There was a lively build-up to this fixture as Nomads, desperate for their first win over the Exiles in 4 years, spread rumours via e-mail and text that John Chance had been drafted back into the line-up, along with several Australian ringers and the Open University legend Dave Hunter as captain. Sadly (or otherwise) none of this was true and it was a familiar Nomads XI that gathered at Chiswick on a baking-hot afternoon.
Emil Todorow won a vital toss and chose to bat. There was a story going round that, after winning the toss, Emil had insisted we play 40 overs a side rather than 35. This also proved untrue and rather far-fetched - the ruthless Todorow would surely have insisted on 50.
Last year's top batsmen Ben Fewson and Mark Bradshaw took strike. Bradshaw was looking to continue his excellent record against his former club and struck a vital early blow in thumping Andy Wingfield's first ball for 4 through square leg. Fewson faced the bulk of Naren Patel's bowling, mostly back of a length around off stump. Fewson can play this type of bowling all week but a skilfully-set field made scoring difficult. Sound batting on a decent surface made for an unexpected air of serenity in the early overs, broken only when a Patel delivery hit a feather, reared up at Mark Bradshaw and deflected narrowly over the top of the stumps. Normally this type of incident could be written off as a fluke, but N. Patel is quite crafty enough to have aimed for the feather.
Bradshaw continued to play Wingfield well, particularly on the leg-side, and eventually there was a plaintive cry of "bowl it on the off stump, Andy" (not an instruction you often hear when Bradshaw is batting.) The bowler obliged with a beauty which straightened and found the outside edge. Keeper Wil Scott snapped up the catch and the former Exiles man departed for 11, still averaging over 40 for Nomads against the Exiles and having contributed to a useful opening stand of 32.
Peter Moth stepped out at No. 3 and his arrival coincided with the first bowling change. On came paceman Simon Gundry, looking fired-up, but Moth coped admirably with the mixture of raw pace, slower balls and yorkers served up by the big speedster and cracked 3 nice boundaries. Fewson also cranked it up a gear as Exiles captain Martin Thomas joined the attack. Moth saw off Gundry but was then slightly unfortunate to flick Thomas straight out of the springs to square leg and had to leave for 14, with the partnership one short of the 50 it deserved.
Hassan Khan was put down at mid-off (a sharp chance) early on but maintained the momentum against the deceptive swing bowler Phil Ling, and Nomads sped from 38 after 10 overs to 103 for 2 at the 20-over drinks break. Ben Fewson had been treating the appreciative audience to a virtuoso display of crisp hitting and had advanced from 24 to 60 scoring nothing but boundaries. Sadly, with another ton in his sights, last season's Player of the Year fell to a smart catch by Keith Roberts off the deceptive flight of off-spinner John Parker-Jones. Abdul Khan avenged this by hitting Parker-Jones out of the attack with three 4s in an over but was then comprehensively bowled by Simon Gundry, who had been brought back for a crack at Nomads' big-hitting middle order. Amin, in perhaps his final innings for the club, survived Gundry but then mishit a David Thomas delivery up into the covers, depriving us of the farewell 6 we craved. Hassan Khan also departed in the same over, caught at the 5th or 6th attempt in an extraordinary piece of juggling from 1st slip Quentin Davies, who never actually looked like dropping the ball.
At 162 for 6 Nomads were approaching the type of total that Exiles have rarely achieved against us, but on a benign track there was a bit more work to do. Riaz Khan dispelled any fears that his expansive batting style would present an easy target for Gundry's yorkers by smacking some big shots, especially over mid-wicket. A promising partnership with Gopi ended sadly when the Mystery Bowler just failed to make it back to his crease on a disputed run. Emil Todorow sauntered out, looking every inch the Senior Professional in his baggy red cap, and went eyeball to eyeball with Naren Patel, his counterpart in age and cunning. Todorow survived and then went on to produce the champagne moment of the season so far; with elbow high and feet in line, he positively caressed a quick one from S. Gundry to the mid-off boundary. A murmur of admiration spread amongst the watching Nomads who were struck by our skipper's uncanny resemblance to David Gower in his prime, in all respects except his age, hairstyle and right-handedness. Riaz Khan was not to be outdone and proved once again that he is almost impossible to bowl at once he reaches double figures. Again and again he bypassed the weary and sun-baked fielders with a brutal display of power hitting which sadly ended on 42 with 5 balls remaining, within touching distance of his second Nomads half-century. Gideon Reeve played out the final over and Nomads ended on the more than satisfactory 222 for 8, our highest total against Exiles since the era of Benny and Rafi, and a score that Exiles have never achieved against us. Given the recent history of these fixtures though, there was certainly no room for complacency.
Nomads took the field with temperatures thankfully cooling towards about 75 degrees. John Crossland was missing his first game for over 2 years, due to a charity cycle ride, but the ever-keen wicketkeeper turned up at 3 o'clock and kept our morale high by pacing the boundary rope while we were fielding, encouraging us and making the occasional astute tactical suggestion. Fortunately we had a very capable replacement behind the stumps in the shape of former Yorkshire Under-17s wicketkeeper Ben Fewson, a man who shares Crossland's willingness to hurl himself full-length for the cause, as well as his connections to the county of Geoffrey Boycott.
