the scoreboard. Kings Langley never looked like competing for the win but they certainly held out for a long time. Despite stubborn batting Reed eventually got their wickets as they were shared amongst Alex West (11-3-18-1), Matt Giblin (6-1-14-1), Jason Pallett (16-4-34-4), Alan Ward (7-4-10-3) and [...]

Reed’s fourth eleven were forced to leave their away match against Chipperfield Clarendon IV with a draw much to the frustration of the Reed players. However, it was a game that the visitors had dominated all through the match and came away with 17 of a possible 19 points from a draw. Reed won the toss and batted first, George Garrott (20) and Peter Baker (8) got things going and had made a partnership of 35 before Garrott fell foul off the under-used Franklin (10-1-36-1). Baker soon followed but an impressive and IV XI record partnership of 121 between John Kershaw (83) and Paul Garrott (69) for the third wicket steadied the ship taking Reed to 153 for 3 from 35. Kershaw then set another record partnership with Darren Radford (23*) of 57 but ended an impressive innings being caught from the bowling of Oliver (12-2-57-2). Reed declared an over early after 46 with the total on 231 for 4, Radford and Marcus J.E. Baker (8*) the men not out. Reed’s bowlers did just as well in the second innings, Alex West (11-2-14-1) took the first wicket thanks to a fine catch from Alan Ward. P. Baker (3-0-30-1) soon took the second wicket with the some perfect off spin bowling, hitting the top of off stump. But it was the dominating bowling partnership of Jason Pallett (12-3-27-2) and Ian Roberts (9-4-22-1) that ended the host’s aspirations for the win. Fine catches from P. Baker, Kirby, Ward and keeper M.J.E. Baker once again showed Reed’s class in the field. However, Reed were unable to dislodge some of the tail quick enough and the home side finished their 44 over innings on 128 for 7 ending the [...]

The four’s suffered their first defeat of the season on Saturday when they went up against Hertford V. Batting first, at the charming ground in Thunderidge, Reed were soon put on the back foot with two wickets lost for only nine runs. Opener Peter Baker persisted none the less and led the way as Reed started to make runs. Sam Deville (20) gave another useful innings supporting Baker before knicking one to first slip. Baker was also eventually out caught but not before making a hard fought 60. Once again Reeds total benefited from runs down the order from James Bloor (23), Luke Cox (17), Will Kirby (13*) and Ian Roberts (13*). Reed finished on the reasonable score of 162 for 8 from 47 overs. Reed were well aware that Hertford were blessed with some class batsmen, but the bowlers still went out with determination to defend the total. Will Kirby (8-2-35-2) led the Reed attack as both James Bloor (9-0-42-2) and Sam Deville (5-0-18-1) picked up wickets. However, no one seemed able to remove opener R. Carter (96), who played a sensible innings, until Luke Cox (1.5-0-7-1) was awarded his wicket LBW with his first ball. Unfortunately despite their best efforts Reed watched as the winnings runs were hit and Hertford left the field on 163 for 6. Reed may certainly think that had they made a more competitive score then they may well have won but in reality Hertford included some class experienced players and were stronger on the day. Despite losing Reed came away with fourteen points and remain in the top four.

The fours suffered another defeat when the young side met the more experienced Chiltern 06. Reed batted first and were at no point allowed to be comfortable by the Chiltern bowlers and the rather unpredictable pitch. George Garrott made a hard fought 39 and Darren Radford hung around for a while to make 27. Other than Paul Garrott (17) no one else got into double figures, were as in previous weeks Reeds totals had been bolstered by runs down the order, however, on this occasion this was not the case as Reed were bowled out in the 46th over for only 124. In reply the hard hitting Chiltern batsmen reached their target in only the 18th over for the loss of one wicket, a run out by P. Garrott. M. Horwood made 53 and S. Fasal 67. Had Reed been more positive then there could have been the possibility of an upset but unfortunately there were far too many drop catches to be able to defend such a low total. This second loss clearly marks a lull in concentration, the fours must come back next week in their match against Baldock (who are only three points behind us in the division) more focused.