Our popular all rounder took his first hat-trick for the club yesterday (only about the fifth hat-trick in Nomads history). And congratulations for this must be added to an overdue double tribute. Hassan made his 100th appearance for Nomads in the first game of this season (only the 6th player to achieve this) and in August last year he passed John Chance's long-standing record and became the all-time top run scorer for the Nomads. He is now on around 3700, bearing down fast on his 4,000.
Hassan first played for Nomads back in the 2000 season, when we were briefly a League side, and did well with bat and ball, but we had so many fine players at that time that my main memory of him is when he belted a ball to the Mid-Wicket boundary for an almost certain 6, only to be denied when our very own Andrew West - guesting for the opposition and, to be fair, not the most co-ordinated of fielders - stuck out one meaty paw and the ball, incredibly, stuck. The 22 men who witnessed this are privileged because it is not available on DVD and it was the most remarkable catch I have seen in over 40 years of watching cricket at all levels.
I don't think Hassan felt privileged though and he understandably took refuge in playing proper League Cricket for a few years. He returned to the Nomads in 2006, just when we needed him as our fine mid-2000s side with Gaurang, Upeka, Jean-Claude and Shailesh was breaking up. Since then it is fair to say that he has been the best regular player in Nomads history. He has dominated the middle-order and been at the heart of 2 fantastic batting line-ups; Hassan, Ben Fewson and John Chance in 2007 and Hassan, Ben Fewson, Mark Bradshaw and Prasanth Pattiyil in 2009-2010. I have had the pleasure of watching most of his innings, usually from the umpire's position, and there often comes a point - usually on around 25 - when something clicks and you can tell the bowlers are in for some punishment. He is also very good at batting with the lower order and taking charge of a partnership. I am proud to share the club record 5th wicket stand of 139 with him, but I recall that when the 50 partnership came up, I was still on 0.
Hassan's opening bowling partnership with Emil Todorow is legendary around South London Sunday cricket and there have been periods where he has appeared impossible to score off at above 2 an over. Plenty of wickets have come as well and I swear he would swap 10 wickets from his pace bowling for 1 wicket with one of his slower balls.
Hassan is a great guy and has been a pleasure to play with. He knows the game inside out but always keeps a sense of fun. Only he could have nicknamed Emil "Mushy", after the famously hairy Leg Spinner Mushtaq Ahmed. It can't be easy being a class player in the Nomads. Only yesterday he bowled an over which should have conceded 4 at the most, but Nomads' fielders somehow turned this into 11. He bounced back the very next over to claim a hat-trick.
Monday 27 May 2013
Kings v Clapham Nomads - 26/5/13
Nomads lost yet again, but this was probably our best performance of the season so far. Unfortunately, the curse of Bank Holiday struck and we were significantly short of players for the first time this season as a late withdrawal, 2 no shows and the confirmation of John Crossland's ankle injury as a fracture reduced our potential 13-man squad to a tight unit of 9 for this second game in a row at the Del Ballard Rec at Dundonald Road in Wimbledon.
When we met the opposition, we were disturbed to hear they had recently blown away Wimbledon United, who had beaten us pretty easily the previous week, knocking off 148 in 16 overs.
Emil Todorow won the toss and inserted Kings - I must admit our confidence is a little low and this was partly to make a game of it. In the event, Kings batting could not be described as devastating but it was pretty remorseless. Hassan and Emil bowled probably their best opening spells of the season so far - and we were almost content at 51 for 3, but Fahid and Irfan just squeezed the life out of us with a stand of 126 for the 4th wicket, stroking it about as they pleased at around 5 an over. We bowled and fielded our hearts out for the first 35 overs of the 40 against a strong side - a couple of dropped catches notwithstanding - and it was only after the 35 when our aching bones began to protest that their normal workload was done that we began to become rather sloppy in the field. Luckily our bowlers were made of sterner stuff.
At 218 for 5 we were heading for a target of over 240 but a fantastic late recovery saw us dismiss Kings for 221. The pick of the Nomads bowlers was Asghar Khan, playing his first Nomads match for 5 years, and delivering it nice and straight, nothing fancy, at medium pace. 3 wickets including 2 LBWs was his reward.
