Fielding Stats

NOMADS FIELDING - 2009 season

Catches;

John Crossland - 14 (all as wicketkeeper)
Ajmal - 10
Hassan Khan - 8
Rob Jenkins - 7
Ben Fewson - 7
Gopi Pala - 5
Abdul Khan - 3
Jim Joyce - 3
Gideon Reeve - 2
Prasanth Pattiyil - 2
Emil Todorow - 2

nine players took one catch each; Peter, Enam, Nissar Khan, Chris Kennedy, Amin, Nick Lefebve, Niall McConnell, Darwin and Mahesh Vyas


Stumpings;

John Crossland - 1

Bowling Averages - 2009

NOMADS BOWLING AVERAGES - 2009 (Qualification 5 wickets)

Gopi Pala - 25 wickets @ 5.88
Andrew West - 8 wickets @ 6.75
Hassan Khan - 20 wickets @ 10.25
Gideon Reeve - 16 wickets @ 11.44
Riaz Khan - 9 wickets @ 12.22
Amin - 18 wickets @ 14.33
Ajmal - 33 wickets @ 17.15
Rob Jenkins - 7 wickets @ 18.00
Emil Todorow - 19 wickets @ 26.53

Batting Averages - 2009

NOMADS BATTING AVERAGES 2009 (Qualification - 2 innings)

Ben Fewson - 593 runs @ 49.42
Hassan Khan - 381 runs @ 42.33
Niall McConnell - 160 runs @ 42.00
Mark Bradshaw - 349 runs @ 38.78
Ismat - 34 runs @ 34.00
Prasanth Pattiyil- 388 runs @ 25.87
Chris Kennedy - 25 runs @ 25.00
Amin - 222 runs @ 22.20
Rob Jenkins - 66 runs @ 22.00
Mahesh Vyas - 141 runs @ 20.14
Ajmal - 302 runs @ 20.13
Jim Joyce - 175 runs @ 17.50
Jim Ferguson - 45 runs @ 15.00
Abdul Khan - 72 runs @ 12.00
Gideon Reeve - 24 runs @ 12.00
Gopi Pala - 33 runs @ 11.00
Nick Lefebve - 56 runs @ 9.33
Emil Todorow - 46 runs @ 9.20
Riaz Khan - 39 runs @ 7.80
Nissar Khan - 20 runs @ 6.67
John Crossland - 4 runs @ 1.33
Darwin - 1 run @ 0.50

Energy Exiles v Clapham Nomads - 13/9/09

There was plenty of demand for one more match to round off this fine season and I was pleased when the Fixture Bureau informed me that our old pals the Energy Exiles were also looking for a fixture. The close links between the clubs ensured an interesting climax to the campaign but our 2 previous defeats against Exiles raised the nagging fear of a humiliating 3-0 whitewash.
The Exiles won the toss and Keith Roberts and John Tither opened - as always with this team, a left-hand / right-hand combination. An initial flurry of boundaries was followed by several successive maidens as opening bowlers Hassan Khan and Ajmal bowled with good pace and accuracy. Tither had made a match-winning 50 against us back in June and was just beginning to look threatening again when Hassan produced one of his best; a good length Jaffa with a hint of swing to bowl this dangerous player. Roberts played his usual cautious hand early on and, joined by Wil Scott, nudged the score up remorselessly with stout defence and a sprinkling of flicks and shots. Ajmal was unlucky on several occasions, finding the inside edge but remaining wicketless.
With the score around 30 for 1 off 12 overs there was a double bowling change. Emil Todorow was on the money straight away and produced several of the balls only he can bowl which are known as "The Remarkable Delivery," kicking up to neck height at slow-medium off a good length. He soon accounted for Wil Scott. At the other end, Gideon Reeve struggled to find last week's accuracy against the left-handed pair of Roberts and No. 4 Sam Scott who took several boundaries, mostly behind square. A brilliant direct hit from Hassan Khan was the highlight of this period but Keith Roberts just made his ground and, after 20 overs, the match was very nicely poised with Exiles on 68 for 2
As ever in the 2nd half of an Exiles innings, Roberts now began to increase the tempo but, when on 30, he uncharacteristically swung across the line to Todorow. Many have tried this but few have survived and the stumps rattled to give the skipper a vital 2nd wicket. Even better followed when No.5 David Stiffell had a heave at Todorow which went straight up to wide mid-on where Ajmal was waiting. The veteran Bulgarian-born seamer had his reward at last for weeks of luckless toil.
Gideon Reeve found his radar in the second half of the spell and after 24 overs, Amin and Gopi took their turn. What a luxury to have bowlers of this calibre coming on 3rd and 4th change. Amin's nagging left-arm accuracy was a good balance for Gopi's endless variety. Gopi had Exiles' captain Amil Patel caught using a variation he hadn't tried before - a low full toss. Some dangerous hitters remained but arguably the most dangerous of these fell to the best piece of outfielding seen from a Nomads player this season. A bullet throw by Ajmal, standing fully two-thirds of the way back to the boundary, struck the stumps first bounce and ran out Simon Gundry by several yards. Another big shot-maker, Andy Wingfield, came up against Gopi at his best and an over featuring several sharp turners culminated in the Exiles all-rounder holing out to Ajmal - who else - at wide mid-on.
No.9 Martin Thomas has been in sparkling form lately and cracked a couple of hefty blows off Amin, but our left-armer took his revenge by depriving the former Nomads player of partners. Two wickets in two balls - one a ? club record 4th catch for Ajmal - ended proceedings on 129 which was lower than seemed likely at any stage of the innings.
Over tea, Nomads could almost taste the possibility of finally breaking the hex Exiles have put on us. Ben Fewson and Mahesh Vyas took guard but disaster struck in the third over when Andy Wingfield first had Fewson caught behind for 4 and then bowled Prasanth round his legs the next ball. Hassan Khan was No. 4 and was due a big innings against Exiles. Mahesh Vyas managed to power Naren Patel for two successive 4s but never looked entirely comfortable against these awkward bowlers and Patel soon had him caught behind for 8. 16 for 3 and there was a sense that much depended on Hassan and Amin. Amin lived up to his nickname "Six" by hitting just that off Naren Patel and then following up with two 4s in Patel's next over to remove the crafty opener from the attack. A rapid partnership began to develop with Hassan playing a series of fine straight hits. Andy Wingfield retired with a pulled hamstring and paceman Simon Gundry took over at the Wimbledon End. Gundry is quicker than most at this level and bowls few bad balls. The watching Nomads felt, with Hassan and Amin pushing the score up past 50 and with little of Wingfield and Patel to come, that if we could restrict Gundry to one wicket or fewer, we might have a real chance. It took the big speed merchant 12 balls to really lock his missiles on to their target but when he did, Hassan's stumps were shattered.
78 for 4 left the match very evenly balanced. No. 6 Nick Lefebve's instructions were to see off Gundry at all costs and try to poach some scraps from the others. He coped adequately with the paceman for a while but Martin Thomas struck a mortal blow at the other end in having Amin excellently caught with a diving flourish by Wil Scott. Ajmal attempted a couple of big hits but perished on the second of them. Gideon Reeve gloved a very rapid Gundry Special to the keeper. Lefebve was on 1 after 7 overs and when he finally received a leg-stump delivery from Gwyn Thomas, he swept it straight to square leg where Sam Scott snapped up the chance at the second attempt. 5 wickets had fallen for 4 runs and we looked set to fall to our first heavy defeat of the season and, as Old Leagonians would put it, "have our pants pulled down."
Emil Todorow joined Gopi at the crease and soon began to smack the ball straight with brutal force. What initially seemed a cameo quickly turned into a captain's innings and all the bowlers felt his power as Nomads cruised past 100. Gopi provided support with some nice leg-side shots. At 111 for 8 we needed 19 to win off 6.3 overs and two well-set batsmen appeared to be steering us to a famous victory. The returning Naren Patel's final over felt important and so it proved as he pegged back Gopi's leg stump. Out came John Crossland and, with Martin Thomas having only one over left, Gwyn Thomas would have to be accompanied by a part-time bowler for at least 2 overs if Nomads' veteran last-wicket pair managed to see out the innings. Surely still a sniff of a chance then, but sadly M. Thomas maintained his unerring line and rapped John Crossland's pad plumb in front. The umpire had little choice but to confirm Exiles' 4th successive victory over the Nomads.
So we were whitewashed, the first time we have lost to the same team 3 times in one season, but at least it was only 13 runs. How are we ever going to beat the Exiles? We might have to get the chequebook out and pay boot money to Australians. Man of the Match has to be Emil Todorow who produced his best batting of the season, along with a good bowling spell, to make it respectable. Ben Fewson is off to Sofia this week as his League side LESSA Christchurch are taking on the Bulgarian National Team, but can it be a true Bulgarian National Team without Todorow playing? Fielder of the Day is Ajmal. 4 catches and a direct-hit - one of the easier choices for the award this season.
The blog will be back in a week or two with a seasonal summary, the averages and maybe a captain's report.

ENERGY EXILES - 129 all out from 31.5 overs

H. Khan, 6-4-11-1
Ajmal, 6-2-13-0
Todorow, 6-0-23-3
Reeve, 6-0-39-0
Gopi Pala, 4-1-6-2
Amin, 3.5-0-22-3

CLAPHAM NOMADS - 116 all out from 29.1 overs

Fewson, 4
M. Vyas, 8
Prasanth Pattiyil, 0
H. Khan, 23
Amin, 31
Lefebve, 1
Ajmal, 0
Reeve, 0
Gopi Pala, 11
Todorow, 22 not out
Crossland, 0

