Wednesday 19 December 2012
Annual Meeting and Player of the Year
Nomads held our Annual Meeting at the Chatkhara Restaurant in Clapham South the Sunday before last. It seemed as if we were eating for hours and all for under £10. It was no surprise that Hassan Khan was voted Player of the Year, Batsman of the Year and also Bowler of the Year. Abdul Khan was Fielder of the Year.
Saturday 6 October 2012
Batting Averages - 2012
Hassan Khan - 458 runs @ 50.89
Mark Bradshaw - 153 runs @ 30.60
Zia - 60 runs @ 30.00
Prasanth Pattiyil - 192 runs @ 24.00
Darwin - 198 runs @ 18.00
Abdul Khan - 99 runs @ 16.50
Mahesh Vyas - 171 runs @ 14.25
Chris Kennedy - 17 runs @ 8.50
Nick Lefebve - 22 runs @ 7.33
Riaz Khan - 22 runs @ 7.33
Emil Todorow - 27 runs @ 6.75
Chris Kee - 39 runs @ 4.88
John Crossland - 14 runs @ 4.67
Abbas Khan - 6 runs @ 3.00
Bowling averages to follow
Mark Bradshaw - 153 runs @ 30.60
Zia - 60 runs @ 30.00
Prasanth Pattiyil - 192 runs @ 24.00
Darwin - 198 runs @ 18.00
Abdul Khan - 99 runs @ 16.50
Mahesh Vyas - 171 runs @ 14.25
Chris Kennedy - 17 runs @ 8.50
Nick Lefebve - 22 runs @ 7.33
Riaz Khan - 22 runs @ 7.33
Emil Todorow - 27 runs @ 6.75
Chris Kee - 39 runs @ 4.88
John Crossland - 14 runs @ 4.67
Abbas Khan - 6 runs @ 3.00
Bowling averages to follow
Hassan Khan - All-time Top Run Scorer
Congratulations to Hassan for finally passing John Chance's formidable record total of runs for Nomads. A tribute to the Bradmanesque Postal Worker will follow soon in these pages.
Abdul Khan - 100 up
Abdul's excellent batting against Burgh Heath in the final game of 2012 was a fitting way for our popular all-rounder to celebrate his 100th appearance for Clapham Nomads. He is the first player apart from the founder members (Todorow, Crossland, Lefebve and the Chance brothers) to reach this landmark.
I remember Abdul's first appearance for the team back in 2001 as a lively Medium Fast bowler. I would have to say that his bowling hasn't lost much, if any, pace in the last 11 years, despite various injuries.
He is a really nice guy and has been a pleasure to have in the team. He often brings his family along which makes for a nice atmosphere. It was great to meet his father a few weeks ago.
He is probably one of the most enjoyable Nomads players to watch. Apart from his bowling which often surprises opponents by coming on just a bit quicker than they expect, he produces from time a time an emphatic burst of shots, as he did in the Burgh Heath game. These tend to transform tight run chases into comfortable victories. What stands out for me, though, is his fielding. He is the best attacking thrower in the club and I cannot think of a better one in any of the teams we play either. I particularly enjoy watching some cocky youngster thinking he will sneak a cheeky single to the grey-haired chap at Cover Point or wherever. The result is more often than not a direct hit and very often a run out. This certainly makes opposing batsmen think twice before taking liberties with Abdul. They sometimes also make the mistake of assuming that all other Nomads fielders are lethal throwing machines as well.
Abdul is a very talented all-round sportsman. He has represented Great Britain at Carrom which, to simplify greatly, is a kind of cross between pool and shove-ha'penny but with much more skill. I watched Abdul in the European Championships a few years back and he just wiped the Italian No. 1 off the board. I also found out recently that he was not far away from international selection at Hockey for Pakistan back in the 80s.
It's been a pleasure playing with you Abdul. I hope there will be many more appearances.
I remember Abdul's first appearance for the team back in 2001 as a lively Medium Fast bowler. I would have to say that his bowling hasn't lost much, if any, pace in the last 11 years, despite various injuries.
He is a really nice guy and has been a pleasure to have in the team. He often brings his family along which makes for a nice atmosphere. It was great to meet his father a few weeks ago.
He is probably one of the most enjoyable Nomads players to watch. Apart from his bowling which often surprises opponents by coming on just a bit quicker than they expect, he produces from time a time an emphatic burst of shots, as he did in the Burgh Heath game. These tend to transform tight run chases into comfortable victories. What stands out for me, though, is his fielding. He is the best attacking thrower in the club and I cannot think of a better one in any of the teams we play either. I particularly enjoy watching some cocky youngster thinking he will sneak a cheeky single to the grey-haired chap at Cover Point or wherever. The result is more often than not a direct hit and very often a run out. This certainly makes opposing batsmen think twice before taking liberties with Abdul. They sometimes also make the mistake of assuming that all other Nomads fielders are lethal throwing machines as well.
Abdul is a very talented all-round sportsman. He has represented Great Britain at Carrom which, to simplify greatly, is a kind of cross between pool and shove-ha'penny but with much more skill. I watched Abdul in the European Championships a few years back and he just wiped the Italian No. 1 off the board. I also found out recently that he was not far away from international selection at Hockey for Pakistan back in the 80s.
It's been a pleasure playing with you Abdul. I hope there will be many more appearances.
Thursday 27 September 2012
Tea of the Year Result
Congratulations go out to Streatham & Marlborough cc's Catering Dept who prepared Nomads Opposition Tea of the Year for 2012. At the end of May, I didn't think anyone could top Caribbean Mix's tea - it was scrumptious, one of Mr and Mrs Ferguson's best.
However, it is theoretically possible that there might be someone out there who doesn't love spicy chicken and rice followed by exotic cake and therefore S & M spanked the opposition and scooped the prize. Their tea had just about everything. I'm quite a picky eater despite my size and I had 3 platefuls. If I remember correctly, there were sandwiches, chicken pieces, pies, sausages, samosas, stuff for veggies and a few things that I couldn't identify but were being demolished with relish by team-mates. There was tea, juice/squash or water. For dessert there was a fine choice of cakes which prompted one of Nomads' most energetic fielding performances, including Battenberg - always a double points scorer when assessing any cricket tea.
Well done Streatham and thanks very much. The prize was intended to be Supper for Two with Andrew West and I would have been happy to facilitate this but, in light of Mr West's (currently unofficial) suspension by the club I will have to think of something else. Perhaps lunch at the highly-rated Life cafe in Streatham High Road, SW16. I will contact the club shortly.
However, it is theoretically possible that there might be someone out there who doesn't love spicy chicken and rice followed by exotic cake and therefore S & M spanked the opposition and scooped the prize. Their tea had just about everything. I'm quite a picky eater despite my size and I had 3 platefuls. If I remember correctly, there were sandwiches, chicken pieces, pies, sausages, samosas, stuff for veggies and a few things that I couldn't identify but were being demolished with relish by team-mates. There was tea, juice/squash or water. For dessert there was a fine choice of cakes which prompted one of Nomads' most energetic fielding performances, including Battenberg - always a double points scorer when assessing any cricket tea.
Well done Streatham and thanks very much. The prize was intended to be Supper for Two with Andrew West and I would have been happy to facilitate this but, in light of Mr West's (currently unofficial) suspension by the club I will have to think of something else. Perhaps lunch at the highly-rated Life cafe in Streatham High Road, SW16. I will contact the club shortly.
Tuesday 25 September 2012
Clapham Nomads' occupations
We were talking the other day about professions that have been followed by Clapham Nomads players over the years. Yes we may have been predominantly postmen, civil servants, accountants and the like but there is definitely no other team that can claim to have been represented by; an actor, a Bulgarian interpreter, a Heavy Metal journalist, a male model, a rock star, a masseur, a river drainage organiser, a cellist, a jazz composer, a pizza delivery man, a debt collector, a Pound Shop manager, a hotelier and a cashew nut plantation owner. So, OK, maybe that is why we can seem a bit eccentric at times but looking at that list you will see that we are also quite musical, a bit fit (in every sense of the word) and a tad nuts (that's the cashews.)
If anyone can think of any others, or wants to admit to having a job that would belong on that list, please let me know. In any case it would be very hard to top the Open University cc, whose batting was opened for years by a Rhythm and Blues guitarist and a gravedigger.
If anyone can think of any others, or wants to admit to having a job that would belong on that list, please let me know. In any case it would be very hard to top the Open University cc, whose batting was opened for years by a Rhythm and Blues guitarist and a gravedigger.
Tuesday 18 September 2012
Burgh Heath v Clapham Nomads - 16/9/12
I had been told to arrange one final match via the Club Cricket Conference. I was in a dilemma when Friday came and this was the only game in town. We played Burgh Heath in 2005 and took such a beating that I was banned by John Crossland from ever arranging a fixture against them again. I finally to decided to go ahead with it, told John we had a fixture v "Tattenham Corner" and prepared to face the music. (Hoping that at least some of 2005's South Africans would have moved on to greater things.)
The long journey down to Tattenham Way featured some genuinely alarming steam emanating from Emil Todorow's car bonnet but we eventually arrived to find that Burgh were a completely different line-up from their mid-noughties vintage and, in fact, only had 9 players including a boy of around 10. 8 of the side were related to one another.
Nomads fielded first with Hassan Khan difficult to get away as ever. There was an early wicket but I have to say that the home side looked pretty untroubled. Progress was never more than steady though, as they were probably aware of the depleted nature of their line-up. Riaz bowled 8 economical overs and Emil did well to record reasonable figures despite his nagging back injury. With around 8 overs to go, Heath were about 130 for 2 and 190 didn't look beyond them as they began to open up against Asad. A nice catch from Nick Lefebve at long off partially stalled the charge and then an even better one by Hassan Khan at long on in Asad's following over exposed the tail and both sides seemed happy to accept the final total of 160 for 5.
At tea we realised this was a stiff test but felt we had got off a touch lightly; an opinion shared by one of Burgh Heath's higher scorers who told me; "If I had middled the ball today, I would have scored more runs." You can't really argue with logic like that.
Mahesh Vyas and Darwin opened Nomads' reply against the awkward Tailor and the swing and seam bowler Wali. I was umpiring at Wali's end and I really enjoyed watching him bowl. He was decidedly useful with a touch of swing and decent movement off the pitch but he seemed to be one of cricket's Unlucky Bowlers. He beat the bat numerous times, just missed the stumps and had a good shout for leg before that was genuinely just missing. I got the impression this happened to him every week. He reminded me of former England bowler Mike Hendrick in that he seemed to have incorporated a resigned shrug into his run-up. His figures of 0-44 off 8 were a big boost for Nomads.
Darwin has really grown into his role as an attacking opener in the last few weeks and he hit 4 boundaries in a rapid 22 before being bowled. Prasanth joined Mahesh and, after surviving some alarming running mix-ups early on, the pair carved out 75 important runs. Mahesh was in sight of a deserved 50 when caught for 39, but when Prasanth was bowled for a stylish 32 twelve runs later, the initiative was back with the Surrey side. The asking rate was over 7 at this point but No 5 Abdul Khan seized the moment. He cracked a sparkling 27 at better than a run a ball, including a 6 and four 4s, dominating an unbeaten stand of 44 with Hassan Khan which saw Nomads home to an unexpectedly comfortable victory with 13 balls to spare.
This was a really nice way to end a difficult season and we finished with 6 wins and 6 defeats. There were a few murmurs about arranging another game but sometimes you have to know when to cut and run and finish on a high.
Man of the Match was Abdul who marked his 100th appearance for the club with a most enjoyable innings. Fielder of the Day is between Hassan Khan and Nick Lefebve who each took good catches in the deep. Hassan's was a genuine dive while Lefebve's was more of a flop to earth but the latter player worked hard in this game to improve on some ordinary efforts in the field this year, and takes his first fielding award since this blog started.
Burgh Heath 160 for 5 from 35 overs
H. Khan 8-3-18-2
Asad 8-0-41-3
R. Khan 8-0-31-0
E. Todorow 8-0-42-0
A. Khan 3-0-20-0
Clapham Nomads 161 for 3 from 32.5 overs
M. Vyas 39
Darwin 22
P. Pattiyil 32
H. Khan 23 not out
A. Khan 37 not out
F.O.W. - 30, 105, 117
Clapham Nomads won by 7 wickets
Man of the Match - Abdul Khan
Fielder of the Day - Nick Lefebve
The long journey down to Tattenham Way featured some genuinely alarming steam emanating from Emil Todorow's car bonnet but we eventually arrived to find that Burgh were a completely different line-up from their mid-noughties vintage and, in fact, only had 9 players including a boy of around 10. 8 of the side were related to one another.
Nomads fielded first with Hassan Khan difficult to get away as ever. There was an early wicket but I have to say that the home side looked pretty untroubled. Progress was never more than steady though, as they were probably aware of the depleted nature of their line-up. Riaz bowled 8 economical overs and Emil did well to record reasonable figures despite his nagging back injury. With around 8 overs to go, Heath were about 130 for 2 and 190 didn't look beyond them as they began to open up against Asad. A nice catch from Nick Lefebve at long off partially stalled the charge and then an even better one by Hassan Khan at long on in Asad's following over exposed the tail and both sides seemed happy to accept the final total of 160 for 5.
At tea we realised this was a stiff test but felt we had got off a touch lightly; an opinion shared by one of Burgh Heath's higher scorers who told me; "If I had middled the ball today, I would have scored more runs." You can't really argue with logic like that.
Mahesh Vyas and Darwin opened Nomads' reply against the awkward Tailor and the swing and seam bowler Wali. I was umpiring at Wali's end and I really enjoyed watching him bowl. He was decidedly useful with a touch of swing and decent movement off the pitch but he seemed to be one of cricket's Unlucky Bowlers. He beat the bat numerous times, just missed the stumps and had a good shout for leg before that was genuinely just missing. I got the impression this happened to him every week. He reminded me of former England bowler Mike Hendrick in that he seemed to have incorporated a resigned shrug into his run-up. His figures of 0-44 off 8 were a big boost for Nomads.
Darwin has really grown into his role as an attacking opener in the last few weeks and he hit 4 boundaries in a rapid 22 before being bowled. Prasanth joined Mahesh and, after surviving some alarming running mix-ups early on, the pair carved out 75 important runs. Mahesh was in sight of a deserved 50 when caught for 39, but when Prasanth was bowled for a stylish 32 twelve runs later, the initiative was back with the Surrey side. The asking rate was over 7 at this point but No 5 Abdul Khan seized the moment. He cracked a sparkling 27 at better than a run a ball, including a 6 and four 4s, dominating an unbeaten stand of 44 with Hassan Khan which saw Nomads home to an unexpectedly comfortable victory with 13 balls to spare.
