Written by Will Gibbs esq.
Dearest Gentle Badgers,
The seasons grand opener has finally arrived, promising elegance, excitement, batting averages wiped clean and joints renewed. The Badgers left their burrows in confident moods, fresh from the high scoring intra badger affair which yielded almost 500 runs and a skippers team talk highlighting the supreme strength of the batting line up assembled for today’s clash.
As ever however, the first dance of the season rarely goes to script. Less than 20 minutes later, having won the toss and elected to bat, on what looked a true Astro wicket, the Badgers found themselves 3-3 with Mackrell, Marshall and Gerrard all bewitched by the charming bowling of a man old enough to be their Grandfather.
3-3 was soon 8-4, and rumour quickly spread of the Crossbats discussing changes to the evening soirée arrangements, following the fragility of the Badger batting.
Step forward first Godfrey who batted with with the resolve of a man who has spent the wintry months honing his forward defensive for his 11, only to attempt to send the Crossbats spinner in the direction of the badgers pitchside dressing room. Needless to say, it was not the ball that headed in that direction.
Just as murmurs began to spread of a swift collapse, up stepped your badger of the match, in the form of Nick Foord. With a calm and measured approach, he played the situation to perfection, 34 valuable runs which anchored the Badgers to what would prove to be a more than competitive total of 102. Alongside him, was the seasons standout debutante MJ, his timing and stroke play impeccable throughout his innings, right until Chris decided the time had come to run him out for 21.
With the innings concluded, the Badgers returned to the field with renewed intent, focus and confidence following a series of ‘high-quality’ fielding drills. White and Hash opened proceedings with discipline and control, making the most of the conditions still offering assistance to bowlers of all varieties.
It was Hash that provided the breakthrough with a delivery just too tempting for the Crossbats batter, which was collected in the safe hands of Master Godfrey. Hash remained miserly finishing with 2-14 from his 6 overs and what I cannot help but wonder, is if the unstoppable force of the great man’s batting, met the immovable force of his bowling, what would be the resulting economy rate??
Blanco soon joined proceedings, picking up the wicket of the other Crossbats opener. The ball rearing from a length and finding the edge, ending in the hands of the skipper. The same skipper who had a marvellous day as captain, every bowling change field change turned to gold. The next of which was to turn to his twirleymen.
Myself first, and despite spilling a chance from my own bowling, I managed to prise out two more wickets. Including the LBW of a batter still quietly convinced the ball missed his pads altogether.
Then, a moment to turn the tide. MJ once again at the heart of proceedings, turning momentarily into a 2005 Gary Pratt, to run out the Crossbats set batter. At 60-6 the atmosphere had been shifted entirely. Where once there had been calm expectation, there was now tension, belief, and no small amount of Badger noise (mostly from Godfrey).
Matt Adams rose to the occasion with some mystery spin and was mightily unlucky not to add to the tumbling wickets. Golden arm Ben Marshall joined the festivities, picking up 1-1 from his 1, before White struck again leaving the game perfectly poised with 7 still required and only 2 wickets remaining.
And so, as with any shindig worth its soul, the occasion came down to the final moments. The Crossbats tail with a combination of nerve and fortune managed to negotiate the final few runs bringing home a 2 wicket victory that was anything but comfortable.
Thus concludes the opening engagement of the season, not the result the Badgers might have hoped for, but a performance that, from the depths of 8-4, showed resilience, character, and just enough drama to suggest this season will be one worth following closely.