This was not a match we have had high hopes of winning since Bec's brilliant batting display in the Away game in June, so it was a shock when their skipper phoned at 12.15 to say they only had 8 men but would turn up anyway, and even more so when he told Emil Todorow at the ground that it would be better if Nomads batted first, in order to make a game of it.
Nomads did bat first by agreement (the only piece of match-fixing that occurred to my knowledge) but it soon looked like being a very short game after all as 2 wickets fell for 9 runs to shocking shooters from Bec medium pacer R. Anthony. Mahesh Vyas departed for 1 and then Mark Milnes, who had played a nice off-side shot for 3, fell to a pea-roller which shaved leg stump.
No. 4 Hassan Khan dug out a further shooter, but the pitch then seemed to improve somewhat and Khan began to turn the tables with some fine straight drives. Opener Sumith Prasanna also upped the tempo with a baseball-style straight hit for 4 and a big hit through mid-wicket. Bec's other bowler, the youngster Adam Freeman, floated the ball in nicely on the stiff breeze but didn't quite present the same threat as his partner. Nomads cruised into the 40s at around 4 an over. Nomads had agreed to lend Old Boys a fielder and this came back to bite us as Hassan, who was approaching his best form, cracked a firm cut straight to cover point where it was well held by Mark Milnes. When Sumith chipped Freeman up to gully 1 run later things began to look grim again.
Nick Lefebve joined Prasanth Pattiyil in the 12th over on 45 for 4 under a massive grey cloud and the pair had 2 immediate tasks; to see off R. Anthony's final over and to play through to the inevitable rain storm. A few runs were milked from 14-year-old leg spinner Sean Mason before a pleasant autumnal day turned sub-Arctic with gale force winds bearing horizontal rain and bits of twig from the thorn bushes surrounding pitch 3. An early tea was taken which lasted about an hour.
When play resumed it was almost impossible to stand upright on the soaked, skiddy pitch, but thankfully this affected the bowlers as much as the batsmen. Our pair survived and began to play with something approaching confidence. Lefebve connected with a few more leg-side blows off Mason, while Prasanth negotiated paceman Nav Jaswel and skipper Ches Brown with increasing authority and began to play some fine straight and leg-side strokes. At 93, Nomads had, at the very least, guaranteed a contest but Prasanth was caught for a useful 26 with the partnership just 2 short of the half-century.
Acceleration was needed and No. 7 Gopi had shown he is capable of this with his fine 41 against West One 2 weeks ago, but unfortunately he flicked Mason up to Backward Point and departed early. No. 8 Tahir was playing his first game for the club and had told Todorow that he was more of a bowler than a batsman. He was arguably our last real hope of quick, substantial runs and he didn't disappoint, carting the bowling quite classily to all parts of the ground - a large six over mid-wicket being the highlight - and dominating (an understatement) a stand of 38 with Nick Lefebve - Lefebve contributed 1. During this stand, with about 10 overs to go, Andrew West turned up and Todorow lent him to the opposition, but adding the proviso that he would be allowed to field and bat but not bowl - quite a crafty deal when you think about it, though there are those who would say that the Man in Purple is becoming more of a specialist batsman these days anyway.
The wily Ches Browne accounted for Tahir for 36 and followed up by getting one to spit and kick at Emil Todorow and find the glove of Nomads' Mr Reliable.
133 for 8 and John Crossland joined Lefebve with 4 and a half overs to go. After a couple of balls Crossland, wearing a deep frown, called his partner for an urgent mid-pitch conference. It looked serious. "Whatever you do," growled the wicketkeeper, "don't throw it away." The veteran pair did ok by sticking to a rigid plan - charging down the pitch and flicking the ball to the leg side for scampered singles. It wouldn't have won the X Factor but it did realise 13 runs. The highlight was a gorgeous straight drive from Crossland back over the bowler's head which only the recent monsoon rains prevented from reaching the boundary it deserved. Nomads closed on 146 for 8, which looked half-decent on this pitch. Lefebve was left on a useful / turgid 24 not out off 23 overs.
After a quick turnaround, The familiar pairing of Hassan Khan and Emil Todorow prepared to apply the pressure. Bec's openers. Nav Jaswel and Ches Browne looked fairly accomplished, with some good off-side shots played. We were unsure quite how depleted they were, though we suspected they would have few specialist batsmen below Andrew West at 7. This pair cracked along at a reasonable rate and it was quite a relief when Todorow was slightly fortunate to find the stumps via the inside edge of Jaswel's bat to break the stand on 27. No. 3 tried to slog Todorow out of the ground straight away and paid the customary penalty - bowled. There was a further wicket apiece for these bowlers, the more memorable was an LBW for Todorow which the skipper secured with a quite bizarre high-pitched, elongated appeal which sounded a bit like a large farm animal in distress (but in a dignified way, of course.) It frightened me and I have known Todorow for years, it must have terrified the umpire.
Gopi was first-change and, once he switched to bowling round the wicket, bowled an accurate spell, using the breeze well and claiming a wicket, bowled. Tahir was the pick of the bowlers, though, showing accuracy and reasonable pace in a fine spell of 2 for 7 from his 7 overs. Wickets were falling steadily but this spell put Bec so far behind the run rate that any hopes of victory were extinguished.
Of course, Bec's real batting star was Andrew West who made an eventful 4, getting off the mark by playing a firm on drive with his thumb, then spanking 2 through mid-wicket and rounding off with a thunderous, acrobatic dive to reach his ground on a risky single. Tahir eventually produced one of his best deliveries to bowl West.
Everything else was an anti-climax, though the last-wicket stand produced about 20 with G. Mason playing well for 19 but by then the required rate was up around 14 an over. Terry Bruce-Mills eventually administered the last rites and victory was secured, albeit over a team that was severely depleted, particularly in their batting.
Anyway, we are grateful to the opposition for showing up for a match they could easily have cancelled. Man of the Match is Tahir for a brilliant all-round performance. Our best fielder was Mark Milnes, but he did his best work fielding for the opposition. There wasn't that much fielding for us to do in Bec's innings but I would say Fielder of the Day was John Crossland, his second successive match without conceding a bye, this time on a difficult track.
Clapham Nomads 146 for 8 from 35 overs
M. Vyas 1
S. Prasanna 13
M. Milnes 3
H. Khan 25
P. Pattiyil 26
N. Lefebve 24 not out
G. Pala 0
Tahir 36
E. Todorow 0
J. Crossland 6 not out
F.O.W. - 2, 9, 44, 45, 93, 95, 133, 133
Bec Old Boys 71 all out from 29.1 overs
H. Khan 7-1-15-1
E. Todorow 7-0-21-3
Tahir 7-3-7-2
G. Pala 7-0-26-1
T. Bruce-Mills 1.1-1-0-1
Clapham Nomads won by 75 runs
Tuesday 31 August 2010
Wednesday 25 August 2010
Clapham Nomads v Touring Theatre XI - 22/8/10
Our old friends the Touring Theatres turned up at Raynes Park with only 8 players. Fortunately, Nomads had 12 and so we lent the away side Terry Bruce-Mills (who has played a few games for Theatres recently anyway) and, most generously of all, the elusive medium pace bowling genius Andrew West.
West was wearing his famous tight-fitting purple top but, to the disappointment of many, got changed into a white cricket shirt.
A 35-over per innings, 10-a-side match was agreed on. Emil Todorow won yet another toss and Nomads batted first on a dry, patchy wicket, typical of Merton Council this year. Mark Bradshaw and Mahesh Vyas made good early progress in decent time against new ball pairing Wilson and Fieldhouse. The introduction of Bruce-Mills slowed things down a little as he extracted some bounce from the pitch. Terry made the first breakthrough, hitting the top of Vyas' off-stump as Mahesh played across the line for a well-made 38. The opening stand realised 93, Nomads' best 1st wicket partnership of the season so far.
Prasanth top-edged his first ball straight to Deep Square Leg, but a difficult chance was put down and Prasanth settled down to play solidly before he was LBW for 35 to the medium pace of Danny (who bowled very tidily to take 3 for 40.)
Hassan fell cheaply and Sumith Prasanna came in for his first match in nearly two years. The big Sri Lankan hit his third ball, from John Warnaby, for 6. The Nomads were all a little surprised that Theatres had not yet called upon the bowling skills of Andrew West, who had fielded stoutly at Mid-Wicket, stopping one very hard shot with his foot much to umpire Todorow's amusement. Before the game, Andrew had told Hassan Khan that he would get him out and this looked a possibility as his first ball reared alarmingly from just short of a length. It looked as though he would make things very difficult for the Nomads' batsmen. However, this was about as good as it got as Bradshaw and Sumith took 14 from his first over. Sumith hit 3 big sixes off Andrew's bowling as the Nomads legend was retired from the attack having bowled 3 overs for 45 runs.