Hassan Khan bowled the 36th over and it should have gone for no more than 4, but somehow Nomads' fielders turned this into 11. Lesser men would have retired on the spot but Hassan bounced back in his next over with a brilliant hat-trick which blew Kings' late order and enabled us to contemplate a still formidable target of 222 over an early tea.
In a brief summary of our reply, excellent batting from Zia and Abdul, supported by cameos from Darwin and Hassan took us up to a fairly respectable 9-man total of 126 all out. This was against a distinctly sharp attack featuring the very rapid Ijaz, almost certainly the fastest bowler ever to play against the Nomads. Kings sportingly allowed our 2 highest scorers, Zia and Abdul to bat again - to the confusion of scorer John Crossland - and Zia treated us to a stunning display of clean hitting off Kings' best bowlers, peppering the surrounding streets with cricket balls and bits of falling tree branch. He made 35 in about 15 balls including four sixes to add to his 47 from the official innings. Nomads finally lost their 10th wicket on 163 and so lost by 96 runs if you are a purist or 58 runs if you are not. Zia's batting, especially in his second innings was fantastically entertaining - he really got a hold of some of the best pacemen we have faced and despatched them to all parts. Nomads' batsmen have had a good deal of success on Pitch 1 at Dundonald Road. Our all-time record partnership of 197 between Mark Bradshaw and Cameron Russell was on this square, as was Jim Joyce's 50 off 20 balls (another Nomads record) but these were against Kingston Lefthanders and Touring Theatres, Kings' bowling was an entirely different matter.
Man of the Match was Hassan Khan for his first hat-trick for the club. Fielder of the Day was Mahesh Vyas who did well behind the stumps to concede only 2 byes.
Kings (221 all out from 37.4 overs) beat Clapham Nomads (126 all out from 28 overs) by 96 runs.
M. Vyas 6
Darwin 13
Zia 47
H. Khan 12
Abdul Khan 38
Abbas Khan 0
N. Lefebve 0
Asghar Khan 0
E. Todorow 6
Zia (batting again) - 36 not out
Abdul Khan (batting again) - 0
F.O.W. - 9, 27, 47, 116, 124, 124, 124, 126, - Extra time (163, 163)
H. Khan 7.4-0-43-3
E. Todorow 8-0-32-2
Zia 4-0-21-1
Abbas Khan 8-0-50-1
Abdul Khan 5-0-41-0
Asghar Khan 5-0-21-3
When we met the opposition, we were disturbed to hear they had recently blown away Wimbledon United, who had beaten us pretty easily the previous week, knocking off 148 in 16 overs.
Emil Todorow won the toss and inserted Kings - I must admit our confidence is a little low and this was partly to make a game of it. In the event, Kings batting could not be described as devastating but it was pretty remorseless. Hassan and Emil bowled probably their best opening spells of the season so far - and we were almost content at 51 for 3, but Fahid and Irfan just squeezed the life out of us with a stand of 126 for the 4th wicket, stroking it about as they pleased at around 5 an over. We bowled and fielded our hearts out for the first 35 overs of the 40 against a strong side - a couple of dropped catches notwithstanding - and it was only after the 35 when our aching bones began to protest that their normal workload was done that we began to become rather sloppy in the field. Luckily our bowlers were made of sterner stuff.
At 218 for 5 we were heading for a target of over 240 but a fantastic late recovery saw us dismiss Kings for 221. The pick of the Nomads bowlers was Asghar Khan, playing his first Nomads match for 5 years, and delivering it nice and straight, nothing fancy, at medium pace. 3 wickets including 2 LBWs was his reward.
Hassan Khan bowled the 36th over and it should have gone for no more than 4, but somehow Nomads' fielders turned this into 11. Lesser men would have retired on the spot but Hassan bounced back in his next over with a brilliant hat-trick which blew Kings' late order and enabled us to contemplate a still formidable target of 222 over an early tea.
