Reed III's claimed a winning draw on Saturday in a game they should have won easily. Missing big scoring stroke player Mark King and grafter Matt Bowles, they went into the game with a belief that they could still overcome Waltham Cross III's on a baking hot summers day. Skipper Maseeh Naeem won the toss and elected to bat on Watham's artificial track, and this looked to be a bad decision when youngster William Heslam fell to a corker of a delivery that cut in a long way and removed his leg stump. Academy players Julian Fynn, George Garrott and Lewis Fitzgerald all followed in quick succession, leaving Reed on 35 for 4 and a bemused Ben Bowles at the other end contemplating an early tea. However, along with Bowles, Reed's middle and lower order were not prepared to throw in the towel. Steve Lovegrove added a useful 15, then Richard Robertson hit a swash buckling 24 before falling to a sharp caught and bowled from Lewis. Skipper Naeem then joined Bowles at the crease and the pair upped the anti, until Naeem skied one back to the loopy Wilkinson for 32. Waltham Cross though they had broken the backbone of Reeds batting, but did not account for Kallum Ward joining the now classy looking Bowles. Together they broke the record for the 8th wicket partnership with a wonderful display of batting, despatching the ball all over the field. Ward eventually fell for 59 and Bowles 93 as Reed finished on an impressive 265 declared. After tea Reed took the game to the Waltham Cross batsmen, opening bowlers Julien Fynn and Rupert Martin removed the top three batsmen in little time. Unfortunately during this spell [...]

An easy win for the thirds at home against a weak Southgate Compton team. Having won the toss the visiting captain chose to bat. At first the decision seemed the right one as their openers were scoring at four an over. However the Reed opening Bowlers Julian Fynn and young James Hooper started to find line and length and made the batsman work for their runs. Hooper was the first to strike, taking the wicket of the Compton Skipper caught at gully by John Heslam. After that wickets fell at regular intervals, Julian Fynn bowled a long spell and ended with 4 for 40 off his 14 overs and James Hooper ended with 3 for 37 of his 12. Alan Ward chipped in with 2 wickets. John Heslam showed he still has it in the field by taking two agile catches at gully. That left the visitors all out for exactly 100 after 34 over’s and 45 minutes before tea was to be taken. With a very strong Reed batting line up the target never seemed in doubt. However there was a threat of rain and Reed wanted to ensure 30 points. Mark King and John Heslam went out to bat with instructions to push the score along for the 10 overs before tea was taken. They took this literally and with some very aggressive batting finished the game in 9.4 over’s. King finished on 73 not out and Heslam on 31 not out. The visitors trudged of the field shell shocked and without a single point.

Reed travelled to North London on Saturday, knowing a win would go a long way to cementing their promotion push. Asked to bat Reed made a steady start until the out of nick Ben Bowles was castled by the youngster Ellis for 16. This brought out of nick Ian Fulk to the crease and the flight and guile of Ellwood soon put paid to his day with a crafty slower ball that Fulk completely mis-timed to square leg. George Garrott joined remaining opener Swain and the pair made light work of the bowling Garrott plundering 43 quick runs with 9 boundaries. Swain was concentrating on length of innings and batted superbly for a meaty 68. M.J.E. Baker and the out of nick Fynn then dispatched the bowling to all parts in a fine partnership, allowing Reed to declare on 196-5 with maximum batting points off just 30 over's. Adelaide faced a tricky 10 over session before tea and opening quick Archer dispatched batsmen 1 & 3 in his opening over to leave them struggling at 0-2. The out of nick Rupert Martin but  bowled tightly without ever looking like taking a wicket, so at vittles SA were 12-2. After an amazing tea, SA continued to toil, only some unbelievably poor catching by Bowles, allowed the batsmen to remain insitu. Wickets were on the horizon and a suicidal run off another tight Archer over brought the breakthrough. The out of nick Martin was now replaced by Fynn wicketless for 8 weeks, which he soon rectified with his variation straight ball. Archer then ripped through the remaining top and middle order claiming his 5th wicket for 26 off 15 immaculate over's. Chris West then wrapped up the tail to [...]