In the meantime, Mark Bradshaw had fallen to Danny for 64. Sumith Prasanna raced on and I noticed that he uses a "BDM NS Sidhu" bat. I am sure that the former India opener would have approved of his mighty hitting and especially his calculated assault on the opposition's most dangerous bowler, Andrew West.
Sumith was finally bowled by Dirk Fieldhouse for 64. Darwin made a brisk unbeaten 23 and Mark Milnes opened his batting account for the team with 4 not out as Nomads finished on 259 for 5. A special mention should be made of the fielding of Milton for the Touring Theatres - he fielded absolutely magnificantly, stopping everything that came his way, throwing well and taking the very important catch to dismiss Hassan.
In reply, Theatres lost both their openers - Wilson and the usually obdurate Roger Daltrey lookalike John Whitham - in the first 2 overs. There followed a steady fall of wickets as Hassan took 5 for 14, moving the ball both ways and throwing in the occasional leg-spinner. At 27 for 7 only a heroic partnership could restore some pride to the Thespians and up stepped 2 unlikely heroes in the form of the 72-year-old Anthony "Chick" Fowles - who has written several well-received Sports books and a Crime novel, Chinamen, based around South London club cricket, and has recovered from very serious knee surgery - and our very own Andrew West, who has not written any best-selling books to my knowledge but has certainly had a lot written about him. The pair performed admirably with Fowles, the fitter of the 2, defending stoutly and deploying a one-handed sweep to excellent effect. Many present feared that Andrew West was having an off day and would be dismissed for 0, but the Nomads legend dispelled these fears by whacking his first delivery through mid-wicket for a couple of runs. He followed up with a boundary to cow corner and showed some good defence too. Mark Milnes eventually prised out Andrew with a well-directed yorker. Gopi took the final 2 wickets, rounding it off with a clever low full toss which was difficult to pick up from the A3 end as Nomads sealed a comfortable win against these very pleasant opponents.
After the game, Andrew sought solace in looking at the scorebook and reciting some of his previous glories to those present. I am sure he will be back with a vengeance in the next game.
Several candidates for Man of the Match; Mark Bradshaw with a fine 64, Hassan Khan with his season's best figures of 5 for 14 but Sumith Prasanna takes it with a very entertaining 64. His 50 came up in just 22 balls, only 2 more than the club record. It was good to have him back. Fielder of the Day was Darwin, who had the most to do and did it well. MB / NL
CLAPHAM NOMADS - 259 for 5 from 35 overs
M. Bradshaw 64
M. Vyas 38
P. Pattiyil 35
H. Khan 4
S. Prasanna 64
Darwin 23 not out
M. Milnes 4 not out
F.O.W. - 93, 139, 146, 207, 239
TOURING THEATRE XI - 56 all out from 21 overs
J. Whitham 0
Wilson 0
D. Fieldhouse 1
Stephenson 8
T. Bruce-Mills 1
D. Counihan 4
A. Fowles 15
C. Robertson 2
A. West 7
J. Warnaby 4
F.O.W. - 0, 0, 8, 9, 11, 12, 27, 47, 56
Clapham Nomads won by 203 runs
West was wearing his famous tight-fitting purple top but, to the disappointment of many, got changed into a white cricket shirt.
A 35-over per innings, 10-a-side match was agreed on. Emil Todorow won yet another toss and Nomads batted first on a dry, patchy wicket, typical of Merton Council this year. Mark Bradshaw and Mahesh Vyas made good early progress in decent time against new ball pairing Wilson and Fieldhouse. The introduction of Bruce-Mills slowed things down a little as he extracted some bounce from the pitch. Terry made the first breakthrough, hitting the top of Vyas' off-stump as Mahesh played across the line for a well-made 38. The opening stand realised 93, Nomads' best 1st wicket partnership of the season so far.
Prasanth top-edged his first ball straight to Deep Square Leg, but a difficult chance was put down and Prasanth settled down to play solidly before he was LBW for 35 to the medium pace of Danny (who bowled very tidily to take 3 for 40.)
Hassan fell cheaply and Sumith Prasanna came in for his first match in nearly two years. The big Sri Lankan hit his third ball, from John Warnaby, for 6. The Nomads were all a little surprised that Theatres had not yet called upon the bowling skills of Andrew West, who had fielded stoutly at Mid-Wicket, stopping one very hard shot with his foot much to umpire Todorow's amusement. Before the game, Andrew had told Hassan Khan that he would get him out and this looked a possibility as his first ball reared alarmingly from just short of a length. It looked as though he would make things very difficult for the Nomads' batsmen. However, this was about as good as it got as Bradshaw and Sumith took 14 from his first over. Sumith hit 3 big sixes off Andrew's bowling as the Nomads legend was retired from the attack having bowled 3 overs for 45 runs.
In the meantime, Mark Bradshaw had fallen to Danny for 64. Sumith Prasanna raced on and I noticed that he uses a "BDM NS Sidhu" bat. I am sure that the former India opener would have approved of his mighty hitting and especially his calculated assault on the opposition's most dangerous bowler, Andrew West.
Sumith was finally bowled by Dirk Fieldhouse for 64. Darwin made a brisk unbeaten 23 and Mark Milnes opened his batting account for the team with 4 not out as Nomads finished on 259 for 5. A special mention should be made of the fielding of Milton for the Touring Theatres - he fielded absolutely magnificantly, stopping everything that came his way, throwing well and taking the very important catch to dismiss Hassan.
In reply, Theatres lost both their openers - Wilson and the usually obdurate Roger Daltrey lookalike John Whitham - in the first 2 overs. There followed a steady fall of wickets as Hassan took 5 for 14, moving the ball both ways and throwing in the occasional leg-spinner. At 27 for 7 only a heroic partnership could restore some pride to the Thespians and up stepped 2 unlikely heroes in the form of the 72-year-old Anthony "Chick" Fowles - who has written several well-received Sports books and a Crime novel, Chinamen, based around South London club cricket, and has recovered from very serious knee surgery - and our very own Andrew West, who has not written any best-selling books to my knowledge but has certainly had a lot written about him. The pair performed admirably with Fowles, the fitter of the 2, defending stoutly and deploying a one-handed sweep to excellent effect. Many present feared that Andrew West was having an off day and would be dismissed for 0, but the Nomads legend dispelled these fears by whacking his first delivery through mid-wicket for a couple of runs. He followed up with a boundary to cow corner and showed some good defence too. Mark Milnes eventually prised out Andrew with a well-directed yorker. Gopi took the final 2 wickets, rounding it off with a clever low full toss which was difficult to pick up from the A3 end as Nomads sealed a comfortable win against these very pleasant opponents.
After the game, Andrew sought solace in looking at the scorebook and reciting some of his previous glories to those present. I am sure he will be back with a vengeance in the next game.
Several candidates for Man of the Match; Mark Bradshaw with a fine 64, Hassan Khan with his season's best figures of 5 for 14 but Sumith Prasanna takes it with a very entertaining 64. His 50 came up in just 22 balls, only 2 more than the club record. It was good to have him back. Fielder of the Day was Darwin, who had the most to do and did it well. MB / NL
CLAPHAM NOMADS - 259 for 5 from 35 overs
M. Bradshaw 64
M. Vyas 38
P. Pattiyil 35
H. Khan 4
S. Prasanna 64
Darwin 23 not out
M. Milnes 4 not out
F.O.W. - 93, 139, 146, 207, 239
TOURING THEATRE XI - 56 all out from 21 overs
J. Whitham 0
Wilson 0
D. Fieldhouse 1
Stephenson 8
T. Bruce-Mills 1
D. Counihan 4
A. Fowles 15
C. Robertson 2
A. West 7
J. Warnaby 4
F.O.W. - 0, 0, 8, 9, 11, 12, 27, 47, 56
Clapham Nomads won by 203 runs
Wednesday 18 August 2010
Emil Todorow 150 Not Out
Not words that I ever thought I would write in a cricket report but they refer not to an innings, but to the magnificent feat achieved by the Nomads' skipper in playing 150 successive games for the club, not missing a match since September 2002 - and even then he was in Bulgaria and didn't know there was a game on. The Blogspot is therefore honoured to present "Todorow - A Tribute."
Emil Todorow was born in Bulgaria but he soon realised that cricketing opportunities were likely to be limited there and left the country for the Home of Cricket - Clapham.
He was initially baffled by cricket and confined his games-playing to chess, which he plays to a very high level - he is believed to have been in the top 1,000 players in the country. I can assure you that he is just as lethal with a bishop in his hand as he is with a ball.
