Incredibly, it is 20 years today since Clapham Nomads played our first match. After a busy though unsuccessful first season, we went through quite a shambolic period where it seemed doubtful at times that we would last beyond the end of the evening, let alone 20 years. Since 1999 though, we have become a solid, reliable club with an above average playing record and in the last few years (I hope) a pleasant team to play for and against.
Thanks to all the players who have turned out for us in that time - it must be between 100 and 150.
The first game was an Away match at Joseph Hood Rec Ground in Raynes Park, a ground we still use, against Tulse Hill. The scores;
30/4/94 (Time match)
Tulse Hill - 98 all out
Forthwick b Todorow 9
Draper b John Chance 27
Hill c Smith b Joe Chance 2
Proctor b Joe Chance 0
Richardson c Jenkins b Smith 7
Studert c Saberton b Jenkins 6
Wilkins c Contractor b Jenkins 13
D. Davis c Lefebve b John Chance 4
Nye not out 16
Swan b John Chance 0
Forey c Crossland b Jenkins
Nomads Bowling;
Joe Chance 8-0-21-2
Todorow 9-3-23-1
Smith 3-0-18-1
John Chance 9-1-15-3
Jenkins 8.3-0-20-3
Clapham Nomads - 63 for 7 from 35 overs
Sai To c b Davis 1
Peter Saberton b Draper 13
Des Smith c b Forthwick 5
Simon Sparssis c b Forthwick 7
John Chance not out 19
Nick Lefebve b Draper 2
Neville Contractor c b Davis 5
Joe Chance b Draper 3
Emil Todorow not out 0
Did not bat; Ian Jenkins, John Crossland (capt / wkt)
F.O.W. - 2, 13, 26, 34, 48, 57, 62
Match Drawn.
Chasing a low total on a very slow pitch, Captain John Crossland called off the run chase when the 4th wicket fell at 34. "We are not going to lose our first game", he decreed, It was pretty turgid stuff but we held on quite comfortably for the draw, scoring at the paint-drying rate of 1.8 per over. Still, it somehow didn't put us off. Emil Todorow took the first Nomads wicket, Sai To scored our first run and Des Smith took the first catch. Brief biographical notes of our 11 to follow, which will probably be about as exciting as this fixture.
Wednesday 30 April 2014
Tuesday 29 April 2014
Clapham Nomads v Surbiton Imperials - 27/4/14
Whatever happened in this match it had to be an improvement on last year's equivalent fixture at freezing, desolate, Beverley Park. A game so depressing that 3 players told me it made them consider quitting cricket - and 2 of them were on the winning side.
We booked Barn Elms for this game; a rather more cheerful venue and a well-organised place. The pitch was a touch on the green side - one player asked if it was Astroturf - but it played reasonably well if a little slow at times.
Nomads bowling line-up was potentially strong with the fast-medium variations of Hassan, the raw pace and bounce of Abbas, the accurate outswing of Sami, the full-length awkwardness of Rashid, the uncanny ability to dismiss left-handers of Riaz Khan and the mystique of Emil Todorow. The batting was strengthened by the very welcome return of Mark Bradshaw, but we were missing 3 reliable sources of runs in Gul, Prasanth and Darwin.
Skipper Emil Todorow lost the toss for a change and Surbiton chose to bat. Sami provided the early breakthrough with a full-length LBW decision before the score had reached double figures, but this brought the consistent, left-handed, Siddik out to join the right-handed Ashley and Imperials entered their usual mode of relentless run accumulation. Siddik stoked it around nicely while Ashley, who was turned inside out by Hassan Khan leg-cutters at least twice, chanced his arm a bit more. Sami's line wavered on occasion as left-hander and right-hander rotated the strike, but his figures were decent. Emil Todorow replaced him and one of his early overs went for 11. Three an over became four an over as the halfway drinks interval was approached. Abbas looked lively though, and mixed it up with a couple of bouncers.
At drinks, the decision was made to switch from 35-overs-a-side to 30 overs.
Emil began to find his line and the tide began to turn. The hirsute medium-pacer tricked Ashley into chipping the ball up to Jonnie Randall at Square Leg and then 2 wickets in an over from the captain - including a rather unlucky played on from Johnny, Imperials' hardest-hitting player - gave Nomads the initiative. Siddik continued to play nicely for his 41 but fine bowling from Rashid and Riaz and 2 excellent run outs engineered by the razor-sharp Rashid (an excellent substitute for Abdul in the infield) dismissed 10-man Surbiton for 102, their lowest total against Nomads, from 27.5 overs.