This was a really nice way to end a difficult season and we finished with 6 wins and 6 defeats. There were a few murmurs about arranging another game but sometimes you have to know when to cut and run and finish on a high.
Man of the Match was Abdul who marked his 100th appearance for the club with a most enjoyable innings. Fielder of the Day is between Hassan Khan and Nick Lefebve who each took good catches in the deep. Hassan's was a genuine dive while Lefebve's was more of a flop to earth but the latter player worked hard in this game to improve on some ordinary efforts in the field this year, and takes his first fielding award since this blog started.
Burgh Heath 160 for 5 from 35 overs
H. Khan 8-3-18-2
Asad 8-0-41-3
R. Khan 8-0-31-0
E. Todorow 8-0-42-0
A. Khan 3-0-20-0
Clapham Nomads 161 for 3 from 32.5 overs
M. Vyas 39
Darwin 22
P. Pattiyil 32
H. Khan 23 not out
A. Khan 37 not out
F.O.W. - 30, 105, 117
Clapham Nomads won by 7 wickets
Man of the Match - Abdul Khan
Fielder of the Day - Nick Lefebve
Monday 10 September 2012
Dulwich v Clapham Nomads - 9/9/12
Apologies for the delay in compiling this report. After the game, a certain person was banging on and on and on about this defeat as if we had, collectively, insulted the good name of Sunday cricket and it had depressed me a bit. Actually, despite an admittedly below par performance, it was a reasonably pleasant day out and I was happy we had fielded a full team on a sunny day - 2 aspects that have been a bit lacking this season.
I must admit Nomads' bowling and fielding were not the best. Hassan was ok if not quite at his excellent best. Riaz was probably the pick of the bowlers but the highlight for me was Emil Todorow getting though 7 tight overs despite being in considerable pain from his back. The skipper hadn't been intending to bring himself on to bowl but when he saw how things were going, he had to. For some reason several Nomads had a collective attack of the yips and we bowled at least 10 high No Balls, 8 of which went past wicketkeeper Crossland to the boundary for 5. At times the aerial bombardment was so intense that Todorow's team role was less of a captain and more of a Squadron Leader or Wing Commander - he himself was innocent of any part in this strafing, I must point out. Abdul did have an injury as well so credit to him for getting though 5 overs.
As ever, Dulwich had some fine and technically correct young batsmen who stroked and pushed their way up to the highest total their club has made against Nomads. Our fielding was poor. John Crossland wrote enigmatically in the scorebook; "very poor fielding - I'm not including everyone." Certainly he couldn't have been including Mahesh Vyas who took a stunning diving catch at Short Mid-Wicket, but the mis-fields and crazy overthrows and sluggishness were such that Dulwich should probably have added at least 20 to their score.
Darwin took the intitiative in Nomads' reply with 13 at better than a run a ball before lofting a catch in the 5th over. Prasanth joined Mahesh and 30 runs were put on, mostly by the opener, but sketchy running between the wickets was a feature of this stand and, almost inevitably, a run out reduced us to a still fair 50 for 2. Dulwich skipper Tony Ebert turned to spin; himself and 3 youngsters - 2 of them leggies. Ebert deceived Vyas with flight for wicket 3. Hassan was still there but, despite a flamboyant cameo 9 from Riaz, we were falling behind the asking rate. When No. 6 Nick Lefebve strolled out with the asking rate above 8 an over, Hassan became aware of the size of his task and gave one of the young spinners a Bolt-like charge, only to be stumped. After this, our effort petered out rapidly. Todorow hit an emphatic four and Lefebve blocked everything in defiance of the encroaching ring of fielders. Last man Crossland, who wrote in the book; "batting? What batting?", gave his wicket away with a tame flick to Square Leg but at least we had reached 100. I would have liked to have batted on longer and test my rusty technique against spin. After all, some of us have had precious little batting this summer; but one of my colleagues seemed more intent on getting to the bar and starting the moaning. Actually it was pleasant in the bar. We had a chat with several Dulwich players including their star man who made an accomplished 65 and also Dulwich coaching supremo John Lawrence who unfortunately had had to miss the match itself as he was reporting on the Godalming v Dulwich Hamlet FA Cup tie for Non-League Soccer Weekly.
Dulwich 214 for 6 from 35 overs
H. Khan 7-1-36-0
Abdul Khan 5-1-36-0
Abbas Khan 4-0-47-1
Asad 7-0-33-2
E. Todorow 7-0-24-0
R. Khan 5-0-23-3
Clapham Nomads 100 from 26.2 overs
M. Vyas 21
Darwin 13
P. Pattiyil 4
H. Khan 19
R. Khan 9
N. Lefebve not out 4
Abdul Khan 0
E. Todorow 4
Abbas Khan 6
Asad 0
J. Crossland 1
F.O.W. - 20. 50, 64, 78, 78, 78, 84, 95, 97, 100
Clapham Nomads lost by 114 runs
Man of the Match - Emil Todorow
Fielder of the Day - Mahesh Vyas
I must admit Nomads' bowling and fielding were not the best. Hassan was ok if not quite at his excellent best. Riaz was probably the pick of the bowlers but the highlight for me was Emil Todorow getting though 7 tight overs despite being in considerable pain from his back. The skipper hadn't been intending to bring himself on to bowl but when he saw how things were going, he had to. For some reason several Nomads had a collective attack of the yips and we bowled at least 10 high No Balls, 8 of which went past wicketkeeper Crossland to the boundary for 5. At times the aerial bombardment was so intense that Todorow's team role was less of a captain and more of a Squadron Leader or Wing Commander - he himself was innocent of any part in this strafing, I must point out. Abdul did have an injury as well so credit to him for getting though 5 overs.
As ever, Dulwich had some fine and technically correct young batsmen who stroked and pushed their way up to the highest total their club has made against Nomads. Our fielding was poor. John Crossland wrote enigmatically in the scorebook; "very poor fielding - I'm not including everyone." Certainly he couldn't have been including Mahesh Vyas who took a stunning diving catch at Short Mid-Wicket, but the mis-fields and crazy overthrows and sluggishness were such that Dulwich should probably have added at least 20 to their score.
Darwin took the intitiative in Nomads' reply with 13 at better than a run a ball before lofting a catch in the 5th over. Prasanth joined Mahesh and 30 runs were put on, mostly by the opener, but sketchy running between the wickets was a feature of this stand and, almost inevitably, a run out reduced us to a still fair 50 for 2. Dulwich skipper Tony Ebert turned to spin; himself and 3 youngsters - 2 of them leggies. Ebert deceived Vyas with flight for wicket 3. Hassan was still there but, despite a flamboyant cameo 9 from Riaz, we were falling behind the asking rate. When No. 6 Nick Lefebve strolled out with the asking rate above 8 an over, Hassan became aware of the size of his task and gave one of the young spinners a Bolt-like charge, only to be stumped. After this, our effort petered out rapidly. Todorow hit an emphatic four and Lefebve blocked everything in defiance of the encroaching ring of fielders. Last man Crossland, who wrote in the book; "batting? What batting?", gave his wicket away with a tame flick to Square Leg but at least we had reached 100. I would have liked to have batted on longer and test my rusty technique against spin. After all, some of us have had precious little batting this summer; but one of my colleagues seemed more intent on getting to the bar and starting the moaning. Actually it was pleasant in the bar. We had a chat with several Dulwich players including their star man who made an accomplished 65 and also Dulwich coaching supremo John Lawrence who unfortunately had had to miss the match itself as he was reporting on the Godalming v Dulwich Hamlet FA Cup tie for Non-League Soccer Weekly.
Dulwich 214 for 6 from 35 overs
H. Khan 7-1-36-0
Abdul Khan 5-1-36-0
Abbas Khan 4-0-47-1
Asad 7-0-33-2
E. Todorow 7-0-24-0
R. Khan 5-0-23-3
Clapham Nomads 100 from 26.2 overs
M. Vyas 21
Darwin 13
P. Pattiyil 4
H. Khan 19
R. Khan 9
N. Lefebve not out 4
Abdul Khan 0
E. Todorow 4
Abbas Khan 6
Asad 0
J. Crossland 1
F.O.W. - 20. 50, 64, 78, 78, 78, 84, 95, 97, 100
Clapham Nomads lost by 114 runs
Man of the Match - Emil Todorow
Fielder of the Day - Mahesh Vyas
Tuesday 4 September 2012
Clapham Nomads v Surbiton Imperials - 2/9/12
Clapham Nomads got their season back on track with an excellent, if slightly controversial, 8-wicket victory over a strong Surbiton side. Nomads, boosted by pace bowling legend Rafi, managed to restrict Imperials to 150 on a really excellent track at Abbey Rec.
Nomads beefed up our side for this tough-looking fixture by drafting in Rafi, probably Nomads' finest ever regular player, for his first game for the club for a few years.
As usual, skipper Todorow won the toss and, after 2 low scores batting first, elected to field.
A back injury to Todorow, caused by playing tennis with a much younger man, meant that Abdul Khan continued his successful new ball link-up with Hassan Khan. An early wicket for Hassan, tight and probing as ever, helped to keep Surbiton's rate down early on and the 18-over drinks break saw the score on around 55 for 2. Ominously, the away side's star batsman, the intense, explosive, Mini Cooper-driving teacher Johnny was still there having survived half chances to catch him and to run him out.
Rafi was first change and there was the almost tangible excitement that only a high class paceman can provide as he steamed in. Wicketkeeper John Crossland thought Rafi had lost just a tiny fraction of his pace but the custodian's gloves were still being rapped very hard indeed. Crossland purred with pleasure at how much he enjoyed keeping to Rafi and I have a suspicion it was the hand pain, rather than the accuracy and consequent lack of diving, that John enjoyed.
Rafi soon caused a batsman to back away markedly, bowling him 2 balls later, but Johnny coped well with the pace, milking a few runs from our star, and he also began to take a heavy toll on Abbas and debutant spinner Syed. At around the 24-over mark, Nomads appeared to be running short of bowling options and in danger of conceding close to 200.
Bravely, Emil Todorow, who on the Friday had looked in danger of missing his first Nomads game for 10 years, took up the reins and overcame considerable discomfort to send down 5 valuable overs, taking 1 for 25. Somehow this spell, something different for Imperials to consider, combined with excellent Nomads fielding and 3 late wickets for Rafi to wrest back the initiative for Nomads. Highlights of the last 10 overs were excellent direct hits from Prasanth and Abdul (one stump to aim at for Abdul but that's all the Wizard of the Infield needs) and a difficult low catch by Hassan to remove the dangerous Khalid Harris who had smacked Rafi for a resounding straight 4. Hassan responded to the acclaim by declaring that he was, in fact, Shahid Afridi. Nomads dismissed Surbiton for 150 on the last ball of the 35 overs. Johnny starred with 73.
So, a medium-sized target on a good pitch against a tough bowling line-up full of variety and accuracy (who had dismissed us for 83 in June.) This was a situation tailor-made for Mark Bradshaw to steer us to, or close to, victory with a crafted 40 or 50. However, still missing our star opener and with a predominantly attacking early and middle order, this had the potential to go spectacularly wrong or right.
Mahesh Vyas and Darwin did well to see off the opening salvoes, particularly the former England Deaf international Siddique. The pair carved out 27 valuable runs before Vyas played across to be bowled leg stump in House's first over. Darwin followed 2 overs later and, when Prasanth Pattiyil appeared run out by a yard or 2 shortly afterwards, doom was closing in. Surprisingly to just about everyone, Umpire Todorow ruled Not Out. In Todorow's defence, the turf by the crease was churned up and his own mobility was very restricted, so he might not have got the best view of this incident.
After that, things couldn't have gone much better for Nomads as Prasanth and Hassan just grew and grew in confidence. There were a couple of shouts for LBW but no other chances that I can recall. At one stage, Hassan was just effortlessly tapping the ball out between cover and long-off for 1s and 2s and I don't think I have ever seen such effortless batting at this level - against a very decent bowling side you must remember. Prasanth's innings was a mixture of mighty blows straight and over square leg, and a period when he made it look almost as easy as Hassan, just flicking ball after ball wide of Mid-Wicket for a run or two. Prasanth actually outscored Hassan for most of the stand as he was on 1 when the all-rounder came in, and he was first to his half-century. It was great to watch this from the umpiring position and it made up for some of this season's misery. The pair secured an unexpectedly comfortable victory by 8 wickets with almost 7 overs to spare - just as well as we would have been playing in pitch darkness if the innings had lasted 35 overs.
Man of the Match was Prasanth for outscoring Hassan and for a generally brilliant all-round performance including a catch and a direct hit. Fielder of the Day was Hassan who didn't put a foot wrong in the field that I can recall and took the catch of the day.
Surbiton Imperials - 150 from 35 overs
H. Khan 7-1-11-2
Abdul Khan 7-0-34-0
Rafi 7-1-27-4
Abbas Khan 7-0-41-1
Syed 2-0-12-0
E. Todorow 5-0-25-1
Clapham Nomads - 151 for 2 from 28.1 overs
M. Vyas 6
Darwin 14
P. Pattiyil not out 53
H. Khan not out 53
F.O.W. - 27, 31
Clapham Nomads won by 8 wickets
Nomads beefed up our side for this tough-looking fixture by drafting in Rafi, probably Nomads' finest ever regular player, for his first game for the club for a few years.
As usual, skipper Todorow won the toss and, after 2 low scores batting first, elected to field.
A back injury to Todorow, caused by playing tennis with a much younger man, meant that Abdul Khan continued his successful new ball link-up with Hassan Khan. An early wicket for Hassan, tight and probing as ever, helped to keep Surbiton's rate down early on and the 18-over drinks break saw the score on around 55 for 2. Ominously, the away side's star batsman, the intense, explosive, Mini Cooper-driving teacher Johnny was still there having survived half chances to catch him and to run him out.
Rafi was first change and there was the almost tangible excitement that only a high class paceman can provide as he steamed in. Wicketkeeper John Crossland thought Rafi had lost just a tiny fraction of his pace but the custodian's gloves were still being rapped very hard indeed. Crossland purred with pleasure at how much he enjoyed keeping to Rafi and I have a suspicion it was the hand pain, rather than the accuracy and consequent lack of diving, that John enjoyed.
Rafi soon caused a batsman to back away markedly, bowling him 2 balls later, but Johnny coped well with the pace, milking a few runs from our star, and he also began to take a heavy toll on Abbas and debutant spinner Syed. At around the 24-over mark, Nomads appeared to be running short of bowling options and in danger of conceding close to 200.
