This Is Guernsey

By Aaron Scoones

Mike Reed, right, has made a big impression for Strollers. (Picture by Daniel Guerin, 0590710)

MANCUNIAN Mike Reed still harbours hopes of representing Guernsey at cricket and steering his club side, Strollers, to the Evening League top flight for the first time in their 26-year history.

The 47-year-old lecturer in sport at the Guernsey College of Further Education has played with and against many big names in the sport and few cricketers locally can match his top score of 130 and about 10 tons in his career.

Born in Altrincham, from the age of nine he was playing cricket and football in equal measure and, on balance, played at a slightly higher level at cricket as a youngster. He played two years for the Cheshire under-18 team – captaining the side in the second year.

‘Cricket was pretty big and it was made up of the best young 18-year-olds in the country,’ he said. ‘I was probably not as prolific as I would have liked, but with a bit of maturity in the second year, I averaged 40-odd with the bat.’

His county at that time boasted the likes of future England players Neil Fairbrother and John Morris at under-15 level.

‘The selectors chose Fairbrother and he played in two or three games when I captained the side. He was a really nice bloke and you could judge he was going to play certainly at a higher level, and, as it turned out, a lot of internationals, especially one-day cricket,’ he said.

Reed played against a Derbyshire county side that included Kim Barnett and a Lancashire team with Steve O’Shaughnessy, who both went on to an accomplished career.

He also performed at a cricket festival at Old Trafford – including on the main square.

He went to Sheffield Polytechnic to study a surveying degree and later completed a master’s degree in sports psychology at Manchester Metropolitan University, before teaching sports science at South Cheshire College.

In 1983, he moved to London and played in the highly reputable Middlesex County League division one.

‘It was probably the best league I have ever played in,’ he said.

It included many Middlesex first-team players and others affiliated to top clubs. ‘That was when I came across Angus Fraser, who was on the fringes of the Middlesex team, and a very young Mark Ramprakash. My team was South Hampstead and they played for Stanmore.

‘Fraser was accurate and bowled a very disciplined line at you, but he would never frighten you. I’m sure he put on a yard or two of pace when he played county and international cricket. He was a very nice bloke,’ said Reed.

He also recalled mutterings about Ramprakash.

‘There was always talk about this young lad and that he was the next big thing. He was young, quite arrogant, but he absolutely smashed the ball,’ he said.

The league also had lots of promising overseas players, including Dean Waugh, who turned out for Ealing.

‘It was a good standard because everyone was drawn to London.’

Amazingly Reed’s club side did not notice the talent of a man who went on to become one of the world’s greatest cricketers and Australian captain.

‘Before I got there Allan Border had come knocking and somehow South Hampstead had managed to turn him down,’ he laughed.

Reed also faced future England spin bowler and celebrity Phil Tufnell a few times.

‘Back then he came across as a really dismissive “look at me, I’m a bit of a Jack the lad and I’m going to make it” type,’ he said.

‘I play a quicker ball better than spin and he would do an orthodox spinning ball and then an arm ball and I remember being stumped off him very comfortably.’

The Mancunian played in the league between 1984 and 1991 and his side won it in 1988.

‘That was fantastic and we had two very good Australians. It was probably the highlight of my career and highest level of achievement. I was what I would gladly term a fringe player. I played in all the games but was not a star,’ he admitted honestly.

His highest knock of 130 came when playing for South Hampstead’s second team when he was aged about 24 and he estimates he has notched about 10 hundreds in the game.

His next experiment with cricket took him during his travels to Australia, where he performed in the Northern Territories and got involved with Darwin Cricket Club.

‘When I came back I was a much tougher competitor,’ he said.

Next he went back to the Minor Counties cricket league.

Reed moved to Guernsey with partner Jacqueline and twin girls Ruby and Lola when they were 11 months old.

Having worked with CoFE’s Jeff Stuart at South Cheshire College for seven years, he was in regular contact and applied and got a teaching post in the island. He has no regrets about the move.

‘I knew it was the right time for a change from the old college and having the young girls, we knew they would love it over here with the beaches,’ he recalled.

So how did he get involved in Evening League cricket with second-division side Strollers last season?

One of his students, Scott Romeril, one of the island’s top table tennis stars, told Reed his brother, Sean, played for them.

‘He said they have a good laugh and you get free beer every match, but I can’t say I have ever experienced any free beer,’ Reed said.

He starred with the bat in his first season as Strollers narrowly missed out on promotion.

‘I really enjoyed it and I was pleased that without any practice at all I felt I had not lost the ability to bat and it all felt quite natural. I did not feel nervous going in to bat,’ he said.

The aim for the club remains taking that final step up the ladder into the top flight.

Reed knows that if they achieved that, they would need to sign reinforcements.

‘We would have to seek out some experienced players who have played at that level, but it would still be tough. There are probably three very dominant sides, but it would be great for the club just to try it,’ he said.

‘I would try to persuade them to play a slightly more professional way. They have calmed down from their fruity days,’ he admitted.

Last season Reed also heard rumblings he might get a call-up for the Guernsey over-40s side but it never materialised.

‘I don’t know if that was just rumour,’ he said.

But one thing is clear – he would love to represent the island at any level.

‘Playing in the first division and at any level for Guernsey means I would be testing myself against the best players in the island and Channel Islands. I don’t need to swap clubs to win more, but you want to bat your best and prove you are a decent player.’