He first tried cricket in 1985. Being a sociable person, he wanted to go for a drink with John Crossland, Nick Lefebve and Joe Chance but was disturbed to hear that they were going to play that tedious, incomprehensible game he had seen on TV, briefly, before switching off. Clapham Common used to have 3 excellent artificial pitches and the 4 friends pitched stumps. Todorow asked Lefebve what was the point of the game and the youngster replied "Try to hit it in the road. Not that road....Lavender Hill" (about 1/2 a mile away.) Todorow nodded in understanding and, taking a diagonal guard, attempted the feat. He had such a mighty slog that, had he connected, I think he would have managed it.
They ended up playing every week for the next few summers, along with Simon Sparssis, Chris Holland, Bob Aspin, Peter Morris and Gerry Blackwood; most of whom went on to play for Open University or for the Nomads. Chance and, unbelievably, Lefebve were quite quick in those days and Emil often found himself bruised but he was willing to fight fire with fire. "For every bouncer I receive," he told Chance, "you will receive 3." His action was not the free-flowing thing of beauty you see today; in fact it was a chuck, but he started to get more accurate and also became a fan of the game, being particularly devoted to Richard Hadlee.
He first played a competitive match in 1987 when local character Paul Riche assembled a scratch eleven including Lefebve, Todorow, several Open University players, a women's hockey international and a guy who was sunbathing nearby. The opposition was a fairly strong team called Wandsworth Gods. Todorow batted number 3 and soon struck a mighty off-side blow which fell just short of the rope. "Where's that bloke from?" one of the Riche XI asked. "Bulgaria, eh? I bet they've got some dodgy pitches out there. Goats nibbling the outfield." Thankfully Todorow didn't hear him and he thoroughly enjoyed the match, taking a wicket and not being called for no-ball, which increased his confidence as a bowler.
In 1990, Todorow and Crossland heard that the Open University CC were looking for players and, remembering the nice, quiet guys from the Gods match, they turned up at Lillie Road nets in Fulham, only to be greeted by the sound of several hang-dog cricketers being ruthlessly bossed about by a man with a harsh Dublin accent. Crossland nearly turned and fled remembering the man, Dave Hunter, as his former football captain from Balham Celtic.
Todorow began to play regularly for the OU and, though it is fair to say that Dave Hunter never really rated Todorow as a bowler, and certainly not as a batsman, the two men had a grudging respect for each other as forceful characters. I often sat in the pub listening to them arguing, each taking points of view they didn't really hold, just to wind the other one up. Emil began to bowl regularly; his first bowl was in a game in August 1990 on a day when the all-time record high temperature was set. Two rotund men, Peter Price and Alan Cotter (known to Emil as "The Pack Pair") were toiling away and getting carted and I noticed Todorow pacing up and down restlessly. He confirmed that, had he not been brought on to bowl, he would have quit cricket. Hunter must have sensed this and a quick wicket for our hero was the result.
Deep down, D. Hunter was a great guy and appreciated the competitiveness Todorow brought to the side, but that didn't stop him - a football captain to his bones - from berating the Bulgarian's bowling. "Emil, for Christ's sake, bowl on the off-stump to this one and leg-stump to his partner," the Irish skipper yelled. "It's a secret," Emil replied, "and I wish I had your level of control." I also recall Emil straying down leg side one over and being hit for 4 successive fours though an acre of unguarded space behind square. When Emil protested after the first ball, Hunter replied "You don't deserve a Fine Leg."
We had some good times in the OU and there was usually something going on, such as when, on tour in Stroud, some local yobs took a dislike to Todorow in a curry house and threatened to make him "eat dog." He informed them that, if he encountered them again, they would need to be accompanied by the army. The trouble was, the team was either losing, or recording a losing draw (50 for 8 in reply to 200) almost every week and inevitably there were murmurings of discontent. (4-hour-long, weekly murmurings.) In 1994 Todorow, along with Nick Lefebve, John Crossland, Joe Chance and John Chance, formed the Clapham Nomads.
At this stage, Open University would probably have collapsed without these 5 and so they carried on playing for both clubs. Todorow must have played in well over 30 matches in 1994 and the constant bowling that he got through seemed to be the making of him as a bowler. His action smoothed out, he became more accurate and he introduced such variations as the BY Special (Balkan Yorker,) the Remarkable Delivery, which kicks up to neck height at slow medium pace off a good length and the Accidental Leg Spinner. He can also bowl a deadly deliberate Leg Spinner, but rarely uses it outside the nets. He still cherished dreams of being a fast bowler at this stage; "this summer....you will see some pace," he repeated every April.
Todorow continued playing 2 games a weekend regularly as OU and Nomads carried on a strange on-off romance for several years, finally coming to an acrimonious divorce in a game against the Energy Exiles at Tolworth in September 1998. I still have a letter from the OU regretting any upset the split caused us. Todorow laughed at that one.
Nomads had gradually ceased to be a "Friends and Friends of Friends" side and starting building a decent team, even joining the All London League in 2000. Around this time, there was an article in Wisden Cricket Monthly by cricket journalist Peter Roebuck saying that cricket is not a game played in the darkness, in rain, sleet, snow, or in Bulgaria. Todorow, by now a cricket die-hard, took offence at this and wrote to the journalist but didn't receive a reply. We were also thinking of submitting a piece to "The Cricketer" when Todorow captained Nomads to the top of the League after 3 games. Sadly, Nomads lost all their remaining League matches and sank to last place, and the moment passed. There have been at least 2 mentions of Todorow in a cricketing context, however, in the National Press. Occasionally he can be rather put out if people imply there is something strange about a Balkan-born man being so devoted to cricket, but surely there is merit in the fact that he has achieved a decent standard without, obviously, playing the game as a child. Occasionally he is taken for a South African by people confused by his interest in the game. Once he was watching a Test Match on TV in a pub in Clapham Junction and England were being peppered by bouncers from Curtley Ambrose and Courtney Walsh. "Yeessss, " some West Indians cried, turning to Todorow. "Your lot are going to mash 'em up next." "What do you mean?" replied Todorow, placing his pipe on the table, "my lot." The West Indians looked at each other and tutted indignantly, "Your lot....South Africa, man!"
Nomads left the League in a hurry and Todorow was the prime mover behind this. The League was plagued by sledging, bad sportsmanship, over-competitiveness and dodgy umpiring - and that was just the Nomads, you should have seen the other teams - though there was some good cricket played. Todorow was becoming a cricket purist and felt that Sunday games should, above all, be played in a good spirit. As regards the professional game, he is staunchly in favour of traditional forms of cricket, and traditional clothing, and decries 20-20 and "The Pyjama Game," as he terms it. He is passionately opposed to Sky's monopoly on Test match coverage, advocating that it should be available free to people of limited means. and that widespread Terrestrial TV coverage is the only way cricket will retain a sufficiently broad fan-base to continue as England's National Sport.
For most of the past 25 years, he appeared particularly obsessed with Graeme Hick. Any mention of Hick, or Worcestershire, or Zimbabwe or even just Africa, would lead to an impassioned diatribe; either that Hick should be rushed into the England side (ignoring the residential qualification,) or later that he should be brought back into the side, or that he should always bat at 3 for England and the team should be built around him. We began to wonder how any man could love another man so much, but I have come to realise that it was largely one of his famous wind-ups. He has always been willing to talk cricket at great length with anyone and his late night discussions with John Crossland and Joe Chance were legendary. (All Night Bull, Crossland dubbed them.)
After Nomads left the League, we began to acquire some seriously good players, such as Rafi, Hassan and Kabir. It was around this time that Todorow took over the bulk of the captaincy, which had previously been shared around the 5 founder members. It has always been a strength of Emil's captaincy that even players who have more talent than him still respect him as a skipper, and this has, with occasional spectacular exceptions, prevented the team from descending into cliqueyness and acrimony.
For the past 8 or 9 years, Nomads have been winning more than they lose. Todorow has plugged away with his bowling, usually getting his 20 wickets a season. He has perhaps underused himself as a batsman, although he has opened many times as this used to be a bit of a problem position in the days before Mark Bradshaw and Ben Fewson. He can play some really fine shots on occasions and claims to relish pace. I recall him being rapped on the hand once by a South African bowler at Kenley, who was bowling at 80 mph. Todorow shook his paw carefully, glared at the big Saffer, and absolutely crucified the next ball with a text book cut that must have crossed the Point boundary in under a second. I went to the indoor nets last winter with Emil and Mark. Emil was playing some fine shots against a bowling machine set to well over 80 mph. "Up..." he cried, "More." We turned it up to 93 and he was hit on the hand. He played the next ball with no problem though and looked disappointed to be told that machine couldn't bowl any faster.
