It was a new venue and new opponents for the Nomads as we made our way to the Sutton Grammar School Ground in South Cheam, the excellent if slightly inaccessible home of the Bec Old Boys.
The Home side were, rather like Dulwich or Morden, a mixture of Saturday League players and Sunday men and were a bit similar to the Nomads in being a good blend of youth and experience, different nationalities and abilities. The sides shared another similarity as well, Bec being a former club of Nomads' record run-scorer John Chance.
It is hard to believe that the Nomads could possibly improve on the smart and professional appearance for which they are noted but, thanks to the fine Maroon caps acquired for the team by Mark Bradshaw, they did.
Bec skipper Khaled Mohammed, who once scored a half-century for Nomads against Morden, lost the toss to Emil Todorow and the Master of Coinmanship elected to bat in a 35 over contest.
Mark Bradshaw and Ben Fewson opened and faced a stiff test against Dipak, who slanted it in threateningly with good bounce, and the late movement of the pacy Nav. Neither of our openers looked in much trouble and Bradshaw found plenty of success against Nav with the firm leg glances which are becoming his trademark. Both batsman were as strong between cover and gully as ever but the good bowling and the outfield, slow after the overnight rain, kept a lid on the scoring rate.
Fewson was put down - a sharp chance - at mid-off but fell in the same area, also off the bowling of Dipak, a couple of overs later. The batsman was frustrated as, having done some hard work against the new ball, he could well have been on for a score on a very fair track.
Jim Joyce soon warmed up with some powerful strokes including an excellent clip to mid-wicket for 4 while Mark Bradshaw was untroubled except for one edge off a Nav lifter which was put down by the wicketkeeper Chez Brown. Nav bowled Joyce for 13 with a beauty but Bradshaw was beginning to dominate, especially against Nav's replacement who bowled several short-ish balls outside off stump - meat and drink to our opening batsman.
Hassan Khan came out No. 4 and continued his fine form of recent weeks. Old Boys' second change was Peter Seaden, who with his dapper, balding, moustachioed appearance and cunningly flighted slow medium bowling bore some resemblance to John's father, the late and much-revered Ron Crossland a.k.a The Guru. Nomads continued to be fairly untroubled, though Seaden had an excellent shout for LBW against Khan just before drinks.
Hassan fell for a useful 28 just after the interval and it was clear that Mark Bradshaw was holding things together, even more so when Mahesh Vyas departed early, leg before, with 4 down for not much more than a hundred. Prasanth came out to steady the ship and coped well with some tricky medium pace bowling from skipper Mohammed. Bradshaw passed another valuable 50 but his departure shortly afterwards left Bec on top with Nomads on 119 for 5 and the bowlers looking dangerous.
No. 7 Nick Lefebve had a slice of luck second ball when, surprised by the pace of Bec's first-change bowler, he snicked a four through the vacant first slip area (the fielder had moved to second slip in the previous over.) Prasanth was just starting to settle and play his shots when given LBW off the bowling of K. Mohammed for 5; still a useful contribution from Prasanth - he was out there for a while and helped to arrest the Nomads' slide.
Gopi joined Lefebve and, with five or six overs to go, the plan was clear. Lefebve startled the crowd with an emphatic hoik - more agricultural than Norfolk - over mid wicket for 4. Gopi helped to keep the rate up before falling to a skied catch just behind the bowler with the score on about 150 for 7. Gideon Reeve took guard and the new pair went up a gear. Lefebve troubling Air Traffic Control as much as the scorers with a series of lofted shots; Reeve finding the boundary with more orthodox blows. In the final over, Lefebve called for a suicidal single and, attempting to sprint and dive at the same time, "did a hamstring" - a pleasingly sporty-sounding injury for one of Nomads' less athletic players. Emil Todorow had to come out as a runner; a suitable climax to an innings described by Ben Fewson as "Very Nomads." The innings closed on 192 which sounded impressive, though the pitch was nice for batting and Nomads' bowling was slightly below full strength.
The old firm of economists Khan & Todorow began, and showed their usual reluctance to offer any freebies to the batsman. A wicket fell after about 6 overs and, when 10 overs were passed with score on only 29 for 1, Bec required almost 7 an over and Nomads appeared to be in control.
Sadly, a high-class second-wicket partnership starring Dipak wrested the initiative away from us. The scoring rate was steadily forced up, despite some good bowling from Gopi as Bec scored at more than 8 an over during this period. The stand was finally broken with the score well past 100. Most of the middle order batsmen began with a boundary or two but couldn't really get in. This had no adverse effect on the run rate though, and the home side closed in remorselessly on the total. Nomads dropped at least 5 catches which didn't help. A flurry of wickets from good, full deliveries from Gideon Reeve came too late to have much influence on the outcome and Old Boys reached their target with about 4 overs left. The No. 10 (who was only batting in that position due to arriving late) sealed the victory with a big six off the bowling of Hassan Khan. The victory was rather more comfortable than the margin of two wickets suggests.
A very enjoyable game but it showed that Nomads do have a problem with bowling at good batsmen on a sound surface - mind you, who doesn't? Let's hope it is the first of many games against this very pleasant opposition.
Man of the Match must be Mark Bradshaw, who held the top order together with a fine half-century against some very decent bowling. Nick Lefebve's 42 was his third-highest score in 17 Nomads' seasons but the purists may have been watching from behind the sofa. Fielder of the Day was Hassan Khan who took 3 catches.
CLAPHAM NOMADS - 191 for 7 from 35 overs
M. Bradshaw - 51
B. Fewson - 11
J. Joyce - 13
H. Khan - 28
M. Vyas - 0
P. Pattiyil - 5
N. Lefebve - 42 not out
G. Pala - 3
G. Reeve - 16 not out
F.O.W. - 29,47,105,108,119,141,155
BEC OLD BOYS - 194 for 8 from 30.2 overs
H. Khan 6.2-0-22-2
E. Todorow 7-0-21-1
G. Pala 7-0-58-1
G. Reeve 7-0-59-3
P. Pattiyil 3-0-24-1
Bec Old Boys won by 2 wickets
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