F.O.W. - 6, 6, 16, 78, 80, 80, 80, 82, 111, 116

Nomads v Old Leagonians - 6/9/09 - Report

Sunday's match against Old Leagonians was overshadowed by the very recent death from cancer, at the age of 43, of one of Old Leagonians' long-standing players who had played against us in our only previous encounter 2 years ago.
Both sides observed a very moving minute's silence before the start, and there was a somewhat subdued atmosphere as the game began. One man who wasn't subdued was Hassan Khan who found the edge with his first ball, but the chance went down.
At the other end, Ajmal needed 2 wickets to beat Emil Todorow's club record of 32 wickets in a season and, despite starting a little waywardly, he soon had one of them. There was a wicket apiece for the opening pair who were both rested on the 10-over mark with the score on 25 for 2.
Skipper Todorow replaced Hassan at the Bypass End, hoping for some of the luck that has deserted him lately. The pitch was another of Merton Council's eccentric creations with a more pronounced slope across the pitch than I have ever seen before. There was a bit of uneven bounce but it was well within the spectrum of acceptability and, after all, Lord's has a slope too.
There is no better Nomads bowler at seeking out the snakes than Gideon Reeve and he was quickly at it again, using the slope to claim one scalp and getting low-ish bounce for another. At drinks, Reeve had 3 for 8 from his 4 overs and Leagonians were in difficulty at 48 for 5. Reeve was taken off at this stage, purely to give another high-class Medium Pacer, Gopi, a bowl. The man from Hyderabad didn't disappoint. There was a variation every ball; the slower one, the big off-spinner, the flat one. The only one he didn't produce - to the disappointment of his fans - was the bouncer. Gopi chopped up the tail like a Master Butcher with 3 for 5 in 3 overs; one man fell to a lethal leg-stump slower ball and another deflected it off both his feet before it rolled back onto the stumps.
There was a well-deserved wicket for Todorow to leave Leagonians looking into the abyss of 52 for 9. A brief flurry followed and the skipper sportingly brought Ajmal back on to have another crack at his record. The 5th ball was skied and came down like a meteorite. Thankfully Hassan Khan was under it and made no mistake, giving Ajmal his record 33rd wicket - a great achievement.
The target was 65 and surely this would be no problem, even for a line-up that was missing Mark Bradshaw, Niall McConnell, Amin and Jim Joyce. Bad batting, good bowling, pitch deterioration; it would have to be all 3 for the Nomads to fail. The opening bowler Rob Lowndes looked as likely as anyone to cause problems. He maintained a good length and found some sideways movement but little irregular bounce. He did have Ben Fewson caught and bowled for 8 in his second over, but the 16 runs already on the board had lengthened the odds against a Nomads defeat from possibly 20-1 to more like 100-1. Mahesh Vyas continued his excellent recent form with three 4s in the following over and survived a very confident LBW shout from Lowndes (the ball struck the pad just outside the line.) Prasanth provided solid support before Lowndes got his man, bowling Vyas with the score on 41.
A double bowling change saw Jordan keeping it tight but No. 4 Hassan Khan got after Stiker with three 4s before the bowler took his revenge, having our star all-rounder caught behind with the score on 63. Two to win but when No. 5 Darwin was out second ball, scorer John Crossland could contain himself no longer; "I knew it. Same old Nomads. We're going to mess it up." He shook his head in disgust (or was there just a hint of glee? Surely not.)
Fortunately Nomads' lower order contains many battle-hardened individuals, at least some of whom are capable of scoring 2 runs, and Ajmal quickly sealed the victory.
As it was only 5 o'clock, an 11-overs-a-side beer match was agreed on, to the disgust of John Crossland. "I hate beer matches," he said, with as much conviction the 20th time as the first. At least it was a rare chance for John to display his left-arm Chinamen and it was a very exciting game with Nomads winning on the last ball amidst chaotic scenes as Leagonians tried to run 4 to Emil Todorow at mid-off. They failed of course and Nomads won by 1 run in one of the best beer matches we have played. Even John admitted the last 2 overs were exciting.
Man of the Match was Gideon Reeve who tore through Old Leagonians' middle order. Fielder of the Day was Hassan Khan with his smart catch to help Ajmal to his record.

OLD LEAGONIANS - 64 all out in 24.5 overs

H. Khan - 5-0-12-1
Ajmal - 5.5-1-11-2
Todorow - 7-2-24-1
Reeve - 4-1-8-3
Gopi - 3-2-5-3

CLAPHAM NOMADS - 65 for 4 in 10.5 overs

Fewson, 8
M.Vyas, 22
Prasanth, 7 not out
H. Khan, 17
Darwin, 0
Ajmal, 2 not out

F.O.W. - 16, 41, 63, 63

Latest result

Clapham Nomads beat Old Leagonians by 6 wickets on Sunday 6/9/09. Old Leagonians were 64 all out. Nomads got them for the loss of 4 wickets with Mahesh Vyas top-scoring with 22. Ajmal took 2 wickets to take his tally for the season to 33, a Nomads record.
Full match report will follow

Phoenix (Epsom Liberal) v Nomads - 30/8/09

Nomads travelled to a new venue, Alexandra Park on the edge of Epsom town centre, for this match against Phoenix - a team we beat last year but who used to give us regular hammerings a few years back in their former incarnation of Epsom Liberal. It was a pleasant, rather secluded venue; even the watching gang of teenagers looked on in respectful silence with not a single shout of 'howzat'. Unfortunately they went home early for their tea and missed one of the great bowling performances, but more of that later.
Skipper Todorow won the toss and the late arrival of several players forced him to bat first. The pitch showed signs of use but, apart from the occasional irregular bounce, played well. Ben Fewson adopted the pinch-hitting role he has been playing increasingly in recent matches and took three 4s from the first 2 overs; a particularly powerful straight hit off Raj was the pick of the bunch. His partner, Mahesh Vyas, began cautiously before striking two boundaries though his favourite leg side in the 6th over. As previously, this pair complemented each other very nicely with their different styles. Bowler Raj and his partner Neil began to find some form but the run rate remained steady and yet another half-century 1st wicket stand was reached in around the 9th over. Vyas was displaying a greater range of shots than usual and looked in fine touch. Medium pacer Lowi replaced Raj and soon showed he could move the ball off the pitch but regular wides disrupted his rhythm. At the other end the youngster Centre (nicknamed 'Ayrton' and 'Curtley') struggled even more and produced a string of high wides and no-balls. On 77, with our first century opening stand of the season looking inevitable, Lowi cut one away to find the lower part of Ben Fewson's bat. The ball flew straight to point which was a touch unfortunate.
Mark Bradshaw, who it turned out was batting with a broken finger, was off the mark quickly but a smart piece of fielding had him heading back to the pavilion, run out for 1. No-one likes being out early but it was perhaps a blessing in disguise as a long innings would surely have caused him considerable pain.
The 11-year-old Medium Pacer Sofiane came on and impressed with reasonable accuracy and attitude. He was not fazed by being taken for 26 in 14 balls by Vyas and Prasanth and sneaked a nice straight ball onto Vyas's front pad. Kindhearted umpire Todorow couldn't resist the kid's imploring appeal and Mahesh was dismissed by probably the youngest bowler ever to take a Nomads wicket. If it's any consolation to Mahesh, Sofiane does bowl for his (Primary) school.
The match was nicely poised at 133 for 3 from 20 of the 35 overs but a lot rested on Prasanth and No. 5 Ajmal, the last of the recognised strokemakers. They didn't disappoint; Ajmal warming up with 2 sixes off Lowi and Prasanth being as consistent as ever. A stand of 53 in 50 balls between these 2 meant that our bowlers would have plenty to play with, but Phoenix are traditionally a strong batting side and the short boundaries meant that we really needed well over 200 to feel comfortable.
Nick Lefebve came out and soon received a nice leg-side long-hop from spinner Ray French to help him settle. The other bowler, also called Ray, had tricky variation of pace and, in trying too hard to give the strike to Ajmal, Lefebve hit to mid-off and called for a risky single. Ajmal hesitated slightly and was run out for a hard-hitting 37. Chris Kennedy joined Lefebve and the veteran pair, neither of them natural attacking players, managed at least to milk 21 runs at 4 an over to take the final total up to 216 and leave the match very finely balanced.
On paper, Nomads had only 4 front-line bowlers and, bearing in mind that Phoenix scored 210 off 35 overs last year against a stronger Nomads bowling line-up, defending 216 would take great reserves of cunning and ruthlessness. Fortunately the captain was Emil Todorow so these attributes were not going to be in short supply.
Todorow himself opened alongside Ajmal. The skipper has been bowling well in recent weeks with absolutely no luck and this continued when the hard-hitting Ray French was badly missed during an over in which he took 8 off Emil. Ajmal started the game on 30 wickets, only 2 short of Todorow's club record of 32 scalps in a season, and he roared in in search of blood. The 2 Rays were an impressive opening pairing though and good hitting, initially straight but then all over the park, took the score past 50 with Nomads wilting a little. Fortunately both bowlers were just too good to be denied and there was a wicket apiece; a caught behind for the skipper and a lovely straight plumb LBW to take Ajmal up to 31. After 14 overs there was a double bowling change and on came Andrew West and Gopi, two men who are very different in physical stature but very similar in their determination to take wickets. There was an aura about West as he jogged in, ball in hand, and he very quickly produced a floater to bowl No. 4 R.Gall, a man we were told had averaged 280 in his previous three innings. That's all very well, but it's unlikely he had faced a bowler of the calibre of Andrew West.
Gopi produced his usual excellent variation with several big off-spinners and got a quick reward with the wicket of No. 3 Piper Masha. It was West's day however and, even when Raj sent the ball into orbit for a giant 6, Andrew showed his new-found maturity by merely muttering some extremely obscene curses under his breath and turning round and sending down some more jaffas. Down they fell; bowled, bowled and a brilliant running catch by Gopi at short third man to remove the dangerous Raj.
Shuffling his bowling options cleverly, The Gaffer turned to the spin of Ben Fewson who soon showed we did have a 5th front-line bowler all along with some well-flighted spin. West held the ball aloft after achieving his five-fer with yet another bowled and then Fewson rapped it up to secure a resounding victory by 116 runs. This was a great all-round Nomads performance from a slightly depleted team with everyone chipping in. Phoenix were perhaps more depleted than us, and I did hear a rumour they told John Crossland they were a bit complacent before the game. I'm sure they won't be next season.
There is little that can be said about Andrew West that has not already been said except that he is Man of the Match. Fielder of the Day is a share between Gopi, who took one of the best catches of the season and Mark Bradshaw, who stopped everything at fine leg when the pressure was on - despite a broken finger.

Clapham Nomads - 216 for 5 from 35 overs

Fewson, 27
M. Vyas - 43
Bradshaw, 1
Prasanth, 34
Ajmal, 37
Lefebve, 14 not out
Kennedy, 9 not out

F.O.W. - 77, 85, 133, 186, 195

Phoenix - 100 all out from 27.1 overs

Ajmal, 7-1-35-1
Todorow, 7-0-25-1
West, 7-2-20-5
Gopi, 4-0-11-1
Fewson, 2.1-4-1

Theatres v Nomads - Match stats and records

Two records were broken in this match; Mark Bradshaw and Niall McConnell's stand of 158 finally eclipsed the long-standing 2nd wicket record and Jim Joyce's business trip to St Tropez was definitely the most glamorous reason ever for missing a match. This record was previously held by John Crossland who missed 2 matches in 2007 whilst on a Mediterranean cruise. That sounds pretty glamorous itself until you realise that he was accompanied by a postman
Man of the Match was Gopi who produced another great spell of which the highlights were 2 wickets in 2 balls and a devastating bouncer. Fielder of the Day was Ajmal.

Clapham Nomads - 233 for 5 Declared from 35 overs

Bradshaw, 70
Fewson, 28
McConnell, 73
Prasanth, 0
Ajmal, 16
Lefebve 6 not out
Reeve, 10 not out

F.O.W. - 35, 193, 194, 200, 221

Touring Theatres - 96 all out in 30.1 overs

Ajmal 8-1-27-1
Todorow 10-5-13-0
Reeve 6-0-18-3
Gopi 5-2-16-5
West 1.1-0-12-1

Clapham Nomads won by 137 runs

Touring Theatre XI v Clapham Nomads - 23/8/09

A report by John Crossland

Mark Bradshaw, on his return from injury, opened the Nomads batting with Ben Fewson. The latter was immediately into his stride, scoring freely off the slow bowling of Warnaby whose first 2 overs went for 27. It was unusual to see Warnaby as an opening bowler. The other opening bowler, Owen, kept things reasonably tight and he also dismissed Fewson for a rapid 28 with the total on 35.
McConnell now joined Bradshaw and these two started to build a big partnership. Never looking in any trouble, they reached 50 at about the same time and were not parted until they had added 158 runs which is a record for the Nomads 2nd wicket. Bradshaw made a chanceless 70 and McConnell made 73 with eleven 4s and a 6. Ajmal then hammered a few quick runs and, shortly afterwards, skipper Todorow declared with the score on 233 for 5. This was a time game, not limited overs.
In reply, Touring Theatres had some early escapes due to dropped catches with Todorow having two easy chances spilled off his bowling. However when Gideon Reeve and Gopi came into the attack the wickets started to tumble. Reeve, bowling off his new, shorter run-up, was more accurate than he has been on previous occasions, albeit a bit slower, and he took 3 for 18. Gopi, a clever bowler, weaved his magic again and finished with 5 for 16, his second 5-wicket haul of the season. These two bowled so well that Andrew West, who was itching for a bowl, was almost not needed; but he was brought on at the end and took the final wicket with the total on 96. There were still about 11 overs left so this was a very convincing win for the Nomads.
It was great news to hear that England had won the Ashes. Everybody seemed happy, even the one who had bet on an Aussie win. JC