Bravely, Emil Todorow, who on the Friday had looked in danger of missing his first Nomads game for 10 years, took up the reins and overcame considerable discomfort to send down 5 valuable overs, taking 1 for 25. Somehow this spell, something different for Imperials to consider, combined with excellent Nomads fielding and 3 late wickets for Rafi to wrest back the initiative for Nomads. Highlights of the last 10 overs were excellent direct hits from Prasanth and Abdul (one stump to aim at for Abdul but that's all the Wizard of the Infield needs) and a difficult low catch by Hassan to remove the dangerous Khalid Harris who had smacked Rafi for a resounding straight 4. Hassan responded to the acclaim by declaring that he was, in fact, Shahid Afridi. Nomads dismissed Surbiton for 150 on the last ball of the 35 overs. Johnny starred with 73.
So, a medium-sized target on a good pitch against a tough bowling line-up full of variety and accuracy (who had dismissed us for 83 in June.) This was a situation tailor-made for Mark Bradshaw to steer us to, or close to, victory with a crafted 40 or 50. However, still missing our star opener and with a predominantly attacking early and middle order, this had the potential to go spectacularly wrong or right.
Mahesh Vyas and Darwin did well to see off the opening salvoes, particularly the former England Deaf international Siddique. The pair carved out 27 valuable runs before Vyas played across to be bowled leg stump in House's first over. Darwin followed 2 overs later and, when Prasanth Pattiyil appeared run out by a yard or 2 shortly afterwards, doom was closing in. Surprisingly to just about everyone, Umpire Todorow ruled Not Out. In Todorow's defence, the turf by the crease was churned up and his own mobility was very restricted, so he might not have got the best view of this incident.
After that, things couldn't have gone much better for Nomads as Prasanth and Hassan just grew and grew in confidence. There were a couple of shouts for LBW but no other chances that I can recall. At one stage, Hassan was just effortlessly tapping the ball out between cover and long-off for 1s and 2s and I don't think I have ever seen such effortless batting at this level - against a very decent bowling side you must remember. Prasanth's innings was a mixture of mighty blows straight and over square leg, and a period when he made it look almost as easy as Hassan, just flicking ball after ball wide of Mid-Wicket for a run or two. Prasanth actually outscored Hassan for most of the stand as he was on 1 when the all-rounder came in, and he was first to his half-century. It was great to watch this from the umpiring position and it made up for some of this season's misery. The pair secured an unexpectedly comfortable victory by 8 wickets with almost 7 overs to spare - just as well as we would have been playing in pitch darkness if the innings had lasted 35 overs.
Man of the Match was Prasanth for outscoring Hassan and for a generally brilliant all-round performance including a catch and a direct hit. Fielder of the Day was Hassan who didn't put a foot wrong in the field that I can recall and took the catch of the day.
Surbiton Imperials - 150 from 35 overs
H. Khan 7-1-11-2
Abdul Khan 7-0-34-0
Rafi 7-1-27-4
Abbas Khan 7-0-41-1
Syed 2-0-12-0
E. Todorow 5-0-25-1
Clapham Nomads - 151 for 2 from 28.1 overs
M. Vyas 6
Darwin 14
P. Pattiyil not out 53
H. Khan not out 53
F.O.W. - 27, 31
Clapham Nomads won by 8 wickets
Monday 27 August 2012
South Bank v Clapham Nomads - 26/8/12
This was a replacement fixture as our original game against Bec Old Boys was cancelled. Sadly the Old Boys' Sunday team seems to have folded, at least for this season.
Anyway we found a nice match at Dulwich Sports Ground against a team we seem to play about once every 8 years. They always have a few characters and, certainly on this occasion, they had bags of talent.
Given our recent difficulties and various floods and wild weather warnings on Saturday, it was a relief to actually get a game and it was a great improvement on last week with Nomads posting 115 for 8 off the full 35 overs which was not a calamity against a bowling line up with few, if any, weak links on a bouncy, slightly irregular, pitch. Top scorer Darwin (27) shared in a good early stand of 36 at a good strike rate with Abdul. Hassan's 25 ensured reasonable momentum in the middle third of the innings. For spectators though, the highlight was an excellent stand of 19 at the close between Emil and John which took us up to a total in excess of what we expected when Hassan was out at 96 for 8. Surprisingly, the entertainment in this stand was to be found in some clever cricket rather than in banter although when Emil thanked John for supporting him at the end, John replied ; "you were supporting me." No. 11 Andrew West had been padded up for 5 overs when, with 4 balls remaining, he tore off his kit in a fit of pique and flung it to the ground with a resounding oath. It would have been quite funny if one of our heroes had been out on the penultimate ball and forced our disgruntled tail-ender to put his gear back on and face 1 delivery.
South Bank had little problem knocking the 116 off in around 24 overs, despite tight opening spells from Hassan and Abdul. The only wicket to fall was secured by a twisting, feline, slip catch an inch from the ground by Mahesh Vyas off the bowling of Andrew West. South Bank's innings featured some stunning hitting - 1 shot cleared the trees - from a very entertaining Australian guy who had long hair rather reminiscent of the mid 70s Yes keyboard player Rick Wakeman and was referred to by his nickname "Criminal." He was supported by his captain who secured a 50 right at the end in rather Boycottesque fashion. Once the scores were level, with the captain on 49, the pair declined to run if Criminal had played the shot, despite several opportunities, and chose to wait until the skipper was on strike to seal the victory. A Wide or No Ball - accidental of course - would have been amusing.
Man of the Match was Mahesh for taking the Catch of the Season which was all that saved us from a Club Record 10-wicket defeat. Fielder of the Day was either Prasanth or John Crossland. They both stopped plenty and missed nothing. Since John did more diving I will give it to the glovesman.
Clapham Nomads 115 for 8 from 35 overs
M. Vyas 1
Darwin 27
A. Khan 16
H. Khan 25
P. Pattiyil 2
R. Khan 8
Abbas 0
N. Lefebve 0
E. Todorow not out 10
J. Crossland not out 9
Did not bat - A. West
F.O.W. - 3, 39, 53, 61, 74, 75, 80, 96
South Bank 117 for 1 from 27.1 overs
H. Khan 7-4-17-0
A. Khan 7-0-15-0
A. West 4-0-27-1
E. Todorow 5-0-28-0
Abbas 2-0-11-0
R. Khan 2.1-0-16-0
Clapham Nomads lost by 9 wickets
Anyway we found a nice match at Dulwich Sports Ground against a team we seem to play about once every 8 years. They always have a few characters and, certainly on this occasion, they had bags of talent.
Given our recent difficulties and various floods and wild weather warnings on Saturday, it was a relief to actually get a game and it was a great improvement on last week with Nomads posting 115 for 8 off the full 35 overs which was not a calamity against a bowling line up with few, if any, weak links on a bouncy, slightly irregular, pitch. Top scorer Darwin (27) shared in a good early stand of 36 at a good strike rate with Abdul. Hassan's 25 ensured reasonable momentum in the middle third of the innings. For spectators though, the highlight was an excellent stand of 19 at the close between Emil and John which took us up to a total in excess of what we expected when Hassan was out at 96 for 8. Surprisingly, the entertainment in this stand was to be found in some clever cricket rather than in banter although when Emil thanked John for supporting him at the end, John replied ; "you were supporting me." No. 11 Andrew West had been padded up for 5 overs when, with 4 balls remaining, he tore off his kit in a fit of pique and flung it to the ground with a resounding oath. It would have been quite funny if one of our heroes had been out on the penultimate ball and forced our disgruntled tail-ender to put his gear back on and face 1 delivery.
South Bank had little problem knocking the 116 off in around 24 overs, despite tight opening spells from Hassan and Abdul. The only wicket to fall was secured by a twisting, feline, slip catch an inch from the ground by Mahesh Vyas off the bowling of Andrew West. South Bank's innings featured some stunning hitting - 1 shot cleared the trees - from a very entertaining Australian guy who had long hair rather reminiscent of the mid 70s Yes keyboard player Rick Wakeman and was referred to by his nickname "Criminal." He was supported by his captain who secured a 50 right at the end in rather Boycottesque fashion. Once the scores were level, with the captain on 49, the pair declined to run if Criminal had played the shot, despite several opportunities, and chose to wait until the skipper was on strike to seal the victory. A Wide or No Ball - accidental of course - would have been amusing.
Man of the Match was Mahesh for taking the Catch of the Season which was all that saved us from a Club Record 10-wicket defeat. Fielder of the Day was either Prasanth or John Crossland. They both stopped plenty and missed nothing. Since John did more diving I will give it to the glovesman.
Clapham Nomads 115 for 8 from 35 overs
M. Vyas 1
Darwin 27
A. Khan 16
H. Khan 25
P. Pattiyil 2
R. Khan 8
Abbas 0
N. Lefebve 0
E. Todorow not out 10
J. Crossland not out 9
Did not bat - A. West
F.O.W. - 3, 39, 53, 61, 74, 75, 80, 96
South Bank 117 for 1 from 27.1 overs
H. Khan 7-4-17-0
A. Khan 7-0-15-0
A. West 4-0-27-1
E. Todorow 5-0-28-0
Abbas 2-0-11-0
R. Khan 2.1-0-16-0
Clapham Nomads lost by 9 wickets
Saturday 25 August 2012
Clapham Nomads v Energy Exiles - 19/8/12
Nomads were only able to raise 7 players for this fixture against our old friends and rivals the Exiles. It was important to get this game on to try and keep some kind of momentum going this season, so thanks to those who did turn up. Also, thanks to Prasad, who had come along for a quiet afternoon watching the cricket at Raynes Park and ended up being headhunted by Emil Todorow, and thanks most of all to Exiles' organiser Naren Patel who joined us for the day to complete a 9-man team and a dream New Ball pairing with the Nomads' skipper.
Nomads won the toss and chose to bat. In normal conditions that would have been a mystifying decision but, given the 90 degree heat and stifling humidity it was perhaps understandable.
Unfortunately, Nomads batting line-up failed to match even the low expectations that we held and were dismissed for 47, with only Darwin (16) and, to a lesser extent, Emil Todorow near the end providing much resistance. This was without Simon Gundry getting on to bowl but Andy Wingfield and Phil Ling did quite enough damage between them to ensure Exiles' talisman wasn't needed.
This was all rather depressing but Exiles' innings produced a couple of moments which made me almost wish I had been there. To have E. Todorow and N. Patel share a new ball was surely a treat for all connoisseurs of the More Experienced Gentleman and a sight that followers of South London Sunday cricket probably despaired of ever seeing. Not surprisingly, two of Exiles' early order just could not cope with this Treasure Trove of Trickery and, at 14 for 2, there was just a sniff of a decent contest. Jasper Searle quashed this with a very rapid 31, including 17 off Prasad's over, before being bowled by an Andrew West shooter with the scores level. A golden moment followed as Simon Gundry, minus pads, emerged and attempted to smack West over the trees. An admittedly good connection went straight down the throat of Prasad for an excellent catch and the notable scorebook entry; S. Gundry, c Prasad b West - Duck (Golden.) Martin Thomas, also without pads, kept his head and denied the Big Man a hat-trick and sealed an easy victory for the Exiles.
It was all rather a shame when you remember all the memorable matches these 2 teams have played, but I'm sure there's plenty more to look forward to from this enjoyable rivalry.
Man of the Match would have been Andrew West for dismissing Mr Gundry first ball, but apparently he was making some rather odd comments so is disqualified. Darwin takes it instead for his nice innings. Fielder of the Day was Prasad for his fine catch.
Clapham Nomads 47 from 17.4 overs
M. Vyas 1
Darwin 16
P. Pattiyil 0
Prasad 4
C. Kee 3
E. Todorow 7
J. Crossland 2
N. Patel 0
A. West not out 1
F.O.W - 10,11,18,30,33,45,45,47
Exiles' bowling
A. Wingfield 5-2-3-2
M. Thomas 5-2-12-1
P. Ling 4-0-8-3
Plume 3.4-0-17-2
Energy Exiles 48 for 4 from 8.4 overs
Nomads' bowling
E. Todorow 4-2-16-1
N. Patel 3-0-8-1
Prasad 1-0-17-0
A. West 0.4-0-5-2
Clapham Nomads lost by 6 wickets
Nomads won the toss and chose to bat. In normal conditions that would have been a mystifying decision but, given the 90 degree heat and stifling humidity it was perhaps understandable.
Unfortunately, Nomads batting line-up failed to match even the low expectations that we held and were dismissed for 47, with only Darwin (16) and, to a lesser extent, Emil Todorow near the end providing much resistance. This was without Simon Gundry getting on to bowl but Andy Wingfield and Phil Ling did quite enough damage between them to ensure Exiles' talisman wasn't needed.
This was all rather depressing but Exiles' innings produced a couple of moments which made me almost wish I had been there. To have E. Todorow and N. Patel share a new ball was surely a treat for all connoisseurs of the More Experienced Gentleman and a sight that followers of South London Sunday cricket probably despaired of ever seeing. Not surprisingly, two of Exiles' early order just could not cope with this Treasure Trove of Trickery and, at 14 for 2, there was just a sniff of a decent contest. Jasper Searle quashed this with a very rapid 31, including 17 off Prasad's over, before being bowled by an Andrew West shooter with the scores level. A golden moment followed as Simon Gundry, minus pads, emerged and attempted to smack West over the trees. An admittedly good connection went straight down the throat of Prasad for an excellent catch and the notable scorebook entry; S. Gundry, c Prasad b West - Duck (Golden.) Martin Thomas, also without pads, kept his head and denied the Big Man a hat-trick and sealed an easy victory for the Exiles.
It was all rather a shame when you remember all the memorable matches these 2 teams have played, but I'm sure there's plenty more to look forward to from this enjoyable rivalry.
Man of the Match would have been Andrew West for dismissing Mr Gundry first ball, but apparently he was making some rather odd comments so is disqualified. Darwin takes it instead for his nice innings. Fielder of the Day was Prasad for his fine catch.
Clapham Nomads 47 from 17.4 overs
M. Vyas 1
Darwin 16
P. Pattiyil 0
Prasad 4
C. Kee 3
E. Todorow 7
J. Crossland 2
N. Patel 0
A. West not out 1
F.O.W - 10,11,18,30,33,45,45,47
Exiles' bowling
A. Wingfield 5-2-3-2
M. Thomas 5-2-12-1
P. Ling 4-0-8-3
Plume 3.4-0-17-2
Energy Exiles 48 for 4 from 8.4 overs
Nomads' bowling
E. Todorow 4-2-16-1
N. Patel 3-0-8-1
Prasad 1-0-17-0
A. West 0.4-0-5-2
Clapham Nomads lost by 6 wickets
Saturday 4 August 2012
Update - 4/8/12
Last Sunday's game against Wimbledon Corinthians was called off by the opposition. It rained most of Sunday afternoon anyway, so probably a blessing. No games scheduled now until Energy Exiles on Sunday 19th August.