A good all round team effort, with every Reed player making a contribution with either bat, ball or in the field, led to a comfortable win on a bitterly cold day in St Albans. For a second week Reed lost the toss and OA’s captain decided to have a bowl. Ian Fulk and Steve Lovegrove started steadily; keeping the score board moving at 4 runs an over. The score was on 65 when Lovegrove was unlucky to be caught in the covers for 29. The fielder managing to deflect a drive into the air as he fell over, the ball then landed and lodged in his lap. The Reed batsman continued to score at a steady rate, even after the loss of Richard Robertson and Ian Fulk in quick succession, Fulk losing his wicket after a well constructed 51. George Garrott (16) and Julian Fynn (39) made good contributions but it was young Sam Deville who really attacked the OA bowlers. His knock of 51 not out, consisted of 7 fours and an enormous 6. Matthew Naeem, batting for the first time in the thirds, finished 23 not out. Reed declared on 236 for 5 after 45 overs. The OA’s batting proved to be stronger than their bowling, after losing one of their openers in the first over to a catch by Garrott of the bowling of Fynn, they continued to keep pace with the run rate. The Reed opening attack of Julian Fynn (6-1-14) and James Hooper (8-0-35) toiled away with little success. It was the introduction of Richard Robertson (8-2-35) and Christian Martin (6-2-34) supported by some excellent catches that brought an end to any chance of an OA’s win. The tail was [...]

Match report to follow

A good all round performance by Reed resulted in a much needed win at home to the Exiles. The Exiles Skipper won the toss and much too the home teams surprise chose to bat first. The Reed opening attack of Julian Fynn (8-3-0-16) and Karl Ward (13-3-2-37) bowled tightly keeping the run rate to just over 2 an over. Ward removed the Exiles skipper very early in the innings, having him caught behind for 6. The Exiles batsman struggled to score runs and after 16 overs had limped to 42 for 1. A change of bowling saw wickets start to fall; Jason Archer bowled a spell of 12 overs taking 2 for 29, but it was Ian Roberts who cut through the Exiles middle order, taking 4 for 36 of his 11 overs. Richard Robertson (3-0-2-10) came on a cleared up the tail. Exiles finished on 144 all out after their 47 overs, helped by the umpires liberal interpretation of Cricketing Laws, especially the LBW rules. 144 runs was never going to be enough, with the two opening Reed batsman in good run scoring form. Matt Bowles and Fergus Martin set about the Exiles bowling, Martin (84n.o) batting with some confidence reached his 50 first hitting 13 boundaries. Bowles not at his fluent best was still too good for the bowlers, and finished on 55n.o. Reed reached their target of 145 runs in the 29th over, a comprehensive 10 wicket win and 30 points.

Momentum is vital at this stage of the season and Reed IIIs travelled to Henlow to face Letchworth Saturday with plenty and an abundance of confidence. After winning the toss skipper Naeem backed both his bowlers and batsmen by asking the hosts to bat on a sweltering day on what appeared to be a good looking wicket and an obviously fast outfield. Taking the new ball opening pair of Karl Ward and Rupert Martin bowled with determination and no little skill, Martin picking up 3 of the top 4 again with his inswingers. Although runs did come freely for remaining opener Young. The introduction of Archer who has found a yard of pace in recent weeks slowed down the run rate, as he kept the batsmen on a very tight leash. Bowling was hard work but with Fynn now introduced to the hunt batting was seemingly harder and Reed continued to peg back some good Letchworth batting. Only some inexplicably dropped catches by Matt Bowles in slips and midwicket dampened the spirits although youngster Cemal fielded superbly and compensated by saving several possible boundaries. Wickets fell to Archer batsmen 5 and 6 both cleaned bowled as Archer extracted movement from the air and the pitch.Letchworth were feeling the pressure of Reed's vice like grip and Heath and More both succumbed to run outs, in an attempt to push the score along. Eventually Young removed some of the shackles ruining the returning Martin's figures with some lusty blows and riding his luck against Archer, but Letchworth's 167-7 was never going to be enough, Young finished on 119 not out with only one other batsman finishing with a double figure score. Solid opener Ben Bowles opened the attack with his [...]

