Reed into the National stages of the Persimmon Village Cup for the first time since 2008, travelled to Rottingdean on the East Sussex coast.Winning the toss captain Lee Johnson had no hesitation in inserting the hosts. His decision proved the right one as both openers were quickly dispatched back to the pavillion with only 21 on the board, Lee Johnson and Jack Tidey with the wickets, younger brother Sean Tidey taking both wickets caught behind. It got no better for the home team as Johnson removed Corrigal and J Grantham to leave Rottingdean stareing down the barrell at 33 for 4. After a brief respite Chris Peckett and Ed Garrott combined to dismiss Clarke (52 for 5). It took a sixty run partnership by M Grantham and Shepherd to start to bring some respectability to the East Sussex League's total but further inroads by Peckett and wiley off-spinner Tom Greaves meant Rottingdean were 130 for 8 with just three overs of their allotted forty left. Some lusty hitting by the late order batsmen Bickmore and Smith left Rottingdean on 153 for 8 at the close of their innings. Lee Johnson 3-26, Chris Peckett 2-27 and Tom Greaves 2-38 the main wicket takers.Reed openers Tom Greaves and Ed Garrott got the visitors off to a great start, Garrott playing the anchor role to Greaves shot maker. 74 was made before Garrott was bowled by Potter for 15, Karl Ward went quickly and Reed was left on 76 for 2. Stuart Smith, hero of the team in their last round victory over North Mymms came to join Greaves, and they together began to build an imposing partnership, just as it looked as Reed were going to throttle [...]

Reed progressed to the national stages of the National Village Cup by beating North Mymms by 8 wickets in the Regional Final on Sunday. Skipper James Heslam lost the toss and found him and his bowlers being asked to take the new ball. Lee Johnson (1-35) and Jack Tidey (1-30) opened up for Reed and instantly made use of the new ball by injecting some bounce out of the pitch. North Mymms openers Wynne and Clemants batted sensibly and moved the ball around well, picking up singles along with some nice cricket shots. It was Johnson who got the first wicket fro Reed, beating Wynne for pace and bounce and Sean Tidey taking the catch behind the stumps. Saxeby was next to follow, leaving North Mymms on 60-2. Carter and Clemants then took it upon themselves to rebuild the innings, putting on 61 for the third wicket. The introduction of the in form Chris Peckett (5-31) however saw the end of Clemants, and this followed by a flurry of wickets within the middle order, leaving the lower order to pick up singles in the aim to build a defendable total. On the final delivery of the innings, Peckett trapped Davies LBW to top a fine bowling display by Reed.In reply Reed got off ot the worst possible start losing Heslam first ball of the innings and Tom Greaves in the 2nd over. At 5-2, the tails of the North Mymms players were up sensing a victory. However Chris Jackson and Stuart Smith had other ideas. The pair saw off the new ball, and patiently moved the ball around the park looking to rebuild the innings and build a platform to win the game. Smith reached [...]

Reed played their third fixture of the weekend against Hitchin based Preston. The first and second team unfortunately tasted defeat in their opening Hertfordshire league fixtures on the Saturday but Richard Barlow took a strong team featuring players from various XI's for the Sunday friendly fixture there. Having scored 74 for the second team on the Saturday the ball was thrown to Mitchell Cooper to begin the bowling and he made it a weekend to remember with a devastating opening spell that accounted for the first four batsman. Barlow could not have hoped for a better start with Preston toiling on 9 for 4. Cooper was supported by young County bowler Walsingham who showed maturity beyond his age to end with figures of 0-8 from six overs. The ball was then given to J. Tidey who had bowled from the same end on Saturday. He disposed of the Preston captain and ran close to Coopers four wicket haul with 3-10. Preston stuttered to a respectable 146 all out courtesy of some lusty blows by Hill (67). Wheeler (1-13) and Peckett (1-17) were the other Reed wicket takers and bowled subsequently bowled very productively. Matt Bowles followed up his hundred against Barley by importantly running out Preston's last batsman to give Reed every chance of chasing the 147 needed for victory.Many people may well have assumed that opening pair McKechnie and Greaves would not get Reed off to a productive reply as both were treated to an array of hot and cold food at tea-time and stumbled out somewhat uncomfortably to face the first ball. Six overs later those fears were unfounded as the pair bludgeoned 42 without loss. Greaves (25) scored what can only be [...]

On Sunday Reed entertained division one Langleybury in the quarter finals of the National Village Cup. Reed captain James Heslam won the toss and elected to chase on what was a decent looking Reed wicket. The visitors started reasonably well but Reed weren’t letting them get away. The game was well balanced with Langleybury 43-0 after 12 overs, when the impressive Lee Johnson (3-36) made the breakthrough as the dangerous Amin (32) fell going for one big shot too many, Ed Garrott taking an excellent catch at Mid off. Johnson then took two more wickets in his next two overs and supported by the reliable Graham Wilson who went for just 33 in his 9 overs they put the game firmly in the balance with the visitors 68-3 after 17 overs. Number 5 Channer (39) however then joined opener R Oxley (72) and they took Langleybury to 150 for 3 after 33 overs. This was a good position for the visitors but they had still not got away completely and with an excellent last 7 overs Reed managed to restrict them to just 190-5 from their 40 overs. Spinners Garrott (1-43) and Greaves (1-38) bowled nicely and Jack Tidey produced an impressive last two overs.In reply Reed started slowly against the useful Langleybury openers who took the early wickets of Greaves (6) and Ward (8) leaving them on 30-2 after 11 overs. However, this brought Smith to the crease and he and Heslam (38) went about improving the situation for the home side. They did just this and at 97-2 after 24 overs the platform had been set for a push for victory. However the rate still had to be upped so it was unfortunate [...]