A fine bowling performance from a strong line-up but the fielding was especially pleasing; one difficult chance went to ground and there was one overthrow but I am struggling to remember any other mistakes.
A large tea was enlivened by the presence of Andrew West who had arrived halfway though Surbiton's innings in a sour mood and had even threatened to go home and miss tea (that was never going to happen!) The food improved his humour and he took the field to adjudicate - a great treat for all fans of the David Shepherd of South London Sunday Cricket.
Mark Bradshaw resumed his successful opening partnership with Mahesh Vyas and the pair put on a steady 27 with few alarms, despite some vigorous appealing, before the deceptively tricky veteran Eric dismissed Vyas leg before for 12. Riaz Khan, promoted to No. 3 after back-to-back 50s last September, was a trifle unlucky to smack a long hop straight down Square Leg's throat. 33 for 2.
Nomads' innings then mirrored Surbiton's in that a slightly rocky start was followed by the best batting of the innings. In fact M. Bradshaw and H. Khan's stand of 39 was probably the most accomplished batting seen in the whole match. There was something very reassuring about having these 2 back together again. Hassan cracked on and hit the awkward Siddik out of the attack with 2 successive fours while Mark's best over featured a really well placed 2 through the gap in front of point and a sparkling Cover Drive which - by the general consensus of both sides - went for 4, only for a fielder to announce, once our guys had stopped running after the second - they could have run 3 or 4, that it had not reached the faint boundary line. I wouldn't say this was crucial, but it doesn't take much to turn a match as tight as this one.
The pick of the Surbiton bowlers was probably the pacy Mohammed, who swung it both ways, but oddly both our star men had most trouble with innocuous loop bowler Russell who had a big LBW shout against Bradshaw and then tempted H.Khan out of his ground for a smart stumping by keeper J. Rosenthal.
72 for 3 but No. 5 Jonnie Randall looked solid with a sound technique. Another 7 valuable runs were carved out before a sharp piece of fielding ran Randall out as a second run was being attempted. Mark Bradshaw was looking in good touch but there was a touch of uncertainty about the rest of the batting line-up, most of whom had not played or batted for Nomads for a while, or had not made a substantial score for a while. Sami proved incredibly quick running between the wickets - a new Gopi ? - but was 5th man out with Clapham still 10 short of their target. A cracking 4 from the classy Rashid Ahmed eased our nerves as tension - and frequency of field changes - reached fever pitch. Siddik returned and produced the ball of the day with subtle late outswing clipping Mark Bradshaw's leg stump.
Nomads began to unravel a bit. Rashid was bowled with 4 still needed. Nick Lefebve came out to join Abbas and the field came up comically and, had Eric strayed down leg side, dangerously close. The wily veteran maintained a good off stump line though. 4 to win off 2 overs. Abbas was on strike and he has a reasonable eye. He connected twice but straight to leg side fielders saving the one. Perhaps frustrated, he holed out on the third ball. Out strode Emil Todorow and the veteran pair managed a single on each of the remaining deliveries of the penultimate over to level the scores with 6 deliveries remaining.
The final over was bowled by Eric, supported by a close field. He kept it accurate apart from a borderline wide 2nd ball. With very little pace on the ball; flicking, cllipping or edging a one would not be easy and, with a combined age of 115, quick singles could not be taken for granted with these two at the crease. A firm middle would probably have secured victory but it was not forthcoming. We should have won but, in fading light and with little batting practice for months, it was not quite the disaster that some Nomads (well...one actually) presented it as afterwards. At least the tie was secured.
In fact, if you think back to those televised Gillette Cup / Natwest Trophy semi-finals from the 70s and 80s, if the scores finished level, a not out team would progress at the expense of an all out team so, by that token, it would be the Nomads going to Lord's in September. I think I will stick to that story and claim that that was our plan. Actually, I have a horrible feeling that this match is going to be recalled as extensively as the famous Lancashire v Gloucestershire Gillette semi-final from 1971 (see YouTube.)
Nomads v Imperials is starting to become quite an interesting fixture. There is just a touch of Handbags developing between the sides, but no serious animosity. It makes life exciting I suppose. The overall totals now are Surbiton 4 wins, Nomads 3 wins and 1 Tie. One of the Imperial victories was way back in 2004 though, with largely different line-ups. In this decade and with the current players we stand level.
Fielder of the Day is close between John Crossland, who conceded no byes, and Rashid Ahmed, who was consistently sharp and set up 2 run outs. I think I will give it to Crossland, whose keeping was excellent, and award Man of the Match to Rashid who also had the most economical bowling, almost the best bowling strike-rate, and hit the late 4 which took us so close to the winning post that we really should have passed it.