In a brief summary of our reply, excellent batting from Zia and Abdul, supported by cameos from Darwin and Hassan took us up to a fairly respectable 9-man total of 126 all out. This was against a distinctly sharp attack featuring the very rapid Ijaz, almost certainly the fastest bowler ever to play against the Nomads. Kings sportingly allowed our 2 highest scorers, Zia and Abdul to bat again - to the confusion of scorer John Crossland - and Zia treated us to a stunning display of clean hitting off Kings' best bowlers, peppering the surrounding streets with cricket balls and bits of falling tree branch. He made 35 in about 15 balls including four sixes to add to his 47 from the official innings. Nomads finally lost their 10th wicket on 163 and so lost by 96 runs if you are a purist or 58 runs if you are not. Zia's batting, especially in his second innings was fantastically entertaining - he really got a hold of some of the best pacemen we have faced and despatched them to all parts. Nomads' batsmen have had a good deal of success on Pitch 1 at Dundonald Road. Our all-time record partnership of 197 between Mark Bradshaw and Cameron Russell was on this square, as was Jim Joyce's 50 off 20 balls (another Nomads record) but these were against Kingston Lefthanders and Touring Theatres, Kings' bowling was an entirely different matter.
Man of the Match was Hassan Khan for his first hat-trick for the club. Fielder of the Day was Mahesh Vyas who did well behind the stumps to concede only 2 byes.
Kings (221 all out from 37.4 overs) beat Clapham Nomads (126 all out from 28 overs) by 96 runs.
M. Vyas 6
Darwin 13
Zia 47
H. Khan 12
Abdul Khan 38
Abbas Khan 0
N. Lefebve 0
Asghar Khan 0
E. Todorow 6
Zia (batting again) - 36 not out
Abdul Khan (batting again) - 0
F.O.W. - 9, 27, 47, 116, 124, 124, 124, 126, - Extra time (163, 163)
H. Khan 7.4-0-43-3
E. Todorow 8-0-32-2
Zia 4-0-21-1
Abbas Khan 8-0-50-1
Abdul Khan 5-0-41-0
Asghar Khan 5-0-21-3
Monday 20 May 2013
Clapham Nomads v Wimbledon United - 19/5/13
Clapham Nomads lost our 4th game in a row - as usual by around 45 runs. As John pointed out - regularly - at least we have a 100% record.
This was probably the most enjoyable day of the season so far. Apart from the defeat and a nasty ankle injury to wicketkeeper John Crossland, this had everything you could want from a Sunday game; a very pleasant opposition and a good atmosphere, a mild day, some entertaining and attacking batting from both sides, good varied bowling from the away side, Andrew West stopping the ball with just about every part of his body in the field, and a dog eating a fair proportion of the tea.
I arrived for this game at Del Ballard Rec in Dundonald Road at 3 pm with Wimbledon on around 70 for 2 off 15 and batting beautifully but it was clear that momentous events had been taking place - and I don't mean Nomads actually taking 2 early wickets. Andrew West (who had not been on the team sheet) was charging around the mid-wicket boundary, clad in blue and purple, making sensational stops, Mahesh Vyas was neat and tidy behind the stumps, and regular keeper John Crossland was rubbing his leg vigorously by the trees, and not in a way that seemed to be causing him particular pleasure. It turned out that John had been smacked full on the ankle by a fast full toss. Fortunately, we had an experienced wicketkeeper in the side and a sub fielder available. Unfortunately, John's injury has now been confirmed as a broken ankle and he is likely to be out for at least another 6 weeks. Best wishes for a quick recovery, John.
The afternoon proceeded with an excellent 85 stand for the 3rd wicket between Alex Herbert and Steve Lord taking United up to 105. Both players drove impressively. Nomads bowling was OK with Emil and Abdul sharing equally the 4 wickets that fall. Only Abbas came in for real punishment. Zia was the fastest and the most economical with 23 taken off his 7. Nomads groundfielding was very good but the fastest piece of work was from a passing dog who scooped up a jam tart - complete with foil base - and a whole pack of economy chicken slices in one slick movement just as the half-time tea had been laid out. A string of profanities rent the air as Team Chef Lefebve and Food Fan West chased the mutt away just as he was bearing down on the Halal Chicken.