Reed made it through to the National Village Cup area final on Sunday in another nail biting encounter this time away to in form Division 3 side Eversholt. Lee Johnson, making his village cup debut as captain standing in for the injured Heslam won the toss and elected to bowl to make the most of some overnight dampness in the wicket. And Johnson (2-33) led from the front taking two early wickets in an excellent opening spell, one thanks also to a superb catch by keeper Sean Tidey. Johnson was supported by Jack Tidey (1-44) who also picked up an early breakthrough and this saw Eversholt struggling at 36 for 3 after 12 overs. Although the home side then began to consolidate, with Mitchell Cooper bowling well and the impressive Peckett (2-36) also hitting his lines, Reed were continuing to restrict their opponents. However, a potential platform had been set and this suddenly seemed to be the case as Eversholt’s lower middle order began to let loose. On a small ground, difficult to defend the boundaries began to be hit and the home side had an excellent last 10 overs to post a very challenging score of 214-7 from their 40 overs.Although, on a good batting wicket and a small sized ground, this was going to be a tough ask for the visitors. However, they set off in the right tone with makeshift opener Sean Tidey (15) and the in form Tom Greaves (26) hitting 5 sixes between them in the first 10 overs. However, they both fell looking to find further boundaries and at 47-2 after 12 overs the game was certainly in the balance. This position continued as Karl Ward (29) and Stuart [...]

On Sunday Reed entertained Forest Gate on a glorious day at The Green. After the retirement of captain Ed Blissett last week, it was the responsibility of Richard Barlow to successfully win the toss and elect to bat on what looked to be a very good batting surface.Openers William Heslam and Stuart Smith made a steady start, punishing the bad ball and playing some classy strokes before Heslam departed for 25 as S.Sharif claimed his first wicket. At 36-1, Sean Tidey came in to partner Smith as they looked to increase the run rate. Tidey played confidently from ball 1 and raced to 50 before Smith was bowled by O.Sher for a well crafted 37. Marcus J E Baker then strode out to the wicket looking to continue with the aggressive intent that Reed had displayed early on. The pair did just this as Reed reached 163-2 at the drinks interval. After a break from the late July sunshine, Reed carried on where they had left off by playing with class, power and confidence with Tidey in particular impressing bringing up a brutal century. He hit the ball to all parts of the ground with perfect timing and amassed 17 boundaries before retiring after raising his bat. Barlow came in to bat and led by example, supporting Baker as the pair found gaps in the field and reached the boundary regularly. The duo brought up their 50's with the powerful Baker retiring on 53 and the intricate Barlow, who brought up his 50 with a fantastic reverse sweep before he too retired on exactly 50. Reed capped off thier innings with some lusty blows from Rob Willoughby (6), Tom Greaves (6*) and Matthew Bowles who made 16 including a gigantic [...]

Reed Ist XI entertained Elmdon Ist XI on Sunday 23rd July in a 40 overs a-side friendly game.Elmdon won the toss and on a pitch that had been enlivened by recent rain, put Reed into bat. Stuart Smith and Ed Blissett opened the batting for Reed. Smith was soon into his stride playing some powerful drives whilst Blissett accumulated at the other end. The openers reached their 50 partnership in the 9th over after which Smith accelerated strongly. He rapidly achieved his 50 with some lusty blows and continued to hit the ball hard as the score mounted rapidly. Blissett at the other end was now manoeuvring the ball smoothly into gaps, as the openers posted their 100 partnership in the 16th over. Smith eventually fell, stumped off Starr for 95, whilst looking to hit yet another boundary. Greaves now joined Blissett and was soon a series of fine shots. Blissett completed his 50, at which point he retired hurt with a reoccurrence of a troublesome shin splint injury.Fergus Martin now joined Greaves and ably supported him, in building the Reed total. Greaves quickly passed his fifty and was now driving and sweeping to great effect. As the innings reached its last over Greaves needed only 3 more runs to complete his century. It looked as though he would be denied this opportunity as Martin was in strike and hit two fours, off the 2nd and 3rd balls of the over. Eventually though Greaves got to the strikers end and with a ball to spare completed his 100. The innings closed with Reed making an impressive 286 for 1.Cooper and Haslam opened the bowling after tea. Both bowlers troubled the Elmdon openers, but it was [...]

Reed began their Sunday friendly fixtures with the first of two annual matches against Barley. Captain Ed Blissett shared the duties with Richard Barlow in a sun-blessed Easter Sunday up at Reed. It was Barley who won the toss and elected to field, this appeared to be the correct decision as opening bowler Shah dispatched of Smith (0) and Barlow (5). Barley must be sick of the site of Sean Tidey though; the talented youngster racked up a double century last year against them and quickly made amends for a sluggish Reed start by posting (53) however it was Matt Bowles who contributed most to Reed's forty over total and set himself up nicely for the league season ahead with his first ton of 2011. Bowles was run out for 104 shortly after Lovegrove (6) had departed but more importantly the total was a healthy 222. This subsequently finished on 242 thanks to Blissett (33*) and Tidey (13*). Barley to their credit came out and had a real go at the Reed total with openers George and Bedell scoring 25 and 39 respectively. Spin bowler Jason Pallett had other ideas though. The likeable Pallett chose to play infrequently last season but announced his return to regular cricket with astonishing figures of 4-3 from eight overs! Peckett (2-27) began the wicket-taking, him and Pallett were aptly supported by other bowlers Walsingham (1-29), West (1-18), C. Martin (1-14) and even normal wicketkeeper S. Tidey (1-1) to bowl the visitors out for 159 and make the victory a real team effort with some sharp catches from supporting fielders.