...And so we come to the absolutely vintage moments of Andrew. West at his Best. At 10 is arguably his finest bowling in a Nomads shirt. This is so long ago that I can barely remember the bowling (presumably accurate) or for that matter the shirt (presumably not white.)
10) - A tight game at Duppas Hill v North Croydon on 17/8/97 featuring ruthless captaincy from John Crossland and (judging by the bowling changes) a rather high level of "verbal interaction" - (not unusual for the Nomads at the time, and I have completely forgotten the game.)
Nomads made just 112 on a decent pitch against organised-looking and well-turned-out opponents. It didn't look promising at the break. Skipper Crossland opened the bowling with Andrew and Emil but Emil made little impression and was replaced after only 5 overs by Dave Hunter (there may have been some on-field discussion following this, I am thinking.)
The two Medium Pacers combined brilliantly and, after 32 overs, Nomads were on the brink of victory. Andrew had bowled throughout at the Council Estate End and his figures were 16-1-33-4. At this point, and I can't remember why, the skipper suddenly decided to replace West with Joe Chance, who promptly took the last 2 wickets in 5 balls. A great win by 31 runs for a team which had been on the point of folding. I can't remember why Andrew was taken off after bowling such a fine spell. If it was not due to injury, than the decision must have precipitated some earnest debate. Anyway, classic West bowling.
9) - Clapham Nomads v The Hunter Family on 3/7/94 at Raynes Park. Five players had attempted a few months previously to break away from the Open University (London) cc - run by Dave Hunter. We did form a new club - the Nomads, but ended up still playing for OU as well. A special match was arranged involving the rival factions in the OU. To say there was needle would be like saying the First World War got a little bit feisty at times. It was agreed it would be too incendiary if any of the rebel players captained the Nomads, so that burden fell on Jazz Pianist (the late) Peter Saberton.
8 Members of the Hunter family turned out; Dave (capt), Lenny, Mick, Tom, James, Dan, Emma plus 1 other (? Billy). Emma was a talented tennis player and it was rumoured Mick H said to Emil before the start; "if you bowl your usual s**t to her, she'll smack you about."
After a poor start, Nomads recovered to 147 for 7; Joe Chance top-scoring with 38. In the reply, the Hunters again started well with the talented Tom playing nicely. Gradually the tide turned and, although Emil had the best bowling figures with 4 for 15, Andrew was instrumental in frustrating the (not always entirely placid) opposition with figures of 3 for 10. He dismissed 3 Hunters; Tom, Mick and Dan. The scorebook features a line which tells its own story; Mick Hunter bowled West 0.
Nomads won by 59 runs. There was an amusing incident afterwards when one of the HUNTER FAMILY players accused the Nomads of selecting ringers; the man's surname - REDMOND.
8) - No. 8 is a bit high for this one but my notes have got mixed up. Anyway, British Television has been "graced" over the years by the appearance of several Clapham Nomads players. Adam Paz appeared on Pointless early this year. Nick Lefebve was on the 1990s quiz show Fifteen-to-One. John Crossland used to work as an extra in productions featuring large crowds of Victorian-looking people (it's the moustache), so he's probably been on the small screen, possibly in something Dickensian; other Nomads may have featured in shows such as Crimewatch or "Police, Camera, Action." The best of all though, came about 10 years ago. I was idling around, not even watching the Daytime TV show that was on in the background. It was called something like "This Morning in Hospital." The lovely Nadia Sawalha was interviewing people who were awaiting treatment in St Thomas' Hospital's A & E Department. "So what happened to you, Andrew?" Nadia purred. "Well, I fell off my ....bike didn't I, on the way to Brighton." replied a familiar gruff voice. I turned round just in time for the camera to move away from an oh-so-familiar face. Credit to Andrew, he hadn't sworn (mind you, they have a 10-second delay on live broadcasts, I think, just in case.)
Vintage Andrew. An injury - my goodness, I was surprised. At the end of the show, Ms Sawalha returned to our hero, something now inserted in his leg, and asked him if it would put him off future bike rides. "No," the Nomad smiled. What a trouper.
7) - A bit like No. 7, another family affair. Andrew West turned out for the Nomads against the strong Crete Sports on 31/7/94 at Farm Road, Morden. In those days, he was actually regarded as more of a batsman than a bowler. The scorebook reads; Andrew West, run out 15. That sets the scene nicely but there's more. Andrew hit a 6, the only 6 of his Nomads career, off an excellent bowler called Butcher, who despite being in his mid-50s was from Barbados and was accurate and distinctly sharp at times (he was rumoured to have played at a high level and was possibly the best bowler Nomads came up against regularly in our early years.)
Poignantly, this was the only game in which all 3 West brothers played for the club. Having seen what Andrew could do, selector Crossland was trying to mine a rich seam of talent. Alan West and Harold West were nice guys, quieter than Andrew. They never played much for the Nomads. One of them has, I believe, sadly passed away. I'll have to check that with John.
6) - v Surbiton Imperials at Raynes Park in September 2010. A memorable game in many ways. Sadly, Gopi's last match for us. Sensational batting from Mark Bradshaw and Hassan Khan took Nomads well over 200. Only Andrew could top this (and I am ashamed to say I helped him.) Early in Surbiton's reply, Andrew stopped a firmly-struck shot with his shin. He swore - obscenely but briefly, skipped in a perfect figure of 8 and crashed to the ground, and then got up immediately without a word and just carried on fielding as if nothing had happened.
Then followed a quiet spell in which Nomads assumed complete control of the game and appeared to have dismissed the dangermen. When a balding, intense-looking man strolled out late on, Skipper Todorow thought it was safe to chuck the ball to West, who was not on brilliant form (see Golden Moment No. 21 from a few weeks before this game.) What we hadn't realised was that the unhairy man was Jonny Rosenthal, a fantastically destructive player who, on this day, took an absolutely massive liking to Andrew's bowling. Ball after ball sped to the boundary or sailed over the fielders' heads. At last, Jonny slightly mistimed one and skied it. I managed to get round to Deep Long On, got under it, but then not only dropped the chance but "tipped it over the bar" for 6. Bilal was fielding nearby and told me that Andrew was in tears. I doubt that, but I did look around the Park quickly for possible escape routes. Luckily, we still won. In my report, I said that Andrew's figures really should have been 6-0-62-2, not 6-0-68-1. I genuinely meant this as an apology to Andrew but it just sounded like I was taking the piss. I'm not that brave.
Sorry, I've run out of time, but I will definitely put the Top 5 on by the end of the year. In the meantime, Seasons Greetings to all readers and, for those of you that celebrate Christmas, I hope it will not be F***ing Bo**ocks.
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