United closed on 180 for 4 and, despite the good pitch and fast outfield, our recent record did not give us much confidence as we tucked into the remains of the tea, which had been augmented by the pack of frozen beans John had been keeping up his leg to reduce the swelling.
Wimbledon's attack was led by the tall Fast-Medium outswing bowler Peter Brown "The Southfields Express", who struck in the first over, shaping one away to have debutant Gul well caught at First Slip by Flannery on Gul's first ball for the club. No. 3 Prasanth Pattiyil continued his fine recent form and cracked 5 fours, mostly straight and though and over Square Leg. Mahesh Vyas was looking sound in the Anchor Man role and at 37 for 1 and with a classy-looking Top 7, Nomads were by no means out of it but Prasanth was bowled round his legs by Hasan for 27. Hassan Khan kept up the decent scoring rate but Mahesh, having survived the openers, skied a catch off first-changer Herbert with Nomads on 49.
Darwin, Zia and Abdul all peppered the boundary but Nomads just couldn't build a major stand. Quickish Off-Spinner James Flannery sealed Wimbledon's victory with 7 overs in which he achieved a fair amount of turn at just below Medium pace. He did go for 37 off his 7 overs but he accounted for 4 of Nomads' hardest hitters, 2 of them falling to well-judged catches off skiers as the Home side subsided from 93 for 4 to 131 for 9. The not out man Emil Todorow demanded that the injured John Crossland come out and join him to complete the innings to which Crossland replied; "I would - if we had any chance of winning." In the end, Wimbledon sportingly agreed to allow sub fielder Andrew West to bat and were rewarded with a look at his unique grip. Emil Todorow cracked a fine boundary to vindicate his insistence that all was not lost but he fell soon afterwards.
Anyway, a thoroughly enjoyable game for everyone except the unfortunate John. Man of the Match was Prasanth, whose fine innings contained the few brief moments when the result was in any doubt. Fielder of the Day was Andrew West who brought off some excellent stops.
Wimbledon United (180 for 4 from 35 overs) beat Clapham Nomads (135 all out from 29 overs) by 45 runs.
M.Vyas 14
Gul 0
P. Pattiyil 27
H. Khan 19
Darwin 15
Zia 27
Abdul. Khan 11
Kennedy 0
Abbas Khan 7
Todorow 4
A. West Not out 0
F.O.W. - 1, 37, 49, 70, 93, 118, 122, 131, 131, 135
H. Khan 7-0-40-0
E. Todorow 7-1-26-2
Zia 7-0-23-0
Abbas Khan 7-0-51-0
Abdul Khan 7-0-30-2
This was probably the most enjoyable day of the season so far. Apart from the defeat and a nasty ankle injury to wicketkeeper John Crossland, this had everything you could want from a Sunday game; a very pleasant opposition and a good atmosphere, a mild day, some entertaining and attacking batting from both sides, good varied bowling from the away side, Andrew West stopping the ball with just about every part of his body in the field, and a dog eating a fair proportion of the tea.
I arrived for this game at Del Ballard Rec in Dundonald Road at 3 pm with Wimbledon on around 70 for 2 off 15 and batting beautifully but it was clear that momentous events had been taking place - and I don't mean Nomads actually taking 2 early wickets. Andrew West (who had not been on the team sheet) was charging around the mid-wicket boundary, clad in blue and purple, making sensational stops, Mahesh Vyas was neat and tidy behind the stumps, and regular keeper John Crossland was rubbing his leg vigorously by the trees, and not in a way that seemed to be causing him particular pleasure. It turned out that John had been smacked full on the ankle by a fast full toss. Fortunately, we had an experienced wicketkeeper in the side and a sub fielder available. Unfortunately, John's injury has now been confirmed as a broken ankle and he is likely to be out for at least another 6 weeks. Best wishes for a quick recovery, John.
