Having had our first Friday night T20 cancelled back in April, the Badgers descended upon their historic home in Battersea Park for a second attempt. As we waited for the oppo to arrive Dickie noted that he isn’t a fan of the new flats that hide the power station, more to come on this later. But we were home and it gave us all the warm fuzzy feelings of your favourite childhood meal.
I note waiting for our oppo to arrive……the Badgers with military order were gathered in their ranks, going through some fielding drills with our very own major testing our capability by launching the ball as far as he could. The actual military, and our oppo for the evening, 2 Para Mess were late. Unheard of. 6pm ticked by and one para had arrived, but where we the rest of the regiment? It slowly transpired that instead of being urgently called up to an important national matter, they were in fact stuck on public transport on the north side of the river. Surely the paras could find an alternative mode of transport to get them to us swiftly? Normally yes, but when they’ve been at Lords drinking all day in the Executive Suite, normal perhaps isn’t the right word.
Having had our hands bruised by a little too much fielding practice, our oppo finally arrived close to 6.30, deeply apologetic with a slightly dazed impression. What would the match have in store for us? Perhaps the toss would tell us. The paras captain was a tall chap called Oscar, a first class cricketer in his youth having played for Cardiff MCCU. He also turned to Sam and asked how many we’d like them to score? Interesting, not usually a question at the toss. Was this a sign of things to come?
We finally got underway, the Badgers resplendent in their whites, the paras in their maroon drill shirts. The growing crowd on the boundary was ready for this. A combination of football socials, Badger faithful’s and para-chaps. Hash took the new ball and bowled with fire and brimstone, the pitch looked fairly quick but also with a little variable bounce. Some huge swing and misses from the openers looked to provide some entertainment and called into question the conversation at the toss, and then just like that….whack! A big six over square leg…..hmm this could be a fun evening. Sam shared the new ball and was hugely unlucky, conceding 4 boundaries through the vacant slip region as big swipes from the batsmen got the scoreboard ticking along. A wicketless opening gambit from Hash and Sam, but we then turned to Isaac sporting a new hairdo that wouldn’t have looked out of place on an Aussie Rules pitch, and Martin sporting the same “do”. And finally a breakthrough, with the edgy opener having retired not out, their no3 struck a 4 through square leg off Isaac, or did he? Craig in his first match of the season suddenly appealed, bails on the ground and the no3 looking very sheepish. Those drinks at Lords meant he’d slightly misjudged the amount of space behind him, it was a wicket nonetheless. And one brought two as Robin held onto a great catch at point.
There were some further lofty blows, including a couple of huge sixes by their skipper. But some tidy bowling by Beeks in the middle, a sharp run out by yours truly and some accurate bowling at the end by Hash and Martin meant we were chasing 131 to win. Hash, Martin and Beeks finished with 2 wickets a piece and Issac the one. Some delightful figures from Hash 2-13 and Isaac 1-14 from their 4 overs. How many we’d like them to score? More like, how quickly would you like us to knock them off?
With a few more than competent batsmen and the competitive edge beginning to kick in, we were unsure what to expect from the paras bowling. As is the way through, Craig opened having not picked up a bat since South Africa and hit 24 off 12 balls. Facing a tricky left arm spinner, Dan Brown, who once donned the Battersea towers, Will, Robin and I all fell bowled to balls that kept low. Will and I not offering much to the scoreboard but Robin proceeded to 24 not out, before dispatching the next ball for 6 to retire on the golden score of 30 not out. Not that he would be needed, no matter what the paras had thrown at Robin and had been dispatched, Rexy and Isaac were equal matches. Rexy elegantly stroked the ball for 21 not out and Isaac a tidy 10 not out. 29 extras also helped, with 22 wides bowled by the paras. In the end it was more of a Friday night stroll in the park than we had expected. As the crowds cheered and we planned our move to the Prince Albert with the oppo, the sun glinted off those flats aforementioned. Dickie, in only the way Dickie can deliver a line, there’s something actually quite beautiful about them.
The 2nd Battalion, Parachute Regiment’s motto is Utrinque Paratus – Ready for Anything. Maybe the Badgers should adopt the motto as well. Lovely stuff gentlemen, lovely stuff.