He really showed what he could do in a game against Battersea Spinners in 2000. Chasing 105 to win, Todorow went in at No. 3 at 5 for 1 against some good bowling. Joined by his favourite batting partner, the left-handed Gaurang Vyas on 29 for 2, Todorow played brilliantly with shots all around the wicket and the pair saw Nomads home with Emil stranded on 36 not out. I am convinced he would have made 50 that day had we not passed the Spinners' total. His best bowling came in a game against Crete Sports, a really strong Guyanese-run side, when he took 6 for 37. He is unfortunate that this performance is remembered not for his running through a fine batting line-up, but for the absolutely massive six hit off him by a bald, 60-year-old Barbadian.
This is starting to sound like an Oscar winner's acceptance speech but I must mention he has done lots of good work off the field too, doing the team selection for the past 4 seasons and handling the banning of a certain well-known Nomads player with skilful diplomacy. Thanking him for his considerable contribution in a well-worded letter, he went on to advise the player that unfortunately there would be no opportunity for this contribution to be continued. He has also put in many thousands of miles of driving for the team (or acting as a C-Cab, as Todorow would put it.) Using his original car, The Bullmobile, and a series of other quality, value-for-money vehicles, he has been willing to transport Nomads' rancid and malodorous kit bag and sometimes equally rancid and malodorous players. He has put up with some terrible back seat driving and routefinding, being sent the wrong way up countless one way streets and culs-de-sac and once nearly ending up in the Thames. I should mention, though, the time he protested indignantly "We are lost. I can see the sea." (We were on the Swindon by-pass at the time.)
To sum up, Emil Todorow has become probably the most legendary figure in South London cricket and I can summarise the club's appreciation in 4 simple words - BETTER THAN DEL BALLARD.
Career Summary;
Appearances for Clapham Nomads - To be added
Total Competitive matches - approximately 400
Total runs scored for Clapham Nomads - 1,013 at an average of 7.08
Highest score - 36 not out v Battersea Spinners on 16/9/00 - also scored 36 for Open University v Nutley Hall in August 1990.
Total wickets taken for Clapham Nomads - 298 at an average of 17.97
Best Bowling - 6 for 37 v Crete Sports in May 1997. He did take 6 for 34 in an Open University match v Whitton Wanderers in 1994 but this was a 12-a-side match and Todorow took the 11th wicket.
Most wickets for Clapham Nomads in a season - 32 in 2003
Records.
Most appearances for Clapham Nomads.
Most appearances for the club as captain.
Most successive appearances for the club - 151 as at 25/8/10
Most wickets for the club
9th in list of all-time run-scorers.
Emil Todorow was born in Bulgaria but he soon realised that cricketing opportunities were likely to be limited there and left the country for the Home of Cricket - Clapham.
He was initially baffled by cricket and confined his games-playing to chess, which he plays to a very high level - he is believed to have been in the top 1,000 players in the country. I can assure you that he is just as lethal with a bishop in his hand as he is with a ball.
He first tried cricket in 1985. Being a sociable person, he wanted to go for a drink with John Crossland, Nick Lefebve and Joe Chance but was disturbed to hear that they were going to play that tedious, incomprehensible game he had seen on TV, briefly, before switching off. Clapham Common used to have 3 excellent artificial pitches and the 4 friends pitched stumps. Todorow asked Lefebve what was the point of the game and the youngster replied "Try to hit it in the road. Not that road....Lavender Hill" (about 1/2 a mile away.) Todorow nodded in understanding and, taking a diagonal guard, attempted the feat. He had such a mighty slog that, had he connected, I think he would have managed it.
They ended up playing every week for the next few summers, along with Simon Sparssis, Chris Holland, Bob Aspin, Peter Morris and Gerry Blackwood; most of whom went on to play for Open University or for the Nomads. Chance and, unbelievably, Lefebve were quite quick in those days and Emil often found himself bruised but he was willing to fight fire with fire. "For every bouncer I receive," he told Chance, "you will receive 3." His action was not the free-flowing thing of beauty you see today; in fact it was a chuck, but he started to get more accurate and also became a fan of the game, being particularly devoted to Richard Hadlee.
He first played a competitive match in 1987 when local character Paul Riche assembled a scratch eleven including Lefebve, Todorow, several Open University players, a women's hockey international and a guy who was sunbathing nearby. The opposition was a fairly strong team called Wandsworth Gods. Todorow batted number 3 and soon struck a mighty off-side blow which fell just short of the rope. "Where's that bloke from?" one of the Riche XI asked. "Bulgaria, eh? I bet they've got some dodgy pitches out there. Goats nibbling the outfield." Thankfully Todorow didn't hear him and he thoroughly enjoyed the match, taking a wicket and not being called for no-ball, which increased his confidence as a bowler.
In 1990, Todorow and Crossland heard that the Open University CC were looking for players and, remembering the nice, quiet guys from the Gods match, they turned up at Lillie Road nets in Fulham, only to be greeted by the sound of several hang-dog cricketers being ruthlessly bossed about by a man with a harsh Dublin accent. Crossland nearly turned and fled remembering the man, Dave Hunter, as his former football captain from Balham Celtic.
Todorow began to play regularly for the OU and, though it is fair to say that Dave Hunter never really rated Todorow as a bowler, and certainly not as a batsman, the two men had a grudging respect for each other as forceful characters. I often sat in the pub listening to them arguing, each taking points of view they didn't really hold, just to wind the other one up. Emil began to bowl regularly; his first bowl was in a game in August 1990 on a day when the all-time record high temperature was set. Two rotund men, Peter Price and Alan Cotter (known to Emil as "The Pack Pair") were toiling away and getting carted and I noticed Todorow pacing up and down restlessly. He confirmed that, had he not been brought on to bowl, he would have quit cricket. Hunter must have sensed this and a quick wicket for our hero was the result.
Deep down, D. Hunter was a great guy and appreciated the competitiveness Todorow brought to the side, but that didn't stop him - a football captain to his bones - from berating the Bulgarian's bowling. "Emil, for Christ's sake, bowl on the off-stump to this one and leg-stump to his partner," the Irish skipper yelled. "It's a secret," Emil replied, "and I wish I had your level of control." I also recall Emil straying down leg side one over and being hit for 4 successive fours though an acre of unguarded space behind square. When Emil protested after the first ball, Hunter replied "You don't deserve a Fine Leg."
We had some good times in the OU and there was usually something going on, such as when, on tour in Stroud, some local yobs took a dislike to Todorow in a curry house and threatened to make him "eat dog." He informed them that, if he encountered them again, they would need to be accompanied by the army. The trouble was, the team was either losing, or recording a losing draw (50 for 8 in reply to 200) almost every week and inevitably there were murmurings of discontent. (4-hour-long, weekly murmurings.) In 1994 Todorow, along with Nick Lefebve, John Crossland, Joe Chance and John Chance, formed the Clapham Nomads.
At this stage, Open University would probably have collapsed without these 5 and so they carried on playing for both clubs. Todorow must have played in well over 30 matches in 1994 and the constant bowling that he got through seemed to be the making of him as a bowler. His action smoothed out, he became more accurate and he introduced such variations as the BY Special (Balkan Yorker,) the Remarkable Delivery, which kicks up to neck height at slow medium pace off a good length and the Accidental Leg Spinner. He can also bowl a deadly deliberate Leg Spinner, but rarely uses it outside the nets. He still cherished dreams of being a fast bowler at this stage; "this summer....you will see some pace," he repeated every April.
Todorow continued playing 2 games a weekend regularly as OU and Nomads carried on a strange on-off romance for several years, finally coming to an acrimonious divorce in a game against the Energy Exiles at Tolworth in September 1998. I still have a letter from the OU regretting any upset the split caused us. Todorow laughed at that one.
Nomads had gradually ceased to be a "Friends and Friends of Friends" side and starting building a decent team, even joining the All London League in 2000. Around this time, there was an article in Wisden Cricket Monthly by cricket journalist Peter Roebuck saying that cricket is not a game played in the darkness, in rain, sleet, snow, or in Bulgaria. Todorow, by now a cricket die-hard, took offence at this and wrote to the journalist but didn't receive a reply. We were also thinking of submitting a piece to "The Cricketer" when Todorow captained Nomads to the top of the League after 3 games. Sadly, Nomads lost all their remaining League matches and sank to last place, and the moment passed. There have been at least 2 mentions of Todorow in a cricketing context, however, in the National Press. Occasionally he can be rather put out if people imply there is something strange about a Balkan-born man being so devoted to cricket, but surely there is merit in the fact that he has achieved a decent standard without, obviously, playing the game as a child. Occasionally he is taken for a South African by people confused by his interest in the game. Once he was watching a Test Match on TV in a pub in Clapham Junction and England were being peppered by bouncers from Curtley Ambrose and Courtney Walsh. "Yeessss, " some West Indians cried, turning to Todorow. "Your lot are going to mash 'em up next." "What do you mean?" replied Todorow, placing his pipe on the table, "my lot." The West Indians looked at each other and tutted indignantly, "Your lot....South Africa, man!"
