This page holds the match reports for all games completed so far this season. It is my intention to post at least a summary report for each game, at the same time as the result for the game, with full reports becoming available as and when those designated for the task turn in their copy. The current report will always be available in the latest section of the results page but will also be available here.

The links below provide a direct route to the report for each game plus access to the reports for seasons from 2000 to the present. It is also possible to link to them from the associated rolling results page entries and I hope to extend that facility to include all of the historical results pages, once I’ve figured out the best method of doing so.

• 25 Apr 2010: Beechwood (A)
• 9 May 2010: Sutton (A)
• 16 May 2010: Stoke D'Abernon (A)
• 23 May 2010: Dormansland (A)
• 6 Jun 2010: Woldingham Village (A)
• 13 Jun 2010: Leatherhead (A)
• 20 Jun 2010: Tadworth (A)
• 4 Jul 2010: Old Suttonians (A)

• Match reports for season 2009
• Match reports for season 2008
• Match reports for season 2007
• Match reports for season 2006
• Match reports for season 2005
• Match reports for season 2004
• Match reports for season 2003
• Match reports for season 2002
• Match reports for season 2001
• Match reports for season 2000

Unless otherwise noted both summary and full match reports are written by your host and webmaster, Steve Pitts, as are all editorial comments and statistical notes. For reasons that are now lost in the mists of time, the reports are laid out in reverse chronological order, but hopefully the links above make that an unimportant detail.

4th Jul – Old Suttonians: 230 for 6 dec.   Badgers: 231 for 7

View the scorecard of this game

[It remains my intention to post a one or two paragraph summary of each game when I enter the scorecard data especially since it seems that only a select few are interested in writing full match reports because most consider my summaries to be detailed enough to be sufficient]

Summary: A blustery day saw the spectators huddling amongst the trees for shelter and the scoreboard doing an impression of a sail until the home side’s grammar school educations came to the rescue and it was propped up against a couple of trees. We were denied the opportunity to play on the main square but the back pitch played well enough and a fast outfield contributed to a high scoring contest. Wardy (2-42), bowling as first change, broke the opening partnership at 52 in the tenth over but that didn’t slow the scoring rate any and when the second wicket fell another 49 runs had been added in the same number of overs. Graham and Darrell (3-67) did manage to apply the brakes for a short while, especially when opener Peter O’Toole was stumped for 70, but Tom Broughton (51 no.) reapplied the throttle and the home side were able to declare about fifteen minutes earlier than the scheduled tea interval having amassed 230 from 38 overs.

Upon the resumption the Badgers’ innings got off to a terrible start, with Patrick, batting at number four, striding to the wicket to face the third ball. He and Richard Ward (46) did a more than effective job of recovering the situation and the pair added 110 for the third wicket at above five an over. The last twenty started with 117 still required and Pat then nursed the middle order through the next twelve overs, at which point fifty runs were needed. Graham Ward (16) helped Pat add 37 of those runs but he was run out with less than three overs remaining and Pat fell for 119 from the next ball. This left Mark in the not unfamiliar position of needing to shepherd the lower order but with twelve runs required from the same number of balls he calmed Badger nerves by thumping two big sixes to take the visitors to victory in a hurry. Whilst the home side might argue that they were too generous in their declaration, I would disagree and feel that skipper Phil Smith got it absolutely spot on. Only a superb innings by Pat and a couple of key dropped catches – a fairly straightforward chance at mid on when he was in the 70s and a sharp chance at the wicket on 99 – stood between them and a win. Kudos all round for a great game played in the right spirit.

Statistical Notes: Pat’s impressive knock took him past 4000 runs for the club and is the eighth century that he has made, in just 92 innings, three more than anyone else in club history.

20th Jun – Tadworth: 192 for 6   Badgers: 125 all out

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Summary: A cold and overcast start to the day and an opposition determined to play a limited overs game meant that proceedings got off to a chilly start. Wardy (2-22) was accurate, Sahil occasionally quick and sometimes wild, Jake impressed again and snared a key wicket, courtesy of the best of Ben’s three catches, in Sander (38) who was looking like he was on his way to a big score. Greggy snared a couple of wickets as second change and the home side were restricted to three an over for the first third of their innings, and four an over after thirty overs, but a greater familiarity with the format, some sloppy ground fielding from both young and old, and solid contributions from a couple of their senior citizens with sons also playing – Matthews Pa (45 no.) and Buss G (30 no.) – meant that even a tidy spell from our own senior player couldn’t keep the final score much below five an over, with the 192 for 6 eventually posted looking like pretty much a par score on the quick outfield.

