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.
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