Wednesday 25 July 2012
Streatham & Marlborough v Clapham Nomads - 22/7/12
A fine win for Nomads against a decent side was overshadowed by a nasty injury to star opening batsman Mark Bradshaw, who sustained a crack in the jaw and will be out for the season. Very best wishes, Mark.
Just brief details as I had to leave early and haven't got the scorebook back yet.
Skipper Todorow did brilliantly to raise a 12-man squad and even more brilliantly to win the toss and bat in 85 degree heat.
Mahesh V and Mark B started well against an awkward new ball attack before losing Mark retired hurt at about 40. First wicket down was in the 70s, Mahesh had played really nicely, with a couple of moments of fortune, for 35, but was bowled behind his legs 3 balls before drinks.
Newcomer Bilal played a couple of firm, promising shots and made 19. Prasanth batted very well and produced the shot of the day - a six into the trees but was a little unlucky to be out for 35 (bowled, but it might have been a high No Ball - a Television Replay job.)
Star batsman without question was Hassan, after a hesitant start he just got better and better and was 103 Not Out at the close. He accelerated so rapidly in the last 3rd of his innings that no-one realised he was even close to a ton. Score at tea was 221 for 6 against a reasonable bowling attack with a couple of useful young spinners and a well-marshalled field.
Todorow produced a corker to strike in his 1st over and put the pressure on Streatham but the home side recovered steadily. I had to leave after 15 overs when they were around 45 for 1 with opener Newton looking unshiftable and skipper Mark Bartolo starting to open up ominously. Bartolo did go on to make 50 but that was the highpoint for Streatham who were dismissed for around 115. Wickets were shared out with Andrew West claiming his first scalp of the season. Bowling star was another debutant, Umar, who took 5 for 16 from 7 overs of rapid off-cutters with Bravest Keeper in Cricket John Crossland standing up.
Nomads won with something to spare. Man of the Match was Hassan. Fielder of the Day (according to Todorow) - "No-one in particular."
Finally, a brilliant tea. A possible challenger to Caribbean Mix for tea of the season.
Clapham Nomads 221 for 6 from 40 overs
M. Bradshaw, retired hurt 10
M. Vyas, 35
Bilal, 19
H. Khan, not out 103
P. Pattiyil, 35
Umar, 0
C. Kee, 1
C. Kennedy, 0
E. Todorow, not out 2
Did not bat; J. Crossland, A. West
F.O.W. - 59, 80, 167, 173, 198, 217
Streatham & Marlborough 114 from 39 overs
H. Khan 8-2-25-1
E. Todorow 8-1-23-1
A. West 8-1-21-1
Bilal 8-0-23-2
Umar 7-0-16-5
Clapham Nomads won by 107 runs
Just brief details as I had to leave early and haven't got the scorebook back yet.
Skipper Todorow did brilliantly to raise a 12-man squad and even more brilliantly to win the toss and bat in 85 degree heat.
Mahesh V and Mark B started well against an awkward new ball attack before losing Mark retired hurt at about 40. First wicket down was in the 70s, Mahesh had played really nicely, with a couple of moments of fortune, for 35, but was bowled behind his legs 3 balls before drinks.
Newcomer Bilal played a couple of firm, promising shots and made 19. Prasanth batted very well and produced the shot of the day - a six into the trees but was a little unlucky to be out for 35 (bowled, but it might have been a high No Ball - a Television Replay job.)
Star batsman without question was Hassan, after a hesitant start he just got better and better and was 103 Not Out at the close. He accelerated so rapidly in the last 3rd of his innings that no-one realised he was even close to a ton. Score at tea was 221 for 6 against a reasonable bowling attack with a couple of useful young spinners and a well-marshalled field.
Todorow produced a corker to strike in his 1st over and put the pressure on Streatham but the home side recovered steadily. I had to leave after 15 overs when they were around 45 for 1 with opener Newton looking unshiftable and skipper Mark Bartolo starting to open up ominously. Bartolo did go on to make 50 but that was the highpoint for Streatham who were dismissed for around 115. Wickets were shared out with Andrew West claiming his first scalp of the season. Bowling star was another debutant, Umar, who took 5 for 16 from 7 overs of rapid off-cutters with Bravest Keeper in Cricket John Crossland standing up.
Nomads won with something to spare. Man of the Match was Hassan. Fielder of the Day (according to Todorow) - "No-one in particular."
Finally, a brilliant tea. A possible challenger to Caribbean Mix for tea of the season.
Clapham Nomads 221 for 6 from 40 overs
M. Bradshaw, retired hurt 10
M. Vyas, 35
Bilal, 19
H. Khan, not out 103
P. Pattiyil, 35
Umar, 0
C. Kee, 1
C. Kennedy, 0
E. Todorow, not out 2
Did not bat; J. Crossland, A. West
F.O.W. - 59, 80, 167, 173, 198, 217
Streatham & Marlborough 114 from 39 overs
H. Khan 8-2-25-1
E. Todorow 8-1-23-1
A. West 8-1-21-1
Bilal 8-0-23-2
Umar 7-0-16-5
Clapham Nomads won by 107 runs
Sunday 15 July 2012
Long Ditton v Clapham Nomads - 15/7/12
Groundhog Day. Another last-minute fixture. Another nice ground in Surrey. Torrential rain on Saturday night and another blank Sunday.
Tuesday 10 July 2012
Effingham v Clapham Nomads - 8/7/12
After the shock collapse of our local derby match against the Energy Exiles, we arranged another game at Effingham (apparently one of the nicest grounds in Surrey, where we last played in 1995.) Unfortunately, torrential rain left the ground under 2 inches of water (The Exiles match would have been off due to rain as well.) Starved of top class sport we turned to the Wimbledon Gentlemen's Singles Final for consolation.
Tuesday 3 July 2012
Barnes Occasionals v Clapham Nomads - 1/7/12
It was a full-strength Nomads side that made the long journey to take on a slightly-depleted Barnes Occasional at their Sandy Lane ground in Ham. This is growing on me as a venue. The allotments and the historic buildings making for a bucolic scene with the snatches of pop music drifting across from Eel Pie Island bringing things up to date (give or take a decade or two.)
As usual, Nomads' skipper Emil Todorow won the toss and he controversially inserted the home side. The captain explained that this gave him 2 options; forcing a ruthless victory or hanging on grimly for the draw in this time game.
The pitch nearer the river was used which was fortunate as the other pitch can be a lottery. There was still some unpredictable, mostly high, bounce on our track and Todorow yet again showed his tactical mastery by turning to his 2 quickest bowlers. Abdul, in particular, found some sharp lift at times and struck early to remove the dangerous Adam Hogg who lofted a riser straight to Hassan at Cover. Hassan soon matched this with a wicket of his own and the friends exerted relentless pressure. Wicket after wicket tumbled with barely a shot played in anger. After 16 overs the Khans had reduced Occasionals to 18 for 7 and last week's all-time low opposition score record of 23 was in danger.
For part of this time we were even short of a fielder as 5 or 6 local youngsters were lurking next to our kit. A Nomads fielder was despatched to the scene, not so much to guard our kit but more to protect the kids from touching the rank items which could probably cause cellulitis to sensitive skin. In the event, they were decent lads, more Just William than Artful Dodger. Watching the game one of them remarked; "Hmm, they're not very good. are they? Well, Clapham are OK, I suppose."
It took No. 8 Rohit Benjamin to restore some pride for Barnes. Looking correct from the word go, he took a liking to the bowling of Emil Todorow and, particularly, Riaz Khan with a series of smart boundaries flicked square-ish to Leg. With Keith Seed and last man Ollie Hogg providing able defensive support, the score passed 50 and was beginning to approach a total problematic on this pitch when Benjamin finally clipped it uppishly straight into the hands of Emil Todorow who coolly pouched an absolutely vital catch. We never doubted you for a second, Emil, even if we did lift your cap a couple of times to check it really was you.
66 all out and an early tea was taken. Emil and I were the last in and we approached the grand house next to the ground. As we opened the glass doors, we saw a lavish spread with glasses of champagne and bowls of very exotic fruit. "Ooh Barnes, you are really spoiling us," we thought; but then 3 chaps, one of them a former England footballer, appeared and politely informed us that the cricket tea was round the corner in the shed with the rusty black door. Normal service resumed but at least we were treated to the second best Oppo tea of the season so far, and Emil was fascinated by some unusual hens he saw on the way there.
Nomads had 1 hour 40 minutes plus 20 overs to knock off the 67 but Mahesh Vyas fell in the first over; bowled trying to force the awkward swing bowler O. Hogg across the line. Prasanth Pattiyil, back from his trip to Kerala, was No. 3 and he faced 2 early shouts for LBW. The majority of the fielding side participated in these appeals, somewhat "assertively", from a very wide spectrum of vantage points including the Deep Fine Leg boundary. There was just one problem though; neither of the balls would have hit the stumps.
On 13, Nomads suffered a body blow when Mark Bradshaw fell to an in-cutting beauty from Benjamin, Barnes' quickest and most dangerous bowler. Hassan and Prasanth recovered the situation steadily but, at 34, Hassan was adjudged leg before. The decision looked a trifle harsh and was hopefully not influenced by the earlier antics.
34 for 3 was potentially sticky on this pitch but Nomads had fair depth to their batting. Darwin joined Prasanth for 18 vital runs before the No. 5 was unluckily bowled by the only ball in the match to keep really low. Keith Seed had Chris Kee caught the following over. At 53 for 5, Barnes evidently considered themselves back in the hunt but, with only 13 needed to win and a good mix of blockers and hitters to come, a steady nerve was all that was needed (though Emil's catch was looking more and more important.)
Crucially, Prasanth plundered 9 from a Benjamin over before being bowled by the deceptive Seed for a match-winning 28. 5 to win and 7th-wicket pair Nick Lefebve and Abdul Khan saw Nomads home, admittedly in a rather streaky fashion, for a very enjoyable victory.
Man of the Match was Prasanth. Abdul's 4 for 8 probably looks a better stat on paper than 28 runs, but Prasanth performed an absolutely vital job in holding our response together and this was possibly his best innings for the club. Fielder of the Day (and Spellcheck may query this) was Emil Todorow for his crucial catch. To be fair, his fielding is pretty good these days.
Barnes Occasionals 66 all out from 29 overs
H. Khan 8-2-8-3
A. Khan 8-3-8-4
R. Khan 7-1-25-3
Todorow 6-1-16-0
Clapham Nomads 67 for 6 from 21.3 overs
Bradshaw 8
Vyas 0
Pattiyil 28
H. Khan 13
Darwin 8
Kee 0
Lefebve 1 not out
A. Khan 4 not out
Did not bat; R. Khan, Todorow, Crossland
F.O.W. - 1, 13, 34, 52, 53, 62
Clapham Nomads won by 4 wickets
As usual, Nomads' skipper Emil Todorow won the toss and he controversially inserted the home side. The captain explained that this gave him 2 options; forcing a ruthless victory or hanging on grimly for the draw in this time game.
The pitch nearer the river was used which was fortunate as the other pitch can be a lottery. There was still some unpredictable, mostly high, bounce on our track and Todorow yet again showed his tactical mastery by turning to his 2 quickest bowlers. Abdul, in particular, found some sharp lift at times and struck early to remove the dangerous Adam Hogg who lofted a riser straight to Hassan at Cover. Hassan soon matched this with a wicket of his own and the friends exerted relentless pressure. Wicket after wicket tumbled with barely a shot played in anger. After 16 overs the Khans had reduced Occasionals to 18 for 7 and last week's all-time low opposition score record of 23 was in danger.
For part of this time we were even short of a fielder as 5 or 6 local youngsters were lurking next to our kit. A Nomads fielder was despatched to the scene, not so much to guard our kit but more to protect the kids from touching the rank items which could probably cause cellulitis to sensitive skin. In the event, they were decent lads, more Just William than Artful Dodger. Watching the game one of them remarked; "Hmm, they're not very good. are they? Well, Clapham are OK, I suppose."
It took No. 8 Rohit Benjamin to restore some pride for Barnes. Looking correct from the word go, he took a liking to the bowling of Emil Todorow and, particularly, Riaz Khan with a series of smart boundaries flicked square-ish to Leg. With Keith Seed and last man Ollie Hogg providing able defensive support, the score passed 50 and was beginning to approach a total problematic on this pitch when Benjamin finally clipped it uppishly straight into the hands of Emil Todorow who coolly pouched an absolutely vital catch. We never doubted you for a second, Emil, even if we did lift your cap a couple of times to check it really was you.
66 all out and an early tea was taken. Emil and I were the last in and we approached the grand house next to the ground. As we opened the glass doors, we saw a lavish spread with glasses of champagne and bowls of very exotic fruit. "Ooh Barnes, you are really spoiling us," we thought; but then 3 chaps, one of them a former England footballer, appeared and politely informed us that the cricket tea was round the corner in the shed with the rusty black door. Normal service resumed but at least we were treated to the second best Oppo tea of the season so far, and Emil was fascinated by some unusual hens he saw on the way there.
Nomads had 1 hour 40 minutes plus 20 overs to knock off the 67 but Mahesh Vyas fell in the first over; bowled trying to force the awkward swing bowler O. Hogg across the line. Prasanth Pattiyil, back from his trip to Kerala, was No. 3 and he faced 2 early shouts for LBW. The majority of the fielding side participated in these appeals, somewhat "assertively", from a very wide spectrum of vantage points including the Deep Fine Leg boundary. There was just one problem though; neither of the balls would have hit the stumps.
On 13, Nomads suffered a body blow when Mark Bradshaw fell to an in-cutting beauty from Benjamin, Barnes' quickest and most dangerous bowler. Hassan and Prasanth recovered the situation steadily but, at 34, Hassan was adjudged leg before. The decision looked a trifle harsh and was hopefully not influenced by the earlier antics.
34 for 3 was potentially sticky on this pitch but Nomads had fair depth to their batting. Darwin joined Prasanth for 18 vital runs before the No. 5 was unluckily bowled by the only ball in the match to keep really low. Keith Seed had Chris Kee caught the following over. At 53 for 5, Barnes evidently considered themselves back in the hunt but, with only 13 needed to win and a good mix of blockers and hitters to come, a steady nerve was all that was needed (though Emil's catch was looking more and more important.)
Crucially, Prasanth plundered 9 from a Benjamin over before being bowled by the deceptive Seed for a match-winning 28. 5 to win and 7th-wicket pair Nick Lefebve and Abdul Khan saw Nomads home, admittedly in a rather streaky fashion, for a very enjoyable victory.