The Badgers reply got off to a quick-fire start but Steve’s failure to adjust his radar following a field change after he’d clattered two of the first three balls to the off-side boundary meant that the first over finished with the visitors one down. Thereafter things never really improved. Richard Ward played tidily for a while before dragging one on, Mark tried to repeat Steve’s approach with four fours before being skittled and Greggy also had four boundary hits, all in the V, before coming unstuck with a hoick across the line (a lesson for us all there, methinks). At that point the game was as good as over, 80 for 8 from 25 overs was unlikely to be turned around, but Allan (23) and Sahil batted sensibly and added 44 for the ninth wicket before the innings slumped to a conclusion with thirteen balls unused. Sahil finished unbeaten on 22 and came off the pitch to discover that he was the top scorer according to the book.

Statistical Notes: Unfortunately that scorebook was a mess for both innings, so I had the usual chore of trying to balance a bowling card where the byes and leg byes had been charged to the bowlers whilst the batting was four runs short and a batting card where the bowling totals added up but the batting was eight runs short. Mr. Butt was adamant that he’d been robbed of a four, subsequently confirmed by my reconstruction of our innings over by over, and thus Sahil will simply have to settle for his highest score for the club. The 23 that Allan was eventually credited with is his best score for nearly four years and leaves him 105 short of 2000 lifetime.

Mark added another catch to his massive haul, and now has 300 total dismissals which leaves him just those seven wicket-keeper catches shy of 300 outfield catches – already just shy of 100 more than anyone else in club history. Jake was eager to discover whether he was the youngest Badger to score a run, but checking back I think not because Darrell was ten years, two months and four days when he first scored a run and Mark might have been even younger (but I can’t remember the skipper’s birth date and would need to check the dates of the games involved in the scorebooks since it was two years before I started recording the detailed batting and bowling data electronically).

One interesting element of this match, and something that has become more and more noticeable in recent years, was that it was a real family affair. Both sides fielded three fathers and their sons, with the Matthews clan having the edge in providing two sons. In fact, on the Badgers side Greggy was the only member of the team without a family connection to someone else on the field.

13th Jun – Leatherhead: 162 for 9   Badgers: 165 for 7

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[This report courtesy of Andy Iwanoczko]

In warm and breezy playing conditions sat on 22°C (±0.5°C), and after losing the toss ^{[1 The result of the toss is unknown, but field first the Badgers did]} and being asked to field, skipper Mark Gordon could not have been happier.

As part of the highly effective Badger warm-up regime, but dissimilar to most weeks, every player took the opportunity to turn their arm over on the astro wicket. Even keeper Pittsey, who it has been said once bowled for the team, removed a glove for the collective warm-up. Perhaps as a response to the unfailing ability of Badgers to snare catches, or perhaps as an opportunity not to waste valuable catching ability immediately prior to the match, not a single ball was either thrown or caught. Unlike the Badgers, the Leatherhead team chose to sit quietly in the pavilion and marvel at the talents on display.

As the opening batsmen entered the ground, it was apparent that they were intent on using the day to build on averages. The Badgers on the other hand appeared pensive, choosing to report on the apparent state of fitness of the opening pair.

The first innings was characterised by three distinct phases, all of which were seemingly related to the bowling changes. It was AB and Gordo M who started things off and broke through early. Barely a ball was bowled, before the younger of the two opening batsmen played a cover drive ^{[2 It is unknown whether this was the shot played]} off a full toss from Gordo, that on any other day was a “let’s go searching in the nettles and hedges for the ball” style of four… but not today. Instead, young Valentino Rossi made a fingers-up catch that only just saved himself £5000 worth of corrective dental surgery. The batsman, as if questioning an LBW or caught behind appeal, just stood there. Shock and awe. Ben on the other hand was licking his lips whilst doing the sums on how many Fosters he can buy with the five grand he’s saved himself. The tone was set. An over or so later Leatherhead attempt a quick fire run resulting in a run-out thanks to nimble fielding from AB at fine leg, 2 for 10 ^{[3 It is not known whether that was the total]}. After a period of tight bowling restricting the home side to about four an over on a lightning outfield, by first change it was 3 for 50odd ^{[3 It is not known whether that was the total]}, with Gordo M having rattled the skittles. Tense.

