Averages (2019); 3rd XI League (SHPCL)
Reed CC 3rd XI : 4th position of Division 10A of the Saracens Herts Premier Cricket League (SHPCL).
Third XI win but miss out on promotion
Reed had to win this match to stand any chance of promotion vying as they were with Bushey for the crucial second position in Division 10A. Ahead of them were Bentley Heath who could not be caught by either of them and the Southgate Compton team that the League management committee had declared could not be promoted because of their availability problems immediately before the beginning of the season. The outcome Reed wished for was for Bentley Heath to beat Bushey in their clash. More of that later. At the Freman Oval, Rhodri Hughes won the toss and inserted Ickleford who were soon on their way with 26 on the board within 4 overs as Matthew Gray found some easy boundaries but then perished to a skied caught and bowled by Owen Hughes off a top-edged pull shot. Ben Whelan and opener David Pursey added 125 more runs before Whelan fell to the teen-aged Sam Osborn’s leg-breaks for 64. Osborn, usually seen in the Under 13 Colts team, created several more unclaimed chances before again clean bowling his second victim, Peareth for 9. Reynard clattered a quick 25 not out and Pursey remained undefeated on 78 when Ickleford’s innings closed on 218 for 3 after 45 overs. Reed began comfortably as Peter Baker (34) and Richard Johnson put-on 63 for the first wicket in 14 overs then a further 87 as Mike Robertson struck a rapid 48 in the next 8 overs. Johnson fell shortly after for a smooth 76 and Julien Fynn hit 24, but Reed lost some surprisingly quick wickets when Jake Cook resumed in his second spell taking 4 for 43 and the nuts on the wheels began to loosen. Sam Osborne [...]
Fighting spirit sees Reed III move up the league
On this occasion, Rhodri Hughes lost the toss, which was not to prove critical with Reed 3rd XI put into bat on this hot bank holiday Saturday. The Hoddesdon opening bowlers of Savanhu and Osborne (4 maidens in a row) were either notably fast and/or accurate. There was the loss of Peter Baker (4) in the 6th over bowled by Osborne with the score on 10. Fortunately, Savanhu only bowled in 3 over spells as he tired, and his last 2 were bowled off a much shorter run. Paul Garrott (38) and Rob Willoughby (45) went steadily about the run collection so that Reed were 95 at the end of the 24th over having lost Paul in that over but not before we witnessed the rarity of Paul hitting a 6. There followed the loss of Scott Nash (9) to a good catch in the deep. Then Rhodri Hughes increased the scoring rate with a quick 33, which included 6 fours, before dancing down the wicket and being stumped. The total was pushed onto 229 with some fine hitting and running between the wickets by Julien Fynn (59 not out) and Maseeh Naeem (18 not out and breathing heavily at the end). We then had tea supplied by Lloyd Bowman, who didn’t play as he was at "Twickers" but had been ably replaced by Bill Mansfield. Hoddesdon lost 2 early wickets, bowled by Fynn (2 for 18 in 7 overs) in a fine opening spell alongside Joe Graves (0 for 28 in 6 overs). Terry Savanhu then proved that he was not just an opening bowler with a robust 50 before an excellent catch by Baker off the bowling of Steve Hughes (2 for 46 [...]
Reed III bounce back at Bushey
Reed 3rds travelled to Bushey 3rds with both teams in the promotion hunt. Reed skipper Rhodri Hughes won the toss and elected to bowl with the wicket looking difficult to bat on. Reed’s bowling started well with Joe Graves (9-0-31-2) and Owen Hughes (9-3-34-1) bowling tightly and taking early wickets that they deserved. The change bowlers of Kieran McKinna (7.1-2-17-1) and Ollie Sayers (6-1-31-2) kept up the good work from the opening pair and took wickets at vital times. Reed kept the pressure on with Rob Willoughby (9-0-33-2) and Matt Yates (4-1-25-2) who took two wickets in two balls leaving the hosts in trouble at 123 for 8. However, some resistance from Ali (57 not out) batting nicely with the tail took Bushey to 186 all out in the last over. Reed’s reply didn’t start well, losing Peter Baker and Rob Willoughby in consecutive balls leaving Reed 9 for 2. Paul Garrott soon followed leaving Reed 18 for 3 from 10 overs with Sohail taking all 3 wickets. Rhodri Hughes and Scott Nash started to rebuild the innings putting the bad balls away and running well between the wickets. As soon as they brought up the 50 partnership, Rhodri was bowled for 25 from a poor shot leaving Reed 68 for 4 with plenty of work to do. Bringing younger brother Owen Hughes to the crease, he and Nash continued to put the bad balls away and rotate the strike well. These two built a match winning partnership of 103 for the 5th wicket with Scott Nash falling for a brilliant 84. Reed only needed 16 to win but they lost Kieran McKinna cheaply putting a bit of pressure on. But Matt Yates (7 not [...]