Quotes of the Day; (John Crossland to Emil, regarding Eric's bowling) - "You weren't facing Michael Holding out there." Another player (to Emil) - "You could have relaxed a bit. After all, we still had John's batting to come."
Surbiton Imperials - 102 all out from 27.5 overs (Siddik 41, Ashley 30)
Sami 6-1-23-1
H. Khan 6-0-20-0
E. Todorow 5-0-28-3
Abbas Khan 5-1-13-0
R. Ahmed 4-0-10-2
R. Khan 1.5-0-5-1
Clapham Nomads 102 for 9 from 30 overs
M. Bradshaw b Siddik 28
M. Vyas lbw b Eric 12
R. Khan c Siddik b Martin 1
H. Khan stumped Rosenthal b Russell 28
J. Randall run out 5
R. Ahmed b Ashley 5
Sami c Siddik b Eric 5
Abbas Khan c b Martin 0
N. Lefebve not out 1
E, Todorow(capt) b Eric 2
Did not bat; J. Crossland (wkt)
F.O.W. - 27, 33, 72, 79. 93, 97, 99, 99, 102
Match Tied.
We booked Barn Elms for this game; a rather more cheerful venue and a well-organised place. The pitch was a touch on the green side - one player asked if it was Astroturf - but it played reasonably well if a little slow at times.
Nomads bowling line-up was potentially strong with the fast-medium variations of Hassan, the raw pace and bounce of Abbas, the accurate outswing of Sami, the full-length awkwardness of Rashid, the uncanny ability to dismiss left-handers of Riaz Khan and the mystique of Emil Todorow. The batting was strengthened by the very welcome return of Mark Bradshaw, but we were missing 3 reliable sources of runs in Gul, Prasanth and Darwin.
Skipper Emil Todorow lost the toss for a change and Surbiton chose to bat. Sami provided the early breakthrough with a full-length LBW decision before the score had reached double figures, but this brought the consistent, left-handed, Siddik out to join the right-handed Ashley and Imperials entered their usual mode of relentless run accumulation. Siddik stoked it around nicely while Ashley, who was turned inside out by Hassan Khan leg-cutters at least twice, chanced his arm a bit more. Sami's line wavered on occasion as left-hander and right-hander rotated the strike, but his figures were decent. Emil Todorow replaced him and one of his early overs went for 11. Three an over became four an over as the halfway drinks interval was approached. Abbas looked lively though, and mixed it up with a couple of bouncers.
At drinks, the decision was made to switch from 35-overs-a-side to 30 overs.
Emil began to find his line and the tide began to turn. The hirsute medium-pacer tricked Ashley into chipping the ball up to Jonnie Randall at Square Leg and then 2 wickets in an over from the captain - including a rather unlucky played on from Johnny, Imperials' hardest-hitting player - gave Nomads the initiative. Siddik continued to play nicely for his 41 but fine bowling from Rashid and Riaz and 2 excellent run outs engineered by the razor-sharp Rashid (an excellent substitute for Abdul in the infield) dismissed 10-man Surbiton for 102, their lowest total against Nomads, from 27.5 overs.
A fine bowling performance from a strong line-up but the fielding was especially pleasing; one difficult chance went to ground and there was one overthrow but I am struggling to remember any other mistakes.
A large tea was enlivened by the presence of Andrew West who had arrived halfway though Surbiton's innings in a sour mood and had even threatened to go home and miss tea (that was never going to happen!) The food improved his humour and he took the field to adjudicate - a great treat for all fans of the David Shepherd of South London Sunday Cricket.
Mark Bradshaw resumed his successful opening partnership with Mahesh Vyas and the pair put on a steady 27 with few alarms, despite some vigorous appealing, before the deceptively tricky veteran Eric dismissed Vyas leg before for 12. Riaz Khan, promoted to No. 3 after back-to-back 50s last September, was a trifle unlucky to smack a long hop straight down Square Leg's throat. 33 for 2.
Nomads' innings then mirrored Surbiton's in that a slightly rocky start was followed by the best batting of the innings. In fact M. Bradshaw and H. Khan's stand of 39 was probably the most accomplished batting seen in the whole match. There was something very reassuring about having these 2 back together again. Hassan cracked on and hit the awkward Siddik out of the attack with 2 successive fours while Mark's best over featured a really well placed 2 through the gap in front of point and a sparkling Cover Drive which - by the general consensus of both sides - went for 4, only for a fielder to announce, once our guys had stopped running after the second - they could have run 3 or 4, that it had not reached the faint boundary line. I wouldn't say this was crucial, but it doesn't take much to turn a match as tight as this one.