Enter the newbies, Ward D and Gordo J. With a collective age of 21, these young guns took the ball with unabridged maturity. Both batsmen, senior in age, were in a quandary: Do we play strokes and risk getting ribbed for the remainder of the season, and at every repeat fixture, if we lose our wicket? Or, do we bat conservatively and hope to keep the runs ticking? They chose the latter, except that the runs did not flow, oh no there was no flow. Those who paid £30 a ticket were wondering why they had done so, but there is no greater reward to bowlers who are not taking wickets than to drag a run rate down from four to three an over. The wicket was swamp-like, and the Badgers were revelling. After a 12 to 13 over collective spell, one of the batsmen did himself a mischief and asked for a runner. The ticket holders were threatening a riot in the stands, and rather than have his request catered for, the batsman was subbed. Eventually the runs started to come and a bowling change was required, but by that time the job was done. Well done lads.

After a haul last week, and brimming with confidence, yours truly was asked to step onto the stage. Not unlike the week previous, things started short and wide, but the odd straighter one surprised everyone, the wickets tumbled, and there was general disbelief. Pittsey parked himself under a sky ball for caught behind; a leg stump ripper; and a sturdy catch by Guy at mid-off, gave Andy his three. Could this be ten wickets for the Badgers? Guy bowling at the other end snared two quick wickets giving away almost no runs, showing good economy yet again. Darrell got the ninth, and with the retiree reluctant to return and face Badger wrath, the home team declared at 162.

After tea, Ward G who had turned down a bowl opened with Chris Byrne, only to play on and return to the pavilion for four ^{[3 It is not known whether that was the total]}. Darrell came in and looked good, but went similarly for about 12 ^{[3 It is not known whether that was the total]}. Valentino Rossi, keen to get stuck into the Fosters came and went, as did yours truly, both for fat zeros. Chris on the other hand was like a rock, punching fours and running clever and sprightly singles and twos. Skip came in with four down and almost immediately the boundaries were flowing, both into and above. This was the partnership to bring the total within reach. The chatty fielding outfit were clearly frustrated with not even a chance, let alone a wicket. Once both players reached their 50s it began to feel like it was a game for the Badgers to lose, and after a sharp ball from the Saffa pitched in line and moved away, the off-stump bail was raised and the Skip’s innings was over.

Pittsey, typically more comfortable coming in straight after tea, looked at ease at the crease with a mixture of shots owing to balanced wagon wheel. Yours truly again had the unenviable job of making decisions in relation to leg before, judged Steve as being trapped in front. Owing to the speed of the decision, and I dare say the decision at all, Pittsey was a shade crankier than unimpressed.

From there, the final 20 runs required seemed massive. In comes Guy to pair up with opener Chris to try and see off victory, and push forward they did. Until, with two to equalise ^{[4 Again a completely made up statistic, but thought to be somewhere in that region]}, Shane lifts his finger to remove Guy for the second LBW of the innings. Guy, aghast and claiming that the ball had touched upon some woodwork was seething his way to the pavilion à la Pitts.

With the turn of the over, in comes the younger of the two Gordos to the non-strikers. Chris, nearly setting off on a fatal single in that over, sees sense before any damage is done and powers the final stroke down the ground for four to obtain the winning runs. Great job Badgers.

Key performances:

Man of the Match:

Chris Byrne for a stellar batting performance that balanced consistent run scoring and patience.

Batting:

Skip for a rapid-fire 50+.

Bowling:

Juniors Ward and Gordon whose combined tight bowling allowed others to take some much needed wickets with batsmen desperate to score late in the game.

Fielding:

Valentino Rossi for his catch and fully committed dives and stops & Shane for his outfield sliding antics, who together ensured the chase total was not 40 or 50 higher.

Howlers:

Err… none to report ^{[5 Excluding umpiring decisions]}.

Footnotes:

1. ^  The result of the toss is unknown, but field first the Badgers did.
2. ^  It is unknown whether this was the shot played.
3. ^ ^{a b}  It is not known whether that was the total.
4. ^  Again a completely made up statistic, but thought to be somewhere in that region.
5. ^  Excluding umpiring decisions.

