Despite being ravaged by injuries and last-minute illness, Reed 1st XI opened their league campaign with a comfortable 6 wicket victory over Stevenage. Their opponents lost wickets at regular intervals to the opening attack of Pete Tidey (10-1-21-1) and Ian Osborne (10-0-48-3). At 88-5 they were rocking, but a stubborn partnership of 51 between Andrew Joslin (46) and Shadrach Gittens-Browne (23) steadily re-built their innings. However, Alex Mutucumarana (8-1-29-2) winkled out both of them and they finished on 186-9 after 50 overs. In reply, Reed lost two quick wickets, but Will Heslam(79*) in 70+ run partnerships with Rob Lankester (42), who was in imperious form, and Richard Wharton (36) saw Reed home with 5 overs to spare. Man of the match, wicket-keeper Wharton also dismissed 4 batsmen, leaving Reed with a comfortable chase. Report submitted by Peter Wholley.