LESSA Christchurch v Nomads - 16/8/09

Nomads travelled to Eltham to play the team for whom Ben Fewson turns out in the Kent Feeder League on a Saturday. It was a slightly makeshift Nomads line-up due to the understandable reluctance of several players to travel to a place with an 'E' in the postcode.
LESSA were restricted to about 156 for 9 from their 35 overs. A forfeit system was in place in the field whereby any Nomads fielder dropping a catch had to wear a hat in the shape of a turkey's head. Emil Todorow avoided this indignity with a stunning catch on the boundary from a skier. Todorow also impressed with a hyper-economical spell of 9 runs from his 7 overs but the highlight was a hat-trick from Gopi who took a total of 4 wickets. Prasanth was next best with 3.
In Nomads' innings, Ben Fewson put his LESSA team-mates' bowling to the sword with a very rapid 46 before being brilliantly run out. This took a lot of pressure off the batsmen lower down, the highest scorers of whom were Ajmal with about 25 and Gopi with 22. Chris Kennedy also played a good anchor man role with a valuable 14, holding together the late middle order. No.10 Emil Todorow came in with the scores level and about 4 overs to go but victory by 2 wickets was sealed with a wide.
Man of the Match was Gopi for only about the third hat-trick in Nomads' history and 22 runs. Fielder of the Day and full match stats to follow

Worcester Park v Clapham Nomads - 9/8/09

After a long summer of purgatory, the Nomads finally arrived at Paradise in the shape of Worcester Park CC's ground at Green Lane. For the first time, Nomads had given themselves a Conference Rating of Medium rather than Weak-Medium and were being rewarded with facilities to match their new status; an excellent-looking, correctly-marked pitch, a full-size scoreboard, 2 large sightscreens and a bar full of large, tattooed men who had come to shout at the pampered, over-paid, petulant sports stars (Chelsea in the Charity Shield, not the Nomads.)
Having seen the pitch, and with the toss won, Nomads' Top 8 were champing at the bit. Ben Fewson and Prasanth had first go and the opening over was a bit of a reality check as the Medium Pacer Rob Waite found considerable extra kick off the pitch. Fewson just about kept a low one out and Prasanth also did well to survive. Thankfully the pressure was eased by 4 byes and it was eased further when 12 came from Scott Kent's first over; a boundary for each batsman and a smattering of wides. Most of the early scoring was behind the wicket but progress was swift with 45 taken from the first 8 overs, mostly off Kent.
There were 2 important turning points around this time; Ben Fewson hit the first boundary in front of square - uppishly, but it eased the tension palpably - and Prasanth survived a run out appeal which I could tell, even from the other end, was quite remarkably close.
Both batsman were getting into their stride as 50 was passed. Prasanth played several nice leg side shots. Fewson confided to me that he was struggling to find his form and then struck the spinner Ben Line back over his head for two 4s in an over. I wish I could struggle like that.
Kent had changed ends and, reducing his pace, finally accounted for Prasanth (29) caught with the total on 92; yet another of the fine opening partnerships which have underpinned Nomads' season.
Fewson smote a big 6 off Ricky Geale, removing the bowler from the attack, and raced to another half-century. He was dropped off Ben Line but was starting to look in prime form with Niall McConnell playing a supporting role as drinks were taken after 20 overs with about 115 on the very professional-looking scoreboard.
McConnell was initially quite cautious, pushing the ball gently out on to the off side. "He's only got one shot," one of the revitalised fielders chirped. A top-drawer straight drive soon disproved that theory and the batsmen began to build a major stand with snappy running between the wickets and a sprinkling of classy boundaries. McConnell even caused the blue-shirted men in the bar to take their eyes off Frank Lampard's legs for a second when he produced the shot of the season so far, a quite wonderful cover drive just like they play them on television. Soon after this highlight, McConnell was bowled by Bruce (yes, he was Australian) for his second 44 in successive games and the partnership was broken 4 runs short of its century.
Ben Fewson gave the charge to a slower one from Kent and had to scramble back, seemingly pulling something in the process. "I think it's my quad," Ben grimaced as he staggered to his feet. "Do you want to come off?" The umpire asked. His score (87 Not out) flashed through the batsman's brain. "Do I ****," he replied.
Ben appeared unaffected by the pull and was so well set that he was able to run several balls deliberately down to third man off the edge. This took him to 96 and he brought up the big landmark in fine style with another drive over the bowler's head. This was Ben's third century of the season, a fantastic achievement and probably the finest of the three, taking his seasonal average up to around 67.
Hassan Khan had played a supporting role and this continued after Fewson was finally out for 107. The run rate remained impressive despite a string of slightly unlucky dismissals; Jim Joyce to a snorter, Rob Jenkins to one that kept very low and Amin to a 30-yard direct hit by the wicketkeeper who still had his gloves on. A flurry of crackerjack straight hits from Ajmal took the total up to 244 for 6 at the close.
So just over 6 an over was required and Nomads had mixed feelings; no opponents had successfully chased a total this large in Nomads' history but on the other hand the opposition were a 1st XI containing well-coached youngsters and Australians.
Nomads opening pair of Rob Jenkins and Hassan Khan started reasonably well with Hassan bowling a particularly good line and length. W. Park's opener Ryan made the big mistake of trying to hit Hassan across the line and departed, bowled, for 8. Opener Ladha then consolidated with No. 3 Harrison and runs began to flow, especially off first change Emil Todorow, though Emil was unlucky with several aerial shots narrowly evading the clutches of the Nomads' fielders.
Hassan was taken off after bowling 7 overs, saving one up for later, and Ajmal replaced him downhill, impressing with good pace and soon having Ladha trapped LBW for a rapid 40. Ladha departed to very desultory applause from the W. Park players - I counted 4 claps - which seemed either to be evidence of poor team spirit or that they felt 40 was a run-of-the-mill score. I feared the latter.
2 further wickets fell to Ajmal taking it to 90 for 4 at the 20-over drinks break and then a brief flurry was terminated by a wicket apiece for Amin and Gopi. At 126 for 6 Nomads appeared to have their feet on the jugular and a burst of shots from Number 7 and 8 Kent and Waite (the opening bowlers) didn't appear too significant. Nomads perhaps relaxed a little and suddenly Worcester Park were racing past 150 and Waite and Kent were playing quite beautifully. Nomads bowling was reasonable but there was very little help from the pitch and there was a 6-over spell where every single ball was met by a sturdy middle. 85 were required from the last 10 when Gopi was taken off, a little unluckily perhaps. Rob Jenkins replaced Gopi and the change of pace worked only briefly. Ajmal replaced Amin but 2 successive 4s from him and a Jenkins over which culminated in a 6 brought the rate down to around 6.5. A massive roar suddenly cut through the evening gloom and a thin, stark-naked 20-year-old male appeared inside the boundary, strutting his stuff and obtaining much more ball movement than Nomads' bowlers were getting. He was no Erica Roe sadly and, chased by a Worcester Park fielder trying to slap him on the bottom with a bat, he soon disappeared back into the bar leaving Nomads to attempt to wrap up the match. The required rate was coming down with almost every passing over. Ajmal raised hopes slightly when one of his overs went for only 4 and then even more so when he smashed Kent's stumps. The new player was the skipper, Line, however and he was a competent replacement. Even Hassan's last over failed to stop the rot and Amin returned to bowl the final over with only 5 needed. A dot ball was followed by a scampered 2 to bring up a fine 50 for Waite who celebrated by locating the ball somewhere in the twilight and thumping it for 4 to complete victory.
This was a good performance from Nomads and we justified our Medium rating. The bowling wasn't as bad as the figures appear but perhaps we lack a bit of experience of bowling on really good tracks. We have probably been relying on the pitch to help us a bit too much. There was a rumour Worcester Park had tinkered with their batting order to make a game of it (and certainly their numbers 7 and 8 appeared more accomplished than 4, 5 and 6) but if they did it could easily have backfired. After all, they needed over 100 off the last 12 overs and they didn't know much about us. It is hard to believe they could have achieved that run rate if we'd had up our sleeves someone like, say, Rafi, or (after last week's performance) Andrew West.
Man of the Match can only be the man to whom scoring tons is shelling peas - Mr Ben Fewson. Fielder of the Day is harder; Crossland, Ajmal and Fewson all impressed but Jim Joyce gets the nod. He did very little wrong and a hell of a lot right. NL

CLAPHAM NOMADS - 244 for 6 from 40 overs

Fewson, 107
Prasanth, 29
McConnell, 44
H. Khan, 9 Not out
Joyce, 0
Amin, 9
Jenkins, 1
Ajmal, 7 Not out

F.O.W. - 92, 188, 217 - list to be completed

WORCESTER PARK (Sunday 1st XI) - 246 for 7 from 39.3 overs

H. Khan - 8-3-33-1
Jenkins - 7-1-48-0
Todorow - 8-0-56-0
Ajmal - 8-1-39-4
Amin - 5.3-0-48-1
Gopi - 3-0-22-1

Worcester Park won by 3 wickets

Nomads v K.Lefthanders - Lefthanders' Innings

In previous years, the script for this innings would have been written before we took the field. Stout defence for the first hour would have been followed by a slight wobble and then more stout defence with Lefthanders finishing on about 65 for 7. However, Kingston are a team in transition and the old approach was there in the person of the very solid defender Nick Crouch but there was also some good straight hitting from his lefthanded partner which, with a far from massive total to defend, meant that Nomads could not go for all out attack straight away. Rob Jenkins took first over and kept it tight without ever really threatening. A few more shots were played off Emil Todorow but he it was who made the breakthrough. Shortly after an easy chance from Crouch had gone down off Todorow's bowling, Emil produced his Crafty Leg-Side One which Crouch deflected and had wicketkeeper John Crossland twisting and stretching to pouch the ball an inch from the turf in a gymnastic display worthy of Olga Korbut.
A period followed where Lefthanders seemed to be making a decent fist of the run chase with some good hitting, particularly straight. Andrew West, fetchingly clad in a figure-hugging blue T-shirt, took first change and immediately impressed as he was in 'bowling machine mode' with virtually every delivery on the stumps and at a length somewhere between good and half-volley. This was an interesting test of Kingston's intentions as a good attacking player can really get after West, but he rather mesmerises defensive players with his accuracy. Just when a few shots were beginning to flow, Ben Fewson swooped for an excellent catch at short-ish mid wicket; it was as if the former actor was playing the part of John Crossland in a docu-drama. 43 for 2 and it quickly became 51 for 3. Numbers 4 and 5 were together at drinks and were looking solid with 116 needed from the final 20 overs.
For a period after drinks, the young pair managed either 5 or 6 in each over and the chase was just about on, but a West maiden ratcheted up the pressure and then 3 wickets fell on 77 to just about kill off Kingston's chances of victory. One of these wickets fell in what will come to be known as West's Over. Each of the first 4 balls was greeted by a thunderous appeal (accompanied by baffled chuntering from the watching Lefthanders.) The fifth ball produced another appeal, and more chuntering which died down abruptly when it was realised that the bails were on the ground and all that remained was to salute a Maestro in action - Mr Andrew West.
By now, Gopi had joined the attack and he produced a brilliant spell of Medium Pace bowling. His first wicket was a caught and bowled with the bowler just casually raising an arm and plucking the ball out of thin air. A caught behind (off a quicker lifter,) a bowled and another caught and bowled followed but Gopi's fifth wicket was the best of all. Meerkat was singlehandedly chasing a target of about 15 an over and took a mighty heave at a well-disguised slower one from Gopi. The batsman had played his shot twice and was halfway through his third attempt when the ball rolled onto his stumps. A moment which combined comedy and triumph and gave Nomads 7 overs to take the last wicket. One of the last pair was the obdurate Dave Connett, a veteran of many many rearguard actions. 4 overs passed yielding only frustration before Ajmal produced a quick half-volley which Connett flicked up to Rob Jenkins at Short Leg. 11 Nomads danced in celebration for almost a minute before glancing around and noticing that the batsman was still there. Both he and the umpire had acknowledged our appeal but decided that there was too much uncertainty for the decision to be given. They could only be implying the possibility of a 'bump ball.' Nomads discussed this at length later after about 3 pints and, using knowledge of Physics and...er... other sciences, decided that the ball's trajectory meant that it could only have bounced once - and it definitely bounced before the batsman played it.
The mood was a little tense for a while and we apologise to Kingston if any industrial language was used. Ajmal treated Connett to a bouncer and then Gopi bowled the penultimate over without success. The stage was nicely set for the final over with a fired-up Ajmal roaring in to Connett. The first ball was a full toss which was safely dealt with to a roar of 'make it bounce' from the slip cordon. Ajmal did just that and produced an absolute snorter which produced an explosion of stumps and celebrating fielders.
So victory with 4 balls to spare in a fixture which can be hard to win. If ever a match needed a Camcorder it was this one. I would love to see the late disputed catch again, and also Crossland and Fewson's diving catches and, most of all, the dramatic declaration.
Man of the match was Gopi for a terrific spell of bowling which set up the victory. Fielder of the Day was John Crossland for 2 catches (one top-class) and throwing himself to the ground repeatedly as well as throwing down the gauntlet to the opposition with his inspired declaration, the Tactical Intervention of the Season so far.

