Reed made light work of Watford Town on a rain soaked day at the Green, taking them to 3rd place in Herts Division 2. Watford won the toss and and made the bold decision to bat, on a wicket that had been covered from the overnight and morning rain but had a hint of green to it. Lee Johnson and Jack Tidey opened up and made great use of the new ball and the moisture in the wicket. Jack in particular bowled an excellent spell of bowling, creating plenty of movement, bounce and pace. It was Tidey who looked the most dangerous and claimed the first scalp, having Konx neatly caught at slip. At the other end, Sen was punishing another full and took Watford to 63-1. Skipper Heslam made the quick decision to introduce Tom Greaves to the attack and Reed were soon rewarded. Tom bowled with good flight and guile throughout his marathon spell, finishing with fine figures of 4-47. After a long rain break and an early tea, Jack Tidey returned to finish off the Watford tail, finishing with figures of 3-43 with Watford ending on 163.With the dark clouds looming all around, Reed altered their batting order and the name of the game was to knock off the runs before the rain put halt to the game. Heslam and Greaves opened up for Reed and quickly made their intentions clear. Reed reached 100 in just 11 overs before the rain came down and covers went on. Anticipating more rain, when Heslam and Greaves returned back to the crease they continued where they left off. Greaves was however first to go, caught in the deep for a majestic innings of classy strokeplay [...]

Reed travelled to table toppers Cockfosters looking to add to their previous convincing win the week earlier.  Having lost the toss, Reed were put into a bat on a wicket that looked flat but was still holding some moisture from the morning rain. Mckechnie soon got into the Cockfoster's bowling, punishing anything short of a length.  Reed were unfortunate to lose Jackson with the score on 52, adjudged LBW despite the ball missing his pad.However, Reed pressed hard and continued to move the ball around the park with ease, and the first of many expansive shots of the day commenced. Ward (29) batted convincingly well, and Reed looked in a strong position to build a big total. However, two runs short of his fifty, Mckechnie was adjudged LBW. This brought Tom Greaves to the crease, who showed no signs of the effects of no sleep, and ruthlessly punished anything short and full  in an excellent inning of 86.Ably supported by Jack Tidey (30), Reed pushed past the 200 mark before Jack was adjudged LBW.  Looking to see out the overs and build a respectable target, it was down to skipper Heslam to see Reed into their final overs. Manoeuvring the ball well along with Chris Peckett, Heslam couldn't see the innings through undefeated, and was out in the final over LBW to M Sayers with Reed on 235.In response, Cockfosters lost the early wicket of Reid, bowled by paceman Lee Johnson.  This brought Sayers to the crease, who along with O'Leary smashed anything straight, short, full and wide, making optimum use of the short boundary.   Some very attacking batting, coupled with some short bowling saw Cockfosters race away.  A number of bowling changes in attempt to stop the onslaught did buy the wicket of O'Leary, [...]

An excellent 97 from skipper James Heslam was not quite enough to see Reed home in an exciting run chase against Shenley Village on Saturday. Winning the toss, Shenley opened up and found the pace and bounce of Jack Tidey difficult to play, and it was Tidey who got the early breakthrough. Next at the crease was Shenley's international import Dion Ebrahim. With 82 one day internationals and 29 Test matches to his his name, he failed on his debut at Reed with Graham Wilson picking up his key wicket with the score on 33. As the game moved on, wickets fell at regular intervals and Shenley moved gradually onto 200 before Hameed hit a few lusty blows to move the visitors onto 218-9 off their 53 overs. Tom Greaves was the pick of the Reed bowlers, picking up 4 wickets in a lengthy 20 over spell.In reply, Reed got off to a solid start with Heslam manoeuvring the ball all round the park with relative ease. Throughout the run chase Reed appeared to be in total control, however an uncharacteristic flurry of middle order wickets set the wheels in motion for the Shenley boys to gather momentum. From a position of control, Reed somehow appeared to lose sight of the simple target ahead, putting pressure on the tail to win the game. Requiring 17 to win with two wickets remaining, Shenley picked up the final wickets leaving Reed 11 runs short, rueing a victory that should have been. Shenley Village Scorecard

Reed again provided great entertainment for the neutral in their Herts League fixture with Broxbourne on Saturday.  In an exciting game, culminating in Broxbourne requiring a six off the last ball and Reed requiring just the one wicket, the match was drawn with Reed picking up a fruitful 19 points out of the game. Having lost the toss and put into bat following the morning rain, Reed had the tougher of the batting conditions.  Broxbourne openers bowled tightly and made the most of the moisture in the wicket.  Captain James Heslam, making his season debut following the birth of his son, made an outstanding 124 in Reed's total of 205-9, punishing anything loose, before he was runout from a direct hit with just 2 overs to go.  Heslam  was impressive throughout, and clearly the pick of the Reed's batsman, and was supported well by brothers Jack and Sean Tidey, whom both batted with maturity beyond their years. Quite content with their total, Reed bowlers attacked Broxbourne from the outset.   However, the wicket had dried out and was now resembling a good batting track.  Broxbourne's openers batted patiently, with Graham Wilson causing the most trouble bowling up the hill.   In Pedlar and Glassberg, Broxbourne made batting look comfortable and found themselves in a strong position with just the one wicket down.  However, a double bowling change, which introduced Jackson (2-20) and Greaves (3-41) to the attack, saw the balance of the game change.  The fall of wickets, including that of Pedlar and an excellent runout from Heslam of Glassberg, saw the Broxbourne attack falter under the pressure of chasing a run a ball for the remaining 8 overs.  Another excellent runout, this time from Graham Wilson, and well held catch from debutant Mitchell Cooper combined with some tight bowling eventually left [...]

Reed travelled to newly promoted Abbots Langley on Saturday looking to continue their good run of form. Missing a couple of keys players, Reed skipper James Heslam arrived at the ground to find the track had been uncovered, and the heavy overnight rain had left the pitch wet and sticky. With the forecast set to be warm and sunny, Reed won the toss and elected to bowl, looking to make good use of the conditions. However, the Reed openers struggled with their run-ups under the conditions and bowled loosely, making life too easy for the Abbots Langley openers. Some frequent bowling changes failed to turn the tide, and Reed continued to offer the home team an easy ride with too many run scoring balls being delivered. Inglis was the pick of the Abbots Langley batsman, hitting an impressive 94, but all could have been different if Reed had taken two early chances to dismiss the Australian. Runs continued at a steady pace, and a splutter of wickets in the latter overs saw the run rate slip slightly, leaving the home side setting a challenging target of 246 for the loss of 5 wickets.With just 44 overs to chase down 246, Reed needed to set the tempo early on. However their poor day continued, losing early wickets cheaply whilst looking to chase the total. The Abbots Langley openers bowled in the right areas, and made good use of the new ball and the drying track. The Reed batsman, like their bowlers , failed to turn up and rise to the occasion. Wickets tumbled quickly and cheaply, with only Sean Tidey making a short cameo of clean hitting. Reed lost their final wicket with the score on [...]