A beautiful summer evening to play a relaxed friendly... Allowing some of the less experienced Under 13 and developing players to gain some match time. Reed won the toss and opted to bowl. A decision that immediately paid off when Callum Rickets bowled the opening batsman with the first ball of the match. The second wicket proved slightly harder to come by. With Charlie Cannon scoring a superb run-out off Effie Bone's bowling in the 13th over. With everyone contributing to the bowling, the runs were harder to come by, with particularly tight bowling from Callum Rickets (2 overs, 1 maiden, 1 wicket for 7 runs), Charlie Cannon (2-1-0-4), Lewis Abdul-Karim (2-1-0-4). Chasing 114 for victory, the more experienced and reliable Callum was instructed to rotate the strike to allow others to gain experience. A role he performed admirably - building his total steadily, retiring on 30 in the 15th over partnering 6 other batters, forming a particularly strong partnership with Natasha McNamara (scoring a creditable 11 runs) for 11 overs. With Natasha falling in the 14th over Reed had accumulated 80 runs. A mini-collapse ensued, with 4 wickets falling for just 10 runs. It looked ominous with 24 required for the last wicket with 14 balls left in the innings. Cometh the moment, cometh the man.... With the previous narrow loss to St. Margaretsbury (by 3 runs) fresh in the memory Daniel Vincent stepped up to the crease in no mood to hang around. Partnering Oscar Lamb they achieved the required runs in 12 balls.... With Oscar scoring the winning single. With victory in the bag, the final two balls were bowled with Daniel smashing an enormous 6 over deep midwicket.... ending with 19 [...]

Lily Hall is fast becoming a force to be reckoned with... a silent assassin with bat and ball. Reed won the toss and chose to field first.... The opening bowling pairing of Daniel Vincent (3 overs, 0 maidens, 0 wickets, 14 runs) and Eddie Cook (3-0-0-17) had to work hard against a strong headwind and did well to keep the batsmen honest, conceding 34 runs off the first 6 overs. It was 1st change bowler, Josh Heslam (a last minute replacement for Tom Green) who demonstrated the power of a straight delivery... His low, skiddy, deliveries getting the better of the opposition - finishing 3-0-1-7. Callum Ricketts came on for a single over to stem the runs, taking the wicket of the opening batsman in the process. With St. Margaretsbury at 2 for 50 in 9 overs, the game was in danger of getting away from Reed. It was then that the silent assassin (Lily Hall) got hold of the cherry and showed the boys what girl power really was.... As has happened so often this season, Lily was underestimated by the opposition. Following in Josh's footsteps and keeping bowling simple, Lily was just unstoppable. Eddie Cook took a superb catch off Lily's second ball; and her spell (3-1-3-6) included an incredible caught/bowled and a wicket maiden... the game was back on.... 76-5 off 16. Runs dried up for the opposition after Lilly's spell and St. Margaretsbury finished on 93 for 5. Reed's bowling had improved immeasurably over the previous week and limited the opposition to less than 100 for the first time this season. The opening pairing of Callum Ricketts and Oscar Lamb were slow but steady... The early loss of Oscar Lamb (0) [...]