CLAPHAM NOMADS - 176 for 6 Declared from 36 overs

Fewson, 52
Prasanth, 15
McConnell, 44
Ajmal, 0
Jenkins, 34
Ismat, 9 Not out
Lefebve, 5
Todorow, 1 Not out

F.O.W. - 43, 88, 88, 141, 160, 174

KINGSTON LEFTHANDERS - 113 All out from 40.2 overs

Jenkins, 6-1-12-0
Todorow, 7-0-25-1
West, 13-4-22-2
Ajmal, 6.2-1-23-2
Gopi, 8-1-25-5

Nomads won by 63 runs

Nomads v Kingston Lefthanders 2/8-Nomads Innings

Abbey Rec played host to the latest renewal of this long-standing, always eventful fixture. The Lefthanders had warned us in June that they had some new, high-quality players who were away on a fishing trip. We did notice several unfamiliar faces on arrival and, considering this together with the slightly makeshift nature of our batting line-up, it seemed Lefthanders had a reasonable chance of recording only their second victory over Nomads in 9 seasons.
John Crossland captained for the first time this year and there was an emotional return for Andrew West, making his 60th appearance for the club.
Ben Fewson and Prasanth took guard for the Nomads. Fewson hit Chris's second ball for 4 but it was mostly stout defence against the Worcester Park CC League bowler who combined accuracy with a hint of movement off the excellent pitch. "Take it easy, Chris, it's only a Sunday game," a fielder chirped at one point. At the other end, "Meerkat" forced Prasanth to play out 3 successive maidens. Excellent ground-fielding helped this, though he was also dropped at point. 6 runs off 6 overs and the openers seemed only too aware that we were missing Mark Bradshaw, Hassan Khan and Amin. Fewson then grabbed the reins, hitting Chris back over his head for 4 in successive overs. Meerkat was inexplicably taken off with figures of 4-3-2-0 and, with several short deliveries, his replacement Johnson issued Nomads a licence to accelerate. Our lads accepted this eagerly to the tune of 23 off 2 overs, a 6 and a 4 from Prasanth in successive balls being the highlight. Johnson took revenge on Prasanth in the 14th over with the help of a massive slice of luck; the ball hit a pad well forward and rolled back to dislodge a bail. 43 for 1 and yet another solid start, of which we have had so many this season.
Former Leicestershire triallist Niall McConnell walked out, having not played for several years, but the man from Houghton-on-the-Hill looked at home straight away with plenty of time to play his shots, particularly strong square on both sides. Ben Fewson was on 36 at drinks but then raced to his half-century. He was playing as well as he has this season and was profoundly untroubled by Lefthanders' change bowlers, though the leg-spinner Dave Connett produced considerable tweak at times. It was a major surprise when Fewson got a leading edge to a short one from Adam Elliott and departed for 52. No less a figure than umpire Andrew West informed Ben later; "You should have had a century, mate."
Ajmal at No.4 was aware that, in the absence of Amin, he was "slogging for two" and he was bowled third ball. At 88 for 3 all-rounder Rob Jenkins, playing his first Nomads game for 2 months, joined his friend McConnell and the pals played out an important partnership. One side of the wicket was almost boundary-less and the pair repeatedly hit the ball deep into a patch of damp clover just short of the rope. Jenkins' innings of 34 included four 3s and an all-run 4. He was finally stumped off the wily Connett and admitted that, after running 11 in the previous over, he was too tired to make it back to his crease.
Despite the excellent batting on view, skipper Crossland appeared unsettled and was pacing the boundary wearing a deep frown. "Don't think I won't declare," he asserted repeatedly, "because I will." The consensus from the watching Nomads was that, with the Lefthanders team containing new players who were making diving, one-handed stops, a declaration at anything under 180 would be risky. That made Crossland's mind up for him. "I'll declare on 170," he decided. We should have realised that the frown was not evidence of worry, but of the cogs and pistons of a fine cricket brain pumping in overdrive.
McConnell departed, just 6 runs short of a deserved 50, caught off the excellent 13-year-old swing bowler Williams. 160 for 5. With one eye on the pacing skipper, Ismat and Lefebve kept up some momentum with 14 taken off 18 balls but, when Lefebve fell to Chris and only 2 were taken from the following 8 balls, Crossland had seen enough. "I'm calling them in," he shouted, "I'm declaring." The Kingston fielders' faces registered bafflement. "Why?" They asked. Their faces should have shown fear rather than bafflement, being sucked in as they were by a cricketing mastermind.
So an extra quarter of an hour was added to Kingston's innings. Would these minutes prove vital? You'll have to read the next instalment to find out

The 'BALLA D' of Emil Todorow and Mr X.

In a recent match between the Nomads and Morden CC, a minor umpiring difference of opinion between our own skipper Mr Emil Todorow and legendary Morden stalwart Mr X led to Mr X asserting that he was a faster bowler, a better bowler and, in fact, a better cricketer than Todorow. The Nomads have been discussing this at length in recent weeks, with many helpful and interesting comments made on the subject.
Finally, in a special feature, Clapham Nomads Blogspot has decided once and for all to establish who rules the roost in South London cricket as we compare two men who are very different and yet, somehow, so very much alike.

In a searching and unbiased examination, we will study their cricketing ability, their wider cricketing awareness, and also seek to learn more about the men beneath the white flannels. They will be assessed head-to-head in 8 different areas; batting, bowling, fielding, captaincy, temperament, cricketing experience, hair and piss-taking.




BOWLING -




TODOROW's bowling record in games against Morden is 38-4-123-4, an average of 30.75, but his seasonal average has been better than this in each of his 20 summers of cricket. He is unorthodox but undeniably effective with almost 300 wickets for Clapham Nomads and over 150 - often in trying circumstances - for Open University. Rating - 8 out of 10




Mr X's record in these matches is 38-6-129-4, uncannily similar to Todorow's and indicative of the fact that there are more similarities between the men than there are differences. He is an effective line and length merchant but perhaps lacking just a touch of the Nomads player's flair and variation. It would be a co-incidence if his overall record was also, like Emil's, much better than in Nomads/Morden fixtures. Rating - 6 out of 10



BATTING




TODOROW's batting average against Morden in recent seasons is only 6.67. However, in games in which Mr X was playing this rises to 17.00, indicating that Emil thrives on this great rivalry. He can be a slow starter but when he gets going his square cut is a thing of savage beauty. He has opened the batting many times and may just be harder to dismiss than Mr X. Rating - 6 out of 10



Mr X, like Todorow, can struggle early in his innings but once he is established his footwork and variety of strokeplay may just give him the edge here. Only 2 of his scores have been recorded in Nomads' scorebook; 14 and 30. Rating - 7 out of 10



FIELDING




Mr X has taken at least 1 catch against the Nomads and may have taken more. He is a competent fielder and I can recall neither any great flashes of brilliance nor any particularly serious errors. Rating - 6 out of 10



TODOROW himself would admit that this is not the strongest area of his game but his ground-fielding is becoming more dependable and he has arguably the more powerful throw of the two men. Rating - 5 out of 10




CAPTAINCY



Mr X has extensive captaincy experience and his assertiveness and personal charm make him a natural leader. His field positioning is astute. He remains the only man to captain Morden to victory over the Nomads but he has also led them to a minimum of two defeats. Rating - 6 out of 10



When TODOROW became Nomads' regular captain, he took a long look at the club's on-field behaviour problem and banned him. He may not quite have Mr X's tactical knowledge but he has helped to generate an atmosphere which, dare it be said, may just be slightly happier than Morden's. His record as captain against Morden speaks volumes; Won 5 Lost 1, a success rate of 83%. Rating - 8 out of 10



TEMPERAMENT




TODOROW is a man who experienced early hardship and whose personal philosophy encourages him to relish suffering. He is calm, unflappable and a stoic. He carries this on to the cricket field. If he is hit for 6, he will follow up with an unplayable yorker. If he is given out LBW unluckily, he will shrug it off with just the tiniest glance at his inside edge. If he is confronted by very bad behaviour from an opponent or, more usually, a team-mate, he will deal with the situation coolly and efficiently - and kick the offender up the backside. Rating - Zen-like. 9 out of 10



Until this season, I can recall no incidents involving Mr X. He seemed a pleasant, affable man. He still does, but one or two cracks are starting to appear; blaming his own wayward bowling on Clapham Nomads' excellent choice of balls, obsessively questioning umpires' decisions and entering into childish comparisons of cricketing ability with senior opposition players. Rating - An Area to be Watched. 6 out of 10




CRICKET EXPERIENCE




Mr X is about 60 and has been playing organised cricket for almost 50 years. He grew up in Wimbledon, overlooking Dundonald Road Rec, and remembers the Rec as a pleasant place to play cricket, which shows he does possess a long memory. It is evident from the ability he still possesses that he must once have played at a high level. He still plays for a well-organised and established League club and is likely to have coaching experience. Rating - Vast Experience. 9 out of 10



Emil TODOROW is 57 but didn't hold a bat until he was 33 and didn't start playing organised cricket until he was nearly 40. Since then, though, he has played in 350-400 matches, well over 150 of them as captain. He has helped build up a club from nothing and has vast experience of the low-budget end of non-league cricket. He loves the game deeply and is a good judge of a cricketer; his favourite players being Graeme Hick, Sir Richard Hadlee and 1980s Nottinghamshire seamer Andy Pick. Rating - Unique Experience. 7 out of 10



HAIR



Mr X is clearly a man who takes pride and interest in his hair. It is always neat and well-coiffured, if just slightly long for a man of his age. I suspect he may use an expensive conditioner. In cricketing terms it doesn't particularly help or hinder his play, and the way his hair bounces interestingly when he is appealing vigorously for LBW causes umpires to treat the appeals only marginally less seriously than they otherwise would. He has quite good eyebrows too. Rating - Nice Hair. 9 out of 10



Despite once being described as 'shaggy-haired' in the Daily Telegraph, TODOROW's hair is absolutely first-class. It is the hair of someone who is his own man, of a cerebral man of culture. It is professorial. When he bowls, his hair often floats in the breeze, providing aerodynamic assistance to his run-up and sometimes intimidating younger, more impressionable batsmen. Rating - Best Hair in Cricket. 10 out of 10.