The afternoon proceeded with an excellent 85 stand for the 3rd wicket between Alex Herbert and Steve Lord taking United up to 105. Both players drove impressively. Nomads bowling was OK with Emil and Abdul sharing equally the 4 wickets that fall. Only Abbas came in for real punishment. Zia was the fastest and the most economical with 23 taken off his 7. Nomads groundfielding was very good but the fastest piece of work was from a passing dog who scooped up a jam tart - complete with foil base - and a whole pack of economy chicken slices in one slick movement just as the half-time tea had been laid out. A string of profanities rent the air as Team Chef Lefebve and Food Fan West chased the mutt away just as he was bearing down on the Halal Chicken.
United closed on 180 for 4 and, despite the good pitch and fast outfield, our recent record did not give us much confidence as we tucked into the remains of the tea, which had been augmented by the pack of frozen beans John had been keeping up his leg to reduce the swelling.
Wimbledon's attack was led by the tall Fast-Medium outswing bowler Peter Brown "The Southfields Express", who struck in the first over, shaping one away to have debutant Gul well caught at First Slip by Flannery on Gul's first ball for the club. No. 3 Prasanth Pattiyil continued his fine recent form and cracked 5 fours, mostly straight and though and over Square Leg. Mahesh Vyas was looking sound in the Anchor Man role and at 37 for 1 and with a classy-looking Top 7, Nomads were by no means out of it but Prasanth was bowled round his legs by Hasan for 27. Hassan Khan kept up the decent scoring rate but Mahesh, having survived the openers, skied a catch off first-changer Herbert with Nomads on 49.
Darwin, Zia and Abdul all peppered the boundary but Nomads just couldn't build a major stand. Quickish Off-Spinner James Flannery sealed Wimbledon's victory with 7 overs in which he achieved a fair amount of turn at just below Medium pace. He did go for 37 off his 7 overs but he accounted for 4 of Nomads' hardest hitters, 2 of them falling to well-judged catches off skiers as the Home side subsided from 93 for 4 to 131 for 9. The not out man Emil Todorow demanded that the injured John Crossland come out and join him to complete the innings to which Crossland replied; "I would - if we had any chance of winning." In the end, Wimbledon sportingly agreed to allow sub fielder Andrew West to bat and were rewarded with a look at his unique grip. Emil Todorow cracked a fine boundary to vindicate his insistence that all was not lost but he fell soon afterwards.
Anyway, a thoroughly enjoyable game for everyone except the unfortunate John. Man of the Match was Prasanth, whose fine innings contained the few brief moments when the result was in any doubt. Fielder of the Day was Andrew West who brought off some excellent stops.
Wimbledon United (180 for 4 from 35 overs) beat Clapham Nomads (135 all out from 29 overs) by 45 runs.
M.Vyas 14
Gul 0
P. Pattiyil 27
H. Khan 19
Darwin 15
Zia 27
Abdul. Khan 11
Kennedy 0
Abbas Khan 7
Todorow 4
A. West Not out 0
F.O.W. - 1, 37, 49, 70, 93, 118, 122, 131, 131, 135
H. Khan 7-0-40-0
E. Todorow 7-1-26-2
Zia 7-0-23-0
Abbas Khan 7-0-51-0
Abdul Khan 7-0-30-2
Wednesday 15 May 2013
Kew v Clapham Nomads - 12/5/13
Clapham Nomads made the long journey to Kew for a Conference match on Sunday and came up against a stronger than anticipated home side. I didn't play in this match but, according to Emil, Nomads did fairly well to concede only 200 for 3 against a very talented batting line up on a cracking pitch. One chap made 100. Hassan was the pick of the bowlers with 1 for 25 off seven overs, but Emil, Abbas and Riaz were tidy as well.
Kew had 2 tall young fast bowlers, one of whom removed Mahesh Vyas early on in our reply and then rapped Prasanth Pattiyil on the wrist with a lifter. Prasanth did very well to bat on for a fighting 24. Darwin made a nice 31 and there was some very entertaining hitting from Abbas at the close supported by Chris Kennedy though by then the game was lost. I didn't feel that a 62-run defeat was too shabby against a team who were a class above us (in a strictly cricketing sense) but I will leave the final word on this to John Crossland who wrote in the scorebook; "Kew were just too strong for us. Call me negative if you want." A pregnant pause is necessary here.