Reed 3rds promotion hunt is halted
Reed 3rds headed to a blustery Holtwhites Trinibis 3’s, skipper Rhodri Hughes won the toss again and elected to bowl. Reed started well with the ball with Owen Hughes and Kieran McKinna opening the bowling and Owen taking 2 early wickets (9-2-36-2). Kieran also took a wicket ending on 9-1-45-2. Holtwhites were in trouble at 24 for 3. They began a rebuild with Islam taking a very aggressive approach getting 52 quickly until Steve Hughes (8.2-1-23-1) came on and took his wicket. Reed could have had him a lot earlier if it wasn’t for dropped catches. Reed started to tie Holtwhites down but couldn’t get the wickets they were looking for with more dropped catches. C. Garnsworthy batted patiently hitting the bad balls to the boundary with 74 not out taking Holtwhites' score to 247-6. This score could have been considerably less if the fielding had been better. Reed’s reply started well with Richard Johnson and Paul Garrott taking the total to 35 before Paul was bowled. Then Johnson fell soon after and a mini-collapse soon occurred where Mike Robertson, Rhodri Hughes and Scott Nash fell cheaply leaving Reed 86 for 5, where the Holtwhites bowlers were extracting extra bounce from the wicket. Reed began to rebuild with George Garrott and Owen Hughes batting sensibly by rotating the strike well and putting the bad ball away. They put on 65 until George was out for 48 to a low full toss. Owen continued to bat well receiving good support from Kieran and Lloyd Bowman and keeping up with the run rate. Reed looked like they could still get the win, but wickets fell from the other end as Hughes batted well for his maiden fifty [...]
Reed Thirds still pushing for promotion!
At a sunny Freman Oval Rhodri Hughes, the Reed captain, won the toss and elected to field first on a good looking wicket. Saturday saw Reed field three very strong teams as layer availability was good this week! West Herts started brightly finding the odd boundary and running the quick single until Kieran Mckinna (7.5-0-24-4) took the first 2 wickets after which West Herts never really got going, losing batsmen at regular intervals. A few lusty blows from Mushtaq got them up to 114 before he was nicely caught on the boundary by George Garrott. When he came on to bowl, Garrott also took 3 wickets for 25 from his 9 overs. Alex Kelly took one and there were two good run-outs in an outstanding fielding display. Reed's reply started well with Richard Johnson and Paul Garrott making it to the tea interval at 44 without loss from 10 overs. After the interval Johnson carried on magestically, finding the rope with ease. The pair had put on 104 for the 1st wicket when Garrott (43) nicked behind. That started a slight panic in the dressing room as Reed proceeded to lose 3 quick wickets for 3 runs. But George Garrott came in to accompany the classy Johnson, who remained undefeated on 69 at the other end, to see Reed home to win convincingly by 7 wickets. Reed are in 5th position in the Division but technically are fourth owing to Southgate Compton, (who currently head the table), being ineligible to be promoted this season. Match Report submitted by Paul Garrott.
Fine fielding at Freman
In the corresponding match earlier in the season, the Third XI had failed to score any batting points and took only one bowling point when Southgate Compton scuttled Reed easily and won by 9 wickets. This time at Freman Oval, Reed equalled that 1 point tally within 3 deliveries when Owen Hughes had Brandon caught by a tumbling George Garrott for a duck. The next wicket was harder to earn as Robbie Wallis (41) and Grayson added 59 before Wallis mistimed a cross-seamed slow bouncer from Kieran McKinna into the safe hands of captain, Rhodri Hughes. After a further 41 runs, Heaney (31) missed an in-ducker from George Garrott. Cameron Wallis scored fifty then was out immediately afterwards taken at mid-off by McKinna and becoming debutant, Scott Nash's first victim. Nash had been a Reed Colt from the early nineties' vintage, but had played his senior cricket elsewhere and then stopped playing altogether several years ago. Steve Hughes bowled economically returning 1 for 38 aided by another good catch by McKinna. They exchanged roles soon after when the eldest Hughes clung on to one that was driven almost past him, giving McKinna figures of 2 for 44. Meanwhile, the younger Hughes combined when Rhodri pouched a catch off brother Owen (2 for 48). Grayson had been batting sedately since the first over whilst all this had been going on at the opposite end but eventually fell to a third catch by McKinna off Nash's bowling for 45 when the score was 195. The visitors rattled up more runs as the innings ended with an Owen Hughes run out off the final delivery on 226 for 9. After the early setback of losing Paul Garrott for [...]
Closer than you would think!