Nomads left the League in a hurry and Todorow was the prime mover behind this. The League was plagued by sledging, bad sportsmanship, over-competitiveness and dodgy umpiring - and that was just the Nomads, you should have seen the other teams - though there was some good cricket played. Todorow was becoming a cricket purist and felt that Sunday games should, above all, be played in a good spirit. As regards the professional game, he is staunchly in favour of traditional forms of cricket, and traditional clothing, and decries 20-20 and "The Pyjama Game," as he terms it. He is passionately opposed to Sky's monopoly on Test match coverage, advocating that it should be available free to people of limited means. and that widespread Terrestrial TV coverage is the only way cricket will retain a sufficiently broad fan-base to continue as England's National Sport.
For most of the past 25 years, he appeared particularly obsessed with Graeme Hick. Any mention of Hick, or Worcestershire, or Zimbabwe or even just Africa, would lead to an impassioned diatribe; either that Hick should be rushed into the England side (ignoring the residential qualification,) or later that he should be brought back into the side, or that he should always bat at 3 for England and the team should be built around him. We began to wonder how any man could love another man so much, but I have come to realise that it was largely one of his famous wind-ups. He has always been willing to talk cricket at great length with anyone and his late night discussions with John Crossland and Joe Chance were legendary. (All Night Bull, Crossland dubbed them.)
After Nomads left the League, we began to acquire some seriously good players, such as Rafi, Hassan and Kabir. It was around this time that Todorow took over the bulk of the captaincy, which had previously been shared around the 5 founder members. It has always been a strength of Emil's captaincy that even players who have more talent than him still respect him as a skipper, and this has, with occasional spectacular exceptions, prevented the team from descending into cliqueyness and acrimony.
For the past 8 or 9 years, Nomads have been winning more than they lose. Todorow has plugged away with his bowling, usually getting his 20 wickets a season. He has perhaps underused himself as a batsman, although he has opened many times as this used to be a bit of a problem position in the days before Mark Bradshaw and Ben Fewson. He can play some really fine shots on occasions and claims to relish pace. I recall him being rapped on the hand once by a South African bowler at Kenley, who was bowling at 80 mph. Todorow shook his paw carefully, glared at the big Saffer, and absolutely crucified the next ball with a text book cut that must have crossed the Point boundary in under a second. I went to the indoor nets last winter with Emil and Mark. Emil was playing some fine shots against a bowling machine set to well over 80 mph. "Up..." he cried, "More." We turned it up to 93 and he was hit on the hand. He played the next ball with no problem though and looked disappointed to be told that machine couldn't bowl any faster.
He really showed what he could do in a game against Battersea Spinners in 2000. Chasing 105 to win, Todorow went in at No. 3 at 5 for 1 against some good bowling. Joined by his favourite batting partner, the left-handed Gaurang Vyas on 29 for 2, Todorow played brilliantly with shots all around the wicket and the pair saw Nomads home with Emil stranded on 36 not out. I am convinced he would have made 50 that day had we not passed the Spinners' total. His best bowling came in a game against Crete Sports, a really strong Guyanese-run side, when he took 6 for 37. He is unfortunate that this performance is remembered not for his running through a fine batting line-up, but for the absolutely massive six hit off him by a bald, 60-year-old Barbadian.
This is starting to sound like an Oscar winner's acceptance speech but I must mention he has done lots of good work off the field too, doing the team selection for the past 4 seasons and handling the banning of a certain well-known Nomads player with skilful diplomacy. Thanking him for his considerable contribution in a well-worded letter, he went on to advise the player that unfortunately there would be no opportunity for this contribution to be continued. He has also put in many thousands of miles of driving for the team (or acting as a C-Cab, as Todorow would put it.) Using his original car, The Bullmobile, and a series of other quality, value-for-money vehicles, he has been willing to transport Nomads' rancid and malodorous kit bag and sometimes equally rancid and malodorous players. He has put up with some terrible back seat driving and routefinding, being sent the wrong way up countless one way streets and culs-de-sac and once nearly ending up in the Thames. I should mention, though, the time he protested indignantly "We are lost. I can see the sea." (We were on the Swindon by-pass at the time.)
To sum up, Emil Todorow has become probably the most legendary figure in South London cricket and I can summarise the club's appreciation in 4 simple words - BETTER THAN DEL BALLARD.
Career Summary;
Appearances for Clapham Nomads - To be added
Total Competitive matches - approximately 400
Total runs scored for Clapham Nomads - 1,013 at an average of 7.08
Highest score - 36 not out v Battersea Spinners on 16/9/00 - also scored 36 for Open University v Nutley Hall in August 1990.
Total wickets taken for Clapham Nomads - 298 at an average of 17.97
Best Bowling - 6 for 37 v Crete Sports in May 1997. He did take 6 for 34 in an Open University match v Whitton Wanderers in 1994 but this was a 12-a-side match and Todorow took the 11th wicket.
Most wickets for Clapham Nomads in a season - 32 in 2003
Records.
Most appearances for Clapham Nomads.
Most appearances for the club as captain.
Most successive appearances for the club - 151 as at 25/8/10
Most wickets for the club
9th in list of all-time run-scorers.
West One v Clapham Nomads - 15/8/10
It was a much-changed Nomads side that made the journey to Ruxley Lane, Ewell, for the revival of this fixture against a side we used to play a few years back. Several regulars dropped out due to Ramadan and Andrew West failed to appear, due to Arsenal.
Batting and especially bowling had a makeshift look and Emil Todorow inserted West One on a damp wicket. With only three front-line bowlers, Todorow had to consider his options carefully and he decided to play his trump cards first in a bid to cut through the top order and protect his lesser bowlers. Gopi took the new ball for the first time for Nomads and soon had success with the total on 6, scattering the stumps with a ball that kept low. Emil Todorow locked on to the target and also found some irregular bounce and the score trickled along quite gently at around 3 an over until a double-bowling change after 12 overs. Terry Bruce-Mills took over from Gopi and his accurate, floated slow medium had West One's Australian / South African pair looking to force the score. Not so easy on this pitch and the chances soon began to come. 2 catches were put down off Terry 's bowling by out-fielders and at least one sharp caught behind shout went begging. Nomads kept a lid on things nicely, although the batsmen were fairly conservative in their running between the wickets. The Australian No. 3 began to play some powerful leg-side shots off Prasanth but Darwin intervened with a good catch at cover off Bruce-Mills's bowling before too much damage was done.
Drinks were taken at 20 overs with the score only about 70 for 2 and the partnership consolidated further after the break. On about 100 for 2 off 25, although Nomads' bowling figures looked good, you would have to say that West One's early order had done a fine job and given the team ample opportunity to accelerate against Nomads' part-time bowlers.
Prasanth Pattiyil, Darwin and Nick Lefebve have only bowled 20 competitive overs between them this season and they didn't really bowl all that badly, but the pressure was right off for West One who could play their shots at will. Lefebve started ok with 1 for 15 off his first 3 overs of Round-Arm slows, and made the breakthrough by dismissing the South African opener for 68 courtesy of a good catch by Gopi at short mid-on; but the replacement batsman, Attwood-Smith looked "a class above" and, with a series of gorgeous straight and off drives, dismissed the veteran left-armer imperiously from the attack. There was also a wicket for Darwin but the scoring rate of around 8 an over in this period probably took the total beyond the reach of this Nomads line-up. The pick of the part-time bowlers was debutant Mark Milnes who, despite not having bowled for 12 years, showed good accuracy in bowling 2 men in the final over, when the slog was on. Emil Todorow also came back for 2 overs at the death and looked almost unplayable in this second spell. West One closed on 210 for 6 off 40 which no sane man could say was a disaster with the bowling line-up we had.
West One's tea is legendary. A few years ago, they played at a ground in West Wimbledon that also had good quality tennis courts and they trooped in at the interval during a June fixture to find the Williams sisters munching their sandwiches. There can surely be no finer endorsement and I like to think that the sisters, Serena certainly, came back for seconds and also sampled the excellent cake selection. I know I did.
There was plenty to chew over for Todorow and the early Nomads batting-order. The target of 211 was unlikely to be straightforward, given the slowness of the pitch and the amount of Southern Hemisphere accents we could hear.