PISS-TAKING



Mr X may, for all we know, be excellent at taking the piss; though the humour in Morden CC's sledging and banter is less subtle and, in fact, less funny than that found in most teams. He has had little opportunity to take the piss out of the Nomads because of the way results have gone. As Todorow would put it; "The piss has been on him." Rating - Gnat's. 4 out of 10



No-one takes the piss quite like TODOROW. He is a master of the art and is devoted to it. In the words of Benny; "A piss-taker he is, always was and always will be." Rating - Young's Special. 10 out of 10.




So there you have it. But what does all this reveal about these two great men? In terms of pure cricketing ability i.e. batting, bowling and fielding, the aggregate scores are Todorow 19 Mr X 19 which underlines the intense similarity between these men and hints at the suspicion that they were, in fact, separated at birth. In a wider cricketing context, bringing in captaincy, temperament and experience, we find Todorow with 43, compared to Mr X's 40, beginning to forge clear. However, it is in the widest sphere, taking the pair not just as Sunday Sportsmen but as rounded men of the world, that a victory by 63 to 53 means that it is Mr X MBE but it is Sir Emil Todorow.

Putney v Clapham Nomads - 26/7/09

It was down to Putney to join the long list of players who have performed at Putney's historic ground on Lower Common; Jack Hobbs, Jim Laker and now the Nomads. Putney's skipper had accidentally revealed in a forwarded e-mail that he wanted his Fixtures Secretary to find weak opposition as they had been thrashed a lot lately, so the home side's smiles were bright as Messrs Todorow, Crossland and Lefebve (combined age 158) approached them at the start of play; perhaps less so when the rest of our honed young athletes arrived.

Nomads were inserted under a menacing sky. In the absence of Mark Bradshaw, and with Prasanth running late, Ben Fewson and Mahesh Vyas opened and the start was somewhat shaky. Vyas was dropped twice by first slip in the first 5 overs while Fewson snicked one through the slips for four and dug out one that barely bounced. The bowling wasn't particularly threatening though Willow kept a decent line and length from the Pavilion End. 8 overs passed on 24 for 0 but a double bowling change was the cue for acceleration as the batsmen set about "Kermit" and Fahad. As ever, Vyas played exclusively on the leg side early on while Fewson was strongest through the covers. This disrupted the fielding side almost as well as having a left-hand / right-hand combination. 50 was passed in the 11th over and Vyas celebrated by cutting a 4 past point, a sure sign that he was finding form. Both batsmen looked in good touch, in fact, (though Fewson was dropped at mid-on while in the 30s) and it came as rather a surprise when Vyas finally skied one off Fahad and departed for 40 - his best Nomads score for some time. 79 for 1.

Jim Joyce joined Fewson but still appeared hampered by the back injury he sustained last week and he managed only a rather edgy 6 before being bowled.

Out came Prasanth but, after a couple of nice shots, he was undone by a ball that bowled him around his legs. A rare low score for this most consistent of players. 122 for 3. Ben Fewson had by now reached his 50 and he was joined by Amin in an uncharacteristically defensive mood - he blocked for an over before the top of his bails were clipped by a good 'un. Hassan Khan appeared in the unusually low No.6 slot and faced up to the leg-spinner Hill, whose nickname "McWarne" appeared to be based more on his Scottish accent than his degree of turn. Having said that, he had a close LBW shout against Hassan. The No.6 hit a couple of nice shots but didn't last too long, top-edging a pull and being well snapped up in the deep. 139 for 5 was probably the high-water mark for Putney. Ajmal caused the ball to be lost in undergrowth 3 times in an over from Hill - one a mighty 6 - and Fewson repeated the trick in the following over. Hill took revenge by bowling Ajmal and then did the same to Gopi 3 balls later

Nomads might just about have fitted the bill as the type of opposition Putney were seeking if 179 for 7 had been followed by a tame late-order collapse; instead it was followed by Afghanistani debutant Ismat who absolutely creamed his second ball back over the bowler's head. He followed this with several more good straight hits and, although he was trapped LBW for 25, I think Putney found the strength of this No. 9 a little hard to stomach.

Ben Fewson was beginning to acquire an air of invincibility, firstly when a ball rapped some combination of edge and pad before rolling agonisingly back onto his stumps without dislodging a bail, and then when a throw back to the bowler bounced on top of his helmet and made an interesting springy noise without in any way perturbing the batsman. Even a helmetless blow on the head would probably not have affected him - it was that sort of day - and the chance of a second century this season began to dawn. Emil Todorow came out at No.10 but found difficulty in playing either big shots or giving Fewson the strike. A few scrambled singles left Ben on 88 at the start of the penultimate over and a 4 and 2 from the first two balls put him in pole position. Three were required for the ton with 1 over to go. Fewson hit firmly to long off and, while he and new batsman John Crossland were debating whether to go for 1 or 2, a misfield solved the problem and took him on to a very high quality 101. Nomads closed on an imposing 244 for 9 from the full 40.
Tea was taken in the Pavilion which was oddly situated across 2 main roads and captain Todorow formulated his plans; he would give his six bowlers six overs each and the best 2 would ball the remaining overs if needed. The Putney openers were left hand / right hand and the lefthander attempted to take on Hassan Khan and particularly Todorow. He played 3 or 4 fine straight drives but the wily skipper produced a piece of Ballard-esque trickery and bowled the youngster round his legs. I have never seen a batsman so upset by a dismissal; he shunned the comfort of his team mates and sat in a patch of long grass behind a tree with his head in his hands, gazing at the ground and possibly convulsing a little. He should have realised that it is an honour to be out-thought by Amateur Cricket's craftiest bowler. Hassan picked up a wicket caught behind and then No. 4 Hill smacked a Hassan half-volley straight to Ajmal at square leg. Ajmal caught it cleanly but threw it to the floor instantly in celebration. The batsman was adamant that this counted as a drop and stood his ground. Ajmal was indignant but Nomads allowed the batsman to remain, sensing perhaps that it was unlikely to make too much difference. Ajmal greeted Hill with a bouncer when he entered the attack but this was pulled for 4. Hill was probably Putney's most effective batsman and when he was 4th out with the score in the 40s the game seemed up for the home team.
Wickets were shared out evenly with both openers and both 1st changers (Ajmal and Ismat) taking at least one. I left at 6.30 with the score on 62 for 6 from 22 overs in increasing drizzle and it was evident that not even Duckworth and Lewis could save the home team. In the event, another fine cricketing combination - Gopi and Amin - accounted for the remaining wickets and secured victory for the Nomads by 158 runs.
Man of the Match was clearly Ben Fewson. I'll pass on Fielder of the Day for this one because I've largely forgotten the game by now (7th August). NL

CLAPHAM NOMADS - 244 FOR 9 FROM 40 OVERS

Fewson, 103 Not out
M. Vyas, 40
Joyce, 6
Prasanth, 5
Amin, 0
H. Khan, 8
Ajmal, 16
Gopi, 0
Ismat, 25
Todorow, 1
Crossland, 1 Not out

F.O.W - 79, 98, 122, 124, 142, 179, 181

PUTNEY - 86 All out

H. Khan, 6-1-8-1
Todorow, 4-0-17-1
Ismat, 6-1-16-2
Ajmal, 6-1-29-3
Amin, 3-0-7-2
Gopi, 1.4-0-4-1

Nomads won by 158 runs

Clapham Nomads v Nepotists - 19/7/09

It was back to Raynes Park for the third week in a row as Nomads encountered new opposition in the Nepotists, a primarily Australian team and as affable a bunch of guys as you could wish to meet.
We were cast out onto Pitch 3 this time and it was a choice of three strips; a kids' one, a used one or one with the remnants of a baseball diamond cut into it. Nomads opted for the used one and it played excellently.
Nepotists batted first and the opening pair settled in quickly. The left hand / right hand combination caused Nomads some problems, the confusion was exacerbated by the roar of traffic from the A3 and the stiff breeze which made verbal communication almost impossible. The lefthander Walker, who hit a boundary in most overs, was a good foil for his righthanded partner, a powerful off-driver. Ajmal struggled uphill into the wind and bowled too short, being replaced after 3 overs. Hassan Khan was steadier but also made way early for Emil Todorow, while Amin replaced Ajmal. This pair put something of a brake on the scoring rate. Amin's line and length were impressive; while Emil, perhaps aware of the constant comparisons that have been made between him and Morden CC's Del Ballard, bowled rather in the manner of Ballard himself, keeping it generally on the spot and seeking out what few snakes there were in the pitch.
Progress remained steady, and the over rate poor, as Nepotists manipulated the gaps in the field. There were 'no worries' to speak of until, in the 18th over, 2 balls before drinks, Amin finally made the breakthrough with a hint of movement off the pitch. 84 for 1.
There was a nasty injury to Jim Joyce who twisted his back and had to leave the field for a while. Two other fielders started the game with bad backs but, oddly, the three sore men probably fielded more consistently than some of the eight fit men.
After drinks, Nomads began to exert some control. Amin, Todorow and the returning Hassan all bowled tightly, as did Riaz Khan and (after being wisely switched to bowl downhill) Ajmal. After 27 overs the score was only about 120 and 4 further wickets had fallen including the opener Walker who hit a nice half-century. There was an uncomfortable feeling, though, that Nepotists had something in hand and so it proved. When the tall, blond No.7 Rhys Adams arrived at the crease, our main concern was that he was yet another lefthander to continue our field-positioning nightmare, but as he slapped a straight drive almost through Riaz's hand and then peppered the extra cover boundary with AK47 drives, it was clear we had other problems. This was just the beginning. The former Melbourne First Grade player (who we were told had also been considered for State selection by New South Wales) stepped up a gear and lifted a series of quite gorgeous straight drives over the head of the hapless Riaz Khan. It was actually a treat to witness such beautiful clean hitting, if not quite such a treat to continually climb the barbed wire fence into the next door playing fields in search of the ball. Riaz finally took some degree of revenge, having Adams caught on the extra cover boundary for 46, but it felt that the game might have been taken beyond us, particularly when a series of fielding errors meant there was only marginal deceleration in the final 2 overs.
As we trudged off, estimates of the score ranged from 230 to 250, so it was a big relief to find out that Nepotists had, somehow, only recorded 202; and a further relief when we heard that the seasonal average of the batsman due in next was 109.
Nomads' dependable opening pair Mark Bradshaw and Prasanth strolled out in search of their customary 50 stand. the opening bowler Boshan was tall and had a slightly halting action which didn't prevent him from being accurate and quite pacy. His colleague Dan was wayward at times but capable of the odd tricky one. He was also a dead ringer for former Open University paceman Mick Hunter, a similarity which caused umpire Lefebve to turn down his LBW request extremely politely. Bradshaw was in good touch, especially through point, while Prasanth mixed defence and a good awareness of where his stumps were, with some fine aerial shots, 2 of which dropped unluckily inches short of the leg-side boundary.
Nepotists' captain Dale Atkinson replaced Dan for the 9th over and produced some sharp off-breaks at a lively medium pace. The openers were fairly unfazed, with no alarms greater than one half-decent leg before shout, and the inevitable 50 partnership came up with a boundary off Atkinson. Ordinarily things would have been looking quite rosy, especially with a powerful-looking Nomads batting line-up. 'Nepos' showed no sign of panic, however, and in the 13th over they played their ace in the form of 6 foot 4 inch-plus form of Rhys Adams who produced a speedy yorker first ball up, rapping Prasanth on the toe plumb in front. Bowling off a 6-pace run-up, Adams was as quick as anything we have faced this season and, in his following 2 overs, had Mark Bradshaw caught at point and then brushed Hassan Khan's glove to rip the heart out of Nomads' top order.
Mindful of the need to take what scoring opportunities existed, No.3 Ben Fewson knocked 14 off an Atkinson over to remove the skipper from the attack. No.5 Riaz Khan then continued his fascinating duel with Adams by smacking the paceman back over his head into the trees - a 6 every bit as emphatic as those he had suffered himself. Adams had increased his pace since a close caught behind decision had gone against him and, when he had Riaz caught 2 balls after the 6, he was threatening to put the Nomads to the sword single-handedly.
Jim Joyce came out with a runner and cracked a 4 first ball but was in obvious pain and perished after 3 overs (one of them, valuably, a wicketless over from Adams.) Ben Fewson fell to new bowler Phillips and, at 117 for 6, Amin and Ajmal probably represnted Nomads' last real chance of getting close. Fans of this pair were not disappointed as they not only saw off Adams but produced a flamboyant stand of 36, dominated by Ajmal whose 29 included 2 sixes but was terminated by the useful-looking Slow Left Arm spinner Walker.
Nick Lefebve joined Amin who now took over the lead role, taking two 4s from a Walker over and then 3 from a Phillips over, and dominating a 27-run stand to which Lefebve contributed 1. With 27 needed to win, and regular scorer John Crossland padded and gloved up, there was total confusion as to whether 4 or 5 overs remained. It mattered little to Amin; he proceeded at his usual pace and, for the only time in the match, Nepos became a little anxious, perhaps regretting a lapse of concentration when Amin was dropped by a fielder in a pink wig.
Sadly, Walker had Amin trapped for his 2nd LBW and Emil Todorow joined Lefebve. The confusion about overs was finally cleared up and the target was established as 19 from 2 overs. Both batsmen were having trouble finding shots, particularly against Walker who had excellent variation, though Lefebve did pull a high no-ball from Boshan for 4 to keep the door slightly open. Todorow went for some big shots but, in fading light, couldn't really connect until he skied one and departed for 1. If it's any consolation to Emil, Del Ballard - a notoriously slow starter - probably wouldn't have done any better.
11 were needed off the final over. Lefebve faced Walker but the Aussie was too crafty to be swept and a wide and a scampered single were all that could be managed from the first half of the over. 9 off 3 balls and John Crossland was on strike. A leg-stump full toss could have made things interesting but the impressive Walker wasn't going to make it easy and, seeing Crossland advancing down the pitch, slipped in an off-side wide. The keeper was waiting and, in one movement, removed the bails and Nomads' last hope.
A 7-run defeat but a very decent performance. It was a pleasure to share the pitch with as fine a player as Adams. I could say that Adams was the difference between the teams but I have a feeling that both he and the Nepotists had another gear. Certainly with a different batting order they could have notched 250. Having said that, their skipper did admit they were a bit concerned when Amin was in full spate. Speaking of Amin, it's another Man of the Match award for the increasingly impressive lefthander. He top-scored again and was economical. Fielder of the Day in not so easy. Nick Lefebve took a good catch, but made a couple of ground-fielding errors. No-one really shone but, despite a bad back, John Crossland was close to his best behind the stumps and gets the nod.

