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
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