Editor’s Notes: To ensure that the above report still sounded like it was written by Andy I have not wielded the editorial pen as heavily as usual, especially in matters of ‘house style’. However, a few points of explanation for those that were not present: Valentino Rossi refers to Ben Valentine; Shane (for reasons unfathomable) to Graham Ward; Mark did indeed lose the toss (for the fourth time this year); the home side’s second wicket fell at five and the third at 63; Darrell was clean bowled for nine; Saffa refers to Leatherhead’s South African Rich Roy; and Guy was out with one run required to tie.

Statistical Notes: For the first time this season I ended up reconstructing an innings in order to figure out a discrepancy, and no doubt Chris Byrne will be pleased to learn that his highest score for the club (and indeed, in his life) was actually a 75 after the re-count suggested that he had been robbed of the run that was missing from the total. Since his previous best for the club was 31, the innings was a considerable step up and without it we might well have stumbled to a heavy defeat.

One other little oddity concerns the end of Leatherhead’s innings, which Andy describes above as a declaration. To the best of my knowledge, however, they did not declare but their injured batsman was unable (or unwilling) to return to the field. The Laws say that he is therefore declared as ‘ Retired – Not Out’ and that the innings is closed. The home side cannot be considered all out, because they have two not out batters, so I have a new distinction to deal with in my code since the innings is neither declared nor all out (the only two possibilities that I allow for the first innings of a timed game).

6th Jun – Woldingham: 102 all out   Badgers: 103 for 6

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[This report courtesy of Graham Ward]

The Badgers rolled into Jordanland on a warm and mostly pleasant day.

The Skipper lost the toss and the Black Caps were invited to field. As play was about to begin, the heavens opened, but fifteen people pretended it wasn’t raining and carried on regardless. Newbie Rob Knew took the new ball but slipped on the greasy pitch during his delivery stride and strained a thigh. Graham ‘Wasim’ Ward stepped in to partner Ian Gregg in the attack.

Greggy was threatening at one end, while Graham’s stoic bowling drew both comparisons with Glenn McGrath’s pitch map and yawns from our captain in equal measure. A rare loose delivery was cut to the skipper, and he was able to wake from his slumber just in time to take the catch. Two further wickets tumbled and Andy Iwanoczko was brought on to bowl some Terry Alderman style away swingers. Woldingham’s Ed Preston (a Badger son and grandson) stood defiantly while all around him vapourised under Andy’s spell, bagging him four wickets. Darrell, one of three Badgers to be playing their first game of the season, replaced Graham and snaffled a wicket.

At the fall of the eighth wicket, there followed a classic run out. Their number ten, all decked out in his Midsomer Murdersesque cricketing attire, came in to bat. He walked to the wicket with his bat under his arm in the same way a holidaymaker would carry a freshly purchased newspaper, before settling by the swimming pool to contemplate what he would normally have been doing on a Tuesday morning. Having arrived at the end of an over, he was therefore not on strike. A nudge from the striker effected a call for a single, and the Charles Hawtrey like character duly obliged, albeit in slow motion. Such was his confidence in his running ability, a grounding of the bat was apparently not necessary, and nor was a glance at the square leg umpire’s raised finger as he prepared to take guard at the wicket. The newspaper was then positioned back under his armpit as he walked back to the pavilion.

Number eleven didn’t last much longer, and Woldingham had been rumbled out for 102.

The tea lady, clearly having studied the Badgers attack over the last couple of years, was not expecting an early finish and so after a ten minute turnaround the Badgers would endeavour to negotiate this tricky period before tea with a watchful and circumspect vigil. Or not. Mark Gordon opened and having smashed the first five deliveries for ten runs was bowled by the sixth. Including a no-ball, after one over, the Badgers were 11 for 1. Two further wickets followed and we were 30ish for 3 when the french bread was being passed around.

After the resumption and a steady start in difficult conditions, Richard Ward was bowled for 16. Simon Fox was the next cab off the rank. A cab that doesn’t always start straight away and rarely gets out of second gear, but crucially one that can be relied upon to pootle towards its destination nonetheless. Steve Pitts was able to steer this cab towards the target with 43, the Miller-esque pull shot getting a regular airing but he did fall with the game still in the balance. Rob joined Foxy in the middle and was assisted by a runner in the shape of Andy. And not just the shape of Andy, but Andy himself.

