SATURDAY (SHPCL): EXCITING TIMES FOR REED CC! The Firsts bowled out Ampthill for 128 with Tom Greaves removing four of the visiting batsmen. Zac McGuigan led the charge to overhaul them with 70 as Reed won comfortably by 5 wickets. Reed are placed 2nd in the Championship with only top-of-the-table Hoddesdon to play Away in the last league fixture next week. It is possible for Reed to overtake Hoddesdon if they win handsomely. Hemel Hempstead are too far back in 3rd place to affect the top two clubs even if they win next week. Should Reed not beat Hoddesdon, they are assured of a Play-Off match against the 9th placed team in the Premiership on Saturday 14th September. That would be staged at Reed and could be against one of three clubs battling for survival, West Herts, Luton Town & Indians and Hertford although mathematically Harpenden could be in the mix as well. All to play for! “Champions-in-waiting”! Reed Seconds cannot be caught by Watford who are 35 points behind. After losing only 4 wickets chasing-down Flamstead’s 125 all out, Reed remain top of Division 4B and will face Ampthill who are in ninth position on The Green next Saturday. Karl Ward featured for Reed taking a “five-fer” and James Sandford also claimed 3 wickets. Rich Barlow was top-scorer. This is a magnificent effort from all those involved in the Second XI’s campaign this season. Well done! The Thirds lost to Rickmansworth by 19 runs, being all out for 142 chasing 163. There were 3 wickets apiece for Kieran McKinna and Ollie Sayers whilst Richard Johnson scored 36 in the reply but the other contributions didn’t make quite enough runs. This puts Reed back to [...]

SATURDAY (SHPCL): All three teams batted first. All three teams won - the Firsts by 58 runs, the Seconds by 143 and the Thirds by 73 runs. Reed lost 21 wickets overall, the oppositions 30. Reed totalled 735 runs against 461 from our combined opponents. All pretty comfortable judging by the figures but in reality it was not that easy. At home, Zac Mcguigan top-scored with 64 backed-up by scores in the thirties from Rob Lankester, James Heslam and younger brother Will as Reed reached 232 for 7. Dunstable were all out for 174. McGuigan and Jack Caine took 3 wickets each. There were 3 wickets each too for Matt Bowles, Owen Hughes and Ed Garrott as Chorleywood were dismissed for 131 in their failed chase of the 2nd XI's 274 for 9. Chris Jackson had hit 63 and Phil Frenay 48 in the Reed innings. Scott Nash had a 3-wicket haul as well when Reed Thirds bowled out Hoddesdon for 156. Julien Fynn, Steve Hughes and Rob Willoughby each took 2 wickets. Reed's total of 229 for 5 was reliant on Fynn's 59 with useful contributions of 45 from Willoughby, 38 from Paul Garrott and 33 from Rhodri Hughes. SUNDAY: No fixture at Reed. An RCC tour party is expected in the Bournemouth area sometime during the morning. Expect Match Reports to follow shortly. PGB

SATURDAY (SHPCL): No, it wasn't a Ninety-Point Saturday! But just as good a feeling. Winning Limited overs matches in the Championship attracts only 25 points, meaning that added to both the Seconds and Thirds winning and scoring 30 points each, Reed aggregated 85 points on Saturday. The Firsts battled it out in a low scoring game at Shenley Village. James Heslam's 29 was top score in Reed's 125 all out, then Jack Tidey's return of 3 for 11 helped bring about Shenley Village's downfall to 98 all out. As play concluded, their positions in the Division had reversed, with Reed claiming second spot and Shenley back in third. Phil Frenay led the way with eighty for the Second XI supported by George Garrott's fifty in Reed's innings of 231 on The Green. Northampton Exiles were well adrift after being bowled out for 162; Rupert Martin, Julien Fynn, Matt Bowles and James Sandford were rewarded with 2 wickets apiece. In the contrasting setting of the vast acres at the Met Police Sports Ground in Bushey, Joe Graves, Rob Willoughby, Ollie Sayers and Matt Yates each took 2 wickets as Bushey fell for 186. The Third's successful run chase was largely based round Scott Nash's 84 and Owen Hughes' 36 not out as Reed won by 4 wickets in the gathering gloom. If you wish to study the current League Tables, where those mysterious dotted lines have appeared denoting promotion and relegation zones, go to the SHPCL website at www.hertsleague.co.uk There are only 3 matches left in the programme so there could still be some to-ing and fro-ing to look forward to. (Sentence ending in a preposition!) Expect Match Reports to follow shortly. There is no fixture [...]

National Village Cup Semi-Final: Wow! Those present shouldn't forget it in a hurry. Mitchell Cooper launched that 6 towards the HM Pavilion in the 39th over giving Reed victory by 5 wickets when just 6 overs earlier they required 63. Mitch was 52 not out at the end, Stuart Smith 43 not out and earlier Rob Lankester, (41), and Tom Greaves, (47), had put the hosts on the rocky trail to St. John's Wood. But it was a challenging target set by competition debutants, Sarisbury Athletic, who scored 195 for 8. Sean Tidey kept wicket for the first 20 overs of their innings then bowled in the next twenty taking 4 for 45. Next up - as if you didn't know - will be the Final at Lord's on Sunday 15th September. And yet again the opponents will be a club from Yorkshire, this time the experienced outfit from Houghton Main. Expect a more detailed Match Report to follow. PGB

