From Ramps and Tuffers into the Strollers ranks

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.'