Week 10 of the League season was the start of the return matches. In week 1 on the Freman Oval, Frogmore had been dismissed for 41 and a relatively strong Reed Third team had won by 10 wickets. This time, Frogmore showed much more steel as they reached a more imposing 192 for 9 in their 45 overs. Tony Albon was the backbone of the innings with 84 not out. Steve Hughes and Matt Yates had taken 2 wickets each before Mike Robertson, showing more control, bagged 3 for 29 in 7 overs. There was even time for PG Baker to add a wicket to his tally in his first spell of bowling in a League match for 4 seasons. Without last week’s centurion, Richard Johnson, (promoted), and his fellow opener, Rob Willoughby, (unavailable), who between them had accrued almost 160 runs, the Reed innings began with Paul Garrott and Baker and they scored almost 13 runs (well, 12 actually)! Stepping-up once more was Mike Robertson at number 3 who in partnership with Rhodri Hughes, (23), put-on 109 for the third wicket. The momentum was with Reed and Jon Braine (5) supported Robertson by adding a further 36 together. But at 164 with still another 29 required both fell, Robertson immediately after reaching his second century of the season. There followed a period of 8 overs when only 9 runs were scored and one more wicket lost. Reed were definitely under pressure. Then inexplicably, Readings who at that stage had figures of 0 for 13 off 6 overs (including three maidens), bowled a wide then two high full-tosses (both hit to the boundary by Joe Graves) and conceded another four and Reed were almost home [...]
Johnson hits match-winning 124
Reed 3rds picked up another valuable 30 points following their away game against Ickleford 3rd XI. Winning the toss, Reed elected to bowl, opening up with Prash Ramaraj (9-0-48-1) and Steve Hughes (9-1-42-0). Ickleford openers Howard (13) and Dermont (103) created a good platform for the innings, however Ramaraj struck, bowling Howard. Following the loss of a wicket, Ickleford upped their run rate, with Whelan (56) repeatedly finding the boundary, despite a very tidy spell from Matt Naeem (9-1-51-0). Whelan finally fell to Mike Robertson (7-1-43-1) when the pitch made a shorter ball rather unplayable. Cheeseman (49 not out) continued to build the total as Dermont opened up, hitting runs with aplomb. Oli Sayers (5-0-33-0) was unfortunate not to pick up a wicket with balls dropping short of fielders, however it was Rob Willoughby (4-0-28-1) finally had Dermont caught by keeper Bill Mansfield. Jupp (10 not out) joined Cheeseman see out the rest of the innings with Ickleford finishing their 45 overs on 278 runs for the loss of 3 wickets. Reed’s openers Willoughby (34) and Richard Johnson started steadily, putting together a partnership of 76 before youngster Ollie Ellis-Holmes (6-0-47-1) caught Willoughby off his own bowling. The Reed batsmen continued to plug away, with Peter Baker (44) settling in at the crease and Johnson showing great temperament and skill. Another solid partnership of 124 was built, before Baker was trapped LBW by Ickleford skipper Howard (7-0-70-1). With 79 needed from 9 overs, the Reed batsmen still had a great deal of work to do. With Johnson still at the crease and Mike Robertson playing shots from the word go, Reed won the game in the 43rd over as Robertson reached 51 not out and [...]
Garrott innings sees the 3rds to victory
On the hottest day of the year so far, Reed 3rd XI hosted second place Rickmansworth III at the Freman Oval. The hosts won the toss and opted to bowl, hoping to avoid the forecast late afternoon heat. Rickmansworth openers Langley (42) and Raz Khan (68) started steadily despite accurate bowling from Owen Hughes (5-1-24-0) and Julien Fynn (9-3-34-1). The pair continued to build on their foundation during the first spell of left-armer Matt Yates (9-0-36-0), however the introduction of Robert Willoughby (9-0-34-4), bowling in tandem with Steve Hughes (9-0-56-0) saw the breakthrough when Langley succumbed to an arm ball from Willoughby. This became the start of Willoughby’s rampage as; next bowling Abbas (1) then snatching a catch off his own bowling to dismiss Adeel Khan (10). The big wicket came when Willoughby trapped Raz Khan lbw, finishing his well crafted innings. Shah (21) and Yousuf (22) looked to up the run rate as the innings headed into the later overs. Both batsmen played aggressively until Shah was caught by Steve Hughes off the bowling of Robertson (4-0-41-1). His replacement, Mohammed (29) continued in the same vein until Fynn bowled Yousuf, and Mohammed was run out by the Reed captain Rhodri Hughes. Butt (5) and Harvey (1) closed out the innings, with Rickmansworth finishing on 231 for 7 from their 45 overs. Reed’s response began smoothly with openers Paul Garrott (80) and Richard Johnson (57) patiently waiting to put away the bad ball. With Reed on 114 from 19 overs Johnson was caught and bowled by Adeel Khan (7-0-1-46). Willoughby (33) then joined Garrott at the crease, with the two again building a strong partnership until Willoughby was bowled by Harvey (9-1-30-1). Garrott continued strongly, [...]