Mark Bradshaw and Mahesh Vyas opened and it was clear they had a job on their hands against the rapid Attwood-Smith, a South African Grade Cricketer, and the swing of Chet Bain, an archetypal London club cricketer; busy, competitive and shaping the ball away from the bat. Our lads kept out plenty of good stuff and managed to keep the run rate just shy of 3 an over with deft placement and excellent running between the wickets. Mahesh was a little bogged down by Bain who bowled a good off-side line and he was the first man to fall at 36, trying to pull from outside off and skying the ball. The good start was continued by Prasanth in support of Bradshaw, who looked in fine touch with plenty of time to play the ball, and began to up the tempo with his trademark off-side shots.
Webber, bowling a little too short, and the innocuous-looking Burton were brought into the attack and it was Burton who did the damage. Prasanth snatched at his first ball, a long hop, and was caught off the top edge in the deep. Burton soon accounted for Mark Milnes and Nomads found themselves 71 for 3 with 140 to win off about 18 overs and missing most of our middle-order hitters. No. 5 Nick Lefebve had instructions to stay there and stop the rot while Mark Bradshaw approached a deserved half-century; sadly, on 37, Bradshaw scooped a Burton delivery up to wide mid-off to give West One's big third-changer his 3rd wicket.
Enter Darwin, whose batting has evolved since last season and showed plenty of promise with a crackerjack off-drive which a brave fielder did well to stop. Inevitably, our No. 6 fell to Burton for 10, shortly after he had edged the same bowler onto the stumps without dislodging a bail.
Nick Lefebve had meanwhile fallen, again to Burton, for 13 but not before inadvertently causing a nasty injury to West One's keeper, Adam Fahey. Lefebve skied a pull which looked like just clearing the keeper but the glovesman stretched and dived and looked to have held on to a good catch, unfortunately he dropped it when hitting the ground and, in the process, appeared to dislocate a shoulder. He was in agony and it resulted in, perhaps surprisingly, the first appearance at a Nomads fixture of the London Ambulance Service. We wish Adam, a lovely bloke, a speedy recovery and hope he can make West One's forthcoming tour of Romania.
Nomads batting could have tailed off as the required rate rose but instead we were treated a brilliantly entertaining display of hitting from No. 7 Gopi who hit a series of shots through and over mid-wicket, a couple of them dropping inches from the rope. Emil Todorow was run out but the Mystery Bowler, who is becoming a batting star, just got better and better, taking 14 off the final over. It was a shame that we ran out of overs as he would surely have made his first 50 for the club. Nomads fell well short of the target with 156 but, with a depleted side, this was not a bad effort. Even John acknowledged this.
West One had a fine array of talent and were worthy victors but their bowling star was Burton, who it is fair to say is not a bowler who would give many batsmen sleepless nights. He took 5 for 27 and, as John Crossland so aptly put it; "Nomads went for a Burton."
A pleasant day was rounded off at dusk as 3 Nomads (average alcohol intake; 2 pints) claimed to have seen a UFO, an orange diamond shape, take off from the nearby woods, ascend gently vertically, hover and then shoot off in overdrive and suddenly disappear. Of course, it is not the only time Nomads have encountered alien life forms - we have selected quite a few over the years. We did wonder if this had any connection with the non-appearance of Andrew West; did West know they were going to come looking for him to take him home? The strange thing is, I looked on the website "UK UFO Sightings" and there were several reports of a similar object being seen above Ewell on 15th August 2009, exactly one year previously. How scary is that? Maybe it is a birthday. Maybe it is Andrew West's birthday.
Man of the Match is quite difficult. Mark Bradshaw's innings was vital and Gopi's was very enjoyable but I am going for a controversial choice, Terry Bruce-Mills. With a severely depleted bowling line-up, Nomads' top bowlers really had to get wickets. Terry bowled well for his 1 for 23 but there were at least 3, possibly 4, drops off his bowling. There was also a ball that hung in the sky above mid-on which could be called a chance. It is not Bruce-Mills' fault that these chances were not taken and he could quite conceivably have had a five-fer, which could have made the game quite different. Fielder of the Day is also hard; Darwin, Bradshaw, Bruce-Mills and Lefebve all put in pretty much error-free rounds but I will award it to Gopi, who took arguably the best catch and was as busy and fast as usual.
WEST ONE - 210 for 6 from 40 overs
G. Pala 8-0-39-1
E. Todorow 8-0-18-0
T. Bruce-Mills 8-1-23-1
P. Pattiyil 6-0-43-0
Darwin 4-0-33-1
N. Lefebve 5-0-41-1
M. Milnes 1-0-7-2
CLAPHAM NOMADS - 156 for 8 from 40 overs
M. Bradshaw 37
M. Vyas 13
P. Pattiyil 8
M. Milnes 0
N. Lefebve 13
Darwin 10
G. Pala 41 not out
E. Todorow 1
T. Bruce-Mills 2
J. Crossland 0 not out
F.O.W. - 36, 64, 71, 89, 105, 126, 134, 142
Clapham Nomads lost by 54 runs
Batting and especially bowling had a makeshift look and Emil Todorow inserted West One on a damp wicket. With only three front-line bowlers, Todorow had to consider his options carefully and he decided to play his trump cards first in a bid to cut through the top order and protect his lesser bowlers. Gopi took the new ball for the first time for Nomads and soon had success with the total on 6, scattering the stumps with a ball that kept low. Emil Todorow locked on to the target and also found some irregular bounce and the score trickled along quite gently at around 3 an over until a double-bowling change after 12 overs. Terry Bruce-Mills took over from Gopi and his accurate, floated slow medium had West One's Australian / South African pair looking to force the score. Not so easy on this pitch and the chances soon began to come. 2 catches were put down off Terry 's bowling by out-fielders and at least one sharp caught behind shout went begging. Nomads kept a lid on things nicely, although the batsmen were fairly conservative in their running between the wickets. The Australian No. 3 began to play some powerful leg-side shots off Prasanth but Darwin intervened with a good catch at cover off Bruce-Mills's bowling before too much damage was done.
Drinks were taken at 20 overs with the score only about 70 for 2 and the partnership consolidated further after the break. On about 100 for 2 off 25, although Nomads' bowling figures looked good, you would have to say that West One's early order had done a fine job and given the team ample opportunity to accelerate against Nomads' part-time bowlers.
Prasanth Pattiyil, Darwin and Nick Lefebve have only bowled 20 competitive overs between them this season and they didn't really bowl all that badly, but the pressure was right off for West One who could play their shots at will. Lefebve started ok with 1 for 15 off his first 3 overs of Round-Arm slows, and made the breakthrough by dismissing the South African opener for 68 courtesy of a good catch by Gopi at short mid-on; but the replacement batsman, Attwood-Smith looked "a class above" and, with a series of gorgeous straight and off drives, dismissed the veteran left-armer imperiously from the attack. There was also a wicket for Darwin but the scoring rate of around 8 an over in this period probably took the total beyond the reach of this Nomads line-up. The pick of the part-time bowlers was debutant Mark Milnes who, despite not having bowled for 12 years, showed good accuracy in bowling 2 men in the final over, when the slog was on. Emil Todorow also came back for 2 overs at the death and looked almost unplayable in this second spell. West One closed on 210 for 6 off 40 which no sane man could say was a disaster with the bowling line-up we had.
West One's tea is legendary. A few years ago, they played at a ground in West Wimbledon that also had good quality tennis courts and they trooped in at the interval during a June fixture to find the Williams sisters munching their sandwiches. There can surely be no finer endorsement and I like to think that the sisters, Serena certainly, came back for seconds and also sampled the excellent cake selection. I know I did.
There was plenty to chew over for Todorow and the early Nomads batting-order. The target of 211 was unlikely to be straightforward, given the slowness of the pitch and the amount of Southern Hemisphere accents we could hear.
Mark Bradshaw and Mahesh Vyas opened and it was clear they had a job on their hands against the rapid Attwood-Smith, a South African Grade Cricketer, and the swing of Chet Bain, an archetypal London club cricketer; busy, competitive and shaping the ball away from the bat. Our lads kept out plenty of good stuff and managed to keep the run rate just shy of 3 an over with deft placement and excellent running between the wickets. Mahesh was a little bogged down by Bain who bowled a good off-side line and he was the first man to fall at 36, trying to pull from outside off and skying the ball. The good start was continued by Prasanth in support of Bradshaw, who looked in fine touch with plenty of time to play the ball, and began to up the tempo with his trademark off-side shots.
