Wormley had no hesitation in batting first on the hard and fast pitch at Freman College, Buntingford, the Reed second ground. Starting cautiously, the openers could not score freely and were restricted to only 22 runs off the first dozen overs. Young Joe Graves bowled a tight line conceding a mere 14 from his six-over spell but with a couple of chances going-down. Stalwart Christian Martin was unlucky not to take a wicket but again was economical with 0 for 24 from 12 overs. Wormley’s number 3, Armsby, was more adventurous and reached 60 after being given at least four lives by the slippery-handed Reed fielders. He finally holed-out to Alan Ward off Reece Fitzgerald’s bowling. Reece stepped-in from the Reed Under 13s and did not look out of place in “Open-Age” cricket. He bowled well within himself with accurate and well-pitched deliveries taking 3 for 52 from a 13-over spell. Towards the end of the innings, Michael Robertson, making his first appearance in Reed colours for 3 years, got some real pace and bounce from the pitch and bagged 3 for 17. Christian Martin was involved in 2 Run-outs and Joe Graves one, as Wormley were all-out for 189 off the last ball of their 47-over innings.Reed opened their reply with Peter Baker and Alan Ward, their fourth opening combination in the last four matches. Ward was out quickly which brought the in-form John Kershaw to the crease. He soon overtook Baker and his first 11 scoring shots were all boundary fours. Baker went for 43 after a second wicket partnership of 129 with Kershaw. But Reed then lost their way a little. Kershaw was out for 84, (including 18 fours), there then were [...]

That first win of the season remained elusive for Reed’s Fourth XI when they once again had their opposition 9 wickets down at the conclusion. Batting first on an artificial wicket in Welwyn Garden City, Reed’s young opening pair of George Garrott and Will Heslam quickly posted a half-century stand in only 7 overs with some rasping shots to the boundary. Heslam was unfortunate to pick-out the backward square leg fielder with a cleanly hit pull that just carried enough and he departed for 21. Garrott continued to reach 46 which included nine boundaries. Richard Robertson came and went thus leaving Josh Conley and John Kershaw together with the score on 90 for 3 after 17 overs. Conley played his usual role by hitting balls in his arc to the boundary and he too scored 21. John Heslam made 16 by the time he was caught at the wicket which brought in the captain, Peter Baker, at number 7 when the score was 174 for 5 with just 10 overs left. Kershaw had passed his second successive fifty and he and Baker then accelerated. They completed an unbroken alliance of 83 for the 6th wicket as the innings concluded at 257 for 5. Baker was 28 not out, but outstandingly John Kershaw notched-up an undefeated 101 in the last over.With an array of bowlers packed in the Reed team, Christian Martin and Chris West opened the bowling. West picked-up 2 for 34 before he was replaced by young leg-spinner Rhoddri Hughes. Ian Roberts was brought on in place of Martin and in an economical spell of 8 overs took 1 for 16. Meanwhile Hughes, assisted by some excellent catching by the fielders and glove work [...]

Reed IVs dropped lower in the Division as a result of their poor showing in the match against Watford Town on Saturday. A contentious umpiring decision that went in favour of Watford’s opening batsman who went on to make 76 did not help Reed’s cause but after that the fielders did not support the bowlers and spilled 5 catches as Watford compiled 243 for 5 at the declaration after 45 overs. Christian Martin found some form by taking 3 for 40. Young leg-break bowler, Rhoddri Hughes, snared the other 2 wickets to fall. Cemal Ramadan fielded brilliantly and must have saved an estimated 25 runs in the outfield by his committed chasing, retrieving and throwing.Needing a solid start, the worst happened as skipper, Peter Baker, drilled a long-hop towards the bowler’s head in the second over of Reed’s innings and he managed to cling-on to the catch. Richard Robertson, (14), stayed for a while but everyone else apart from young Ramadan failed to pass 7. Cemal simply had fearless fun and scored 40 out of Reed’s final total of 74. After a defeat to Hatfield Hyde, an abandoned match and this loss to Watford Town, Reed IVs have notched-up only 15 points in the last three matches. Midway through the season, they now need to start putting some consistently good performances together to re-establish their standing if they hope to contest a promotion spot. Reed IV 0 points; Watford Town III 30 points.