The old firm of Hassan Khan and Emil Todorow opened the bowling and, with good pace and accuracy, Khan soon frustrated the dangerous Quentin Davies into skying a chance which Fewson collected comfortably. No. 2 Sri Pathmanathan and No. 3 John Parker-Jones had made a match-winning partnership in the corresponding fixture last year. Sri hits the ball in the air quite a lot and does give hope to the fielders, but has the uncanny ability to just clear their heads. He was dropped off H. Khan but soon began to give the innings some much-needed momentum. Emil Todorow always bowls well against the Exiles however and a well-disguised lifter found Pathmanathan's top edge; the ball appeared to have cleared Amin at slip but Mister Six turned nimbly and pouched a vital wicket. Parker-Jones was looking untroubled but on 9 he flicked first-changer Gideon Reeve hard and low to Mark Bradshaw at square leg, a fine catch from Mark, given the added pressure of the stick he would have got from his former team-mates had he dropped it.
Reeve took another wicket straight away to have Exiles reeling at 46 for 4. Keith Roberts rarely misses out completely against Nomads but he had little time on this occasion to play himself in. He received a bonus, though, when his usual nemesis Emil Todorow mysteriously took himself off. Roberts played nicely, especially between point and gully and his correctness and left-handedness made it awkward for Nomads. Amin and Reeve kept a lid on things though and the required rate rose steadily until drinks were taken at 80 for 4; 143 to win off 20 overs. With Roberts and Wil Scott looking settled and some big-hitters to come this was by no means impossible but a direct hit to savour from Amin disposed of Scott on 90. Nomads' final bowling pairing was Riaz Khan and Gopi and Riaz struck early, bowling Roberts for a useful 25.
Exiles' biggest hitters, Simon Gundry and Andy Wingfield, were now at the middle. 8 an over was required and, if any Exiles pair could achieve that, it would be these two. Wingfield told me later that they had every intention of going for it but Riaz bowled so accurately that he proved almost impossible to get away. Gopi did go for a few more runs but his endless string of variations means that few batsmen can really get into a scoring groove against him. Standing almost behind the wicketkeeper, I realised that he does get remarkable sideways movement through the air at times.
Both of Exiles all-rounders struck a few lusty blows but Riaz bowled Gundry and then Fewson claimed Wingfield off Gopi's bowling to just about secure victory. It was nostalgia time as former Battersea Spinners team-mates, and former members of the legendary Renato Philip's Cricket Circus, Martin Thomas and Riaz Khan faced each other, Riaz triumphing by bowling his friend for 2. Phil Ling showed he is one to watch in future with a couple of big shots but Hassan returned to trap him LBW and leave Exiles all out for 130.
This was not perhaps the most eventful Exiles/Nomads match but from our point of view it was the most satisfying; a great all-round performance and a fine victory against a pretty-much full-strength Exiles line-up. The only thing that could slightly sour the taste of victory is that we have only 4 weeks to savour it. Exiles are sure to come back very hard for revenge in the return fixture at Dundonald Road on 20th June. I was inclining towards Ben Fewson for Man of the Match as his devastating play in the second half of his innings really set up our total, but the consensus in the pub was that Riaz Khan should get it; 42 runs of pure punishment and an analysis of 7-2-12-3, made even better by Exiles' confirmation that they were trying to accelerate against him, but just couldn't. Mark Bradshaw, Gideon Reeve, Abdul Khan and Ben Fewson all fielded well but Amin shades it for Fielder of the Day. A vital catch and a direct hit were a great way to say goodbye - but we've said goodbye to him before, haven't we?
CLAPHAM NOMADS - 222 for 8 from 40 overs
M. Bradshaw -c Scott b Wingfield- 11
B. Fewson(wkt) - c Roberts b Parker-Jones - 64
P. Moth - c Gundry b M. Thomas - 14
H. Khan - c Davies b D. Thomas - 39
A. Khan - b Gundry - 16
Amin - c Wingfield b D. Thomas - 1
R. Khan - b Patel - 42
G. Pala - Run Out - 5
E. Todorow(capt) - Not Out - 15
G. Reeve - Not Out - 0
N. Lefebve - Did not bat
F.O.W. 32, 81, 108, 138, 141, 162, 174, 220
ENERGY EXILES - 130 All Out from 34.3 overs
Q. Davies - c Fewson b H. Khan - 6
S. Pathmanathan - c Amin b Todorow - 20
J. Parker-Jones - c Bradshaw b Reeve - 9
K, Roberts - b R. Khan - 25
D. Thomas - c A. Khan b Reeve - 0
W. Scott (wkt) - Run Out - 13
S. Gundry - b R. Khan - 14
A. Wingfield - c Fewson b G. Pala - 12
M. Thomas (capt) - b R. Khan - 2
P. Ling - lbw H. Khan - 7
N. Patel - Not Out 1
Nomads bowling;
H. Khan 5.3-0-14-2
E. Todorow 5-1-18-1
Amin 5-0-13-0
G. Reeve 5-0-31-2
R. Khan 7-2-12-3
G. Pala 7-0-38-1
Clapham Nomads won by 92 runs
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