Firkin & Stumps: Reed CC triumph in National Village Cup

Thank you to our friends at the Cricketer for the following post. The boys Firkin and Stumps were there, but enjoying Pimms and cucumber sandwiches.

Reed CC were today crowned the Yorkshire Tea Village Cup champions after beating five-times finalists Woodhouse Grange by six wickets in a thrilling final at Lord’s.

Tom Greaves was the hero of the day, leading Reed’s pursuit of 185 with a blistering 51 from 49 balls that included seven fours. Earlier he had claimed 2 for 22 in nine probing overs of offspin, including a wicket first ball.

Though Greaves was bowled by Andrew Horner one ball after bringing up his fifty to give Woodhouse a chance, Chris Jackson made 37 and Stuart Smith 22 not out, before Mitchell Cooper struck the winning runs with 16 balls remaining.

The result sparked delirious scenes among the massed ranks of Reed supporters who had made the journey down from Hertfordshire and were rewarded with idyllic conditions on their big day out at the Home of Cricket.

Reed captain Sean Tidey won the toss and elected to field first, but openers Mike Hattee and Nick Hadfield started strongly for Woodhouse, scoring 52 from the first 10 overs before Lee Johnson had Hattee caught behind for the day’s first breakthrough.

55 for 1 soon became 60 for 2 when Greaves had Chris Bilton caught at slip with his first delivery in a Lord’s final, but from a precarious 109 for 6, Tom Young and Chris Suddaby, with a combined age of 39, hauled their team to respectability with 42 and 32 respectively.

In reply, Reed were quickly on course adding 42 for the first wicket before Tom Quinn struck with an excellent caught-and-bowled catch removing captain James Heslam, who had been looking dangerous on 28. Greaves’ hard hitting ensured they did not relinquish their advantage.