Man of the Match was Prasanth. Abdul's 4 for 8 probably looks a better stat on paper than 28 runs, but Prasanth performed an absolutely vital job in holding our response together and this was possibly his best innings for the club. Fielder of the Day (and Spellcheck may query this) was Emil Todorow for his crucial catch. To be fair, his fielding is pretty good these days.
Barnes Occasionals 66 all out from 29 overs
H. Khan 8-2-8-3
A. Khan 8-3-8-4
R. Khan 7-1-25-3
Todorow 6-1-16-0
Clapham Nomads 67 for 6 from 21.3 overs
Bradshaw 8
Vyas 0
Pattiyil 28
H. Khan 13
Darwin 8
Kee 0
Lefebve 1 not out
A. Khan 4 not out
Did not bat; R. Khan, Todorow, Crossland
F.O.W. - 1, 13, 34, 52, 53, 62
Clapham Nomads won by 4 wickets
Friday 29 June 2012
Opposition Tea of the Year
Currently, after 3 Opposition Teas, Caribbean Mix's excellent chicken, rice, salad and exotic cake feast is ahead by a very wide margin. With several away games to go, there is still a possibility of another team snatching the prize (rumoured to be Supper for Two with Andrew West), but they will have to go some.
Tuesday 26 June 2012
Touring Theatres v Clapham Nomads - 24/6/12
This match at Haydons Road, the second part of our double-header against the Theatres, was on a knife-edge throughout the morning after torrential overnight rain. In the end the Supervisor announced that he didn't want to "spoil the fun" and he let play go ahead provided we used a pitch that had been played on the previous day.
Emil Todorow won the toss yet again and Nomads batted in squally conditions against Seethal and Naseef, possibly the best new ball pairing Theatres have used in their 25 or so games against the Nomads.
I was 30 minutes late due to work commitments and when I arrived Nomads were 40 for 1. Mahesh Vyas had started brightly but John Crossland (who is becoming our Nostrodamus - or possibly Mystic Meg - with his uncanny predictions) foretold that Vyas would "give it away" and the opener was promptly bowled by the impressive Seethal who was straight and considerably above Medium off a 6-pace run-up.
Darwin joined Mark Bradshaw and, like last week, a fine 2nd wicket stand took shape. Darwin is rather more front foot than Bradshaw but, in terms of where the ball ends up, they are strikingly similar. They both hit the ball hard and true and find the gaps well, and have produced several valuable partnerships over the last 12 months.
With no restriction on overs per bowler in this Time Game, the opening pair got through 16 overs by which stage Nomads had done very well to reach 90-ish for 1 on a fair but damp pitch. It took Off-Spinner Cal Robertson to really exploit the stickiness and his first 3 overs reminded me of Derek Underwood on a wet pitch as he practically got the ball to make him a cup of tea. Darwin and Hassan were deceived and bowled in quick succession. (Hassan's delivery almost stopped on bouncing.)
After these initial successes, Robertson tended to overpitch and Bradshaw and Chris Kee took full advantage of this, with Kee playing one particularly memorable shot, pulled virtually one-handed from wide outside off and despatched almost for 6 to the mid-wicket boundary.
Bradshaw had held the top order together and reached a fine half-century. He then joined in the acceleration with the arrival of No. 6 Zia. It took a freak dismissal to finally remove him for 72 - the ball slipping from Dirk Fieldhouse's hand and skidding low, hitting Mark on the foot, 2nd bounce, in front of Middle and Off. As the umpire, I regretted raising my finger for this one and would probably have "used my discretion" had the batsman been closer to a ton.
A flurry of hitting from Zia (several massive sixes), Abdul and Riaz took Nomads up to 211 for 7 at tea. This was 86 lower than the previous week and Theatres' batting line-up was arguably slightly stronger, but in a Time Game Todorow would be able to deploy his elite Strike Force (including himself of course) unsparingly.
A finishing time of 7.20 was set so that we would have time to catch the England v Italy Quarter Final (we needn't have bothered.) By the time the rather porky tea had been finished there was time for around 28 overs for Theatres to knock off the 212, or survive for the draw.
Hassan quickly bowled the potentially dangerous Seethal with a beauty. This brought Mahinder Mahinder to the crease. An interesting, entertaining and opinionated character; he has turned out for Energy Exiles and has been selected for Nomads several times without, for various reasons, actually taking the field. On a true and drying track he showed the maker's name and looked very sound. At the other end, Hassan polished off Ben Martin, Naseef and our very own Chris Kennedy. At around 10 for 4 he looked like running through the entire side. Mahinder hit the only 4 of the innings off the bowling of Emil Todorow. Sensing it would take something special to remove the Sri Lankan, Todorow smoothed down his hair (which had been floating ominously), smiled wryly, flexed his wrist and produced his mythical Leg Break for the first time in a competitive match. I'm not sure it actually turned but it bamboozled Mahinder to the extent that he could merely flick it tamely round his legs straight into the gloves of a delighted John Crossland. A hugely entertaining wicket. Next week - The Doosra.
The 74-year-old Novelist and Sports Writer Chic Fowles dug in well and played some firm shots past Cover. Riaz was bowling by now and needed to produce his very best to winkle out the veteran, just clipping the off bail with a quicker one.
Zia was on at the Station End and did Robertson for sheer pace. Theatres had 7 or 8 overs still to survive. Last man was Cochrane who looked athletic and, with his dark green top, also looked South African. (To our relief he was very English and had never set foot on a cricket field before.) Before this though, Dirk Fieldhouse and John Warnaby were together for the 8th wicket. They both have ability, particularly in defence, and I gave them an Evens chance of seeing it through. Zia had been overpitching a bit but this paid off with a low full toss on middle stump surprising Warnaby slightly for the crucial wicket. Zia cleaned up Cochrane next ball and will be on a hat-trick when he next bowls for us.
So Theatres were all out for 23, which is the lowest total Nomads have ever conceded in a completed innings (admittedly Theatres had only 10 men.) Surprisingly, the bowling was actually a little wayward but John Crossland was at his best behind the stumps to save a string of byes. Nomads displayed impressive intensity and fielded well, showing the advantage of a close-up field as Theatres had to take chances to penetrate our ring (so to speak.)
This 23 is actually the lowest team total in any of the 400 or so competitive matches I have played in. When you consider that includes 150 games for Open University (no strangers to the sensational collapse) that is remarkable. Speaking of Open University, the Haydons Road car park was where OU and Nomads legend Dave Hunter finally drove out of our lives in an incident described in the tear-jerking poem "I Just Looked Around and He Was Gone" by the Nomads' Poet Laureate (See last week's Post, which has incidentally provoked a good reaction on Facebook; "Clare in the Community" - I like that.) Another popular Nomads figure, Shailesh Bhatia, also played his last game at Haydons Road so it is a ground steeped in Nomadic history.
Man of the Match was Mark Bradshaw whose untroubled 72 made defeat almost impossible. Zia also had a very good day and Hassan's bowling figures were remarkable. Fielder of the Day was John Crossland whose excellence secured this new Club Record.
Nomads 211 for 7 from 35 overs
Bradshaw 72
M. Vyas 9
Darwin 25
H. Khan 8
Kee 12
Zia 42
A. Khan 8
R. Khan 1 not out
Did not bat; Lefebve, Todorow, Crossland
F.O.W. - 36. 100, 116, 140, 180, 208, 211
Touring Theatres 23 all out from 21.5 overs
H. Khan 7-5-5-4
Todorow 7-4-8-1
R. Khan 4-3-2-1
Zia 3.5-1-4-3
Clapham Nomads won by 188 runs
Emil Todorow won the toss yet again and Nomads batted in squally conditions against Seethal and Naseef, possibly the best new ball pairing Theatres have used in their 25 or so games against the Nomads.
I was 30 minutes late due to work commitments and when I arrived Nomads were 40 for 1. Mahesh Vyas had started brightly but John Crossland (who is becoming our Nostrodamus - or possibly Mystic Meg - with his uncanny predictions) foretold that Vyas would "give it away" and the opener was promptly bowled by the impressive Seethal who was straight and considerably above Medium off a 6-pace run-up.
Darwin joined Mark Bradshaw and, like last week, a fine 2nd wicket stand took shape. Darwin is rather more front foot than Bradshaw but, in terms of where the ball ends up, they are strikingly similar. They both hit the ball hard and true and find the gaps well, and have produced several valuable partnerships over the last 12 months.
With no restriction on overs per bowler in this Time Game, the opening pair got through 16 overs by which stage Nomads had done very well to reach 90-ish for 1 on a fair but damp pitch. It took Off-Spinner Cal Robertson to really exploit the stickiness and his first 3 overs reminded me of Derek Underwood on a wet pitch as he practically got the ball to make him a cup of tea. Darwin and Hassan were deceived and bowled in quick succession. (Hassan's delivery almost stopped on bouncing.)
After these initial successes, Robertson tended to overpitch and Bradshaw and Chris Kee took full advantage of this, with Kee playing one particularly memorable shot, pulled virtually one-handed from wide outside off and despatched almost for 6 to the mid-wicket boundary.
Bradshaw had held the top order together and reached a fine half-century. He then joined in the acceleration with the arrival of No. 6 Zia. It took a freak dismissal to finally remove him for 72 - the ball slipping from Dirk Fieldhouse's hand and skidding low, hitting Mark on the foot, 2nd bounce, in front of Middle and Off. As the umpire, I regretted raising my finger for this one and would probably have "used my discretion" had the batsman been closer to a ton.
A flurry of hitting from Zia (several massive sixes), Abdul and Riaz took Nomads up to 211 for 7 at tea. This was 86 lower than the previous week and Theatres' batting line-up was arguably slightly stronger, but in a Time Game Todorow would be able to deploy his elite Strike Force (including himself of course) unsparingly.
A finishing time of 7.20 was set so that we would have time to catch the England v Italy Quarter Final (we needn't have bothered.) By the time the rather porky tea had been finished there was time for around 28 overs for Theatres to knock off the 212, or survive for the draw.
Hassan quickly bowled the potentially dangerous Seethal with a beauty. This brought Mahinder Mahinder to the crease. An interesting, entertaining and opinionated character; he has turned out for Energy Exiles and has been selected for Nomads several times without, for various reasons, actually taking the field. On a true and drying track he showed the maker's name and looked very sound. At the other end, Hassan polished off Ben Martin, Naseef and our very own Chris Kennedy. At around 10 for 4 he looked like running through the entire side. Mahinder hit the only 4 of the innings off the bowling of Emil Todorow. Sensing it would take something special to remove the Sri Lankan, Todorow smoothed down his hair (which had been floating ominously), smiled wryly, flexed his wrist and produced his mythical Leg Break for the first time in a competitive match. I'm not sure it actually turned but it bamboozled Mahinder to the extent that he could merely flick it tamely round his legs straight into the gloves of a delighted John Crossland. A hugely entertaining wicket. Next week - The Doosra.
The 74-year-old Novelist and Sports Writer Chic Fowles dug in well and played some firm shots past Cover. Riaz was bowling by now and needed to produce his very best to winkle out the veteran, just clipping the off bail with a quicker one.
Zia was on at the Station End and did Robertson for sheer pace. Theatres had 7 or 8 overs still to survive. Last man was Cochrane who looked athletic and, with his dark green top, also looked South African. (To our relief he was very English and had never set foot on a cricket field before.) Before this though, Dirk Fieldhouse and John Warnaby were together for the 8th wicket. They both have ability, particularly in defence, and I gave them an Evens chance of seeing it through. Zia had been overpitching a bit but this paid off with a low full toss on middle stump surprising Warnaby slightly for the crucial wicket. Zia cleaned up Cochrane next ball and will be on a hat-trick when he next bowls for us.
So Theatres were all out for 23, which is the lowest total Nomads have ever conceded in a completed innings (admittedly Theatres had only 10 men.) Surprisingly, the bowling was actually a little wayward but John Crossland was at his best behind the stumps to save a string of byes. Nomads displayed impressive intensity and fielded well, showing the advantage of a close-up field as Theatres had to take chances to penetrate our ring (so to speak.)
This 23 is actually the lowest team total in any of the 400 or so competitive matches I have played in. When you consider that includes 150 games for Open University (no strangers to the sensational collapse) that is remarkable. Speaking of Open University, the Haydons Road car park was where OU and Nomads legend Dave Hunter finally drove out of our lives in an incident described in the tear-jerking poem "I Just Looked Around and He Was Gone" by the Nomads' Poet Laureate (See last week's Post, which has incidentally provoked a good reaction on Facebook; "Clare in the Community" - I like that.) Another popular Nomads figure, Shailesh Bhatia, also played his last game at Haydons Road so it is a ground steeped in Nomadic history.
Man of the Match was Mark Bradshaw whose untroubled 72 made defeat almost impossible. Zia also had a very good day and Hassan's bowling figures were remarkable. Fielder of the Day was John Crossland whose excellence secured this new Club Record.
Nomads 211 for 7 from 35 overs
Bradshaw 72
M. Vyas 9
Darwin 25
H. Khan 8
Kee 12
Zia 42
A. Khan 8
R. Khan 1 not out
Did not bat; Lefebve, Todorow, Crossland
F.O.W. - 36. 100, 116, 140, 180, 208, 211
Touring Theatres 23 all out from 21.5 overs
H. Khan 7-5-5-4
Todorow 7-4-8-1
R. Khan 4-3-2-1
Zia 3.5-1-4-3
Clapham Nomads won by 188 runs
Friday 22 June 2012
Nomads' Poet Laureate
Most cricketers at our level spend the tea interval discussing football, cars, the physical attributes of passing women, the lack of physical attributes of their team-mates, occasionally even cricket. Not the Nomads, though. Last Sunday we had a very pleasant discussion about the Pastoral Poet, John Clare. It was felt that if there is a poet who represents the essence of Clapham Nomads, then it is Clare. After all, the 19th Century versesmith shares several connections with the Clapham side;
East Northants/Stamford/Peterborough area connection - Yes
Epping Forest connection - Yes
Keen walker - Yes (Nomads have several of these, but in the hiking rather than the cricketing sense.)
Madness connection - Yes (but in Nomads' case this is arguably only moderate eccentricity when compared with some of the teams we play.)
Undoubtedly, some of Clare's lines will resonate with many Nomads players, e.g.;
"Into the nothingness of scorn and noise"
and (a slight adaptation here) - "The vast shipwreck of my life's teams."
In conclusion though, much as we are all admirers of the works of Clare, we do already have our own Poet Laureate at the club. Not only does his surname, like the poet's, begin with a C, but he also tends to write on an explicitly cricketing theme. Here is his best-known work which is on the subject of a team we used to play. I have concealed the team's name to avoid causing offence and because some of them are a bit tasty.
