Reed 2nd XI struggled again this week. The visitors lost the toss and were put on to bat. The wicket looked like a good one and losing the toss wouldn’t make much difference. Openers Baz Curtis and Ben Bowles made a solid start against some tight bowling. The pair had put on 24 before R. Stevenson struck. Curtis was next to go for 19 with the score on 33. Reed managed only 57 runs by drinks in the 27th over, losing 5 wickets. Marcus Baker and Richard Barlow added promising 30 before Barlow was removed for 6. Things looked brighter when Baker and Alex Kelly started to move the ball around nicely and with some good running put on 37. Baker reached a well deserved 50, but the innings run out of steam and Reed were left 139 all out, one run short of 2 vital batting points.Reed’s bowlers have done well this season and it looked they may deliver again. Tom Walsingham struck in the first over to leave the home side 0-1. Baker and Pepper had other ideas and with some very positive batting raced to 90 before Pepper was removed by Alex Kelly. Rupert Martin had Ward stumped for a duck and it looked like Reed may have a sniff, but Baker reached his 50 before being bowled by Martin for 51. Ryan and Spinks made sure their was no mishaps for the home side and they reached their target with 6 wickets to spare.

It was another disappointing display by Reed’s 2nd XI batsmen. They couldn’t provide the skill required to backup another great bowling display. Visitors Welwyn Garden City III won the toss and decided to take the brave decision to bat first on another wet wicket. Willis was trapped LBW for 17 off the bowling off Rupert Martin, but that was the only break through the home side could muster in the first 27 overs. Lewis Fitzgerald bowled extremely well conceding just 7 runs from his 6 overs. It was the introduction of Karl Ward and Peter Tidey that finally saw Reed make some inroads. Ward returning from a lengthy bowling sabbatical removed Emerton who had reached an effortless 52. He then bowled Wells for 22 and all of a sudden the innings had changed. Runs were hard to come by and with Ward being supported well by Tidey only Meyrer could reach double figures. Tidey returned 4-37 from 16.5 overs and Ward 5-29 from his 12. Reed knew it was going to be tough to get the 126 they needed, but overs weren’t a problem it was just a matter of could their brittle batting come through.The answer was no. Taylor bowled Curtis first ball of the innings with a snorter of a ball. Fergus Martin and Ward tried to repair the damage and had made steady progress when Martin was LBW for 6. 25-2 soon became 30-4. Ward was removed for 19, but worse was to come. When the score reached 42-5 Reed lost 4 more wickets for just 10. Rupert Martin and Peter Tidey put up some resistance and entertained the crowd for a while, but Tidey was finally bowled by Taylor to become [...]

Reed travelled to St. Margaretsbury on Saturday hoping to put last weeks defeat behind them. Reed’s skipper wasn’t too disappointed when he lost the toss and was asked to field. Opening bowlers Mitchell Cooper and Toby Fynn made good use of the damp track and soon had the home side 8-3. Fynn finished his spell with 1-5 from 4 overs and was replaced by Rupert Martin. Martin was again unlucky when a catch in the covers was put down with the score on 9.Cooper took 2 wickets in his opening spell before he was replaced by Pete Tidey. Martin and Tidey bowled well and kept chipping away. The home side battled well on the slow track. Miller topped scored with 34 before becoming one of Martin’s three victims. Martin finished with 3-41. St. Margaretsbury’s skipper came in and put bat to ball and it looked like he would get him well past 100 before Tidey had him LBW. The home side were 99-7 before Cooper returned to mop up the tail. St. Margaretsbury lost their 3 wickets for just 5 runs, leaving the visitors 105 to win.The wicket had dried as the game had gone on and if Reed could get through the new ball victory was very much possible. Sheffield and Noblet opened the attack and soon had Reed in trouble. They removed both openers in quick succession and reduced Reed to 7-3 in no time. Cooper was removed for 8 and at 18-4 Reed needed a good stand. Roddi Liebenberg and Richard Barlow added a battling 27, before Liebenberg miss timed a short ball and was caught for 24. No else made double figures and the least 5 wickets went down for just [...]

