Reed’s 2nd XI fell to their first defeat of the season in a disappointing fashion. Skipper Baz Curtis won the toss and decided to bat on an unknown wicket with rain in the air. This didn’t look a bad decision as Reed moved to 20-0 after the first 4 overs despite Gibberd extracting some very steep bounce from the wicket. The rain came and the players went in and what looked like a short shower turned into an hour and twenty minute delay. Once the innings resumed Curtis and Smith had moved the score to 25 before Smith got a top edge and was caught at a short fine leg. Curtis had survived two chances before he went for 22 gloving a brute of a ball to gully. Then came an awful collapse. 40-2 soon became 67-7. The only player to make double figures was Ed Garrott who looked in good form before being caught behind for 17.William Clarke on debut of the 2nd XI and in form Sean Tidey began to put the innings back together. Clarke played some fine shorts through the covers and off his legs. Both managed to finally see off the opening attack and took a liking to the second string attack. They had put on 67 and looked solid before Clarke drove slightly in the air and was well caught low down in the covers. Old Chameleians catching we exceptional with hardly a chance going down. With still 8 overs left a half decent target looked possible. Tidey continued to put the bad and good ball away including a lovely straight six in to the pavilion sightscreen. Unfortunately the 9th wicket fell quickly and Reed limped into the points [...]

The 2nd XI ended their league campaign with a resounding win of Old Albanian II. Old Albanian needed to win to have any chance of avoiding relegation and started well by winning the toss and deciding to field. The wicket look good to bat on and Reed took full advantage. Reed reverted to a more senior opening partnership with Baz Curtis being joined by Ed Blissett. The pair started solidly enough if not spectacularly. They had only reach 23 from the first 10 over thanks to some tight bowling from Hasan and Burman. Both produced some very good balls that beat the bat.Both batsman began to get the pace of the wicket and picked up the pace. If the first 10 overs were slow the next 10 overs were more like it. 48 coming from those. Blissett striking the bad ball well and Curtis beginning to find the boundary on regular occasions. Curtis went to his 50 with his second six of the innings. It looked like the pair would put on 100 for the first wicket, but Blissett was out caught for a fine 30, with the score on 92. Old Albanian struck again quickly afterwards and left Reed 106-2.Richard Johnson then joined Curtis and took full advantage of the good start. Johnson playing the spin well and moving his feet played in his usual elegant manor. A mixture of good running and boundaries kept the scoreboard moving along nicely. 117 runs were added in the next 20 overs. The score was on 188 when Curtis went for one big shot too many and was caught well on the boundary. He had scored 113 from 106, including 11 x4s and 4x 6s.Roddi Liebenberg joined [...]

Reed's 2nd XI travelled to North Enfield last Saturday for their last warm up match before the league campaign starts. Skipper Baz Curtis won the toss and decided to bat on what looked like a flat pitch. This didn't look like a good decision when after only 5 overs Reed found themselves 7-2, with both Curtis and Phil Freney back in the pavilion. Peter Baker and Richard Johnson looked to repair the damage. Baker was finding angles to the boundary seldom used, but it was effective and runs were coming at a good pace. Suddenly Johnson was bowled by Atkins for 19 and in his next over had Marcus Baker caught at slip. Baker Snr was caught behind in Atkins next over and suddenly from a decent position Reed were 71-5.Then came an excellent rear guide action from George Garrott and Steve Lovegrove. They put on 98 for the 6th wicket. Garrott score 11 boundaries in his 63 before he was caught. He played some glorious shots through the covers and it was a deserved 50. Their were still 10 overs left when Garrott departed and Lovegrove was determined that Reed would have a total to bowl at. He hit seven fours and two sixes on his way to 77 not out. With the help of Lewis Fitzgerald (7) and Julian Fynn (9), Lovegrove pushed the score to 239-9 after the allotted 45 overs.In reply North Enfield never looked in any trouble. Reed had one chance to remove Skipper Halley, but missed it and he went on to get 100 before retiring. Jason Archer broke the opening partnership when the score was on 81, but the pitch held no demons for the batsman. Lewis Fitzgerald [...]