"xxxx xxxx as a team,
They're not exactly the best I've seen.
The way they act, it makes me frown
'Cos they resemble a bunch of clowns.
They turned the game to utter shite,
This gang of pissheads dressed in white."
East Northants/Stamford/Peterborough area connection - Yes
Epping Forest connection - Yes
Keen walker - Yes (Nomads have several of these, but in the hiking rather than the cricketing sense.)
Madness connection - Yes (but in Nomads' case this is arguably only moderate eccentricity when compared with some of the teams we play.)
Undoubtedly, some of Clare's lines will resonate with many Nomads players, e.g.;
"Into the nothingness of scorn and noise"
and (a slight adaptation here) - "The vast shipwreck of my life's teams."
In conclusion though, much as we are all admirers of the works of Clare, we do already have our own Poet Laureate at the club. Not only does his surname, like the poet's, begin with a C, but he also tends to write on an explicitly cricketing theme. Here is his best-known work which is on the subject of a team we used to play. I have concealed the team's name to avoid causing offence and because some of them are a bit tasty.
"xxxx xxxx as a team,
They're not exactly the best I've seen.
The way they act, it makes me frown
'Cos they resemble a bunch of clowns.
They turned the game to utter shite,
This gang of pissheads dressed in white."
Clapham Nomads v Touring Theatres - 17/6/12
Nomads finally recorded a win, albeit against a depleted Touring Theatres side at Abbey Rec last Sunday.
Emil Todorow won the toss and his first-choice opening pair of Bradshaw and Vyas quickly took charge against the tidy Medium Pacer Nasif and the occasionally tricky Off-Spinner Cal Robertson. An untroubled 50 stand came up in the 8th over. Bradshaw was finding the off-aside gaps deftly while Vyas put his foot on the gas with a string of leg-side boundaries. With Nomads on 60, Mahesh lofted the ball back over the head of 2nd-changer Dirk Fieldhouse but fell to a brave catch from Robertson who had broken his finger attempting a very similar catch against Nomads s year ago.
Mahesh was a touch unfortunate to be out on his first mistake and this fate also befell Mark Bradshaw who had moved serenely to 38 (adding 54 for the 2nd wicket with Darwin) when he inside-edged a sharp in-slanter from the unorthodox Mike onto his off stump.
At 114 for 2, the hard work was probably just about done, but Darwin and Hassan kicked on; Darwin playing some absolutely cracking forcing drives between Mid-Off and Cover. Darwin was dismissed 3 short of a maiden Nomads 50 to a stumping from stand-in wicketkeeper Robertson off the bowling of noted Character Actor - and star of "Mike Bassett England Manager" - John Warnaby. Darwin was quite stoical about missing out on the landmark, saying that he would have settled for 47 before the start.
This had all been very watchable but the best was to come. Hassan, supported ably by Chris Kee, dismantled the remains of the Theatres' attack for a devastating 121, not far short of Nomads' highest individual score and racing from 50 to 100 in about 22 balls. He was particularly harsh on Tom, who had confidently asserted that a ball bouncing 3 times is not a no-ball, but then bowled to Hassan, of all people, without making it bounce at all. The results were brutal and predictable, with 24 plundered from one over.
Kee had played well for his 15 before holing out on the leg-side with the score on 260. 300 looked a certainty but, with Hassan's departure on 281 for 5, a touch of momentum was lost yet we readily settled for 297 for 6; the 3rd-highest score in Nomads' history.
Clapham had lent Chris Kennedy to Theatres but their batting line-up still had a makeshift look to it with a 13-year-old, a 10-year-old and most of the adult players lacking match practice. They did pretty well to reach almost 100 in 30.5 overs against a fairly strong Nomads bowling attack, for whom newcomer Rahim was impressive.
The reliable Ben Trenchell batted well for Theatres as did Nasif. The ever-obdurate Dirk Fieldhouse stuck around for a fair old while down the order. Hassan, Emil and Abdul all recorded good analyses and Nick Lefebve bowled his first 5 overs of the summer, conceding 14 runs of which 2 were scored by a Primary School Pupil.
The standout moment - and Quote of the Day - was when the 13-year-old Robert faced up to the macho and vaguely intimidating air - and hair - of Emil Todorow and chirped brightly; "It's OK, I don't mind. You can bowl as fast as you like."
Man of the Match is rather easy as centurion Hassan Khan also returned the best bowling figures. It wasn't the most eventful day in the field but, since he set up a run out (an "assist") for John Crossland and chased down several shots off my bowling, Hassan gets Fielder of the Day as well.
Clapham Nomads - 297 for 6 from 35 overs
Bradshaw 38
M. Vyas 35
Darwin 47
H. Khan 121
Kee 15
Rahim 5
A. Khan 3 not out
Todorow 2 not out
F.O.W. - 60. 114, 185, 260, 281, 289
Touring Theatres - 98 all out from 30.5 overs
Todorow 7-0-26-2
Rahim 6-0-25-1
H. Khan 5.5-1-10-3
A. Khan 7-1-21-3
Lefebve 5-0-14-0
Nomads won by 199 runs
Emil Todorow won the toss and his first-choice opening pair of Bradshaw and Vyas quickly took charge against the tidy Medium Pacer Nasif and the occasionally tricky Off-Spinner Cal Robertson. An untroubled 50 stand came up in the 8th over. Bradshaw was finding the off-aside gaps deftly while Vyas put his foot on the gas with a string of leg-side boundaries. With Nomads on 60, Mahesh lofted the ball back over the head of 2nd-changer Dirk Fieldhouse but fell to a brave catch from Robertson who had broken his finger attempting a very similar catch against Nomads s year ago.
Mahesh was a touch unfortunate to be out on his first mistake and this fate also befell Mark Bradshaw who had moved serenely to 38 (adding 54 for the 2nd wicket with Darwin) when he inside-edged a sharp in-slanter from the unorthodox Mike onto his off stump.
At 114 for 2, the hard work was probably just about done, but Darwin and Hassan kicked on; Darwin playing some absolutely cracking forcing drives between Mid-Off and Cover. Darwin was dismissed 3 short of a maiden Nomads 50 to a stumping from stand-in wicketkeeper Robertson off the bowling of noted Character Actor - and star of "Mike Bassett England Manager" - John Warnaby. Darwin was quite stoical about missing out on the landmark, saying that he would have settled for 47 before the start.
This had all been very watchable but the best was to come. Hassan, supported ably by Chris Kee, dismantled the remains of the Theatres' attack for a devastating 121, not far short of Nomads' highest individual score and racing from 50 to 100 in about 22 balls. He was particularly harsh on Tom, who had confidently asserted that a ball bouncing 3 times is not a no-ball, but then bowled to Hassan, of all people, without making it bounce at all. The results were brutal and predictable, with 24 plundered from one over.
Kee had played well for his 15 before holing out on the leg-side with the score on 260. 300 looked a certainty but, with Hassan's departure on 281 for 5, a touch of momentum was lost yet we readily settled for 297 for 6; the 3rd-highest score in Nomads' history.
Clapham had lent Chris Kennedy to Theatres but their batting line-up still had a makeshift look to it with a 13-year-old, a 10-year-old and most of the adult players lacking match practice. They did pretty well to reach almost 100 in 30.5 overs against a fairly strong Nomads bowling attack, for whom newcomer Rahim was impressive.
The reliable Ben Trenchell batted well for Theatres as did Nasif. The ever-obdurate Dirk Fieldhouse stuck around for a fair old while down the order. Hassan, Emil and Abdul all recorded good analyses and Nick Lefebve bowled his first 5 overs of the summer, conceding 14 runs of which 2 were scored by a Primary School Pupil.
The standout moment - and Quote of the Day - was when the 13-year-old Robert faced up to the macho and vaguely intimidating air - and hair - of Emil Todorow and chirped brightly; "It's OK, I don't mind. You can bowl as fast as you like."
Man of the Match is rather easy as centurion Hassan Khan also returned the best bowling figures. It wasn't the most eventful day in the field but, since he set up a run out (an "assist") for John Crossland and chased down several shots off my bowling, Hassan gets Fielder of the Day as well.
Clapham Nomads - 297 for 6 from 35 overs
Bradshaw 38
M. Vyas 35
Darwin 47
H. Khan 121
Kee 15
Rahim 5
A. Khan 3 not out
Todorow 2 not out
F.O.W. - 60. 114, 185, 260, 281, 289
Touring Theatres - 98 all out from 30.5 overs
Todorow 7-0-26-2
Rahim 6-0-25-1
H. Khan 5.5-1-10-3
A. Khan 7-1-21-3
Lefebve 5-0-14-0
Nomads won by 199 runs
Thursday 14 June 2012
Surbiton Imperials v Clapham Nomads - 10/6/12
The smart Colet's Ground in Thames Ditton was the venue for this game against Surbiton Imperials, a side we have beaten on the last 2 occasions, but who have some talented players and interesting characters.
35 overs was agreed, despite the early start, due to the threatening clouds. Todorow chose to bat and pinch-hitter Riaz Khan took Mark Bradshaw's place at the head of the order, soon clouting 2 enormous blows off the tricky left-armer Siddik which landed a foot short of the rope at Cow Corner and just nestled in the damp grass. Boundaries were clearly going to be at a premium as indeed were any runs against a tight attack on a very slow pitch with occasional low bounce.
Siddik, a master of variation of line, bowled Riaz in Over 7. Mahesh Vyas had played himself in carefully and Darwin joined him in careful consolidation before the latter was bowled 5 overs later by former Nomads player Khalid Harris who hailed the wicket with a triumphant and rather piercing whistle.
Mahesh began to flick it cleverly to leg and, with him and Hassan together at 41 for 2 off 14 overs, and with batting to come, it all looked reasonable. But then - double disaster. Khalid yorked Mahesh middle and leg and Hassan was deceived by the sharp in-swing of Aussie 2nd-changer House.
No. 5 Zia led a minor recovery. His 18 contained some good, clean hits, supported by Abdul Khan (8) and Nick Lefebve (1 from 34 balls), but Zia'sdeparture precipitated another collapse from 72 for 5 to 83 all out with only Chris Kennedy (7 Not Out) providing much resistance in the lower order. Nomads failed to use up 4.3 overs and scored at a paltry rate of 2.75 per over.
As John pointed out to anyone willing (or unwilling) to listen, we were 50 or 60 runs short.
A tactical discussion at tea led to Hassan and Zia, Nomads' fastest pair, opening in an attempt to do some early damage. Nomads' best period of the match followed with hostile bowling and tight fielding maintaining a degree of pressure and securing the wicket of Surbiton captain Steve Parratt in the 5th over with the score on 5.
Inperials' wicketkeeper-opening batsman, Johnny, a nice guy but with an intense and borderline-scary demeanour, began to hit the ball hard but sharp fielding, especially from Darwin, kept the scoring rate well below 3. Wickets never really looked likely though, and a record-equalling 9 wicket defeat appeared on the cards, until in an inspired tactical intervention, skipper Todorow turned to himself and soon had his reward courtesy of a fine slip catch from Mahesh Vyas.
With the score in the early 40s, Johnny chipped the ball to mid-wicket for an easy chance which was badly dropped. Probably not crucial but it extinguished Nomads' faint remaining hopes. Johnny snarled his way up to 41 until an outrageous leg-break from Hassan finally brought a smile to his face and, having lost his focus, he promptly lobbed the next ball up to Deep Mid-Off where Abdul Khan took a smart catch.
A further wicket fell to Riaz but. although Imperials scored at below Nomads' rate throughout, they had enough batting in hand to clinch a comfortable win in the 32nd over.
3 defeats out of 3 for Nomads. The batting underachieved but Imperials showed scoring wasn't easy. Bowling and fielding were fine and at least we got a game - and got to play with a remote-controlled electronic scoreboard.
Man of the Match was Mahesh Vyas for showing the most composure of any Nomads batsman and pouching a nice slip catch. Fielder of the Day was Chris Kennedy for diving and getting both hands to an absolute bullet from Johnny that was technically a chance but would have been the best catch in Nomads' history.
Nomads lost by 6 wickets
Nomads 83 all out from 30.3 overs
Vyas - 17
R. Khan - 4
Darwin - 1
H. Khan - 7
Zia - 18
A. Khan - 8
Lefebve - 1
Kee - 0
Kennedy - 7 not out
Todorow - 2
Crossland - 0
F. O. W. - 15, 22, 41, 43, 54, 72, 72, 73, 76, 83
Surbiton Imperials 84 for 4 from 31.1 overs
H. Khan - 7-1-16-2
Zia - 7-1-15-0
A. Khan - 7-0-24-0
Todorow - 6-0-17-1
R. Khan - 4.1-0-14-1
35 overs was agreed, despite the early start, due to the threatening clouds. Todorow chose to bat and pinch-hitter Riaz Khan took Mark Bradshaw's place at the head of the order, soon clouting 2 enormous blows off the tricky left-armer Siddik which landed a foot short of the rope at Cow Corner and just nestled in the damp grass. Boundaries were clearly going to be at a premium as indeed were any runs against a tight attack on a very slow pitch with occasional low bounce.
Siddik, a master of variation of line, bowled Riaz in Over 7. Mahesh Vyas had played himself in carefully and Darwin joined him in careful consolidation before the latter was bowled 5 overs later by former Nomads player Khalid Harris who hailed the wicket with a triumphant and rather piercing whistle.
Mahesh began to flick it cleverly to leg and, with him and Hassan together at 41 for 2 off 14 overs, and with batting to come, it all looked reasonable. But then - double disaster. Khalid yorked Mahesh middle and leg and Hassan was deceived by the sharp in-swing of Aussie 2nd-changer House.
No. 5 Zia led a minor recovery. His 18 contained some good, clean hits, supported by Abdul Khan (8) and Nick Lefebve (1 from 34 balls), but Zia'sdeparture precipitated another collapse from 72 for 5 to 83 all out with only Chris Kennedy (7 Not Out) providing much resistance in the lower order. Nomads failed to use up 4.3 overs and scored at a paltry rate of 2.75 per over.
As John pointed out to anyone willing (or unwilling) to listen, we were 50 or 60 runs short.
A tactical discussion at tea led to Hassan and Zia, Nomads' fastest pair, opening in an attempt to do some early damage. Nomads' best period of the match followed with hostile bowling and tight fielding maintaining a degree of pressure and securing the wicket of Surbiton captain Steve Parratt in the 5th over with the score on 5.