Reed decided to bat first after winning the toss but inexplicably were soon in trouble at 27 for 4. Step forward two of the promising youngsters from Reed’s Colts’ structure. Calmly, Dominick McOmish, (26), and Jack Caine, (17), added another 47 for the 5th wicket with some well-timed boundaries. The scoring rate was never a problem although wickets tumbled regularly thereafter. Richard Robertson scored 20 and Reece Fitzgerald 15, and with some further resistance from the rest of the lower order, Reed were all-out for just 125 in only 24 overs. This meant that Shenley Village had a total of 66 overs in which to achieve their required target at fewer than 2 runs per over.Tea was taken after the first fifteen-over session. At this point, the hosts were already 4 wickets down. Veteran campaigners, Ian Roberts and Richard Robertson, had opened the bowling attack for Reed and once in their stride had made life difficult for the batsmen. Robertson took 3 for 40 before being replaced by 13-year-old Reece Fitzgerald whose stature as an off-spin bowler has grown match-by-match this season. Ian Roberts continued and settled into a long spell of 16 overs eventually ending with an economical 2 for 25 as he mesmerised the batsmen with his trademark full-length out-swingers.Fitzgerald meanwhile flighted his deliveries and varied his pace trapping 2 batters early-on in his spell. Warren Seeley batting at number 4 saw his team-mates come and go and virtually played a lone hand although Woodward stayed with him for a period that looked as if they might see Shenley home to victory. Alan Ward took-over from the tiring Roberts and conceded only 11 runs from 7 overs, but it was young Fitzgerald who [...]

When Chris Marshall and George Garrott ripped through the Rosedale top-order batting taking 3 wickets a-piece, it was only a matter of time before Reed achieved victory. Because of bowling restrictions on young pace bowlers, Under 15 colt Marshall had figures of 3 for 22 from 6 overs and Garrott, 3 for 14 in his 7 over spell before they both had to be replaced. Reeling with 6 wickets down only the opening batsman, Colin Winter, got into double figures for the hosts as he top-scored with 43 before he became the second of Reece Fitzgerald's three scalps. Change bowlers Ian Roberts took 1 for 17 from 9 overs, and Fitzgerald, (from Reed's Under 13s squad), returned figures of 3 for 21 from his 9 overs of off-spin.Earlier, Reed's innings had faltered at 24 for 2 but George Garrott, (31), then added 94 in partnership with Dominick McOmish, (41), in a display of finely-placed and sweetly-timed shots. Alan Ward scored 37 whilst some lusty hitting was produced by Rob Willoughby, (17), and Ian Roberts, (16 n.o.), enabling Reed to close on a strong 216 for 7.The rout ended with Rosedale all-out for 88 some 128 short of their target as wicket keeper Ian Curtis and fielders Swain, Baker and Fitzgerald supported the bowlers by taking some excellent catches. Reed have now improved 5 positions in their Division in the past 2 weeks and have clambered away from the relegation zone with four matches to play.

On the Second ground at Rickmansworth which was full of weeds with stones scattered on parts of the outfield, Reed’s openers set-off in watchful fashion. The pitch had been dampened and each delivery was unpredictable, but Peter Baker and Paul Garrott were solid enough until Baker mis-judged the capabilities of the mid-on fielder and was run-out for 13 with the score on 18. Enter Richard Robertson who accompanied Garrott until both had passed their half-centuries. Robertson in particular applied excellent footwork in straight driving the bowlers. The partnership had added 117 when Robertson was bowled for 51. Rob Willoughby began in belligerent mood by cracking successive boundaries through and over the on-side. Paul Garrott eventually fell for a more than competent 88 but Willoughby continued in hard-hitting form and pressed on to 71 not out when the innings closed on 258 for 4.Christian Martin was soon amongst the wickets when Rickmansworth batted and his spell of 10 overs provided him with 3 for 21. Spinner Nick Green flighted his deliveries well to take 1 for 21 and Alan Ward took 1 for 9, but chief wicket-taker was Ian Roberts who returned 4 for 31. Frustratingly for Reed however, the number 11 held-out for the last 3 overs thus earning the draw, although 134 runs behind at the end. Match Drawn. Reed IV 19 points; Rickmansworth IV 1 point.