Webber, bowling a little too short, and the innocuous-looking Burton were brought into the attack and it was Burton who did the damage. Prasanth snatched at his first ball, a long hop, and was caught off the top edge in the deep. Burton soon accounted for Mark Milnes and Nomads found themselves 71 for 3 with 140 to win off about 18 overs and missing most of our middle-order hitters. No. 5 Nick Lefebve had instructions to stay there and stop the rot while Mark Bradshaw approached a deserved half-century; sadly, on 37, Bradshaw scooped a Burton delivery up to wide mid-off to give West One's big third-changer his 3rd wicket.
Enter Darwin, whose batting has evolved since last season and showed plenty of promise with a crackerjack off-drive which a brave fielder did well to stop. Inevitably, our No. 6 fell to Burton for 10, shortly after he had edged the same bowler onto the stumps without dislodging a bail.
Nick Lefebve had meanwhile fallen, again to Burton, for 13 but not before inadvertently causing a nasty injury to West One's keeper, Adam Fahey. Lefebve skied a pull which looked like just clearing the keeper but the glovesman stretched and dived and looked to have held on to a good catch, unfortunately he dropped it when hitting the ground and, in the process, appeared to dislocate a shoulder. He was in agony and it resulted in, perhaps surprisingly, the first appearance at a Nomads fixture of the London Ambulance Service. We wish Adam, a lovely bloke, a speedy recovery and hope he can make West One's forthcoming tour of Romania.
Nomads batting could have tailed off as the required rate rose but instead we were treated a brilliantly entertaining display of hitting from No. 7 Gopi who hit a series of shots through and over mid-wicket, a couple of them dropping inches from the rope. Emil Todorow was run out but the Mystery Bowler, who is becoming a batting star, just got better and better, taking 14 off the final over. It was a shame that we ran out of overs as he would surely have made his first 50 for the club. Nomads fell well short of the target with 156 but, with a depleted side, this was not a bad effort. Even John acknowledged this.
West One had a fine array of talent and were worthy victors but their bowling star was Burton, who it is fair to say is not a bowler who would give many batsmen sleepless nights. He took 5 for 27 and, as John Crossland so aptly put it; "Nomads went for a Burton."
A pleasant day was rounded off at dusk as 3 Nomads (average alcohol intake; 2 pints) claimed to have seen a UFO, an orange diamond shape, take off from the nearby woods, ascend gently vertically, hover and then shoot off in overdrive and suddenly disappear. Of course, it is not the only time Nomads have encountered alien life forms - we have selected quite a few over the years. We did wonder if this had any connection with the non-appearance of Andrew West; did West know they were going to come looking for him to take him home? The strange thing is, I looked on the website "UK UFO Sightings" and there were several reports of a similar object being seen above Ewell on 15th August 2009, exactly one year previously. How scary is that? Maybe it is a birthday. Maybe it is Andrew West's birthday.
Man of the Match is quite difficult. Mark Bradshaw's innings was vital and Gopi's was very enjoyable but I am going for a controversial choice, Terry Bruce-Mills. With a severely depleted bowling line-up, Nomads' top bowlers really had to get wickets. Terry bowled well for his 1 for 23 but there were at least 3, possibly 4, drops off his bowling. There was also a ball that hung in the sky above mid-on which could be called a chance. It is not Bruce-Mills' fault that these chances were not taken and he could quite conceivably have had a five-fer, which could have made the game quite different. Fielder of the Day is also hard; Darwin, Bradshaw, Bruce-Mills and Lefebve all put in pretty much error-free rounds but I will award it to Gopi, who took arguably the best catch and was as busy and fast as usual.
WEST ONE - 210 for 6 from 40 overs
G. Pala 8-0-39-1
E. Todorow 8-0-18-0
T. Bruce-Mills 8-1-23-1
P. Pattiyil 6-0-43-0
Darwin 4-0-33-1
N. Lefebve 5-0-41-1
M. Milnes 1-0-7-2
CLAPHAM NOMADS - 156 for 8 from 40 overs
M. Bradshaw 37
M. Vyas 13
P. Pattiyil 8
M. Milnes 0
N. Lefebve 13
Darwin 10
G. Pala 41 not out
E. Todorow 1
T. Bruce-Mills 2
J. Crossland 0 not out
F.O.W. - 36, 64, 71, 89, 105, 126, 134, 142
Clapham Nomads lost by 54 runs
Thursday 5 August 2010
Clapham Nomads v Kingston Lefthanders - 1/8/10
It was back to our favourite home venue, Joseph Hood Rec, for another visit from long-standing rivals Kingston Lefthanders. Once again, half the Nomads team was late but the Lefthanders didn't mind as they were able to continue their long, liquid lunch while they waited.
A 35-over game eventually got underway and Mark Bradshaw was soon out of the blocks with a trademark cut for 4 off the bowling of the excellent Paul Thatcher. This was to be the only boundary off Thatcher who was "Not for Turning" into quick runs and improved steadily throughout our innings.
Experienced leg-spinner Dave Connett shared the new ball and controversy soon reared its head. Distracted by banter while the bowler was running in, Mahesh Vyas took 3 strides down the pitch and blocked the ball with his pads. A preposterous LBW appeal was answered by umpire Todorow giving the "Dead Ball" signal. A bit of backchat escalated into a tirade of obscenities from a fielder to Todorow which our umpire did well to ignore. There does seem to have been a bit of bad blood between the two sides lately, possibly dating back to the Dead Crow match in 2008 and our supposed use of Australian ringers, one of whom hails from Lincolnshire. I suppose we have hardly been blameless over the years; especially Mr C and the player referred to in one of Kingston's reports as "Shorts Knob."
Thankfully, this was as bad as it got and, as the alcohol was absorbed, a reasonably pleasant game continued. Bradshaw and Vyas made good, steady progress against some decent bowling but Vyas unfortunately missed a short, leg-side Connett delivery which appeared tailor-made for him and the leg bail was clipped - 27 for 1.
Bradshaw was looking in good touch and heading for a 50 at least, so it was unfortunate when he was hit on the pad in front of leg and middle in the 9th over. This was the last over in the first spell for Thatcher, comfortably the best bowler, and Mark looked set to cash in on his hard work, but at least the LBW decision prevented a mass throwing-out of toys from prams by the fielders, as happened in the reverse fixture in June.
Prasanth Pattiyil and Hassan Khan settled in against the second-string bowling pair of Matt "Brains" Ashburn and Nick Crouch, Sunday Cricket's slowest, most tempting, but occasionally deadly bowler. Ashburn is usually a reasonable bowler but had radar problems this time and Pattiyil, Khan and Extras all took a toll on him. Both batsmen played Crouch the textbook way, if there is one, by sauntering down the pitch and clipping him behind square on the leg-side. One of the best fielders was placed in the key Deep Backward Square position and saved a stack of runs. We almost had a chance to cash in when he abandoned his post to urinate behind a tree at the start of one over, but the bowler noticed just in time.
Nomads raced to 100 as each of Crouch's first 18 balls went for runs. His 19th ball, however, produced one of his notorious dippers and the ball sneaked under Prasanth's bat and rolled exhaustedly onto the stumps, just about removing a bail. This is just the way he always used to get John Chance out, but Prasanth is a gentleman so there was no pad throwing or finger pointing, nor any suppressed laughter from the Nomads.
Abdul Khan made the most of the rest of Crouch's spell with a series of boundaries before falling to Ashburn. Riaz Khan then joined Hassan and the serious acceleration could begin.
At drinks, Kingston's captain revealed he felt aggrieved at skipper Todorow's insistence on an Overs Game despite Lefthanders being very short of bowlers. We hadn't realised quite how depleted they were and so Todorow sportingly agreed that the 2 opening bowlers could bowl 9 overs each, rather than the normal 7. This had quite a bearing as the returning Thatcher soon bowled Riaz for 12.
Nick Lefebve joined Hassan Khan but unfortunately jinxed his partner by exhorting him to go on and get a ton. Thatcher promptly bowled Khan for 86 to impose savage cuts on our scoring rate. Gopi walked out at 179 for 6 but Thatcher quickly had him glove a catch to the keeper. The bowler, with his 2 extra overs still to bowl, looked like running right through us for a score under 200. At this point the captain, Tugboat, seemed to make an error; he seemed determined to claim Emil Todorow's wicket for himself and came on at Thatcher's expense. Neither batsman had much trouble with him and he gifted Lefebve a couple of juicy leg-side treats. The veteran pair put on 31 in good time until the returning Thatcher bowled Lefebve with an Exocet missile in the final over to complete a high-class five-fer.
Nomads closed on 210 which is considerably more than Lefthanders have ever scored against us, even with stronger batting line-ups than Sunday. Defence was not an option on this occasion though, so who knew.