Nepotists - 202 for 6 from 35 overs

H. Khan, 7-0-22-1
Ajmal, 7-0-47-0
Amin, 7-0-27-1
Todorow, 7-0-30-0
R. Khan, 7-0-57-4

Clapham Nomads - 195 All out from 34.4 overs

Bradshaw, 22
Prasanth, 26
Fewson, 27
H. Khan, 3
R. Khan, 12
Joyce, 6
Amin, 33
Ajmal, 29
Lefebve, 8 Not out
Todorow, 1
Crossland, 0

Nomads v Morden - 12/7/09 - Nomads' innings

Ben Fewson and Prasanth led the Nomads' reply and Fewson adopted the role of pinch-hitter against the young Alexsis, who had some trouble with his radar. Ben raced to 24 off 19 balls before Alexsis was replaced. Prasanth faced the very experienced medium pacer Del Ballard and showed the maker's name to the veteran, surviving without any problems. Goss came on in Over 7 and tested Fewson with a dangerous maiden, floating the ball down backed by a strong breeze, making the length a matter of guesswork. In response, Prasanth took the attack to Ballard, striking three 4s in an over but, in attempting a fourth, thumping a high full toss (which really should have been called No Ball) straight to mid wicket. 46 for 1. Fewson followed 2 overs later, giving Ballard the charge but spooning it up on the off side for an easy catch.
Amin joined Jim Joyce and there was a sense that a lot hung on this partnership. Joyce began carefully while Amin began with a 6. There followed a memeorable series of events which dictated the course of the game and also gave Nomads plenty to laugh about later. Firstly, Joyce chipped the ball up to mid off but the chance was dropped. Then Amin took an extravagant heave at Ballard, missed, and while the square leg umpire was gazing at the sky, the A3, anything but the game, the wicketkeeper threw the stumps down from 5 yards back. A massive appeal followed (which had to be put into context by Morden's over-enthusiastic appealing and Amin's lack of footwork.) The unpire apologised twice for not seeing the incident but the keeper was inconsolable and was all malevolent glaring and Benny-ish grumbling for the rest of the game. To rub salt in, Ballard then rapped Amin's pads plumb in front; another enormous appeal with the bowler's hair bouncing imploringly in support of the appeal. Fortunately, most of those with decent hearing, and several without, had heard an inside edge. Morden's older players joined together in a massive chorus of chuntering, to the bemusement of the younger players. "Don't worry," one of the youngsters remarked, "they always get like this."
They got even more like this in the next over. One of Morden's ageing bowlers slipped one down Jim Joyce's leg side and there was a definite noise as it passed through to the keeper. A tumultuous appeal. The umpire was unmoved; "too close to call" was his verdict. (Joyce later claimed the ball hit his forearm and showed a bruise to back this up, while the square leg umpire thought the noise was Joyce's bat hitting the ground. So 'too close to call' and therefore Not Out was probably the correct decision.) "No wonder you always beat us, you're all ****ing cheats," was the bowler's assessment. Well I can't remember all the older fixtures but our victory over Morden this May might have had something to do with the 15 catches they dropped, rather than any cheating.
Amusingly, Jim Joyce then began to play quite beautifully, spanking controlled boundaries at will. Amin took a massive heave at almost every ball and connected with several. When told to take it easy by captain/umpire Todorow, Amin grinned, pointed at the sky and said "six."
The total raced past 100 and the realisation of impending defeat seemed to calm Morden's veterans down. They even kept quiet when Amin was bowled off a no ball. Thankfully it was a very early call.
Joyce was LBW for a commanding 37 and at 114 for 3 there was still a bit of work to do. Ajmal joined Amin and, unsurprisingly, their stand of 23 consisted mostly of boundaries. By this time Gumpert, Morden's 3rd change bowler (and easily their best) had joined the attack. Young, quick and with a good short ball he bowled Ajmal for 8.
Only 20 were now required but the batting order from 6 down was a mixture of defensive players, sloggers and unknown quantities. No.6 Nick Lefebve joined Amin with the intention of being there at the end. Gumpert tried a little too hard against the new batsman who was able to watch the rest of the over sail past his off stump. The diminutive 13-year-old Jamie came on and quickly impressed with good line and length and dangerous low trajectory. This didn't faze Amin at all and he plundered 9 from the second half of the over. He fell to Gumpert in the next over though; caught and bowled for a massively entertaining and eventful 42.
10 more were needed as No.7 Riaz Khan strolled out with, as ever, carnage on his mind. Two wild swishes were followed by a scoop up to deep square leg off Jamie but the chance was dropped....by Jamie's father. Riaz celebrated his escape with a 4 and a single but Gumpert shattered his stumps halfway though the next over.
Out walked Emil Todorow to join Lefebve and, given that this pair have done more stonewalling than the average Cumbrian hill-farmer, the number of overs became of interest for the first time. 3 required in 6.3 overs; surely even this pair could manage 0.48 per over. Todorow negotiated the rest of the over and took one for the team on his torso. "I had to show him I wasn't hurt," the skipper said later. Lefebve then played out a Jamie maiden (missing out on one juicy leg-side treat.) Todorow was equally obdurate against Gumpert's next over which yielded only a no ball.
2 to win from 4 overs and the watching Nomads were beginning to fidget just a little. Lefebve (still on 0 after 14 balls) faced Jamie and decided it was time for Plan B; playing some shots (which in Lefebve's case means the sweep.) The first ball rapped the batsman's fists and dropped safely to the ground, only to be hailed by an extraordinary appeal from Morden. The second ball was steered away down to the vacant Long Leg area and 2 were comfortably taken to complete a victory that was never in serious doubt.
I'm not sure if we'll play Morden again. Their record against the Nomads of Won 1 Lost 9 seems to have got to their older players. Their younger players are a credit to the game though. The most unpleasant incident was when one of their players threw his cup to the ground petulantly during the drinks break, leaving John Crossland to pick it up. It was premium orange squash, costing almost £1 a bottle.
If they contact us, we'll probably play them.
Emil caused some mirth later when he told of a further incident in which one of their bowlers, after a minor dispute over a leg bye, fixed umpire Todorow with a glare and told him; "I'm faster than you, a better bowler than you and a better cricketer than you."
An objective comparison of Emil's and Mr X's cricketing and personal qualities may follow on this blog in due course.
Man of the Match is probably Amin. He was the tightest bowler and also top-scored, though Jim Joyce's innings was the more impressive. No-one really stood out in the field but John Crossland hurled himself quite spectacularly to the floor to save a certain 4 byes. No-one hates conceding byes more than this evergreen keeper. He is Fielder of the Day.

Nomads v Morden - 12/7/09 - Morden's innings

It was back to Raynes Park again as Nomads looked to continue their excellent record against Morden CC. It was clear straight away that something was amiss on Planet Morden, particularly amongst their most senior players. Little snippets of news about the game; the fact we were playing out on Pitch 2 and our lack of a scoreboard were met with histrionic sighs, eye-rolling and muttered oaths. It was fortunate we didn't see their reaction to the pitch. Like many of Merton Council's it looked eccentric - a pitch of two halves; one half verdant, the other parched. Having said that though, it played very well.
The potential for showers dictated a 35-over contest. Emil Todorow inserted Morden and shared the new ball with Amin for the first 12 overs. Morden's young top order negotiated some accurate bowling, particularly from Amin who slipped one between bat and pad to make his breakthrough. Todorow was marginally more expensive but induced a false shot to have one of the openers caught by Ben Fewson off a skier.
After 12 overs the score was around 50 for 2. Morden continued to accelerate with good hitting through point and straight, especially off Ajmal, though the young paceman got a few to lift, one of which was snapped up by keeper John Crossland. Assad also bowled with good pace and, like Ajmal, went for 5 an over and took one wicket, a coolly-taken catch in the deep by Ben Fewson.
With 4 down and about 85 on the board, elder statesman Del Ballard came in and, after starting very shakily, began to use his feet well, particularly against Riaz Khan. As Ballard nudged and nurdled his way through the teens and 20s, skipper Todorow brought on the debutant Gopi who, being shortish in stature and quite animated, was quickly nicknamed Murali by a couple of Nomads (despite being a Medium Pacer and having a conventional action.) Gopi made an immediate impact. The man from Hyderabad rattled the stumps in his first over and bowled 2 further players in his subsequent 4 overs. There was no mystery to his success; he simply proved the virtue of bowling straight on a slowish pitch against batsmen who were looking to force the pace.
Gopi's efforts meant that, with 2 overs to go, Morden were in a spot of bother at 141 for 7 and Nomads were able to afford the luxury of Nick Lefebve bowling the penultimate over. After a dodgy start including a couple of wides, the veteran round-arm lefty produced the expected comedy with his third legitimate ball; a decent length but very slow floater which almost stopped when it pitched but retained just enough momentum to loop over the bat and nestle against the base of the stumps, just about dislodging a bail. The bewildered batsman stood his ground, shaking his head for a few seconds to the indignation of the bowler who retorted; "It spun, mate." Two further wides were followed by a rank long-hop which new bat Dave Goss hit straight to mid-on where it was dropped by Ben Fewson. To rub it in, Goss hit the last ball, another short one, for 4. The final over, from Gopi, was rather more accurate but less eventful and Morden closed on 156 for 8. A total which we rather take for granted achieving against Morden, though without Mark Bradshaw and Hassan Khan nail-biting was anticipated.

