Nerves of steel from Pete Jinks and a Robin Mackrell batting/bowling special made it two wins out of two for the Battersea Badgers. Finding themselves reduced to a nightmare 16/6, it fell upon the Badger captain to anchor the innings while Bam-Bam Mackrell searched for the boundaries, tucking in to an unbeaten half-century along the way.
Spectators might have been forgiven for leaving at tea, with a target of 105 appearing a mere formality for the Badgers’ much-vaunted batting line-up. However, slogging in the nets is a different animal to the challenges of a south-London wicket and it proved to be a nervy chase.
Batting first on a lively wicket, the Thespian Thunderers were starved of runs, eventually limping to a score that looked well under-par. Confident in the opening partnership of Josh ‘The Wall’ Lee and Martin ‘The Car’ Cloke, the rest of the Badgers tucked into their pork products and prepared to kick back on the boundary edge.
However, with ‘The Car’ written off and ‘The Wall’ breached within the first few overs, alarm bells rang. Further wickets fell in quick succession and the Badger fans feared for a rout, heading for the exits in their droves.
Blood was scented by the Thespians and it could have been even worse when Mackrell was downed by cramp, revived only by the feeding of jelly babies through his helmet grille.
This introduction of the nation’s 6th favourite sweet proved something of a turning point. With the opening bowlers out of overs, batting became easier and runs began to flow. Nerves jangled for a final time when Jinks was adjudged LBW 11 runs shy of the target, but the Badgers made it to the finish line, knocking off the runs with three wickets and 9 overs to spare.
The scorecard had an odd tinge to it, with only three of nine Badger batsmen troubling the scorers, but that mattered little as the 100% start to the season was maintained.