Inperials' wicketkeeper-opening batsman, Johnny, a nice guy but with an intense and borderline-scary demeanour, began to hit the ball hard but sharp fielding, especially from Darwin, kept the scoring rate well below 3. Wickets never really looked likely though, and a record-equalling 9 wicket defeat appeared on the cards, until in an inspired tactical intervention, skipper Todorow turned to himself and soon had his reward courtesy of a fine slip catch from Mahesh Vyas.
With the score in the early 40s, Johnny chipped the ball to mid-wicket for an easy chance which was badly dropped. Probably not crucial but it extinguished Nomads' faint remaining hopes. Johnny snarled his way up to 41 until an outrageous leg-break from Hassan finally brought a smile to his face and, having lost his focus, he promptly lobbed the next ball up to Deep Mid-Off where Abdul Khan took a smart catch.
A further wicket fell to Riaz but. although Imperials scored at below Nomads' rate throughout, they had enough batting in hand to clinch a comfortable win in the 32nd over.
3 defeats out of 3 for Nomads. The batting underachieved but Imperials showed scoring wasn't easy. Bowling and fielding were fine and at least we got a game - and got to play with a remote-controlled electronic scoreboard.
Man of the Match was Mahesh Vyas for showing the most composure of any Nomads batsman and pouching a nice slip catch. Fielder of the Day was Chris Kennedy for diving and getting both hands to an absolute bullet from Johnny that was technically a chance but would have been the best catch in Nomads' history.
Nomads lost by 6 wickets
Nomads 83 all out from 30.3 overs
Vyas - 17
R. Khan - 4
Darwin - 1
H. Khan - 7
Zia - 18
A. Khan - 8
Lefebve - 1
Kee - 0
Kennedy - 7 not out
Todorow - 2
Crossland - 0
F. O. W. - 15, 22, 41, 43, 54, 72, 72, 73, 76, 83
Surbiton Imperials 84 for 4 from 31.1 overs
H. Khan - 7-1-16-2
Zia - 7-1-15-0
A. Khan - 7-0-24-0
Todorow - 6-0-17-1
R. Khan - 4.1-0-14-1
Monday 4 June 2012
Wimbledon United v Clapham Nomads - 3/6/12
This fixture (a replacement for the cancelled game v Bec Old Boys) was called off at 09:45 on Sunday morning after heavy rain overnight. For a while it looked as if this might be a harsh decision by the Council but heavy rain from about 3.30 totally vindicated the call. So Nomads suffered their 4th washout of the season - a record already with 3 months of the season still to go.
Friday 1 June 2012
Clapham Nomads v Wimbledon Corinthians - 27/5/12
The sun finally came out and ensured Nomads' second match of the season, at home to Wimbledon Corinthians, could go ahead.
This was one of the more eventful match-ups last year, what with Jim Joyce's phenomenal century, a 3 and a quarter hour innings from Nomads - our longest ever, and the acrimonious disputed pitch incident in September. Despite Nomads sportingly giving up our pitch last Autumn to allow Corinthians' title decider to go ahead, the opposition organiser told me this was considered a grudge match and they would be fielding a strong side.
Nomads chose an unchanged line-up with reasonable batting strength on a placid-looking pitch, but with the bowling appearing just a touch light as one Nomads fielder wasted absolutely no opportunity to point out repeatedly. Thankfully Raynes Park 3 is one of the worst pitches in London for acoustics thanks to its proximity to the A3 so I had to resort to lip-reading to get the benefit of the fielder's "wisdom."
Unusually, Nomads' assertive skipper, Emil Todorow, was talked into a 40-over game by a Corinthians side who enjoy nothing better than a marathon fielding session in 80 degree heat.
Nomads batted first and Mark Bradshaw was soon away with a classy off-side 4 off Shaan, a bowler who sent down an equal mix of away swingers, erratic stuff and off-cutters. One of the latter accounted for Mahesh Vyas, bowled round his legs in the 5th over.
No. 3 Prasanth Pattiyil came out and soon began to hit the ball hard and true. He certainly seems to have added more power to his batting this year but denied rumours that he had been working out in the gym, by stating that he has been watching a lot of IPL. 2 resounding 4s off Shaan and a superb straight 6 off Shaan's otherwise tighter new ball partner Malik provided quality entertainment the equal of anything on ITV4.
Bradshaw had done a good job to see off the opening pair and help us to 44 for 1 off 10. He got hold of the first ball from 1st change swing bowler Clifford, back over the bowler's head but uppishly and Deep Mid-Off took an excellent and important catch.
2nd change bowler Shoaib was a Medium Pace Spinner with an unusual action, possibly the pick of the away side's attack. He ended Prasanth's breezy 30 but was smacked away for 4 next ball by Chris Kee; one of only 2 boundaries off Shoaib.
Clifford removed Kee, LBW as last week and Nomads were down to 87 for 4 with Hassan and Abdul, the last 2 recognized front-line batsmen at the square. This stand seemed vital but only realised a still-useful 23 before the awkward Shoaib had Abdul lbw. Chris Kennedy fell 3 balls later. Hassan was starting to blossom in the 30s, and has had several useful stands with No. 8 Nick Lefebve, but when our star all-rounder skied a catch 9 runs later, Nomads were reduced to 121 for 7 and would gratefully have accepted a final total of 140.
Lefebve and Darwin dug in initially and their contrasting styles soon began to pay dividends. Darwin, the more attacking player, produced one gorgeous Cover Drive - the Shot of the Day. Lefebve set out to leave anything outside off stump and generally match Corinthians for time-wasting in an attempt to blunt their banter. Having said that, the atmosphere was fine, a good laugh in the main. Most of Corinthians chirping was directed at the 17-year-old Mohammed whom they dubbed "The Future." "If he's the future then the past is standing at First Slip," one wag quipped, indicating the evergreen Steve O'Neill Ramsadeo.
A valuable and pugnacious 8th wicket stand of 42 ended with Darwin holing out off the deceptive pace of Victor. O'Neill Ramsadeo trapped Todorow first ball - rather plumb. The veteran then asked 3 successive loud questions as ball after ball rapped John Crossland's pads. Lefebve instructed Crossland to use his bat but our keeper got his revenge in the final over as Lefebve produced a series of hoiks only vaguely in the vicinity of the ball. "Look at the ball," the No. 11 suggested, but his advice went unheeded and an LBW from the 3rd-last delivery was the result.
165 was a decent effort in the end but, with one very short boundary, a dry outfield and a good pitch with just the occasional low bounce, I can't say we were particularly confident.
Emil Todorow seemed to have added half of yard of pace to his bowling in this game and claimed an early scalp with the score on around 20. No. 3 tried to fight fire with fire and lofted 2 enormous sixes off Emil. There was no way our skipper was going to tolerate this sort of treatment and, fuelled by pride and fear of what would be said to him in the pub, he removed his tormentor next ball - admittedly caught at head height by Hassan on the boundary. Corinthians' innings then followed the pattern of last year with a remorseless and fairly uneventful stand of around 100 between Rahman and Clifford virtually sealing victory. Progress wasn't spectacular - the score after 16 overs was only 59 for 2, but acceleration after Drinks made the result a formality. 2 excellent catches in the deep by Abdul Khan gave the score some semblance of respectability but Corinthians clinched a 6-wicket victory, sealed with a 6, in the 34th over.
Man of the Match was Abdul who produce an excellent spell of bowling at less than 2 an over, 2 fine catches and his usual deadly throws, and 14 runs. Abdul clinched Fielder of the Day with his second catch. Prior to this the award was destined to go to Chris Kennedy who, despite being the oldest player on the park (sorry, Chris) and having apparently had a most enjoyable and liquid lunch, produced total commitment and a couple of spectacular full length dives to save a run or two.
Clapham Nomads lost by 6 wickets
Nomads 165 from 39.4 overs
Bradshaw 11
Vyas 1
Pattiyil 30
H. Khan 37
Kee 5
A. Khan 14
Kennedy 0
Lefebve 12
Darwin 18
Todorow 0
Crossland 2 not out
F. O.W. - 18, 44, 78, 87, 112, 112, 121, 163, 163 , 165
Wimbledon Corinthians 171 for 4 from 33.3 overs
H. Khan 8-1-28-0
Todorow 8-2-32-2
A. Khan 8-1-14-0
Darwin 4-0-46-0
Pattiyil 5.3-0-48-2
This was one of the more eventful match-ups last year, what with Jim Joyce's phenomenal century, a 3 and a quarter hour innings from Nomads - our longest ever, and the acrimonious disputed pitch incident in September. Despite Nomads sportingly giving up our pitch last Autumn to allow Corinthians' title decider to go ahead, the opposition organiser told me this was considered a grudge match and they would be fielding a strong side.
Nomads chose an unchanged line-up with reasonable batting strength on a placid-looking pitch, but with the bowling appearing just a touch light as one Nomads fielder wasted absolutely no opportunity to point out repeatedly. Thankfully Raynes Park 3 is one of the worst pitches in London for acoustics thanks to its proximity to the A3 so I had to resort to lip-reading to get the benefit of the fielder's "wisdom."
Unusually, Nomads' assertive skipper, Emil Todorow, was talked into a 40-over game by a Corinthians side who enjoy nothing better than a marathon fielding session in 80 degree heat.
Nomads batted first and Mark Bradshaw was soon away with a classy off-side 4 off Shaan, a bowler who sent down an equal mix of away swingers, erratic stuff and off-cutters. One of the latter accounted for Mahesh Vyas, bowled round his legs in the 5th over.
No. 3 Prasanth Pattiyil came out and soon began to hit the ball hard and true. He certainly seems to have added more power to his batting this year but denied rumours that he had been working out in the gym, by stating that he has been watching a lot of IPL. 2 resounding 4s off Shaan and a superb straight 6 off Shaan's otherwise tighter new ball partner Malik provided quality entertainment the equal of anything on ITV4.
Bradshaw had done a good job to see off the opening pair and help us to 44 for 1 off 10. He got hold of the first ball from 1st change swing bowler Clifford, back over the bowler's head but uppishly and Deep Mid-Off took an excellent and important catch.
2nd change bowler Shoaib was a Medium Pace Spinner with an unusual action, possibly the pick of the away side's attack. He ended Prasanth's breezy 30 but was smacked away for 4 next ball by Chris Kee; one of only 2 boundaries off Shoaib.
Clifford removed Kee, LBW as last week and Nomads were down to 87 for 4 with Hassan and Abdul, the last 2 recognized front-line batsmen at the square. This stand seemed vital but only realised a still-useful 23 before the awkward Shoaib had Abdul lbw. Chris Kennedy fell 3 balls later. Hassan was starting to blossom in the 30s, and has had several useful stands with No. 8 Nick Lefebve, but when our star all-rounder skied a catch 9 runs later, Nomads were reduced to 121 for 7 and would gratefully have accepted a final total of 140.
Lefebve and Darwin dug in initially and their contrasting styles soon began to pay dividends. Darwin, the more attacking player, produced one gorgeous Cover Drive - the Shot of the Day. Lefebve set out to leave anything outside off stump and generally match Corinthians for time-wasting in an attempt to blunt their banter. Having said that, the atmosphere was fine, a good laugh in the main. Most of Corinthians chirping was directed at the 17-year-old Mohammed whom they dubbed "The Future." "If he's the future then the past is standing at First Slip," one wag quipped, indicating the evergreen Steve O'Neill Ramsadeo.
A valuable and pugnacious 8th wicket stand of 42 ended with Darwin holing out off the deceptive pace of Victor. O'Neill Ramsadeo trapped Todorow first ball - rather plumb. The veteran then asked 3 successive loud questions as ball after ball rapped John Crossland's pads. Lefebve instructed Crossland to use his bat but our keeper got his revenge in the final over as Lefebve produced a series of hoiks only vaguely in the vicinity of the ball. "Look at the ball," the No. 11 suggested, but his advice went unheeded and an LBW from the 3rd-last delivery was the result.
165 was a decent effort in the end but, with one very short boundary, a dry outfield and a good pitch with just the occasional low bounce, I can't say we were particularly confident.
Emil Todorow seemed to have added half of yard of pace to his bowling in this game and claimed an early scalp with the score on around 20. No. 3 tried to fight fire with fire and lofted 2 enormous sixes off Emil. There was no way our skipper was going to tolerate this sort of treatment and, fuelled by pride and fear of what would be said to him in the pub, he removed his tormentor next ball - admittedly caught at head height by Hassan on the boundary. Corinthians' innings then followed the pattern of last year with a remorseless and fairly uneventful stand of around 100 between Rahman and Clifford virtually sealing victory. Progress wasn't spectacular - the score after 16 overs was only 59 for 2, but acceleration after Drinks made the result a formality. 2 excellent catches in the deep by Abdul Khan gave the score some semblance of respectability but Corinthians clinched a 6-wicket victory, sealed with a 6, in the 34th over.
Man of the Match was Abdul who produce an excellent spell of bowling at less than 2 an over, 2 fine catches and his usual deadly throws, and 14 runs. Abdul clinched Fielder of the Day with his second catch. Prior to this the award was destined to go to Chris Kennedy who, despite being the oldest player on the park (sorry, Chris) and having apparently had a most enjoyable and liquid lunch, produced total commitment and a couple of spectacular full length dives to save a run or two.
Clapham Nomads lost by 6 wickets
Nomads 165 from 39.4 overs
Bradshaw 11
Vyas 1
Pattiyil 30
H. Khan 37
Kee 5
A. Khan 14
Kennedy 0
Lefebve 12
Darwin 18
Todorow 0
Crossland 2 not out
F. O.W. - 18, 44, 78, 87, 112, 112, 121, 163, 163 , 165
Wimbledon Corinthians 171 for 4 from 33.3 overs
H. Khan 8-1-28-0
Todorow 8-2-32-2
A. Khan 8-1-14-0
Darwin 4-0-46-0
Pattiyil 5.3-0-48-2
Tuesday 22 May 2012
R.I.P. Peter Saberton
It was very sad to hear that a former Nomads player and captain, Peter Saberton, died last month at the age of 61. He only played a dozen or so games for the Nomads but captained the side admirably to victory in a potentially explosive needle match against The Hunter Family. We knew that he was a jazz pianist and, in fact, he gave up cricket after a dozen or so Nomads matches as he was worried about damaging his fingers (a distinct possibility remembering some of the pitches we used to play on.) I only found out that he was also a well-known and prolific jazz Composer when I read his obituary. He was a nice guy, a keen chess player and quite a close friend of Emil Todorow. We pass our condolences to Emil and to any of his other friends or relatives that may happen to read this. I will expand this, and perhaps include a report on the Nomads v Hunters match, soon
Nomads' Nicknames
If anyone is puzzled by a mention of "Mr Profundus" in the Caribbean Mix match report, I can tell them that this is the pet name given by Nomads captain Emil Todorow to our popular medium pace bowler Andrew West. Todorow claims that it is the Latin word for "profound" and that is used with mild irony, but I am not 100% sure on either of these points. I have checked on Google and there are a dozen or so "Mr Profundusses" (or Mr Profundi) but I detect only admiration for them. Several other current and recent Nomads players have nicknames;
Emil Todorow - The Buller, The Bear, Mushy
John Crossland - The Creature, Crozland
Nick Lefebve - The Ancient One, The Wall (? the Walrus),
Mark Bradshaw - Marky, (has been referred to on E.Exiles' website as Bradders)
Gopi Pala - Speedy
Hassan Khan - Gopi used to call him "Hasimbhai"
Jim Joyce - Mister St Tropez
John Chance - Benny
Joe Chance - The Kipper
Amin - Mr Six
Shailesh Bhatia - Baha
I will reveal some other, older ones in due course and also attempt to explain some of these bizarre titles. Also, if anyone can think of any others, please let me know.