Here began a classic example of what not to do when you have a runner. Rob pierced the field, and with all the protagonists in agreement that there was a single on offer, they all set off; Simon, Andy and indeed Rob, and all made their ground comfortably. A deliberation over the laws ensued and the verdict was that Woldingham were entitled to run Rob out, but in an act of sportsmanship, declined to impose. However, in a counter act of sportsmanship, with two runs to win, Foxy called a single that was dicey at best, and ran out Rob, in the form of Andy, anyway. Paul Little then joined the fray and blatantly disobeying orders to play the reverse sweep, played a backhand cross court smash to get the Black Caps over the winning line for the second time this season. Great Hustle Badgers.

Statistical Notes: Andy Iwanoczko grabbed his first four wicket haul for the club, although he has almost certainly bowled better for less reward. Strangely neither he nor Greggy managed to swing the ball much despite what seemed like ideal overheard conditions (at least once the rain had stopped). Mark pouched another catch to leave him one shy of 300 dismissals (which includes wicket keeper catches) and eight away from 300 outfield catches.

During after match festivities the discussion turned to the web site and trophies and the opposition expressed surprise that we didn’t have a duck cup. To be honest it is not anything that I have bothered collating, but a quick tweak to the season averages calculation makes it apparent that such a trophy would not have been hugely interesting in the past few years, with only a handful of occasions when anyone has recorded more than three in a season. I may add a column to the miscellaneous statistics but it isn’t high on my list of priorities at the moment.

[Under normal circumstances the summary report is removed when the full report is posted, but Allan Butt made the comment at the weekend that having read both reports he felt like they were for different games, so I thought that I'd leave the summary here, especially since it contains several bits of information that are not covered above, so you can judge for yourselves]

Summary: Dark clouds gathered as the start time approached and it started raining almost the moment we started, which proved to be bad luck for Rob Knew, who went base over apex in the middle of his second over and tweaked a muscle in his thigh. which somewhat limited his involvement thereafter but didn’t prevent him from snaring the catch of the day, a full length diving effort from second slip to where first slip would have been. The early bowlers had the worst of the conditions, although Graham Ward (3-24) snared a wicket in his first over and bowled tidily thereafter. Ed Preston, opening the batting for the home side despite a Badgers pedigree dating back to his paternal grandfather Alan who was the vice-captain in the club’s first season and captain for six of the first ten seasons, provided the only real resistance as none of his teammates passed 10 runs, and five of the last six recorded ducks. Andy took full advantage upon replacing the luckless Greggy and took four wickets with a real assortment amongst which the long hop seemed to be the prime wicket taking delivery. Darrell cleaned up the last two wickets with straight ones and Ed was left stranded on 71 out of the final total of 102.

Tea was not ready at the conclusion of Woldingham’s innings and the Badgers got themselves into something of a pickle in the twenty minutes or so before their repast, slumping to 15 for 3 after Mark had taken ten runs from the opening over before being castled by a ball that jagged back a long way. This turned out to be something of a stock ball for Patel, who could have had three such dismissals before the break, barring a no ball call. Richard Ward (16) survived that before an airy waft at the other end proved his undoing not long after the restart. Steve and Simon then effected a recovery, with Steve taking full advantage of the occasional short ball (to the tune of nine boundaries) before an over-ambitious drive at the second change landed in the hands of mid off and curtailed his innings at 43 with twenty still needed to win. Rob batted with a runner, which caused the usual confusion, but Simon remained resolute and despite Rob (or more accurately, his runner) inevitably being run out just short of the target, finished unbeaten on 18 when Paul Little ended proceeedings for the second year running, albeit in less impressive fashion than last year’s winning hit for six.

23rd May – Dormansland: 204 for 8 dec.   Badgers: 156 all out

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A relentlessly hot and sunny day saw the visitors toil in vain as a century by young Dormansland opener Ray put them to the sword before he repeated the pain with the ball. The early bowlers kept things fairly tight, a run rate of just over three an over after fifteen overs was testament to that, but were unable to make any significant breakthrough, with the only wicket falling as the result of a run out of a young man who had obviously not played against Mark before!?