The usually obdurate Crouch opened but seemed slightly demoralised and swung aross the line to Hassan Khan. Tut tut. 0 for 1. The green-shirted Nicholas thumped a lusty 4 off Todorow and was badly dropped in attempting to repeat the feat. This merely galvanised the Slavic-Speaking Legend and he bowled the Man in Green next ball with ease.
Our two opening bowlers, who are getting better and better as the season goes by, matched each other with a further 2 wickets apiece to reduce Lefthanders to 12 for 6 and give our visitors a shot at breaking a long-standing record; the 31 all out recorded by Stratford in 1994 in the teeth of a fast-bowling gale from Joe Chance - the lowest total Nomads have ever conceded.
Gideon Reeve and Gopi Pala took over after 6 overs and kept up the good work. At 18 for 7, 24 for 8 and even 29 for 9 the record was still on. Reeve produced some of his best bowling of the season, clipping the bails with a quick-ish beauty for the 8th wicket. Paul Thatcher and Dave Connett came together and proved the best batsmen as well as the best bowlers in taking the score up to 59 in a breezy stand before Connett smacked the ball straight back at Gopi who accepted the chance very nicely to wrap up a comfortable 5th victory of the season, which now equals our 5 defeats.
With an outstanding one-handed catch, 3 wickets for 7 and 86 runs, Hassan Khan is Man of the Match by the width of Kingston Marketplace, but I'm sure he must have batted better on occasions for half the score he made in this game. The most consistent fielders were probably Gideon Reeve and Prasanth Pattiyil and, since Prasanth kept his cool for a juggling catch, I will award him Fielder of the Day.
CLAPHAM NOMADS - 210 FOR 8 off 35 overs
M. Bradshaw 14
M. Vyas 12
P. Pattiyil 23
H. Khan 86
A. Khan 15
R. Khan 12
N. Lefebve 17
G. Pala 0
E. Todorow 14 not out
G. Reeve 0 not out
J. Crossland did not bat
F.O.W. - 27, 29, 101, 126, 164, 179, 179, 201
KINGSTON LEFTHANDERS - 59 all out off 13.3 overs
H. Khan 3-0-7-3
E. Todorow 3-0-10-3
G. Reeve 4-0-22-2
G. Pala 3.3-0-11-2
Clapham Nomads won by 151 runs
A 35-over game eventually got underway and Mark Bradshaw was soon out of the blocks with a trademark cut for 4 off the bowling of the excellent Paul Thatcher. This was to be the only boundary off Thatcher who was "Not for Turning" into quick runs and improved steadily throughout our innings.
Experienced leg-spinner Dave Connett shared the new ball and controversy soon reared its head. Distracted by banter while the bowler was running in, Mahesh Vyas took 3 strides down the pitch and blocked the ball with his pads. A preposterous LBW appeal was answered by umpire Todorow giving the "Dead Ball" signal. A bit of backchat escalated into a tirade of obscenities from a fielder to Todorow which our umpire did well to ignore. There does seem to have been a bit of bad blood between the two sides lately, possibly dating back to the Dead Crow match in 2008 and our supposed use of Australian ringers, one of whom hails from Lincolnshire. I suppose we have hardly been blameless over the years; especially Mr C and the player referred to in one of Kingston's reports as "Shorts Knob."
Thankfully, this was as bad as it got and, as the alcohol was absorbed, a reasonably pleasant game continued. Bradshaw and Vyas made good, steady progress against some decent bowling but Vyas unfortunately missed a short, leg-side Connett delivery which appeared tailor-made for him and the leg bail was clipped - 27 for 1.
Bradshaw was looking in good touch and heading for a 50 at least, so it was unfortunate when he was hit on the pad in front of leg and middle in the 9th over. This was the last over in the first spell for Thatcher, comfortably the best bowler, and Mark looked set to cash in on his hard work, but at least the LBW decision prevented a mass throwing-out of toys from prams by the fielders, as happened in the reverse fixture in June.
Prasanth Pattiyil and Hassan Khan settled in against the second-string bowling pair of Matt "Brains" Ashburn and Nick Crouch, Sunday Cricket's slowest, most tempting, but occasionally deadly bowler. Ashburn is usually a reasonable bowler but had radar problems this time and Pattiyil, Khan and Extras all took a toll on him. Both batsmen played Crouch the textbook way, if there is one, by sauntering down the pitch and clipping him behind square on the leg-side. One of the best fielders was placed in the key Deep Backward Square position and saved a stack of runs. We almost had a chance to cash in when he abandoned his post to urinate behind a tree at the start of one over, but the bowler noticed just in time.
Nomads raced to 100 as each of Crouch's first 18 balls went for runs. His 19th ball, however, produced one of his notorious dippers and the ball sneaked under Prasanth's bat and rolled exhaustedly onto the stumps, just about removing a bail. This is just the way he always used to get John Chance out, but Prasanth is a gentleman so there was no pad throwing or finger pointing, nor any suppressed laughter from the Nomads.
Abdul Khan made the most of the rest of Crouch's spell with a series of boundaries before falling to Ashburn. Riaz Khan then joined Hassan and the serious acceleration could begin.
At drinks, Kingston's captain revealed he felt aggrieved at skipper Todorow's insistence on an Overs Game despite Lefthanders being very short of bowlers. We hadn't realised quite how depleted they were and so Todorow sportingly agreed that the 2 opening bowlers could bowl 9 overs each, rather than the normal 7. This had quite a bearing as the returning Thatcher soon bowled Riaz for 12.
Nick Lefebve joined Hassan Khan but unfortunately jinxed his partner by exhorting him to go on and get a ton. Thatcher promptly bowled Khan for 86 to impose savage cuts on our scoring rate. Gopi walked out at 179 for 6 but Thatcher quickly had him glove a catch to the keeper. The bowler, with his 2 extra overs still to bowl, looked like running right through us for a score under 200. At this point the captain, Tugboat, seemed to make an error; he seemed determined to claim Emil Todorow's wicket for himself and came on at Thatcher's expense. Neither batsman had much trouble with him and he gifted Lefebve a couple of juicy leg-side treats. The veteran pair put on 31 in good time until the returning Thatcher bowled Lefebve with an Exocet missile in the final over to complete a high-class five-fer.
Nomads closed on 210 which is considerably more than Lefthanders have ever scored against us, even with stronger batting line-ups than Sunday. Defence was not an option on this occasion though, so who knew.
The usually obdurate Crouch opened but seemed slightly demoralised and swung aross the line to Hassan Khan. Tut tut. 0 for 1. The green-shirted Nicholas thumped a lusty 4 off Todorow and was badly dropped in attempting to repeat the feat. This merely galvanised the Slavic-Speaking Legend and he bowled the Man in Green next ball with ease.
Our two opening bowlers, who are getting better and better as the season goes by, matched each other with a further 2 wickets apiece to reduce Lefthanders to 12 for 6 and give our visitors a shot at breaking a long-standing record; the 31 all out recorded by Stratford in 1994 in the teeth of a fast-bowling gale from Joe Chance - the lowest total Nomads have ever conceded.
Gideon Reeve and Gopi Pala took over after 6 overs and kept up the good work. At 18 for 7, 24 for 8 and even 29 for 9 the record was still on. Reeve produced some of his best bowling of the season, clipping the bails with a quick-ish beauty for the 8th wicket. Paul Thatcher and Dave Connett came together and proved the best batsmen as well as the best bowlers in taking the score up to 59 in a breezy stand before Connett smacked the ball straight back at Gopi who accepted the chance very nicely to wrap up a comfortable 5th victory of the season, which now equals our 5 defeats.
With an outstanding one-handed catch, 3 wickets for 7 and 86 runs, Hassan Khan is Man of the Match by the width of Kingston Marketplace, but I'm sure he must have batted better on occasions for half the score he made in this game. The most consistent fielders were probably Gideon Reeve and Prasanth Pattiyil and, since Prasanth kept his cool for a juggling catch, I will award him Fielder of the Day.
CLAPHAM NOMADS - 210 FOR 8 off 35 overs
M. Bradshaw 14
M. Vyas 12
P. Pattiyil 23
H. Khan 86
A. Khan 15
R. Khan 12
N. Lefebve 17
G. Pala 0
E. Todorow 14 not out
G. Reeve 0 not out
J. Crossland did not bat
F.O.W. - 27, 29, 101, 126, 164, 179, 179, 201
KINGSTON LEFTHANDERS - 59 all out off 13.3 overs
H. Khan 3-0-7-3
E. Todorow 3-0-10-3
G. Reeve 4-0-22-2
G. Pala 3.3-0-11-2
Clapham Nomads won by 151 runs
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