Reed edged out Foxton by two wickets in the fifth round of the Yorkshire Tea Village Cup at Foxton on Sunday. Reed won the toss and invited their hosts to bat first on a very firm surface with a quick outfield. In the fourth over home skipper Gareth Roots was adjudged l.b.w. to Jack Tidey and this brought in Lawrence Farnum to join Max Bowen. A useful stand of 39 then followed until Bowen was again as yesterday unfortunately run out for 19 to leave Foxton on 57-2 after 14 overs. Adam Webster and Chris Pepper then departed cheaply and at the halfway point of the innings the home side were 80-4. Farnum now on 35 was then partnered by Tyler Deas and they produced a fifth wicket stand of 31, the latter was then trapped l.b.w. to spinner Tom Greaves and when Farnham fell on the same total for 49 (nine fours), just missing out on a half century for the second time this weekend, the home side were wobbling on 111-6 after 28 overs. Ian Cambridge then played a gem of an innings and in just 25 balls notched up 47 (eight fours, one six), and along with Tom Stone in a stand of 68 for the seventh wicket totally changed Foxton's position. At Cambridge's departure, bowled by Kallum Ward, the total had rapidly moved on to 179-7 with five overs remaining. Mark Ferrari coming in at nine, along with Stone, continued to push the momentum towards the hosts, and at the completion of the innings, after an eighth wicket stand of 53, Foxton were more than content to post 232-7, Stone remained unbowed on 34 and Ferrari unbeaten on 31. The seven wickets to fall were evenly shared amongst the Reed bowlers.

The Reed reply opened in sensational manner as Andy Gray had Greaves caught by Ferrari from only his fourth ball. Reed captain James Heslam then embarked on a scintillating knock and in only 43 balls he took the Foxton opening attack apart racking up 64 (14 fours), and at his surprising departure, to a run out, after just 11 overs Reed were on 76-2. The match would now ebb and flow to the finish but Reed would in the end owe much to the rock solid performance from Chris Jackson. The visitors middle order of William Heslam, Mitchell Cooper and Sean Tidey, together with the untroubled Jackson, then produced three useful partnerships, but with home spinner Stone dismissing the aforementioned trio in the middle of his spell, after 20 overs the match was again in the balance with Reed on 125-5. Jack Tidey with 21 and Kallum Ward 30, together with the unflappable Jackson, then had stands of 53 and 41 for the sixth and seventh wickets to almost push Reed to their target. Pepper had other ideas as he rapidly dismissed Jack Tidey and Kallum Ward along with Phillip Frenay and with the visitors on 221-8 after 37 overs Foxton's hopes were again raised. Two final boundaries in the 38th over from Karl Ward finally sealed the match in Reed's favour, but they owed much to the unbeaten 69 from Jackson who remained the mainstay occupying the crease for all but four balls of the duration. The match was played in a very competitive spirit and was thoroughly enjoyed by the approximate crowd of 250 and village cricket was the final winner. Best of fortune for Reed in the next round.

Barry McCulloch - 02/07/2012