Debutant Rob Knew bustled in with purpose but never quite found the right length for the conditions and Andy Iwanoczko managed to swing the ball a little despite the lack of any cloud cover or heavy atmosphere but the batsmen continued serenely on and it wasn’t until Ian Gregg was introduced as fourth change that the second wicket partnership was broken at 82. A strangely subdued Nick Hellier helped Ray add another 55 but the visitors were far too generous in granting extra lives with Steve Pitts and Mark Gordon especially culpable – the keeper missing a fairly straightforward chance to dismiss Ray just after he’d passed fifty and the skipper spilling two skiers, one of them off his own bowling.

The introduction of Guy Walker (3-31) into the attack changed the dynamics a little as he kept things tight to frustrate the pair before striking twice in one over, having Hellier caught at the wicket to break the third wicket pairing. Mark and Steve eventually dismissed Ray, who was later fined by his teammates for not walking after such an obvious nick, for what turned out to be 111 (after a later review of the scorebook) out of 169 but the lower order added a few hefty clumps to drag the score over the two hundred mark before the declaration at tea.

Foxy’s ‘call to arms’ produced a decent turnout of spectators for this longest running of all fixtures, with a bevy of Gordons from three different generations, pairs of Wards and Tickners, Mann and Redding other halves and offspring, plus a lone junior Pitts and a non-combatant Simon watching with varying degrees of interest and attention from the sidelines. They saw the Badgers get off to a steady start with Graham Ward (47) hitting the bad balls effectively to keep the score ticking along whilst his partner Steve (35) struggled in the heat. The pair added 67 for the first wicket, at a decent lick of more than five an over, but when Graham was out, nicking a wide one that he would have been better leaving alone, the scoring rate started to slow.

Steve and Andy Iwanoczko did keep things moving for a little while, 116 being the target at the start of the last twenty and Steve finding a last burst of energy to clout Stuart Hellier for eleven from the first of those overs including a soaring straight six. The next over saw the introduction of the century maker into the attack and with Andy immediately undone by the extra pace and Steve depositing one into long off’s hands in the next over from the same bowler the innings subsided from 102 for 1 to 129 for 8. Ray claimed six of those wickets over the course of five overs that cost just nine runs, with five of his victims clean bowled. A frustrated Pat was left stranded on 17, despite some sterner resistance from Ben Valentine batting at number eleven, but the prospect of a draw was quashed with nine balls remaining and the team nearly fifty runs shy of the target.

Statistical Notes: I understand that there was some discussion on the sidelines about how many players on either side had played in this fixture in the dim and distant past. It is worth noting that if Allan Butt had been playing, as he did last year, that he also played in the very first fixture between the two clubs, back in August 1962, and would almost certainly be the only player to have done so!? I also checked the teams for the equivalent fixture in 1980, and despite three other protagonists being amongst the watching throng, the only player on either side that took an active part in both games is yours truly, Steve Pitts.

16th May – Stoke D'Abernon: 126 all out   Badgers: 129 for 6

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[This report courtesy of Simon Fox]

The Norman Conquest

This is the tale of two Gordons, or as the opposition insisted, two Normans. With the game precariously balanced, and dark clouds ominously gathering, skipper Mark Gordon walks back to the pavilion, disconsolate and with head bowed, having just attempted a reverse sweep off Stoke D’Abernon’s opening bowler and nicked a simple catch to the keeper. Would the man-of-the-match efforts of 10-year old Jake Gordon have all been in vain……?

Let’s go back to the beginning. Forecasters had promised warmer and sunny, but the Almighty instead provided dark clouds and a chill wind, with showers in the air. Jake was in the side for his second start of the season, but was heavily outnumbered by Stoke’s tally of five colts. There was no doubt who was going to come out on top in the fielding division! Mark lost his third toss of the season, and so we trudged out for an afternoon in the field as usual. Our opening attack of Allan Butt and Mark was a little more conventional than of late and provided immediate reward, as Allan bowled Stoke’s opener in his first over and then Mark dismissed captain Duncan Howorth with a Nureyev-esque caught and bowled, horizontal at the point of the catch and with toes perfectly aligned.