SATURDAY, (SHPCL): Three wins! The Firsts beat Leverstock Green by 8 wickets when they had them all out for 174, 4 wickets for Toby Fynn and 3 for Tom Greaves. Rob Lankester scored an unbeaten century in the run chase. The Seconds closed on 222 for 6 with Chris Jackson undefeated on 68 this week meaning he has scored an aggregate of 355 runs without losing his wicket in his last 5 innings. He was supported today by Phil Frenay's knock of 46. Marcus Martin was leading wicket-taker with figures of 4 for 27 in Hitchin's all out score of 186. Reed remain top of Division 4B. At the Freman Oval, West Herts were skittled for 114, Kieran McKinna taking 4 for 24 and having a hand in a run out. Paul Garrott (43) and Richard Johnson put on 104 for Reed's first wicket before Jonno (69 not out) saw them home by 7 wickets. Expect Match Reports to follow shortly. PGB

The Herts League programme was virtually wiped out on Saturday. Only 10 (that is 7%) of the 128 scheduled fixtures were played. 113 matches were cancelled and a further 5 conceded. Needless to add that all three of Reed's games were cancelled. The only Reed player I know of who saw any cricketing action on Saturday was yours truly. I played at a village called Saxlingham Nethergate, (how quaint it sounds), in central Norfolk, batted at number 8 and scored 11 not out, not required to bowl, then dropped a catch! Match lost. Sound familiar? Don't expect a Match Report! Sunday's match versus Woodcutters has also been called off. PGB

SUNDAY (National Village Cup): The Quarter-Final clash at Foxton ended conclusively in Reed's favour. The Foxes had posted 206 all out largely thanks to ex-Reed player, William Heslam's 83. But Toby Fynn took 5 for 34 and Tom Greaves 3 for 43. After the change of innings, Richard Wharton and Rob Lankester put-on 178 for Reed's second wicket and ran home winners by 8 wickets, Lankester out for 73 and Wharton 97 not out. In the Semi-Final due to be played on Sunday the 4th of August at Reed, we shall be entertaining Sarisbury Athletic from Hampshire - it will again be a 1 o'clock start. SATURDAY (SHPCL): Despite a 3-fer by Tom Greaves and scores in the forties by Rob Lankester and Matt Sampson, the Firsts fell at the last hurdle at Hemel Hempstead, losing by 8 runs. The Seconds went to the top of Division 4B thanks to a commanding century from Chris Jackson and supporting innings from Ed Garrott and MJE Baker in Reed's 261 for 5, then bowling Sawbridgeworth out for 134. Four wickets fell to Julien Fynn. Southgate Compton got the better of the Thirds by totalling 226 for 9 then restricting Reed to 188 for 8 in their reply. Scott Nash and George Garrott passed forty but they could have done with someone else to stick around and score that extra 40 runs! Expect Match Reports to follow shortly. PGB

SATURDAY (SHPCL): A good day for all three teams. The Firsts knocked over Old Owens for 105 then lost only 3 wickets in the successful run chase. Ed Wharton had taken 5 wickets and Jack Tidey three. Zac McGuigan top scored for Reed with 40. A very good day for Chris Jackson who made an unbeaten ton in the Second's 297 for 3. Mitchell Cooper had an equally good day; a sixty not out followed by 4 wickets! Holtwhites were all out for 99. Yet another good day down at Frogmore for Mike Robertson who also scored a century in the Third's victory and had taken 3 wickets in Frogmore's innings of 192 for 9. Reed won by 3 wickets. In the Championship Division, Reed are in 2nd place, 7 points behind Hoddesdon. Weirdly, The Seconds are also in 2nd position, 7 points behind leaders Watford Town in Division 4B. The Thirds lay 5th in Div 10A 52 points adrift. SUNDAY (Herts County T20 Cup): Reed were drawn against Finals day hosts, Radlett, but could not prevent them reaching 139 for 7 in the first Semi-Final. Jack Tidey, Toby Fynn and Zac McGuigan claimed 2 wickets each. McGuigan's 21 was Reed's top score in their reply of 58. Reportedly Totteridge Millhillians pulled out of the second Semi-Final, leaving Radlett to battle the Final out with Hertford. Expect Match Reports to follow shortly. PGB

SUNDAY - National Village Cup: Jack Tidey was on fire taking six Borstal wickets for only 21 runs in his 10 overs. The visitors from Kent were dismissed for 83. After the loss of a couple of cheap wickets, Reed coasted home by 6 wickets, Rob Lankester, 30, and James Heslam, 17 not out. SATURDAY (SHPCL): Yes, in a blink of an eye, we are halfway through the Herts League season. At this stage, the Firsts are 3rd in the Championship Division, the Seconds 2nd in 4B, and the Thirds 5th in Div 10A. On the Green, the 1st XI posted 189 for 9, Ed Wharton, Jack Tidey and Rich Wharton accumulating scores in the late- thirties but Reed failed to prevent Hoddesdon winning by 5 wickets. At Ampthill, Matt Bowles and Ed Garrot with 3 wickets each helped restrict the hosts to 97 all out. Rich Barlow passed 30 and accompanied by Chris Jackson's score in the twenties, and by Paul Garrott's 22, Reed 2nd XI eased home by 9 wickets. The Thirds had a more challenging objective once Ickleford had scored 278 for 3. It wasn't a bowler's day as Reed reached their target in the 43rd over having lost only 2 wickets along the way. Richard "Jess" Johnson was sublime hitting 124 not out, and was well supported by opener, Rob Willoughby's 34, P.G. "Tips" Baker's 44 and Mike Robertson's 51 not out. Expect Match Reports to follow shortly.