Most match reports have to start with the 1st innings, but not this one. This one is all about Peter Tidey and his amazing 10 wicket haul to see the 2nd XI to victory. Radlett had been set just 137 to win in 47 overs on a wicket that despite Reed’s poor effort held no demons. In fact it wasn’t the wicket that was going to cause the batsman problems. It was a day for swing bowling and Tidey knows how to use those conditions. He struck early with the score on nought removing Nathwan for a duck. His partner Morjaria wasn’t put off by this early loss and continued to play his shots.Radlett had moved to 20-1 when Tidey took his 2nd wicket removing Hoffman for 14. By the end of Tidey’s 6th over he had 5 victims including the dangerous Morjaia who was well caught by Tom Wallsingham running in from fine leg. Tom Walsingham and Toby Fynn both supported Tidey well and were unlucky not to take at least a wicket each. Walsingham in particular bowled with some good pace on the first hard wicket of the season.At 35-5 Radlett still had plenty of overs and a good stand would have seen them back in the game. Edwards and Mazoor knew that keeping the runs ticking would be enough. Edwards look particularly assured, but he went back and was bowled. He became victim number 6. 49-6 soon became 53-8 and Tidey could sense history. Skipper Robertson came to the crease and tried some lusty blows before being victim number 9 and the 6th bowled. Tidey had 4 balls at Carpenter the number 11 and under normal circumstances Tidey would have no nerves. [...]

Reed and Old Finchleians went in to Saturday’s fixture knowing a win was vital in their relegation battle. A true 60 pointer. Thanks to the wicket being covered over night it still looked a good batting track. Baz Curtis won the toss for the home side and had no hesitation to bat first. Reed lost Richard Johnson early, but Reed looked solid and had reach 40 before Curtis was LBW for 26. This brought in Will Clarke who joined Fergus Martin. They put on a solid 59 with a mixture of fine drives and some good running. The introduction of Thakkar brought Old Finchleians back into the game. He bowled Martin for 21 and then had Clarke LBW for 38.In games past this would have triggered a collapse, but despite losing another wicket when they had reached 129 Reed seemed more confident they could post a decent total and get some valuable batting points. This was probably due to the return to form of Roddi Liebenberg. He looked more like his old self, finding the boundary regularly. He was the 7th wicket to fail when Reed had reached 181, just 4 away from 8 batting points. Liebenberg and the returning Simon Jackson had put on a valuable 27. Jackson shepherded the tail well and it wasn’t out of the question that Reed might make 200, but that wasn’t to be as they were all out for 191 with Jackson 18 not out.The clouds were filling over the Reed pavilion a sure sign the forecast rain was coming. Peter Tidey managed to strike before the first rain break. The cover was whisked on, but taken off before any time was lost. The second downpour wasn’t far [...]

Reed’s 2nd XI got their first win of the season against 2nd in the table Leverstock Green. Reed won the toss and put the home side into bat on a damp track. The opening attack of Rupert Martin and Kallum Ward bowled extremely well. Ward was extremely unlucky not to take a wicket with some fine seam and swing bowling. It was Martin who took the first 2 wickets leaving the home side 20-2.The Littlejohn brothers rebuilt the innings battling through the tough conditions. L. Littlejohn decided putting bat to ball was the best form of defence and raced to 36 before holing out in the deep off the bowling of Fynn. At drinks it seemed the home side had set a good foundation for a large total, but Peter Tidey had other ideas. He struck with the first ball after drinks. When the score reached 134 Tidey removed D. Littlejohn for 53 and the watch turned. 4 wickets fell for 4 runs. The returning Will Clarke removed the hosts skipper for 16 and then bowled Walker for 2. At 138-9 it seem Reed had done the hard work, but May and Lake batted sensibly to put on a valuable 26 for the last wicket before Martin struck again to take his 3rd wicket. Tidey finished with 4-50.In reply Reed also lost an early wicket when Fergus Martin was bowled. Baz Curtis along with Phil Freney got their heads down and saw off what dangerous were left in the pitch. It had flattened out and the sun had come out making batting easier. Curtis took full advantage racing to 50 in just 14 overs before he smashed one back at Littlejohn who clung on to [...]

Reed’s 2nd XI’s season went from bad to worse with yet another batting collapse. Skipper Baz Curtis won the toss and had no hesitation putting in the visitors on a damp wicket. Kings Langley had reached 11 before Rupert Martin had Pinchin caught at mid off. He struck again 6 runs later leaving visitors 17-2. Alex Kelly replaced Tom Walsingham and Peter Tidey replaced Martin and suddenly Reed took a strangle hold. Kelly bowled a tight line and along with Tidey kept the runs to a minimum. Tidey had Smith run out backing up and Kelly chipped in with 2 well deserved wickets. All of a sudden it was 33-6. Scanbrook was the only batsman to look comfortable and he struck some lust blows and moved the strike around well as his partners came and went.Tidey picked up two more wickets leaving Kings Langley 9 down for 87. 21 was added for the last wicket before Walsingham bowled Burnell. Scanbrook was left 49 not out.Reed made a decent start in reply. Roddi Liebenberg and Baz Curtis put on 22 for the first wicket. Liebenberg being removed for 13. Curtis fell for the same total when the score was 31. At 35-3 the game looked evenly poised. Phil Freney and Will Clarke looked to have turned the game back in Reed’s favour putting on 27 before Freney went for 11. Still at 62-4 Reed felt like one more good partnership would see them home. If only that had happened. A mixture of excellent catching and sharp fielding saw the home side collapse from 62-4 to 68-8. A late charge from Peter Tidey who topped scored with 17 wasn’t enough as Shandy came back into the attack [...]

