In the absence of Skipper Mackrell and Vice-Skip Cole, last seen riding Paul’s winged horse to the Platinum Lounge, Alex Morse took the reigns for this year’s trip to Southbank. Lack of track and trundle-wheel meant the inaugural Badger 100m contest was postponed but it at least meant that all Badgers arrived on time – a feat not managed since the last time Robin missed a game.
Yet another impressive opening partnership from Lee and Cloke put the Badgers immediately on the front foot. Having spent Valentine’s together and with an ‘adult’ camping trip still to look forward to, the two men demonstrated their special bond once again, taking the shine off the ball and tiring out the Southbank bowlers.
This time it was Morse who profited, coming in at number three and building on these solid foundations. As wickets tumbled around him, he turned his personal settings dial from ‘aggressive’ to ‘Australia in the 1990s’ and proceeded to bludgeon the ball all around the ground. When he finally departed the crease, a captain’s knock of 83 from 44 balls had pushed his side along to 202, eventually becoming 215/9, with seven balls remaining. What happened next is one of those puzzlers for cricketing rule-buffs everywhere. Cade was bowled and the innings came to an end. However, the question remained as to whether the Badger innings could be declared ‘legal’ if Cade was not run out off the last ball? The rulebook was quickly consulted and, after a short delay, it emerged that he is indeed allowed to get out in other, less amusing, ways.
As the Southbank innings began, it was unclear whether their batsmen were cowed by the tight bowling of Dollimore, Blake and Hirst or whether they were still a little anxious after being shouted at by Cloke during his earlier umpiring stint. Either way, they did not score quickly. A spell of 8 overs, 14 runs and 2 wickets from Dollimore, including a catch with enough hang time to make Teen Wolf jealous, tells the story of a Southbank innings in which no boundary was scored during the first 12 overs.
Add to mixture Josh Lee pinging throws all over the place thanks to his secret training-bra, Shone pouching a catch at cow corner with his chocolate wrists and Cloke practising his left-handed throws (you can’t keep him out of the action) and you’ve got a Badger side that never looked particularly troubled. The Southbank middle order had a bit of a dash but it was too little too late and they were bowled out for 170.
A win for Morse, another victory for the Badgers and an impromptu barbeque to finish the day.