The Badgers continued their late-season flourish with a hard-fought win over the London Itinerants. 230 runs from 35 overs looked as though it would be plenty but the Itinerant batsmen remained on target for the majority of their innings, making the Badgers fight all the way to the finish line.
The big news of the day was that Lee was set to play, just 24-hours after tying the knot. Whether as a reward for his team spirit or a desire not to let him bat, the Badger top order set about the Itinerant bowlers, scoring at will. 49 for jug-avoider-in-chief Thomas and 69 for wine-complainer-in-chief Morse were the top scores but the latter’s wicket did at least mean there was time for Lee to stride to the crease for a late cameo. Would he crown the previous day’s celebrations with a triumphant series of boundaries to dedicate to his beloved? Sadly not. A score of zero not out from zero balls seemed a little unfair for such impressive commitment to the cause but he did at least protect his average by refusing to run off the last ball of the innings.
The Badgers ate their tea in high spirits but the Itinerant batsmen were plotting harder than a CAD-proficient weasel. After the restart, two of their top three raced to half-centuries and, when they reached 108 off only 17 overs, some nervous scoreboard watching ensued. The Itinerants were carving the Badgers all over the park but eventually their number three was lured into a false shot, finally succumbing to Mcluskey – a fate historically shared by many a breathless damsel.
Indeed, Stew Mac’s intervention proved a decisive turning point, with the remaining Itinerants unable to continue the boundary-fest of their top order friends. Jinks joined the attack, bringing his own personal brand of squeeze and ending with career-best figures of 4/6 from two overs to add to an earlier run-out (the good kind) and 46 runs of his own.
Badgers won by 61 runs and Cadey realised after three years that Rory is left-handed.