Admittedly several of the Nomads were late. I'll pause for a bit here while readers pick themselves up from the floor. At least one of the home side told us that we were unlikely to be invited back again. There are two categories of lapsed fixtures; those sides you are unfortunately unlikely to play again (Nepotists, Kenley, possibly Morden) and those you are unlikely to play again (Kingston Lefthanders, Surrey Ovalites, Kew.)
Man of the Match is close between Prasanth for a great comeback after receiving a nasty knock, Darwin, but I will give it to Abbas who was joint top-scorer with 31 and bowled 7 overs for only 26. Fielder of the Day was John Crossland whose catches behind the stumps accounted for 2 of the 3 wickets we took.
Kew (200 for 3 from 35 overs) beat Clapham Nomads (138 all out from 32.2 overs) by 62 runs.
Adnan Khan - 14
M. Vyas - 0
P. Pattiyil - 24
H. Khan - 0
Darwin - 31
Abdul Khan - 1
R. Khan - 2
Abbas Khan - 31
C. Kennedy - 9
E. Todorow - 2
J. Crossland - 0 Not out
F.O.W. - 2, 22, 22, 78, 84, 86, 90, 128, 138, 138
H. Khan 7-1-25-1
E. Todorow 7-2-33-0
Abbas Khan 7-0-26-0
R. Khan 6-0-34-1
Abdul Khan 6-0-64-1
Adnan Khan 2-0-15-0
Kew had 2 tall young fast bowlers, one of whom removed Mahesh Vyas early on in our reply and then rapped Prasanth Pattiyil on the wrist with a lifter. Prasanth did very well to bat on for a fighting 24. Darwin made a nice 31 and there was some very entertaining hitting from Abbas at the close supported by Chris Kennedy though by then the game was lost. I didn't feel that a 62-run defeat was too shabby against a team who were a class above us (in a strictly cricketing sense) but I will leave the final word on this to John Crossland who wrote in the scorebook; "Kew were just too strong for us. Call me negative if you want." A pregnant pause is necessary here.
Admittedly several of the Nomads were late. I'll pause for a bit here while readers pick themselves up from the floor. At least one of the home side told us that we were unlikely to be invited back again. There are two categories of lapsed fixtures; those sides you are unfortunately unlikely to play again (Nepotists, Kenley, possibly Morden) and those you are unlikely to play again (Kingston Lefthanders, Surrey Ovalites, Kew.)
Man of the Match is close between Prasanth for a great comeback after receiving a nasty knock, Darwin, but I will give it to Abbas who was joint top-scorer with 31 and bowled 7 overs for only 26. Fielder of the Day was John Crossland whose catches behind the stumps accounted for 2 of the 3 wickets we took.
Kew (200 for 3 from 35 overs) beat Clapham Nomads (138 all out from 32.2 overs) by 62 runs.
Adnan Khan - 14
M. Vyas - 0
P. Pattiyil - 24
H. Khan - 0
Darwin - 31
Abdul Khan - 1
R. Khan - 2
Abbas Khan - 31
C. Kennedy - 9
E. Todorow - 2
J. Crossland - 0 Not out
F.O.W. - 2, 22, 22, 78, 84, 86, 90, 128, 138, 138
H. Khan 7-1-25-1
E. Todorow 7-2-33-0
Abbas Khan 7-0-26-0
R. Khan 6-0-34-1
Abdul Khan 6-0-64-1
Adnan Khan 2-0-15-0
Wednesday 8 May 2013
Energy Exiles v Clapham Nomads - 5/5/13
Life felt good on the morning of the 5th. We were off to play the Exiles with a half-decent Nomads line-up. There was no more travelling by trolley and taxi as Emil Todorow had acquired a gleaming Renault Megane - one previous lady owner - and, on the back seat, we had an Australian ringer...sorry, debutant.
Contentment spilt over into something close to ecstasy as we found that Exiles had no Simon Gundry, no Naren Patel (lovely guy but always takes wickets against us) and John Tither was batting low down the order. Could Nomads actually beat the Exiles again? Stranger things have happened.