Paul Garrott’s amazing run-gathering continued on Saturday as he remained undefeated on 74 not out when the Reed innings closed at 184 for 4. This was his third successive half-century in the three league matches played so far. Alan Ward, (16 n.o.), is yet to be dismissed this season and after useful contributions from Ben Bowles, (22), and the double six-hitting Josh Conley, (19), Reed once again achieved maximum batting points.However, what was quite an uneven and, at time, dangerous pitch early-on, appeared to have smoothed-out for the Old Elizabethans’ reply. Reed were able to take only 3 wickets, (2 of them by Richard Robertson), as they went down by 7 wickets with 3 overs to spare.

Reed’s fourth eleven hosted Langlebury in their opening game of the 2011 league season. The fours missed promotion narrowly last year and were eager to make amends and with two victories in their last two encounters with the visitors Peter Bakers side were confident of another win.Reed batted first and Paul Garrott was soon picking up from where he left off last year with another 50, whilst his opening partner P. Baker made 16 before being replaced at the wicket by under 15 Dominic McOmish. Reed then lost two wickets before Graham Hazard, making his return after a year out, joined McOmish. The pair made a partnership of 81 beating the previous fourth wicket partnership, ‘Bunker’ Hazard finding the boundary often whilst the younger of the two was happy to play the ball around the field as he accumulated singles. Hazard (47) was lost just shy of fifty whilst McOmish was rewarded for his mature and ever more confident innings with his maiden league half century eventually falling for a well crafted 78. Alan Ward made a cameo of 14 not out as Reed finished their 47 overs on 227 for 5.Reed got two early wickets, one each for Matt Giblin (7-1-29-1) and Christian Martin (10-2-46-1) but Langlebury fought back and their number 3 and 4 went the distance as McFarlane (97*) and Murray (111*) knocked off the runs as the visitors one by 8 wickets. A disappointing start for Reed but it’s a long summer and the fourths will be even more eager now to get into division twelve.

Reed Fourth XI clocked-up a much needed victory against second-placed Flitwick and moved 2 spots up the table as a result. Played at the free-scoring Freman College venue, Flitwick set-off well and all of the first four batsmen scored decent runs, Dales reaching 69. James Hooper, (2 for 49), bowled with pace and earned two wickets on his returning spell. Unfortunately, fellow opener, Will Kirby, suffered a leg injury which necessitated a visit to A & E after conceding only 3 runs from his shortened 4 over spell. However, veteran bowlers Richard Robertson, (2 for 27 from 12 overs) and Ian Roberts, (0 for 37 from 11), took over and kept the brake on the visitors. Reece Fitzgerald chipped-in with 1 for 23 and Nick Green probably saved approximately 25 runs by his athletic fielding. Confident that they had a sufficient total, the Flitwick skipper declared on 220 for 5 thus giving Reed 44 overs to bat.An opening stand of 72 between Peter Baker and Paul Garrott, (14), was racked-up in just 10 overs after which the strongly-built James Hooper arrived for his first outing of the year for the Fourths. Presenting a broad bat to the pace bowling, Hooper raced to 38 in a stand of 93 with Baker in the following 17 overs. Alan Ward replaced Hooper and carried-on in his run-stealing fashion with some quickly taken singles interspersed with 7 boundaries. Baker finally fell for 76 including 13 fours and it remained only for Rob Willoughby to accompany Ward, who was undefeated on 41, to the finishing line and a well-deserved 30 points with more than 8 overs unused and 7 wickets in hand.

Reed IV did themselves no favours in the League and currently reside in 14th position with a third of the season gone. Hatfield Hyde set-off well to reach 40 for 1 from the first 8 overs, with Joe Graves bagging the wicket, but then meandered and scored only 50 from the next 22 overs. The introduction of Richard Robertson, (1 for 34 from 14 overs), and Reece Fitzgerald, (2 for 21 from 10), restricted their scoring opportunities. Dan Howard and Ian Roberts held onto good catches although other chances went begging but even then, the hosts did not really accelerate out of sight and their overall run rate was only 4.2 runs per over as they closed on 199 for 5 from their allotted 47 overs.Having only 43 overs in their innings, Reed required a run rate of only 4.6 and needed their senior batsmen to contribute with some solid scores. Sadly, it did not happen. Opener Peter Baker fell for 15 and remained top-scorer until Reece Fitzgerald batted at number eight, and also scored 15. Christian Martin batted for the first time in the League this season and clubbed 3 boundaries in his 12 not out and accompanied by Graves had some fun at the end by brining the Reed reply up to 76. Young Matt Catterick had earlier taken 5 Reed wickets to effectively scupper their hopes this week.