Stoke never really recovered from this start, failing to put runs on the board with any menace and losing wickets at a pretty consistent rate. First change Jake, brought on when Mark’s stock had deteriorated to fast, leg-breaking grubbers, claimed a wicket-maiden in his first over, Stoke’s number four holing out to Allan at fine leg, presenting a nearly sixty year age difference between bowler and catcher! Thus began the spell that hopefully portends the Badgers’ future, as Jake, complete with designer shades, sent down nine overs of straight, tidy and well-flighted deliveries that bagged him figures of 4 for 41. Particularly impressive was that he bowled through an onslaught from Stoke’s Carty that had us well and truly on the back foot for a good few of those overs. At the other end, Allan picked up two from his eight overs, Andy Iwanoczko two more, and then Guy Walker pitched in for the final wicket, leaving Stoke all out for 126 after just 30 overs with only Carty’s knock of 52 in nine overs saving them from double-figure ignominy. There were good catches from Andy and Guy interspersed with a couple of pearlers, and one memorable stumping as keeper Steve Pitts rushed in from the standing-back position to beat the number eight batsman’s rearward lunge. Thankfully, these two motions were not co-linear.

After a generous and wholesome tea, Matt Mann and Chris Byrne refused with least conviction and were thus selected to open the innings. Stoke’s opening pair were youthful, enthusiastic and sharp, but Matt stroked the ball around with confidence and purpose, hitting four fours in his 17, whereas Chris – though looking comfortable – failed to trouble the scorers. Allan and Ben Valentine in particular batted sensibly, seeing off the quicks, but wickets fell with almost the same frequency as the opposition’s had earlier, and thus we found ourselves at 47 for 5 after 15 overs. However, this brought Skippy and Scratchy together for the partnership that would seal the game, Patrick being content to pick up his runs steadily without risk, whilst Mark opted for the belligerent approach, smiting all and sundry to distant fields in a quick-fire 57 in just eight overs and including eleven fours. At which point, with two required for victory, the attempted reverse-sweep. Thankfully for the skipper, the club’s resources run deep, but anyway Patrick drove the third ball of the next over to the mid-off boundary a la text-book and that was that. Patrick finished not out 29, making me ponder what his average on this ground might be. Our reply and first victory of the season took just 23 overs.

Which of course got us back to the pavilion just in time to watch England’s world-cup winning heroics … on Ceefax. What joy.

Statistical Notes: To answer Foxy’s question above, Pat has an average of 102.5 against Stoke, having scored 205 runs over six innings for just twice out.

No milestones this week and very little pending at the moment, so this section may go quiet for a while now. Mark is likely to be the next to reach any mark of note, needing just two dismissals (which includes wicket keeper catches) to reach 300, another seven more for 300 outfield catches, and just 57 runs to move past yours truly into third place in the all-time run scoring list.

Since there is little statistical trivia I thought I’d address a few confusions that arose this week over the no ball law. Firstly, one that came up on one or two occasions whilst Jake was bowling – the ball must bounce more than twice, or roll along the ground, before reaching the popping crease to be called a no ball. If the ball strikes the batsman, or the batsman strikes the ball, before it reaches the popping crease then it is not a no ball unless it is already rolling along the ground or has already bounced more than twice (thus saving the umpires from having to make what would be an horrendous judgement call).

Secondly, there was some confusion over whether a ball from a spinner that was above waist height but below shoulder height should be called a no ball, with Mark under the misapprehension that the law had changed to that effect. I can find no evidence to support that, although first class competitions often implement bye-laws that might apply such a change to games in the competition. The law explicitly defines a ‘high full pitched’ ball as any delivery other than a slow paced one, so it is the speed of the delivery that matters not the style of the bowler, and the MCC guidance also notes that the pace of the delivery should judged within the context of a match.

Oddly this type of no ball is not defined explicitly under Law 24 but instead is listed under ‘Dangerous and unfair bowling’ in Law 42 Unfair Play and technically ought to be accompanied by a ‘three strikes and off’ warning system (although I have no recollection of seeing that implemented at first class level). The one element of this law that I hadn’t twigged is that the heights are in relation to ‘the striker standing upright at the crease’ not in their normal stance, which does make things a little harder for the umpire, especially when the batter has a pronounced crouch.

Finally, there was some speculation as to whether a ball that passed over Ben’s head should be called a wide, but this is actually defined as an automatic no ball under the aforementioned Law 42, in exactly the same way as the beamers already discussed.

