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
Saturday 26 September 2009
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
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
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
Tuesday 15 September 2009
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
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
Thursday 10 September 2009
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
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
Tuesday 8 September 2009
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
Full match report will follow
Wednesday 2 September 2009
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
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
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