REECE LIGHTNING!

Reece Jones arrived at Hertingfordbury on Saturday afternoon wondering whether he had made a terrible mistake. By Saturday night, he was standing in a packed Lowfield clubhouse wearing the Greene King Level Head Green Jacket.

That, in a nutshell, is club cricket.

The Third XI batter has been named this week’s Green Jacket winner after a superb unbeaten 46 from just 32 balls helped Hoddesdon lay the foundations for a long-awaited 57-run victory over Letchworth Garden City 5th XI at Hertingfordbury. It was a clinical, confident innings at a crucial stage of the game, and one that proved decisive as Louis Webb’s side finally enjoyed the winning feeling again after a frustrating run. What made it even more impressive was the state Reece was in less than 24 hours earlier. On Friday night, Jones had been at Wembley Stadium for the Luke Combs concert, where he discovered two things: firstly, that he apparently does like country music after all; and secondly, that big nights before cricket are rarely part of any recommended high-performance programme.

A combination of live music, lots of alcohol, incorrect sized footwear, a late night visit to an Italian fine dining eatery and spending the evening with girlfriend Caelyn and boyfriend Harry Mason, should have guaranteed absolute misery the following day. By his own admission, Saturday afternoon did not initially feel like a day made for batting heroics. Reece turned up feeling slightly worse for wear and confessed that the hangover had left him questioning whether cricket was a good idea at all.

It Was A Boozy Friday Night For Reece

As it turned out, it may have been the best preparation of his Hoddesdon career.

Jones walked out with the Third XI innings needing direction. Hoddesdon had won the toss and batted first, and while captain Louis Webb and Nikunj Pradhan had done an excellent job laying a platform, the innings still needed someone to inject late momentum. Louis made a patient and valuable 47 from 92 balls at the top of the order, while Nikunj added 31 from 70 deliveries. Together they helped Hoddesdon build carefully, reaching 91 before the first wicket fell, but when wickets began to tumble through the middle overs, the hosts still needed a decisive finish.

That was where Reece came in.

His 46 not out was exactly what the innings required. He struck eight fours and one six, scoring at a strike rate of 143.75, and changed the feel of the scorecard almost immediately. This was a controlled, positive and increasingly confident knock from a player who looked determined to drag Hoddesdon towards a defendable total. With Letchworth sensing a way back into the game, Jones found the gaps and gave the innings the punch it had been missing. Mark Feely’s useful 26 from 23 balls helped keep the scoreboard moving, but Reece was the player who gave Hoddesdon the late surge that eventually proved so important.

The only frustration was that he finished four runs short of a richly deserved half-century.

Reece was stranded on 46 not out when the innings closed on 177-7 from 40 overs. Jon Dean failed to rotate, or perform, and hogged the last two balls of the innings before being bowled for nought. There may be other, more charitable interpretations of events, but none of them are as funny. Either way, Jones had done his job. His unbeaten 46 became the highest score of his Hoddesdon career, surpassing his previous best of 41 against Abridge in 2024, and gave the Third XI a total they could defend with belief.

Reece's Top Five Innings

The stats show that Reece has now made 527 runs for Hoddesdon from 51 innings, with 62 fours and 15 sixes along the way. His 2026 tally now sits at 132 runs from 12 innings, with Saturday’s unbeaten 46 standing as his new personal best for the club. That makes the Green Jacket win even more satisfying. Reece has been close to this sort of performance before, with previous scores of 41, 40, 34 and 33 among his top innings, but Saturday felt like a step forward in both confidence and impact. The timing of the knock mattered as much as the number. Hoddesdon’s 177-7 was not an enormous total, but on the day it became a winning one. Letchworth were later bowled out for 120 in 28.5 overs, with the Third XI claiming a much-needed 57-run victory that lifts spirits and gives the squad something positive to build on. Reece’s contribution was the decisive batting performance of the day and one that helped set up a result the Third XI badly wanted.

The Skipper Louis With Reece

Captain Louis Webb, who later presented Reece with the Green Jacket back at Lowfield, was full of praise for the innings and the character behind it.

“Reece was outstanding,” said Webb. “We had built a good base, but the game was still very much alive when he came in. He changed the tempo, hit the ball cleanly and gave us the extra runs that made a huge difference.”

Louis also praised the work Reece has been putting in away from matchdays, with the Green Jacket recognising far more than one innings. “He has been excellent at training recently, and you can see the improvement,” Webb added. “He is a great character in the dressing room, the lads love having him around, and it was brilliant to see him get his reward in front of everyone at Race Night.”

Reece Celebrates With Mark 'Touchy' Feely

Reece was understandably delighted with the award, even if he was happy to admit that Saturday had not begun with thoughts of a career-best score.

“I’ll be honest, when I woke up after Luke Combs at Wembley, cricket felt like a very bad idea,” said Jones. “I didn’t even know I liked country music until Friday night, and now I’m apparently a massive fan, but it was a heavy one and I wasn’t feeling too clever.”

Jones laughed as he reflected on the unusual (or usual!) preparation, but he was proud of the way he responded once he got to the crease. “Maybe I should do it every week, because it seemed to improve my game,” he added. “Once I got in, I just tried to be positive and back myself. I was gutted not to get the fifty, but the win was the main thing.”

The competition for this week’s Green Jacket was incredibly strong, which shows just how highly Reece’s innings was regarded.

Himesh Ramanayake took seven wickets for the First XI, while Rob Walters scored a superb 111 in the same game. Usman Shafi made 75 and James Mitchell added 43, meaning the First XI alone produced several candidates who would have won the award in plenty of other weeks.

The Second XI also had contenders, with Phil Stafford scoring 71 and Ross Angelini finishing unbeaten on 30. For the Third XI, Mick Billson took four wickets, while Louis Webb delivered an excellent all-round performance with 47 runs and three wickets. Neil Pomeroy also deserves a mention after making a lovely 35 for the Fourth XI, adding another strong performance to a crowded field of candidates. With so many players in the mix, Reece’s Green Jacket shows how important his innings was and how much his recent commitment has been noticed around the club.

Saturday evening provided the perfect setting for the presentation. Lowfield was busy for the club’s annual Race Night, with players, supporters, families and committee members all packed into the clubhouse. There was already a celebratory feel after the First and Third XI win, and the Green Jacket presentation became one of the feel-good moments of the evening as punters nursed empty pockets, losing betting slips and the growing suspicion that picking horses is much harder than it looks.

When Harry Mason handed the jacket to Reece, the applause around the clubhouse said everything. It was a popular award for a popular player, and a deserved moment in the spotlight for someone who has become a key part of the club. Hoddesdon Cricket Club congratulates Reece Jones on a fully deserved Greene King Level Head Green Jacket award, and also congratulates Louis Webb and the entire Third XI on an important and long-awaited victory.

Reece Jones

The club would also like to thank Greene King Brewery for their continued sponsorship of the Green Jacket award through their excellent Level Head IPA. The weekly award remains one of Lowfield’s best traditions, celebrating the standout performances, characters and stories that make club cricket what it is.

This week’s story had everything: a Luke Combs concert, a hangover, a career-best knock, a missed fifty, a Third XI win, Race Night and one very well-earned Green Jacket.

Take a bow, Reece Jones. In the words of Luke Combs...Beautiful Crazy...