The pick of the Surbiton bowlers was probably the pacy Mohammed, who swung it both ways, but oddly both our star men had most trouble with innocuous loop bowler Russell who had a big LBW shout against Bradshaw and then tempted H.Khan out of his ground for a smart stumping by keeper J. Rosenthal.
72 for 3 but No. 5 Jonnie Randall looked solid with a sound technique. Another 7 valuable runs were carved out before a sharp piece of fielding ran Randall out as a second run was being attempted. Mark Bradshaw was looking in good touch but there was a touch of uncertainty about the rest of the batting line-up, most of whom had not played or batted for Nomads for a while, or had not made a substantial score for a while. Sami proved incredibly quick running between the wickets - a new Gopi ? - but was 5th man out with Clapham still 10 short of their target. A cracking 4 from the classy Rashid Ahmed eased our nerves as tension - and frequency of field changes - reached fever pitch. Siddik returned and produced the ball of the day with subtle late outswing clipping Mark Bradshaw's leg stump.
Nomads began to unravel a bit. Rashid was bowled with 4 still needed. Nick Lefebve came out to join Abbas and the field came up comically and, had Eric strayed down leg side, dangerously close. The wily veteran maintained a good off stump line though. 4 to win off 2 overs. Abbas was on strike and he has a reasonable eye. He connected twice but straight to leg side fielders saving the one. Perhaps frustrated, he holed out on the third ball. Out strode Emil Todorow and the veteran pair managed a single on each of the remaining deliveries of the penultimate over to level the scores with 6 deliveries remaining.
The final over was bowled by Eric, supported by a close field. He kept it accurate apart from a borderline wide 2nd ball. With very little pace on the ball; flicking, cllipping or edging a one would not be easy and, with a combined age of 115, quick singles could not be taken for granted with these two at the crease. A firm middle would probably have secured victory but it was not forthcoming. We should have won but, in fading light and with little batting practice for months, it was not quite the disaster that some Nomads (well...one actually) presented it as afterwards. At least the tie was secured.
In fact, if you think back to those televised Gillette Cup / Natwest Trophy semi-finals from the 70s and 80s, if the scores finished level, a not out team would progress at the expense of an all out team so, by that token, it would be the Nomads going to Lord's in September. I think I will stick to that story and claim that that was our plan. Actually, I have a horrible feeling that this match is going to be recalled as extensively as the famous Lancashire v Gloucestershire Gillette semi-final from 1971 (see YouTube.)
Nomads v Imperials is starting to become quite an interesting fixture. There is just a touch of Handbags developing between the sides, but no serious animosity. It makes life exciting I suppose. The overall totals now are Surbiton 4 wins, Nomads 3 wins and 1 Tie. One of the Imperial victories was way back in 2004 though, with largely different line-ups. In this decade and with the current players we stand level.
Fielder of the Day is close between John Crossland, who conceded no byes, and Rashid Ahmed, who was consistently sharp and set up 2 run outs. I think I will give it to Crossland, whose keeping was excellent, and award Man of the Match to Rashid who also had the most economical bowling, almost the best bowling strike-rate, and hit the late 4 which took us so close to the winning post that we really should have passed it.
Quotes of the Day; (John Crossland to Emil, regarding Eric's bowling) - "You weren't facing Michael Holding out there." Another player (to Emil) - "You could have relaxed a bit. After all, we still had John's batting to come."
Surbiton Imperials - 102 all out from 27.5 overs (Siddik 41, Ashley 30)
Sami 6-1-23-1
H. Khan 6-0-20-0
E. Todorow 5-0-28-3
Abbas Khan 5-1-13-0
R. Ahmed 4-0-10-2
R. Khan 1.5-0-5-1
Clapham Nomads 102 for 9 from 30 overs
M. Bradshaw b Siddik 28
M. Vyas lbw b Eric 12
R. Khan c Siddik b Martin 1
H. Khan stumped Rosenthal b Russell 28
J. Randall run out 5
R. Ahmed b Ashley 5
Sami c Siddik b Eric 5
Abbas Khan c b Martin 0
N. Lefebve not out 1
E, Todorow(capt) b Eric 2
Did not bat; J. Crossland (wkt)
F.O.W. - 27, 33, 72, 79. 93, 97, 99, 99, 102
Match Tied.
Thursday 10 April 2014
2014 season
Hi all. I hope you have had a good winter. The first Nomads match of the 2014 season will be on Sunday 27th April against Surbiton Imperials in Barnes. Emil will be in touch in the week beginning Monday 21st April with full details.
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