A comfortable home win for the thirds saw them gain promotion to Division 10 with one league game in hand. Reed Skipper Naeem won the toss and put the visitors in on a damp track, and the Reed opening attack of Rupert Martin and Jason Archer went to work removing the two opening bats in double quick time, Archer bowling his first victim with his first ball. The eccentric Nithya batting at 3 for Knebworth and Inman in at 4 put up a little resistance before Archer bowled Nithya (18) through his legs and had Inman (13) adjudged LBW. Martin also was in the wickets and there was a regular procession of dejected batsman trudging back to the changing rooms. Archer took his second 5 wicket haul in as many weeks, leaving the visitors on 53 with one wicket in hand. Guy Johnson batting at 10 decided to go for broke, swinging at everything that came within his arc in an effort to post a respectable score. Not pretty but very effective, the ball started to fly to the boundary at regular intervals requiring Reed to set a more defensive field. The tiring Martin was replaced by Julian Flynn and it was Fynn who claimed the wicket of Johnson (33) to bring the Knebworth innings to a close. It has to be said, the catch at gully by Archer to remove Johnson was outstanding; the ball, hit with some venom, appeared to be over Archers head and on the way to the boundary, when he leapt up and plucked it single handed out of the air. Martin finished with 4 - 37 -17, Archer 5 – 52 – 17 and Fynn 1 – 2 -0.5. [...]

Reed 3rd XI maintained their excellent run of form as they swept aside previously high flying Hertford 4s at home on Saturday, and in doing so propelled themselves to within 1 point of the promotion spots. Having won the toss, visiting skipper Carr had no hesitation in batting first on what has proven to be a usually high run scoring Freman College. However, this decision soon backfired as Reed opening bowlers Rupert Martin (8-1-31-5) and Karl Ward (10-2-31-2) soon had Hertford in a whole heap of trouble, with the visitors reeling on 10-4 inside the opening 5 Overs. Ward bowled an excellent line and length, whilst Martin got the ball to swing more than a middle aged German couple, and in doing so, taking his first 5-wicket haul of the 2010 season. Change bowlers Julien Fynn (5.1-0-17-1) and the ageing Jason Archer (4-3-4-2) then picked up where Martin and Ward left off, taking the last 3 wickets to leave Hertford shell shocked, all out for 86 in 27.1 Overs. Reed skipper Maseeh Naeem reunited brothers Matt and Ben Bowles at the top of the order, with both batsmen in good form of late. The pair made light work of the Hertford bowling attack, as Ben Bowles (33) punished anything short and wide, with 3 or 4 domineering shots through the covers, and Matt Bowles (43 Not Out) stylishly dispatching the ever more frustrated visitors to all parts. Ben Bowles eventually fell, bowled by Lait with only 26 left needed to win, but Ian Fulk (2 Not Out) joined Matt Bowles as he saw Reed home inside 15 Overs, and by 15:10.

Not a lot can be said about this win away to Hemel Hempstead V. Having won the toss Reed Skipper Maseeh Naeem put the home side in. Hemel, who are propping up division 11, were blown away by the opening pair of Karl Ward and Rupert Martin. The two bowlers made good use of the prevailing conditions and had the hosts on 22 for nine, with Martin taking 4 – 14 in 9 overs and Man of the Match, Ward, finishing on 5 – 15 off of his nine over spell. The heavens then opened up and it seemed that the home side would be saved from a crushing defeat by the rain but after an hour’s delay the game resumed. The last pair of bats decided to make a fight of it and managed to put on 29 more runs before Jason Archer (6.1-0-9-1) finally ended their resistance. The home side 51 all out. The bowlers were well supported by the fielders, with 7 catches taken, Ben Bowles taking 3 of them.With the likelihood of more rain, Naeem wanted to reach the target of 52 as quickly as possible. Ian Fulk (22 n.o) and Roddi Liebenberg were the opening Reed batsman. The Hemel bowlers had no counter to Liebenberg as he bludgeoned the bowl to the boundary for a swift 22 before being bowled with one that stayed low. Fulk was joined in the middle by Richard Johnson (5 n.o) and the pair saw Reed home in 5.5 overs, and a 9 wicket win. The win and 30 points saw Reed leapfrog Frogmore and go into second place. With four games left the Thirds are in with a good chance of promotion.