Reed made light work of Northchurch II in their latest Saracens Herts League game. The visitors one the toss and decided to bat first. Despite Northchurch being bottom of the league Reed wanted to make sure they took guests seriously. Chris Peckett got the early breakthrough they had hoped for bowling Ledienere for a duck. Kallum Ward bowling down the hill again bowled well and was unlucky to go wicketless in his opening spell. A smart throw from Mark King saw off O’Dair for 20. It turned out he would be the top scorer for Northchurch. Peter Tidey replaced Ward and soon got in on the action. He bowled Flipler for 18 and with the help of a good catch from Ward, Whitworth for 10. Peckett would have picked up two more wickets, but both were no balls!At 61-5 Reed were well on top despite a lacklustre fielding display. Peckett picked up a well deserved 2nd wicket and finished with 2-36 from 12 overs. Tidey had now changed ends to allow Will Clarke to come down the hill. He struck early in his spell when Mark King held a catch in the deep. By now the visitors were 88-7. Tidey was on the brink of his first 5 wicket haul of the season, but Ward came back into the attack and put a stop to that. He removed the stubborn Debenham for 11 and Lindsay for a duck. It was left to Tidey to take the final wicket. Northchurch were 120 all out. Tidey ending with figures of 4-24 from 13.4 overs.Reed needed to make sure their were no hiccups chancing the low total. Baz Curtis and Matt Bowles got Reed off to the perfect [...]

Reed's 2nd XI were looking to consolidate their position in the promotion place of Division 6 of the Herts League, but a poor display left them losing and taking on 14 points from the game. Winning the toss on what looked like a batting paradise and asking Letchworth III to field looked a good call by skipper Baz Curtis.He opened with William Heslam and the two didn't look in any real trouble as the moved the score along to 39 without loss. Heslam was driving down the ground beautifully and Curtis was putting the bad ball away well. Curtis decided to run the ball down the 3rd man rather than fully attack it and only managed to edge the ball to the keeper.Fergus Martin joined young Heslam and they added 19 before Martin got a leading edge and was easily caught. Heslam continued to find the boundary regularly, but Letchworth had now turned to their spin bowlers and Reed were beginning to look less positive. Richard Johnson was caught before for 11 and at 94-3 the game was finally balanced. Marcus Martin looked like he might be able to dominate the bowling and again seemed in control. Heslam and Martin had added 12 more when Heslam reached a well deserved 50, including 9 fours. Within a few balls he was well caught at a short third man and all of a sudden Reed were 4 down.That became 5 when Martin was out LBW and then 124-6 and 137-7. This was never a 137-7 wicket and Reed were looking down the barrel. They had plenty of over to bat, but they need a decent partnership to have any chance of putting the visitor under pressure.Mitchell Cooper [...]

Reed’s 2nd XI secured a very good win away at Hemel Hempstead III in their latest Saracen’s Herts League game. Losing the toss and being asked to field didn’t look the worst outcome as Kallum Ward found some excellent seam movement early on. He was unlucky to not find the edge of the bat on numerous occasion in his opening spell of 7 overs for just 20 runs. It was in opening partner Will Clarke who made the break through when the score was on 39 bowling Allen for 8. The run rate was slow, but Reed never really looked like rolling through the home side.Mitchell Cooper replaced Ward and in his final over he removed Elbourne for 46 finding the edge of his bat and Sean Tidey did the rest. Another solid partnership put on 52 and at this point it looked like Reed could be chasing a big total. Roddi Liebenberg came into the attack and took a sharp caught and bowled to leave the host 133-3. Peter Tidey then got in the act having Reader stumped for just 1. Hemel had reached 154-4 before Ed Garrott came into the attack. He immediately struck bowling Raval for 45. He looked like he could have upped the run rate and it was a vital wicket. Tidey picked up another wicket and Garrott struck again to suddenly give the visitors a sniff of bowling out Hemel. At 155-7 Frebbrey had other ideas and along with Braggins put on vital runs at the death. Garrott finished with 3-28 in his 6 overs. Reed were left to chase down 205 of 47 overs.Skipper Baz Curtis opened with Stuart Smith, and quickly lost Smith adjudged caught behind for [...]

Reed lost more points in the promotion push with another draw. Losing the toss and being asked to field was no surprise to the home side. The track looked flat and bowling a side out was going to be a struggle. Kallum Ward and Chris Peckett again opened the Reed attack and kept the runs down in the early stages. Butterworth and Summerfield for Flitwick looked in no trouble and it wasn’t until Summerfield called for a quick single that the first wicket came. Roddi Liebenberg swept in from mid wicket and Butterworth couldn’t beat the throw.Mitchell Cooper replaced Ward and struck quickly having Valentine LBW for a duck. By now Summerfield was in full control. A mixture of positive shot selection and good running saw him reach an easy 50. Chris Peckett was still plugging away and bowled an excellent 20 over spell. He took the wicket of Moss thanks to an excellent catch from James Hooper at mid on. Jason Archer replaced Cooper and it didn’t take long for him to get in the wickets. He took three wickets all bowled and ended up with 3-47 from his 12 overs. Summerfield looked nailed on for a ton, but Fergus Martin got through his defences and bowled him for an excellent 89. He had been joined by Adams and the youngest was keen to take every run on offer. He took up where Summerfield left off and scored a chancless 59 before he was run out. The visitors ended on 228-8 in their 53 overs.Reed thought the wicket was probably a 240 wicket and that 229 was gettable. Baz Curtis had a new opening partner in Mat Bowles and the pair took the fight [...]