Reed played another 60 pointer this week against fellow strugglers Letchworth III. Fairfield Park is a lovely place to play cricket and the pavilion improvements over the winter make it even better. Baz Curtis lost the toss and surprised to be asked to bat first. The wicket looked a good wicket to bat first on. Openers Curtis and Fergus Martin battled through some tight opening bowling from Edwards and Kendal. Edwards found some swing from ball one until the end of his 27 over spell. Curtis was the first to go when the score had reached 44 when he tried one to many drives off Edwards and was caught on the boundary for 30.A run out and 2 more Edwards victims saw the visitors crumple to 66-4 was soon 78-6. Richard Johnson and Roddi Liebenberg put on 41 for the 6th wicket before Liebenberg when for 17, the 4th of Edwards wickets. Marcus Baker joined Johnson who was now in full flow. A mixture of good running and some positive hitting saw them get Reed into the batting points. After adding 44 together Baker went for 22. Toby Fynn came in with the express aim to get Reed to maximum batting points. He was out with the score on 198, but he had helped Johnson reach a fine and much need 50.Peter Tidey and Johnson saw Reed to 201-9 at the end of their 53 overs. Edwards mammoth spell ended with figures of 27-3-91-4. Johnson was left 58 not out.In reply Toby Fynn struck early, but after that wickets were hard to find. Peter Tidey removed the stubborn G. Bishton for 11 and quickly accounted for Dovey and Reed looked in total control. Opener A. [...]

Reed’s 2nd XI were in desperate need of 30 points to help them in the relegation fight. They lost the toss on a sweltering day at Ickleford. The home side decided to bat on what looked like a decent batting track. Tom Walsingham bowled a tight open spell conceding just 15 runs from his 6 over. Senior partner Peter Tidey was also keeping things tight from the other end. The bowling was so tight that the run rate was just over 2 an over. Toby Fynn replaced Walsingham and made the break through Reed needed. Tidey soon got into the action from the other end picking up 3 quick wickets.Alex Kelly then got in to the action. Ickleford decided it was time to break the shackles and Kelly was the man to attack. His first 2 balls went flying to the boundary, but his 3rd was well held by Richard Barlow behind the stumps and Ickleford were 5 down. Kelly wasn’t done. He took the remaining 5 wickets and finished with 6-10. Ickleford were left 69 all out.After a fine tea, Reed were left to knock off the 70 runs required. In past season this would have been no problem, but this season low totals have been a problem. Baz Curtis and Richard Johnson opened for the visitors and were soon in their stride. They had reached 50 in just 6 overs as they found the boundary on regular occasions. Johnson in particular was in fine form. He hit 10 boundaries in his 41 before being softly caught and bowled. Curtis was removed with 8 runs left. Will Clarke also fell, but Reed managed to get over the line and won by 7 wickets and [...]

Reed’s 2nd XI travelled to Hoddesdon for their latest league match. Water had seeped under the covers and delayed the start. Reed lost the toss and were unsurprising put into bat. Openers Baz Curtis and Fergus Martin made slow, but steady progress against a good opening spell from Burroughs and Sturdy. The pair put on the first 50 opening partnership of the season before Curtis was caught at mid wicket for 34 in the 19th over.Martin was unlucky to play on off the bowling of Gandon and when Barlow went soon after Reed were in all sorts of trouble. Will Clarke and Matt Bowles put on 29 for the 4th wicket. Bowles seemed to be getting back in the groove after his injury lay off before he feathered a catch behind. This brought in Marcus Martin who upped the run rate with Clarke. Clarke managing to hit his first ever 6 on the way to 26, but could so easily have been 32 if he hadn’t missed the long hop and been bowled. Martin’s brisk 31 got Reed into the batting points apply assisted by Marcus Baker. With just 4 overs left Reed were 156-6 and the next batting points 14 runs away. Baker decided this was doable and more than that got Reed to the next batting point as well. With some fine striking and taking advantage of the short boundary he smashed 40 not out to leave Reed 185-6 off their 50 overs.The wicket had now dried thanks to the strong wind and it was going to take some accurate bowling to make 186 needed competitive. Tom Wallsingham opened into the gale and bowled very well, but it was his new ball partner [...]