Energy Exiles v Nomads - 24/5/09 - Nomads innings

This traditional Whit Sunday match against Energy Exiles at the Civil Service Sports Ground, Chiswick, is always keenly anticipated, but has been rained off for the past two seasons. The hottest day of the year so far was therefore a nice surprise. An even nicer surprise was that, after losing the toss, we were put in to bat.
New opener Prasanth walked to the crease accompanied by Mark Bradshaw, playing against his old club. Exiles were missing several regulars; Keith Roberts, Simon Gundry, Amil Patel, Martin Thomas but, with some new faces who were rumoured to have impressed in the nets, they were not an outfit to be underestimated.
The first four overs were steady; the left-armer Andy Wingfield finding some bounce at above medium and Naren Patel using his deceptive pace and box of tricks. The lively banter directed at Bradshaw by his former team-mates ensured there was no shortage of interest.
The fifth over provided some acceleration. A Wingfield bouncer was despatched over square leg for 3 by Bradshaw and a flurry of boundaries at both ends followed. Good running between the wickets made the scoring rate even healthier but, with Wingfield finding Prasanth's inside edge on several occasions and Bradshaw snicking Patel between keeper and first slip for 4, the bowlers were never out of the contest.
The 10-over mark saw the total in the high 40s and a double bowling change. 50 was passed but an inswinger from the tricky Adam Utley accounted for Prasanth, bowled for a useful 15, shortly afterwards. The other change bowler, Knight, offered more hope to the batsmen but also offered fairly lavish swing; a hittable-looking full toss changed direction late and shaved Jim Ferguson's off stump.
There followed perhaps the key moment of the game. Regular umpire Emil Todorow had donned walking boots, crampons and rucksack and set off on the lengthy hike to the pavilion to collect the drinks. Utley rapped the front pad of Hassan Khan (who had taken a couple of decent strides forward.....decent for Usain Bolt.) Faced with a lengthy and vociferous appeal from Utley, the substitute umpire raised his finger. Now I'm all for generosity but let's just call this decision "very interesting" and move on quickly.
53 for 0 had suddenly become 59 for 3, but with the explosive shot-maker Ajmal in at No. 5 there was still hope of some very rapid scoring. Ajmal did play an explosive shot to his first ball but it unfortunately did not connect. Bowled Utley - 59 for 4.
No. 6 Nick Lefebve was suddenly and frantically trying to fasten his pads and find the lucky bat donated to him by the great Dave Hunter. He arrived at the crease somewhat shell-shocked. In the midst of all this madness, Bradshaw was quietly building a major innings. The new pair at least partially stopped the rot with a partnership of 19 in 6.5 overs.. Lefebve swept Knight for a couple of 4s before being trapped leg before by the same bowler.
Bradshaw reached his half-century with the score in the 80s. This blunted Exiles' banter somewhat. They were ahead on points with Nomads on 80-odd for 6, but their former skipper had scored an individual Moral Victory. Exiles' wicketkeeper Wil Scott did comment, though, that Mark appeared to be playing for his Not Out.
Abdul Khan, Riaz Khan and Emil Todorow lasted a few overs each, with Bradshaw taking careful but valuable runs off all bowlers except the almost unplayable Utley. At 103 for 8, Gideon Reeve came out and, after surviving a desperately close LBW shout, provided nice support. Good running and some judicious shots saw the score creep up to an almost acceptable 140 for 8 off the full 40 overs.
Cooked by sun and exertion, Mark Bradshaw trudged off the pitch to well-deserved congratulations from both teams. To have scored 80 Not Out against his old team - with all the extra tension and spice that that brings - and some decent bowling, with an extraordinary collection of batting partners and incidents at the other end, and against a field skilfully set to stop him cashing in on his favourite areas; this was one of the top 2 or 3 innings in Nomads history.
It was almost a shame that we weren't all out so he could have achieved that rarest of feats; carrying his bat through a completed innings.