Clapham Nomads v Morden 12/7/09 (Match stats)

Morden - 156 for 8 from 35 overs

Amin - 6-2-18-1
Todorow - 6-0-27-1
Ajmal - 7-1-36-1
Assad - 6-0-31-1
Riaz Khan - 4-0-20-0
Gopi - 5-0-22-3
Lefebve - 1-0-10-1

Clapham Nomads 157 for 6 from 31.2 overs

Fewson - 26
Prasanth - 20
Joyce - 37
Amin - 42
Ajmal - 8
Lefebve - 2 Not out
R. Khan - 5
Todorow - 0 Not out

Did not bat; Crossland, Gopi, Assad

F.O.W. - 46, 51, 114, 137, 147, 154

Clapham Nomads won by 4 wickets. Match report should hopefully follow tomorrow (subject to being able to squeeze all the incident in.)

Caribbean Mix v Clapham Nomads - match stats

Caribbean Mix - 169 all out from 28.2 overs (M. Vyas 38, Shahzad 36.)

H. Khan - 6.2-1-20-4
Todorow - 6-0-36-0
Ajmal - 8-1-44-3
Amin - 6-0-50-2
Reeve - 2-0-17-0

Clapham Nomads - 175 for 3 from 37.3 overs

Bradshaw - 74
Prasanth - 46
Joyce - 10
Fewson - 16 Not out
H. Khan - 8 Not out

Did not bat; Amin, Ajmal, Lefebve, Reeve, Todorow, Crossland

F.O.W. - 99, 122, 161

Clapham Nomads won by 7 wickets

Caribbean Mix v Clapham Nomads - 5/7/09

Nomads lined up at Raynes Park Sports Ground against Caribbean Mix for a 40-over per side match, looking to avoid a 4th successive hammering by these opponents, The close links between the teams were underlined by the presence in the Mix team of 4 men who have turned out for the Nomads.
Caribbean supremo Jim Ferguson had indicated that this year might be our best chance of victory as they are in a period of transition. Looking at their line-up, there seemed some truth in this though there were also several faces who inspired painful memories.
Ferguson and former Nomad Mahesh Vyas opened the batting at a fairly sedate pace. Vyas scores exclusively on the leg side early on and, in trying too hard to avoid it, Emil Todorow bowled a number of leg-side deliveries which helped the opener to settle. Ferguson began to play a few shots but the breakthrough came when he smacked it straight back to Hassan Khan who accepted the chance smartly.
Hassan quickly accounted for No.3 and then there was a rousing reception for No.4 Riaz Khan, one of the most popular Nomads players of all time. We all knew what he is capable of but preventing it was another matter. Two leg-side 4s off Todorow were followed by a steepling 6 over long off. The cameo didn't last too long as Riaz was dismissed for about 20 but Mahesh Vyas was still there and beginning to hit straight and through mid off - an ominous sign. Thankfully, Hassan Khan swooped for an excellent diving catch to send Vyas on his way for 38.
4 down with the score in the 80s but the dangerous lefthander Jono was playing some firm shots. It took a fellow lefty to account for Jono; Amin swerving one round the batsman's legs onto his leg stump.
Debutant Shahzad at No.7 soon made it clear he was high class and played the shot of the day over the covers onto the pavilion roof or, as Richie Benaud would have it; "in and out of the confectionery stand."
Nomads were staying in the contest with good fielding - a diving catch by Jim Joyce was a standout - and some competitive bowling - Ajmal earned himself a caught and bowled with a distinctly sharp delivery. Shahzad was eventually removed for a rapid 36 which left some of Caribbean's more experienced players at the crease. Some entertaining and highly vocal running mix-ups were combined with some quality stroke play and it was a distinct relief when the final wicket fell for 169 with 11.4 overs unused. We were later told by one of the late-order batsman, T.Brown, that he had been planning to take the total up to 250 but ran out of partners.
The target seemed achievable with one of Nomads strongest batting line-ups but, given the presence in the Mix team of a couple of players we hadn't seen before, and the history of these fixtures, you wouldn't have taken odds of shorter than 6-4.
Nomads' bowling was generally good though Todorow in particular was hampered by a ridge resembling a mini version of the South Downs escarpment on the edge of the wicket. This didn't affect batting but made bowlers run-ups at one end a matter of careful navigation. Fielding, especially catching, was very good (despite John Crossland's protestations) apart from a mad 5 minutes early on where overthrows became almost compulsory. Again, Todorow was the main victim.
Mark Bradshaw and Prasanth were re-united as opening partners. The left armer Jono caused problems straight away from the A3 end, angling the ball in at deceptive pace off a short run-up. The odd one straightened sharply, notably the 5th ball of the first over which Bradshaw played uppishly. Short Cover dived in but put the chance down. The other opening bowler, Maurice, had excellent variation of pace but bowled the occasional loose delivery. 15 came from the first 6 overs and it was a considerable relief not to have lost a wicket. Bradshaw cracked two successive 4s in Jono's fourth over and this heralded a slight change in the balance of power as Caribbean's heads dropped perceptibly despite being exhorted by Jim Ferguson to show "Sex Appeal." (We were assured later by Jim that this was a coded instruction to bowl 6 inches outside off stump - any other meaning is just too disturbing to contemplate.)
Batting progress was rather more serene than it had been in the first few white knuckle overs. The openers combined well with good running and regular rotation of the strike. There was still the odd alarm with Bradshaw dropped again by wicketkeeper Mahesh Vyas who was promptly replaced behind the sticks by the indignant bowler/skipper Jono.
A double bowling change produced a change of pace with several boundaries taken off the spinner T.Brown while Shahzad produced a hostile spell of pace bowling with plenty of short stuff. Prasanth hooked Shahzad for 4 but was forced to dab the follow-up bouncer gently skywards and was caught for a high class 46 with the Nomads total just one short of the century this partnership deserved.
Mark Bradshaw was continuing to prove a thorn in Caribbean's side and combined excellent shot selection with some let-offs. A regulation catch was dropped by replacement keeper Jono (to the chagrin of the original glovesman, Mahesh Vyas, who said he would have caught it.) Bradshaw completed a valuable half-century but when he snicked another 4 over the slips one fielder intoned oratorically; "Yes, today is your day. Today you can do anything you want; anything."
No.3 Jim Joyce kept up the momentum with a cameo 10 before being bowled by Riaz Khan. 122 for 2 and 48 was required with plenty of batting to come. Ben Fewson came out at No.4 and looked solid from the word go. Mark Bradshaw upped the ante and dominated a partnership of 39 from 31 balls with Fewson to take Nomads to within touching distance. The run rate had never been a major worry but with 30 needed off 8 overs, Jim Ferguson did speculate, to the world in general, that the batsman might be feeling a bit of pressure. If they did, it soon dissipated when 5 came off Usman's first ball, a fast leg-side wide that buried itself deep in the boundary undergrowth. Bradshaw was finally caught for a crucial 74 with the score on 161. Hassan Khan entered with the clear intention of scoring the winning runs with a 6. Part-time spinner Ferguson came on and Hassan's ambition was quickly realised.
An excellent win - our first over Caribbean Mix for 5 years - and a good-spirited game after which we enjoyed some post-match pints and banter with the opposition in the Raynes Park Bowling Club. Rather fittingly, the bar television was showing highlights of England's last Ashes victory. Like Freddie and the boys back in September 2005, Nomads were able to enjoy the booze and 12 months of glory with just the tiniest nagging fear about the type of revenge that might be served up to us next year.
Man of the Mtch. Mark Bradshaw did have a few escapes but don't let that detract from how well he played. Hassan Khan bowled faster than he has for a while; his 4 wickets, 3 catches and climactic 6 are enough to earn him a 50% share with Mark. Fielder of the Day was clearly Hassan. In addition to his catches, he had 2 direct hits (neither of which unfortunately resulted in a run out) and he managed one excellent stop in the deep where he appeared to grow an extra arm.

latest results

Clapham Nomads have won their last 2 matches. A good victory over Caribbean Mix on 5/7/09 and an eventful, bad-tempered 4-wicket success over Morden on 12/7/09. Full reports and stats for both will follow in next day or 2.

Wimbledon United v Nomads - 28/6/09

Clapham Nomads beat Wimbledon United by 2 wickets in a closely-fought, high-scoring Conference game at Cottenham Park, SW20. Wimbledon notched approx 205 all out off approx 36 overs. Stand-out bowler was Hassan Khan who took a five wicket haul. Emil took 2 wickets, Amin also bowled well. For Nomads, Prasanth scored a 50 as did Jim Joyce. One Nomads player had to leave at tea for domestic reasons so when, with 7 wickets down, Emil joined Hassan at the crease there was only John Crossland still to come in and about 20 runs needed to win (overs weren't a problem.) These were achieved with Emil smiting a mighty 4 and Hassan completing his 50.
Man of the Match was obviously Hassan for achieving a rare double. Fielder of the Day was Jim Joyce.
Match stats and possibly a fuller report will follow.
In the meantime there are some match photos and there will be a match report on Wimbledon United's website http://wucc.org.uk/
For some reason, they think our club name is Clapham Bells. NL