Emil Todorow - The Buller, The Bear, Mushy
John Crossland - The Creature, Crozland
Nick Lefebve - The Ancient One, The Wall (? the Walrus),
Mark Bradshaw - Marky, (has been referred to on E.Exiles' website as Bradders)
Gopi Pala - Speedy
Hassan Khan - Gopi used to call him "Hasimbhai"
Jim Joyce - Mister St Tropez
John Chance - Benny
Joe Chance - The Kipper
Amin - Mr Six
Shailesh Bhatia - Baha
I will reveal some other, older ones in due course and also attempt to explain some of these bizarre titles. Also, if anyone can think of any others, please let me know.
Clapham Nomads v Caribbean Mix - 20/5/12
After 3 successive blank Sundays, the weather - and Merton Council - relented sufficiently to allow our season finally to get under way with this fixture against old friends the Caribbean Mix.
The venue was Joseph Hood Rec in SW20 and, once we had removed the poles and ropes surrounding the square and confirmed that some of the facilities (the Ladies' Lavatory) were open, we took the field shivering, having been asked to field by Mix skipper Jim Ferguson.
Hassan Khan took the new ball, producing his usual excellent probing Medium-Fast straight away, and bowling the dangerous Surrey Over-50s player Ferguson in the 3rd Over. Khan followed this with a fine piece of fielding in his next over; recovering from a misfield off his own bowling to throw the stumps down from 8 yards and run out No. 3 Devon. 6 for 2 but our opponents have recovered from this position before to post 250-plus.
The 3rd wicket partnership stopped the rot and a few shots began to flow. The scoring rate never really exceeded 3 an over for the first 12 or so, thanks to the exceptionally slow outfield and long boundaries and some fine bowling from Hassan supported by his able sidekick Emil Todorow. Todorow wasn't really happy with his bowling and at one point muttered "how can I bowl this shit?" He was going for less than 3 an over against dangerous batsmen at the time. Todorow has always had the knack of being pretty economical even when he is not bowling at his best.
First and second change were Abdul and Darwin with Abdul appearing to match Hassan for pace at times, if not quite for accuracy. Caribbean's score was creeping up but Wayne was becoming frustrated as lusty blows either missed the ball completely or connected but were denied boundaries by the long grass. One four resulted in the ball being lost for several minutes before it was located just outside the boundary in grass that was long, but actually shorter than some of the grass inside the rope. Darwin bowled plenty of good stuff and was unlucky several times with aerial shots dropping short of fielders or, with Wayne on around 40, into Emil's hands and out again. The skipper said that he had been distracted "by the arrival of Mr Profundus." What made Darwin the most expensive bowler was a tendency to throw in the odd Full Toss - seized on eagerly by Wayne.
A wicket for Abdul - a crafty Off Cutter which bowled the bemused batsman - and a well-deserved Caught and Bowled for Darwin ensured that Caribbean's customary 200-plus total was never likely. 3rd-changer Prasanth bowled nicely and, although he went for 5 an over, the batsmen never really dominated him - most of the runs came in 1s and 2s stroked out to the exceptionally deep fielders. The prize wicket of Wayne, LBW for 77, was Prasanth's reward.
With about 5 overs to go, Mark Bradshaw calculated that a 6th bowler would need to deliver the final over. In all probability this would be Nick Lefebve but when the situation became clear after Over 34, skipper Todorow insisted that there must have been a scoring error and Caribbean sportingly allowed Abdul to bowl the final over - officially his 7th but probably his 8th. Lefebve was more than relieved as the 35th and final over of a Caribbean Mix innings is not an ideal time to bowl your first deliveries for 9 months.
A final total of 177 was one that Nomads have passed twice to beat these opponents, but only on outfields with recent acquaintance of a lawnmower.
Tea was supplied by Caribbean Mix and was excellent as always; chicken and rice with Mr Ferguson's Mystery Sauce and cakes which were rated by Andrew West (whose opinion on cake is to be respected) as some of the best he had tasted.
It was only when we commenced our innings that we realised Mix had only 8 players. (They had seemed a bit thin on the ground but we assumed they were sheltering in the Team Bus.) With opening bowlers of the quality of Jono and Wayne (who took 6 for not many last year) though, 178 was still a big ask. Jono's Left Arm Round is awkward early on as he slants the ball in at above Medium and often cuts it away. He found the inside edge of both openers' bats in the first over but Mark Bradshaw and Mahesh Vyas settled quickly and looked comfortable, even against the marked variations of pace and length from Wayne. The gaps were there in the field but finding the boundary was going to be hard. Bradshaw began to stroke it through the Off Side for regular 2s, some of which would have been 4s in normal circumstances. In the 8th Over, Wayne rapped one into Bradshaw's pads and the ball squirted out on the leg side. A lacklustre half-appeal from the bowler was not matched by any noise from the keeper or close-up fielders and it was a distinct surprise to see the Umpire's finger go up. Further disaster followed 9 balls later when an ambitious single was denied by a direct hit from 15 yards to run out Mahesh Vyas. The next ball was clipped for 4 by Prasanth (the only boundary on the ground from a Nomads player.) At 31 for 2 there was some hope of a recovery but yet another direct hit, this one from over halfway to the fence, accounted for Prasanth as a 3rd run was being attempted. It appeared Wayne was just returning the ball to the keeper rather than aiming for the stumps, so it was a trifle unlucky.
Hassan was joined by No. 5 Chris Kee who showed promise with a firm leg-side smack for 2 before falling leg before. Abdul and Hassan were possibly our last real chance of getting close and their partnership was classy batting but never quite at a rate to worry the Away side. Yet another run out terminated this stand with Abdul just out of his ground, but with some debate as to whether the keeper had control over the ball (I think the keeper patted the ball onto the stumps - I wish there was a replay.)
Despite 2 late sixes, Hassan fell 1 short of a deserved half-century but respectable batting for 1s and 2s by the late-middle-order of Chris Kennedy, Darwin and Lefebve took Nomads up to 127 for 7 at the close. I can't say we looked like winning at any stage of our innings but the batting was steady and showed promise for the rest of the summer. Nomads didn't really have the rub of the green with run outs and umpiring decisions. If there is such a thing as a 50-run Defeat with Honour against 8 men then this was it.
Man of the Match is Hassan Khan who produced the best figures with bat and ball. He also takes Fielder of the Day with the one moment of real excellence on a day when everyone fielded pretty well and worked damned hard.
Nomads lost by 50 runs
Caribbean Mix - 177 for 5 from 35 overs (Wayne 77)
H. Khan 7-1-10-1
Todorow 7-0-29-0
A. Khan 7-0-33-1
Darwin 7-0-55-1
P. Pattiyil 7-0-37-1
Clapham Nomads - 127 for 7 from 35 overs
M. Bradshaw lbw Wayne, 14
M. Vyas run out, 6
P. Pattiyil run out, 8
H. Khan c b Nigel, 49
C. Kee lbw Nigel, 3
A. Khan run out, 19
C. Kennedy not out, 10
Darwin stumped Devon b Nigel, 7
N. Lefebve not out, 4
Did not bat; E. Todorow, J. Crossland
12th Man - A. West
F.O.W. - 19, 20, 31, 40, 78, 107, 123
The venue was Joseph Hood Rec in SW20 and, once we had removed the poles and ropes surrounding the square and confirmed that some of the facilities (the Ladies' Lavatory) were open, we took the field shivering, having been asked to field by Mix skipper Jim Ferguson.
Hassan Khan took the new ball, producing his usual excellent probing Medium-Fast straight away, and bowling the dangerous Surrey Over-50s player Ferguson in the 3rd Over. Khan followed this with a fine piece of fielding in his next over; recovering from a misfield off his own bowling to throw the stumps down from 8 yards and run out No. 3 Devon. 6 for 2 but our opponents have recovered from this position before to post 250-plus.
The 3rd wicket partnership stopped the rot and a few shots began to flow. The scoring rate never really exceeded 3 an over for the first 12 or so, thanks to the exceptionally slow outfield and long boundaries and some fine bowling from Hassan supported by his able sidekick Emil Todorow. Todorow wasn't really happy with his bowling and at one point muttered "how can I bowl this shit?" He was going for less than 3 an over against dangerous batsmen at the time. Todorow has always had the knack of being pretty economical even when he is not bowling at his best.
First and second change were Abdul and Darwin with Abdul appearing to match Hassan for pace at times, if not quite for accuracy. Caribbean's score was creeping up but Wayne was becoming frustrated as lusty blows either missed the ball completely or connected but were denied boundaries by the long grass. One four resulted in the ball being lost for several minutes before it was located just outside the boundary in grass that was long, but actually shorter than some of the grass inside the rope. Darwin bowled plenty of good stuff and was unlucky several times with aerial shots dropping short of fielders or, with Wayne on around 40, into Emil's hands and out again. The skipper said that he had been distracted "by the arrival of Mr Profundus." What made Darwin the most expensive bowler was a tendency to throw in the odd Full Toss - seized on eagerly by Wayne.
A wicket for Abdul - a crafty Off Cutter which bowled the bemused batsman - and a well-deserved Caught and Bowled for Darwin ensured that Caribbean's customary 200-plus total was never likely. 3rd-changer Prasanth bowled nicely and, although he went for 5 an over, the batsmen never really dominated him - most of the runs came in 1s and 2s stroked out to the exceptionally deep fielders. The prize wicket of Wayne, LBW for 77, was Prasanth's reward.
With about 5 overs to go, Mark Bradshaw calculated that a 6th bowler would need to deliver the final over. In all probability this would be Nick Lefebve but when the situation became clear after Over 34, skipper Todorow insisted that there must have been a scoring error and Caribbean sportingly allowed Abdul to bowl the final over - officially his 7th but probably his 8th. Lefebve was more than relieved as the 35th and final over of a Caribbean Mix innings is not an ideal time to bowl your first deliveries for 9 months.
A final total of 177 was one that Nomads have passed twice to beat these opponents, but only on outfields with recent acquaintance of a lawnmower.
Tea was supplied by Caribbean Mix and was excellent as always; chicken and rice with Mr Ferguson's Mystery Sauce and cakes which were rated by Andrew West (whose opinion on cake is to be respected) as some of the best he had tasted.
It was only when we commenced our innings that we realised Mix had only 8 players. (They had seemed a bit thin on the ground but we assumed they were sheltering in the Team Bus.) With opening bowlers of the quality of Jono and Wayne (who took 6 for not many last year) though, 178 was still a big ask. Jono's Left Arm Round is awkward early on as he slants the ball in at above Medium and often cuts it away. He found the inside edge of both openers' bats in the first over but Mark Bradshaw and Mahesh Vyas settled quickly and looked comfortable, even against the marked variations of pace and length from Wayne. The gaps were there in the field but finding the boundary was going to be hard. Bradshaw began to stroke it through the Off Side for regular 2s, some of which would have been 4s in normal circumstances. In the 8th Over, Wayne rapped one into Bradshaw's pads and the ball squirted out on the leg side. A lacklustre half-appeal from the bowler was not matched by any noise from the keeper or close-up fielders and it was a distinct surprise to see the Umpire's finger go up. Further disaster followed 9 balls later when an ambitious single was denied by a direct hit from 15 yards to run out Mahesh Vyas. The next ball was clipped for 4 by Prasanth (the only boundary on the ground from a Nomads player.) At 31 for 2 there was some hope of a recovery but yet another direct hit, this one from over halfway to the fence, accounted for Prasanth as a 3rd run was being attempted. It appeared Wayne was just returning the ball to the keeper rather than aiming for the stumps, so it was a trifle unlucky.
Hassan was joined by No. 5 Chris Kee who showed promise with a firm leg-side smack for 2 before falling leg before. Abdul and Hassan were possibly our last real chance of getting close and their partnership was classy batting but never quite at a rate to worry the Away side. Yet another run out terminated this stand with Abdul just out of his ground, but with some debate as to whether the keeper had control over the ball (I think the keeper patted the ball onto the stumps - I wish there was a replay.)
Despite 2 late sixes, Hassan fell 1 short of a deserved half-century but respectable batting for 1s and 2s by the late-middle-order of Chris Kennedy, Darwin and Lefebve took Nomads up to 127 for 7 at the close. I can't say we looked like winning at any stage of our innings but the batting was steady and showed promise for the rest of the summer. Nomads didn't really have the rub of the green with run outs and umpiring decisions. If there is such a thing as a 50-run Defeat with Honour against 8 men then this was it.
Man of the Match is Hassan Khan who produced the best figures with bat and ball. He also takes Fielder of the Day with the one moment of real excellence on a day when everyone fielded pretty well and worked damned hard.
Nomads lost by 50 runs
Caribbean Mix - 177 for 5 from 35 overs (Wayne 77)
H. Khan 7-1-10-1
Todorow 7-0-29-0
A. Khan 7-0-33-1
Darwin 7-0-55-1
P. Pattiyil 7-0-37-1
Clapham Nomads - 127 for 7 from 35 overs
M. Bradshaw lbw Wayne, 14
M. Vyas run out, 6
P. Pattiyil run out, 8
H. Khan c b Nigel, 49
C. Kee lbw Nigel, 3
A. Khan run out, 19
C. Kennedy not out, 10
Darwin stumped Devon b Nigel, 7
N. Lefebve not out, 4
Did not bat; E. Todorow, J. Crossland
12th Man - A. West
F.O.W. - 19, 20, 31, 40, 78, 107, 123
Sunday 22 April 2012
2012 Season - First fixture 29/4/12
The first fixture of the 2012 season will be on Sunday 29th April v Surbiton Imperials at Raynes Park Sports Ground. 2 pm start. Emil will ring early in the week, or phone him if you have any queries. Nick
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