Reed travelled to play Flamstead with the visitors 6th and the home side 5th in the table. A close game was always going to be on the cards. With Matt Bowles pulling up lame just prior to the game, Reed had to play with 10 men. Peter Tidey won the toss and had no hesitation in asking their hosts to bat first on a wet wicket. Flamstead got off to a steady start against the opening attack of Kallum Ward and Mitchell Cooper. Both went for 18 off their 7 overs, but Cooper was the one who made the breakthrough having Oswin caught by Richard Johnson for 19.Despite the pitch being damp, and drying surprisingly quickly their were no demons in the track except for the odd ball keeping low. Karl Ward replaced his brother and Peter Tidey replaced Cooper. Ward bowled an excellent line and length. Tidey got the ball to swing from his first ball and looked the most likely to get a wicket. The score had reached 48 when Sean Tidey took a swift stumping to remove Galyor for 20. Eleven runs later he struck again to leave the home side 59-3. They still looked very solid with the bat and it looked like a big total could be on the cards. Brown came to the crease and started to put bat to ball. His first 5 scoring shots were all boundaries and the game was going away from Reed. The Reed skipper decided the best cause of action was to try to keep Brown off strike as much as possible and this seemed to work a treat. Tidey was now in full flow. The 4th wicket fell at 85 and the [...]

Reed's 2nd XI managed to dent their own promotion ambitions with a poor batting display at fellow challengers Chorleywood. Baz Curtis again won the toss and decided to bat. Reed got off to a flier as Curtis raced to 21 and to 31 in just 6 overs. When Curtis was caught at mid off William Heslam joined Fergus Martin and the pair looked in control and kept the scoreboard ticking along nicely. Heslam driving well and finding the boundary at a good rate. He then became the first of Ryan's 5 victims when he was adjudged LBW for 15.The same bowler struck again to remove Matt Bowles and then bowled Fergus Martin and all of a sudden the visitors were in a real mess at 55-4. This soon became 65-8 and it didn't look like Reed would set any sort of challenge. Rupert Martin had other ideas and constructed a solid 30 and with Chris Peckett saw Reed past 100. When he was dismissed Reed lasted only another 2 overs and limped to 104 all out.With plenty of time before the scheduled tea break Chorleywood started their reply. Kallum Ward opened the attack for Reed along with Peter Tidey. Ward struck in his 3 over and Tidey took 2 wickets including a stunning caught and bowled. It was so calmly taken one handed that it seems he catches them every time. Reed thought they might have a sniff of victory and at tea the home side were 53-3.Sherah and Toms looked solid and Reed need to make early inroads after the break. Chris Peckett bowled Sherah with the score on 73. 30 to win with 6 wickets in hand, Toms decided it was time to [...]

Having completed their league duties a mix bag Reed side faced Baldock for a friendly at the Green and having won the toss Reeds captain Tom Greaves decided to bat first opening with the young Sean Tidey and Marcus J.E. Baker.Tidey (9) was bowled by Monkston’s first ball in the second over as Reed struggled until Baker and number 3 Will Heslam began to make runs. They had made 61 when Heslam (19) was bowled, George Garrott came in and made 7 but was also out prematurely. M.J.E. Baker was then joined by his own father Peter Baker who helped his son get over the half century mark. However, both Bakers were soon back in the pavilion, Marcus caught for 63 and Peter caught not long after for 21. Tom Greaves (14*) and Steve Lovegrove (16*) then saw out the rest of the overs as Reed finished on 178 for 6. Reed only required 9 wickets as the opposition only had ten players and the first soon fell to Chris Peckett (8-0-45-3). Mitchell Cooper opened up coming down the hill and only went for 5 runs from his 6 overs. Kallum Ward took one for 20 whilst his brother Karl took two for 27. Greaves also took two and Sean Tidey took the final wicket as Reed won 31 runs. J. Peacock had looked dangerous till he shot up a catch for Lovegrove with the gloves and Jones had made 39 not out.