9th May – Badgers: 173 for 6 dec.   Sutton: 174 for 2

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Summary: Whilst it looked like the weather might intervene we stayed dry but were subjected to a bit of a hammering after being asked to bat first. Pat (35) and Graham Ward (32) gave the innings a solid if stodgy platform, with their second wicket stand of 52 being the best of the innings. Ben (28) and Mark (43) provided some decent acceleration but somehow we ended up receiving just 38 overs in a standard timed game during which we posted 173 for 6. As it turned out the opposition granted themselves an extra ten minutes before calling the last twenty and thus we would have bowled 39 overs at them, but it was all moot as a poor bowling and fielding performance was only brightened by a solid opening spell from Andy and a second Badgers wicket for young Daniel. The Sutton openers added 101 for the first wicket, with Moore top scoring with 64, and they coasted to an eight wicket win with a dozen overs to spare.

Statistical Notes: Foxy made his 200th appearance for the club, becoming (at least) the twelfth Badger to reach that plateau. The uncertainty stems from the usual proviso about seasons before 1988, for which I don't have full details in the database, so innings are substituted for any genuine games played figures. Only Mark, myself and the Tickner brothers are definitely over 300 though, so Simon may well ‘climb the charts’ over the next couple of years.

Ben’s 28 was his highest ever knock for the club, and featured some lusty blows, as he continues to develop as a batsmen. Whilst I doubt that he’ll ever evoke quite the same responses as Graham Davenport, whose insistence on bashing almost any delivery through mid wicket tends to excite bowlers so, his unorthodox approach must make him a nightmare to set a field for.

25th Apr – Beechwood: 181 for 7 dec.   Badgers: 174 for 6

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[Whilst I hope to finish off a full report for this game, since it was worthy of full coverage, past experience suggests that it will probably never happen and this summary will end up being all there is]

Summary: The new season got off to a surprisingly sunny start in the beautiful environs of Otford in Kent. Graham Ward (3-38) unveiled his new left arm seam up style, one of the legacies of the elongated winter net sessions, and finished with the best overall figures. Greggy removed one of the Beechwood openers with what would have been ball of the day on many a day, Allan Butt was his usual miserly self with his usual degree of luck and thus the usual lack of wickets and Daniel Ward snared his first ever wicket with the ball of the day to castle entrenched opener Warner (53). Beechwood eventually finished on 181 for 7, which felt pretty much like a par score on a wicket that played well throughout.

The Badgers’ reply was sluggish, the last twenty overs starting with four down and just 38 on the board, and 97 still required halfway through those overs with Pat (26) also back in the hutch. As so often it fell to the skipper, ably assisted by Foxy (25 no.), to try and come up with a minor miracle and when Mark bludgeoned 22 from the penultimate over to leave twelve to win from the final six balls it looked like he might just pull it off. It was not to be, however, and a decent final over from the bowling side’s perspective saw Mark skittled for 85 off the fifth delivery and the visitors finish eight runs short of that improbable victory. All in all a great way to get the new season underway against like-minded opposition.

Statistical Notes: Graham Ward snared his 100th wicket for the club in the same game that his nephew Daniel took his first. We were joking in the slips that, given that Graham had reached this milestone after eight seasons, at his current rate of progress he wouldn’t be challenging the leaders in the category until he was in his eighties but to be fair Graham did not bowl much during his first three seasons with the club, so perhaps Brian Moore doesn’t look quite so far away after all!!

The 111 that Mark and Simon added for the sixth wicket ties a club record, matching Mark’s own performance alongside Patrick at Ham in 2006. Pat, on top of all things batting as ever, pointed out after the game that Mark had just broken a tie with Alan Tickner for the highest number of century stands. Mark himself didn’t seem sure and it is not a statistic that I have been keeping track of. Having rectified that omission I can confirm that Mark now leads the pack with a share of 17 century stands, one ahead of AT and four ahead of Pat himself (which may explain why he is keeping track!?) – although Pat would be one closer if unofficial matches were included in the figures. Even without that extra boost Pat has a quite astonishing percentage of century partnerships with nearly 15 per cent of his innings featuring such stands, with only David Aldwinckle (at just over ten per cent) in double figures amongst those with two or more such partnerships.

(You might also care to check out Beechwood’s page on the match which may feature a match report at some point but also has scans of the scorebook pages)