The Victoria & Albert museum was opened in South Kensington in 1852. Named after Queen Victoria and a piercing Steve Thomas may or may not have, it is home to over 2.8 million objects, at least four of which are Badger scalps from the past few years that are currently exhibited between Samson Slaying a Philistine and a first edition of Ruth & Martin’s album club.
Four long years since the last victory over Victoria (& Albert), The Battersea Badgers ventured on the annual pilgrimage all the way to South Kensington and then another forty miles out to Stonor Park for a leisurely 70 overs in the May sunshine. The first battle of the day was M4 vs M40 as Badgers trickled into the familiar Stonor Park surrounds. Will Kenton returned to the Sett with a brand new Kenton in tow while supporters aplenty bolstered the Badger ranks. We were only 10 but as it turned out, a perfect 10.
Collins & Kenton opened up, comfortably tackling the V&A opening spells. The V&A’s Badger-bane Lachlan, who has torn through the Badger XI for the past few years, was notably absent from the field and the Badger opening pair were able to surpass last year's total without loss.The famous V&A hospitality was on full display and an al fresco lunch presented an opportunity to discuss the merits of a pub quiz and routes for The Badgers to acquire a clubhouse of their own. Play resumed and Collins danced down to be stumped for a lovely 21, cementing his podium spot in the runs this season. Steve strolled in at 3 and out again moments later, unleashing Jim Hamblin on the V&A attack. Striking at 154 to impress his mum who’d driven all the way from a made up town called Devizes, Jim quickly knocked his way to 37 including one enormous straight six that sent V&A searching through the long grass. Kenton chopped on for a BOTM winning 61, Alex took the best supporting actor role with a memorable single before Hash went in swinging for a quickfire 25. Kitching and White made double digits and the tail wagged with help from our 11th man “Extras” who added a valuable 30 bringing the Badgers to 209-8 from our 35 overs.
A leisurely break and the Badgers took to the field in the afternoon sun. The V&A are a wily bunch and weren’t going to give away their wickets easily, so an aggressive offside field let Hash and Barcelona’s own Chris Blanco probe outside off. Chris struck early, with Captain Larsson taking a comfortable catch at Gully removing the V&A opener for 6. A plumb LBW removed their number 3 to give Chris a second, while Hash tied up the other end with economy figures never creeping above 3. Two more, somewhat less plumb, LBWs cracked open the V&A lineup, but a dogged middle order required Badger brilliance. Alex removed V&A’s most potent threat, edged to Steve in the slips. Blanco then added a 3rd all by himself with a caught and bowled. The overs dwindled with the sun before Fitzgerald took one more late on to leave V&A 60 odd runs short.
There’s currently an empty exhibit in the V&A museum in South Kensington, beneath it a small plaque inscribed with the words “V&A vs Battersea Badgers 2025”. Meanwhile, in an imaginary clubhouse somewhere in Battersea, perched on the end of the bar is a little replica of Samson Slaying a Philistine inscribed with the words “Lachlan wasn’t available”.