Clapham Nomads v Energy Exiles - 21/6/09

"The Longest Day" was the subtitle assigned to this 21st June fixture against old rivals the Energy Exiles. Images were evoked of bitter adversaries locked in mortal combat under a blazing sun but these images were false; firstly the temperature never climbed above average and secondly we really like the Exiles and we hope they like us too.
The only true whiff of danger was provided by the Nursery Road pitch, one of Merton Council's worst; under-prepared, with a green strip resembling a mini-runway just outside off stump on a good length. Having said that, the danger was to the batsmen's averages rather than to their health, though there was one injury, more of which later.
There had been rumours of 45 overs a side but eventually 40 each was settled on and Nomads were inserted by Exiles' skipper Phil Ling. Exiles had numerous bowling options but stuck to the same formula as in the previous game. Andy Wingfield was lively and more accurate than last month, while Naren Patel began from the Pavilion End with a Todorow-esque mixture of wides and deadly deliveries. Patel produced his deadliest with the penultimate ball of the first over and it provided the wicket the Exiles wanted most. Mark Bradshaw was undone by a ball which hit the green strip, diverted sharply inwards and hit the stumps low down. With Bradshaw's departure, some of the spice was removed from the contest but he still averages 55 in 3 innings for the Nomads against his former team.
Jim Joyce came in and consolidated for 3 overs before starting to launch his T20-honed shots. He hit one particularly nice off-drive against Wingfield but hearts were in mouths at times as he only just got the bat down to Patel on several occasions. In the 10th over Patel finally got his man bowled - another one that kept a bit low. Worse was to follow in the next over; Hassan got a leading edge to a straightener from Andy Wingfield and the ball was pouched with a roar of delight from the bowler who realised the importance of this wicket. 30 for 3 and three men in the pavilion whom you would back to score 100 between them. Ben Fewson was beginning to resemble General Custer and he cracked 3 boundaries in 8 balls to prompt a double bowling change.
Phil Ling's first ball had the umpire's arms twitching in readiness to call an off-side wide when the Reader cherry suddenly arced in quite beautifully and clipped Ajmal's leg bail. Four balls later, Ben Fewson looped a short ball up into the leg side and we were suddenly 48 for 5 with the last 2 of Nomads' much-vaunted Top 7 at the wicket. Amin and Abdul provided much-needed stabilisation. The left-hander Amin hit 5 boundaries in this partnership while Abdul was steadier before being caught off Ling for 6 out of a partnership of 29 in 33 balls. Nick Lefebve aimed to continue the Anchor Man role and was just beginning to settle when Uttley got one to straighten and lift a bit and Lefebve was snapped up at short Cover Point by his former Battersea Spinners 2nd XI captain and former Nomads team-mate Martin Thomas.
92 for 7 and a lot now depended on Amin. Nissar Khan provided further support before Amin himself was adjudged leg before off the bowling of Gwyn Thomas, out for a valuable 45 including eight 4s. Nissar fell 2 overs later. 118 for 9 and it was Entertainment Time with John Crossland joining Emil Todorow at the crease. Incident inevitably ensued but it was not the type for which we were hoping. Simon Gundry, after bowling an over of spin, "greeted" Todorow with a bouncer. The wicketkeeper duly retreated a few yards but a few deliveries later the ball popped up alarmingly on its second bounce just in front of the wicketkeeper resulting in a deep cut just below the eye. A crowd of players including "Club Doctor" Todorow dispensed advice, water, ice and toilet tissue before the keeper was driven to hospital by Naren Patel where we trust he was patched up with no problems.
Nomads lent Exiles 2 fielders and they sledged Todorow gleefully, but this cannot be blamed for the final wicket; a good 'un from Martin Thomas.
128 all out and Exiles were favourites but, thanks largely to Amin, they would have to bat well.
It didn't appear to be Exiles' strongest-ever batting line-up and hopes were quickly raised when Hassan Khan had Martin Thomas LBW early on. Opener Keith Roberts was joined by John Tither and this pair dug in. Opening bowlers H. Khan and Emil Todorow continued for 12 overs at which stage Hassan's figures were 6-6-0-1. A few shots were played off Todorow but the skipper was only costing about 3 an over. If this had been any other opposition it might have been felt that they were going just a little too slowly but most Nomads were aware that Exiles are one of the canniest teams around and wickets were paramount.
Ajmal replaced Hassan but Exiles' left-hand / right-hand combination made his radar a bit more elusive than usual and acceleration occurred. Amin looked tight from the Pavilion End though.
A breakthrough finally came with the score on around 60. Ajmal held a sharp catch off Keith Roberts who "hit the ball straight to cover" off the bowling of Amin. No.4 was bowled first ball and, with Simon Gundry at No.5, we were in amongst Exiles' hitters. Gundry played a couple of nice shots but was bowled by a pea-roller from Amin.
Andy Wingfield came in looking to up the tempo and he twice rattled the trees on the tramline side. John Tither also joined in with a 6 and continued to play admirably; defending stoutly, not giving a chance that I can recall, but increasingly picking off the bad balls. With 10 overs to go, 48 was still required and, for perhaps the only point in the game, Nomads' hopes were high. Wingfield was out played on but, even with re-introduction of Hassan, the scoreboard never jammed totally. Four an over was the requirement with 24 balls left. An over from Todorow went for 9 but yielded the wicket of Uttley. Todorow struck again when, on the advice of Mark Bradshaw (in one of the tactical interventions of the season so far), he bowled one full and straight at Ling; the umpire's raised finger was the reward.
5 were needed off 12 balls and, amid scenes of buttock-clenching tension, only 2 came from the penultimate over. Nissar Khan bowled the final over. A dot ball was followed by a firm off-drive from Tither for a single. With only Gwyn Thomas still to bat, Naren faced ball No. 3; the edge was found but the ball dropped short of deep slip and a single was scampered to level the scores. Surrounded on all sides by Nomads in variety of crouching poses, John Tither picked a gap and struck the short-ish ball though the covers for 4 to complete a truly excellent 50 and the Exiles' victory.
This was at least the 4th time Exiles have passed our total in the final over and it was hard to evade the feeling that they had scripted the entire match to end this way, and had toyed with us from ball one. Well done though, Exiles, on a good victory. We'll have to do whatever necessary to beat them next season. Rafi? Benny? Dave Hunter? Australian ringers? Are you out there?
Man of the Match was Amin - 45 and 3 for 19, a fine all-round performance. Fielder of the Day was a share between Ajmal (sharp catch, quick around the outfield) and Jim Joyce (several good stops close up, got in the batsmen's faces.) Notable bowling from Hassan; one of the most economical analyses in Nomads; history.

Result- Energy Exiles won by 3 wickets. Match stats to follow soon. NL

K.Lefthanders v Nomads - 14/6/09 - match summary

CLAPHAM NOMADS - 233 for 7 from 34 overs

Bradshaw, 5
Fewson, 110 not out
Joyce, 40
A. Khan, 17
Ajmal, 0
R. Khan, 0
Amin, 40
Todorow, 0
Reeve, 1 not out

KINGSTON LEFTHANDERS - 69 for 9 from 37 overs

Assad, 8-2-8-1
Todorow, 9-3-14-1
Ajmal, 10-2-16-4
Reeve, 4-0-11-2
R. Khan, 3-1-3-0
Amin, 2-0-8-1
Joyce, 1-0-6-0

Match Drawn

Kingston Lefthanders v Nomads - 14/6/09

NOMADS' INNINGS

On a very pleasant and sunny day in Surbiton, Clapham Nomads found themselves batting first against Kingston Lefthanders in a timed game. The pitch looked dry and likely to break up as the afternoon went on. Mark Bradshaw and Ben Fewson opened the batting for Nomads against the the Lefthanders' medium pace opening attack. However, Bradshaw made only five runs before he steered a short-ish ball from Lewis straight to slip. Jim Joyce then joined Fewson in a rollicking partnership of 82 at 7 an over as both players slapped the ball all over the place. Both were given a life by the Lefthanders' fielders before Joyce was bowled by Connett for 40.
Abdul made good use of the sweep shot in a partnership of about 30 with Ben Fewson and kept our run rate up around 6 an over. Abdul was eventually caught behind for 17. Ajmal and Riaz were both dismissed for ducks by the Lefthanders' young medium pacer and the innings was in the balance at about 130 for 5. Amin made a tentative start before he unfurled some outstanding drives. After slowing down around his 50, Ben Fewson attacked once more, playing some particularly good shots off the leg-spin of Connett. Lefthanders continued to drop catches - one poor chap displayed admirable bravery with his ground-fielding but really should have been moved from the catching firing line by his captain. However, the Lefthanders ground-fielding was pretty sound throughout. Ben completed his maiden century with a short single to mid-wicket. Amin fell LBW to Connett for 40 - a very encouraging innings from a new player. Emil Todorow was promptly run out without scoring and Gideon Reeve got off the mark and the innings closed on 233 for 7. Ben Fewson made an outstanding unbeaten 110. The Lefthanders over rate was pretty poor - 34 overs in 2 and a half hours - especially so as none of their bowlers had much of a run-up and there were few fielding changes made. This is one of the reasons why I don't really enjoy timed matches as it can reward such indisciplined cricket. MB

KINGSTON LEFTHANDERS' INNINGS

Kingston Lefthanders took the field facing a daunting target of 234 for victory in 1 hour plus 20 overs. They are a formidable defensive batting unit. Nomads have set a target of over 100 on 9 or 10 occasions in time games against them and have only managed to dismiss them twice. At least a repeat of last season's defeat looked unlikely, though with a comparatively new-look Lefthanders side we couldn't be certain.
Lively Medium-Fast bowler Assad, another find from the Riaz Khan production line of talent, took one end with skipper Emil Todorow supplying his usual trickery uphill at the other end. Lefthanders' openers made their intentions clear from the first over, anything accurate was met with a firm, dead bat; pretty much anything else was waved through to wicketkeeper John Crossland. Opener Nick Crouch was particularly solid in a role he has played many times in these fixtures. Excitement was in short supply but, with the score in the teens, Todorow found a bit of extra life and had Crouch's partner magnificently caught, one-handed, in the slips by Ajmal.
The No. 3 proved just as competent as Crouch and, as time drifted by towards the one hour mark with very little acceleration, a draw seemed fairly inevitable. A few spectators approached the boundary, eager to watch some more of the game that has been filling TV screens lately (the one starring Chris Gayle and Shahid Afridi,) but left quite suddenly after an over or two, scratching ther heads in bafflement.
Assad and Todorow bowled right through to the drinks break which was taken with 20 overs remaining and the score on 31 for 1. Ajmal replaced Assad after the break and was into his stride with good pace but the batsmen still seemed fairly untroubled. Gideon Reeve replaced Emil Todorow 3 overs later. Reeve had been picked out by Mark Bradshaw in the field as the bowler most likely to find "the ridge" from the Surbiton End and, right on cue in his second over he produced a shooter to send the No 3 on his way. When Gideon followed this by bowling Crouch around his legs in his next over the door had opened slightly. It was forced wide open in the next over when Ajmal scattered the stumps of Dave Connett, one of the best defensive players at this level. With 6 wickets to be claimed in 11 overs, and Kingston's less defensively-minded players to come, there was hope. Ajmal ratched up the excitement level with 3 further wickets - all bowled. Reeve was replaced by Riaz Khan who didn't really find his radar. Likewise the left-armer Amin, though he did claim a wicket.
With 4 overs to go, we needed 2 wickets and the skipper turned to the spin of Jim Joyce. Halfway through the over, the batsman chipped the ball just over Joyce's head. The bowler wheeled back and looked odds-on to claim the catch but he unfortunately collided with the non-striker and the chance went astray. This was now more exciting and incident-packed than any 20-20 rubbish. In an inspired piece of captaincy, Assad was brought back at the Surbiton End and his full toss was steered at waist height straight to the waiting Gideon Reeve at gully. The final over was bowled by Assad and, with 9 wickets down, the Lefthanders batsman known by his team-mates as "Brains" faced the music with stout defence the requirement. Several extravagant strokes failed to connect but, from the fifth ball, Brains smacked it into the off-side and scampered a single; with one wicket in hand and 165 runs required off the last ball, the batsman called for a quick second (the ball was in the fielder's hand) but this was declined by his partner.
The last ball was safely negotiated and an unexpectedly exciting game ended in a draw.
There had been some debate between John and Emil as to whether Emil should have declared with 4 overs of Nomads innings to go (after Ben had completed his 100) and obviously the extra 4 overs could have been decisive, but sometimes the perceived insult of a before-tea declaration can galvanise opposition. Anyway, it was an enjoyable game; certainly more enjoyable than the facile victories we have recorded over Kingston in Limited Overs games at home.
Man of the Match was Ben Fewson for his career-best 110 Not Out, the 6th highest score in Nomads history. Fielder of the Day is a tougher choice. There was very little fielding to be done as very few shots were played. John Crossland was busy and good, but he has been even better at times this season. There were only 2 catches and Ajmal's was tougher so I will nominate him.
NL