A little-known statistic is that Allyn Blake’s body has received more hours of sunshine in a single season that the rest of the Badgers’ combined over 10 seasons. In an attempt to curb Allyn’s dominance in this arena, a fixture was arranged with the Old Wimbledonians at their home ground where any form of topless activity within the grounds were strictly forbidden. It was a shame for Allyn as the day was extremely hot and sunny but it was for the best.
After a few losses on the trot, the Badgers really needed a win here so it didn’t help when interim captain Cade lost the toss for a game where only 1 ball was going to be used. The Badgers were put into bat and swiftly lost their first 2 wickets for only 9 runs off 3 overs.
Paul Cole and Ben Cornish dug deep and stayed in for the next 10 overs to put a halt to the early collapse. After Cole’s dismissal, Warman joined Ben at the crease and took the Badgers through to drinks (+ a poo break for Ben). 5 kg lighter, he resumed his batting and quickly cruised to his 50 (although no one clapped because the scorer forgot to tell everyone about Ben’s achievement). Warman soon followed with a rapid 50 of his own. The Badgers ended on 225 from 35 overs with a Cornish 71 and Warmongering 72.
Tea was sensational. The fact that the menu had been written on a classy little blackboard said it all: Fish finger sandwiches, pork pies with piccalilli, sausages, bacon baps, cheese, sandwiches, pickled onions, cake … Most Badgers were wishing that they had taken the Ben Cornish approach to drinks breaks. Either way, tea was demolished making the return to the field difficult.
The Badgers bowled well with the exception of Lee who was struggling from over-consumption at tea and bowled more no balls in this single game than he had in the previous 3 years combined. Fortunately, this had little impact on the wider performance and the Badgers beat the Wimbledonians by almost 100 runs.
Playing at the Wimbledonians’ ground was a wonderful experience. Amazing tea, fully-stocked bar and most importantly, an electronic scoreboard.
Lesson learned: Allyn Blake is a surprisingly good leg spin bowler.