Inevitably we were brought back to earth fairly quickly as the 2 Wills - Clephane and Kent - took the intiative against Hassan and Emil's New Ball bowling. Clephane, on his Exiles debut, looked particularly impressive and, having survived an early caught and bowled chance, cracked an entertaining 51 off 61 balls including 2 large sixes. When we finally got him, No. 3 Jasper Searle just upped the ante with 24 at a run a ball to accompany Will Kent past his 50. Nomads had had high hopes for our spinner Oli Heywood, a Melbourne league off-spinner. He bowled pretty well but Exiles managed to take 35 from his 7 overs without losing a wicket and this was probably decisive. To be fair, I got the impression from talking to Oli that he gets a lot of his wickets from athletic catches in the bat pad area and other close up positions - something not seen particularly regularly by Nomads fans. Clapham hustled our way back into the game briefly with 4 wickets between 122 and 151, including the important one of big-hitter Andy Wingfield, and had a chance to face no more that about 160 but excellent power hitting from Wil Scott and particularly Marcin Zielenewski late on took Exiles up to a daunting 181 for 5 at the break.
Exiles' bowling attack had a slightly unfamiliar look to it but Marcin Zielenewski - a much-improved player in the past season or 2 - sent it down gun-barrel straight and true, only going for 6 from his first 5 overs. I picked the more entertaining end to umpire at and there was lavish swing, seam and trickery from Wingfield, who claimed the 2 important wickets of Adnan and Abdul in his first 8 balls, and Phil Ling, who moves it in the air as much as anyone at this level. Mahesh Vyas steadied the Nomads ship with 8 in around 12 overs and Hassan began to eke out some runs, particularly when joined by Heywood at 28 for 3. Decent stands between Hassan and Oli Heywood (46) and Heywood and Chris Kennedy (29) offered Nomads no more than respectability as we dragged behind the asking rate. 2 wickets fell on 103 and No 8 Nick Lefebve joined Heywood who suddenly seemed galvanised by the fact that victory was off the agenda and began to smack the ball to all parts. He took a liking to Zielenewski and smashed an awesome 25 off one over which prompted Exiles' Management Committee of Tither and Wingfield to give the stunned bowler a motivational pep talk; "You have to want to do this." Suddenly, only 34 were needed from 2 overs and, crucially, Heywood was on strike. 3 boundaries off the next over, to be bowled by Wingfield, could have made for a squeaky bum finish but the blond left-armer is too experienced for that and closed the game out by conceding just 1 run. Zielenewski showed good character by bowling the closing over for just 3 and Exiles won by 29 runs.
Another defeat for the Nomads (and scores spookily similar to the previous week) but an enjoyable game. Man of the Match for Nomads was Oli Heywood. He may not play that much for us this season but there is a special request for him to turn out on 18th August. Fielder of the Day was Chris Kennedy who took the first catch and threw himself around in the field - showing the benefits of a Wetherspoons breakfast with liquid accompaniment.
We heard from the Exiles that former Nomads opener Mark Bradshaw would be making the short hop across South-West London and rejoining them in a sensational return move. We wish Mark the best of success - in fact, he has already featured in a club record partnership for the Exiles this season - and thank him for his excellent 5 seasons with the Nomads. Tribute to follow now that I am catching up with reports etc.
Energy Exiles (181 for 5 from 35 overs) beat Clapham Nomads (152 for 6 from 35 overs) by 29 runs
Adnan Khan - 5
M. Vyas - 8
Abdul Khan - 5
H. Khan - 28
O. Heywood - 82 not out
C. Kennedy - 2
R. Khan - 0
N. Lefebve - 3 not out
Did not bat; E. Todorow, Abbas Khan, J. Crossland
F.O.W. - 5, 11, 28, 74, 103, 103
H. Khan 7-0-25-3
E. Todorow 5-1-18-0
Abbas Khan 4-0-18-0
O. Heywood 7-0-35-0
R. Khan 7-0-48-2
Abdul Khan 5-0-28-0
Contentment spilt over into something close to ecstasy as we found that Exiles had no Simon Gundry, no Naren Patel (lovely guy but always takes wickets against us) and John Tither was batting low down the order. Could Nomads actually beat the Exiles again? Stranger things have happened.
Inevitably we were brought back to earth fairly quickly as the 2 Wills - Clephane and Kent - took the intiative against Hassan and Emil's New Ball bowling. Clephane, on his Exiles debut, looked particularly impressive and, having survived an early caught and bowled chance, cracked an entertaining 51 off 61 balls including 2 large sixes. When we finally got him, No. 3 Jasper Searle just upped the ante with 24 at a run a ball to accompany Will Kent past his 50. Nomads had had high hopes for our spinner Oli Heywood, a Melbourne league off-spinner. He bowled pretty well but Exiles managed to take 35 from his 7 overs without losing a wicket and this was probably decisive. To be fair, I got the impression from talking to Oli that he gets a lot of his wickets from athletic catches in the bat pad area and other close up positions - something not seen particularly regularly by Nomads fans. Clapham hustled our way back into the game briefly with 4 wickets between 122 and 151, including the important one of big-hitter Andy Wingfield, and had a chance to face no more that about 160 but excellent power hitting from Wil Scott and particularly Marcin Zielenewski late on took Exiles up to a daunting 181 for 5 at the break.
Exiles' bowling attack had a slightly unfamiliar look to it but Marcin Zielenewski - a much-improved player in the past season or 2 - sent it down gun-barrel straight and true, only going for 6 from his first 5 overs. I picked the more entertaining end to umpire at and there was lavish swing, seam and trickery from Wingfield, who claimed the 2 important wickets of Adnan and Abdul in his first 8 balls, and Phil Ling, who moves it in the air as much as anyone at this level. Mahesh Vyas steadied the Nomads ship with 8 in around 12 overs and Hassan began to eke out some runs, particularly when joined by Heywood at 28 for 3. Decent stands between Hassan and Oli Heywood (46) and Heywood and Chris Kennedy (29) offered Nomads no more than respectability as we dragged behind the asking rate. 2 wickets fell on 103 and No 8 Nick Lefebve joined Heywood who suddenly seemed galvanised by the fact that victory was off the agenda and began to smack the ball to all parts. He took a liking to Zielenewski and smashed an awesome 25 off one over which prompted Exiles' Management Committee of Tither and Wingfield to give the stunned bowler a motivational pep talk; "You have to want to do this." Suddenly, only 34 were needed from 2 overs and, crucially, Heywood was on strike. 3 boundaries off the next over, to be bowled by Wingfield, could have made for a squeaky bum finish but the blond left-armer is too experienced for that and closed the game out by conceding just 1 run. Zielenewski showed good character by bowling the closing over for just 3 and Exiles won by 29 runs.
Another defeat for the Nomads (and scores spookily similar to the previous week) but an enjoyable game. Man of the Match for Nomads was Oli Heywood. He may not play that much for us this season but there is a special request for him to turn out on 18th August. Fielder of the Day was Chris Kennedy who took the first catch and threw himself around in the field - showing the benefits of a Wetherspoons breakfast with liquid accompaniment.
We heard from the Exiles that former Nomads opener Mark Bradshaw would be making the short hop across South-West London and rejoining them in a sensational return move. We wish Mark the best of success - in fact, he has already featured in a club record partnership for the Exiles this season - and thank him for his excellent 5 seasons with the Nomads. Tribute to follow now that I am catching up with reports etc.
Energy Exiles (181 for 5 from 35 overs) beat Clapham Nomads (152 for 6 from 35 overs) by 29 runs
Adnan Khan - 5
M. Vyas - 8
Abdul Khan - 5
H. Khan - 28
O. Heywood - 82 not out
C. Kennedy - 2
R. Khan - 0
N. Lefebve - 3 not out
Did not bat; E. Todorow, Abbas Khan, J. Crossland
F.O.W. - 5, 11, 28, 74, 103, 103
H. Khan 7-0-25-3
E. Todorow 5-1-18-0
Abbas Khan 4-0-18-0
O. Heywood 7-0-35-0
R. Khan 7-0-48-2
Abdul Khan 5-0-28-0
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