Hi all,
Just to let you know we will have Nomads' annual meeting some time in February, probably at the Mirch Masala in Tooting again.
Nominations;
Batsman of the Year; Hassan (best average of any regular player), Javed (Best individual innings), Zia (Top run scorer for the season), Darwin (Just 1 run behind Zia - possibly the most consistent scorer throughout the season.)
Bowler of the Year; KK (20 wickets at a very good average), Abbas (25 wickets - the most by a Nomad for some time - some match-winning performances.)
Fielder of the Year - Can only be John Crossland in my opinion. 15 catches (possibly a club record) - the most Fielder of the Day awards.
Player of the Year - John, KK, Abbas, Hassan
If you want to nominate anyone else, please let me know. (Post a comment on here.)
Nick
Sunday 11 December 2016
Friday 7 October 2016
Clapham Nomads averages - 2016 season
I have finally updated all the match reports. Sorry if the last few are a bit brief and if I have failed to mention anyone. John will probably do a report soon which is bound to be full of praise. Here are the averages.
Batting (qualification - 3 innings)
Javed Iqbal - 158 runs @ 52.67
Hassan Khan - 248 runs @ 27.56
Patrick - 51 runs @ 25.50
Zia - 252 runs @ 22.91
Prasanth Pattiyil - 134 runs @ 22.33
Abdul Khan - 157 runs @ 19.63
Darwin Gunawardena - 251 runs @ 19.31
Zeeshan - 112 runs @ 18.67
John Crossland - 15 runs @ 15.00* (John was not dismissed in any of his 9 innings.)
Paul Murphy - 43 runs @ 14.33
Mahesh Vyas - 185 runs @ 14.23
Riaz Khan - 129 runs ~@ 10.75
KK Khusro - 115 runs @ 10.45
Nick Lefebve - 51 runs @ 10.20
Abbas Khan - 105 runs @ 9.55
Gul - 44 runs @ 8.80
Safi - 8 runs @ 4.00
Emil Todorow - 25 runs @ 3.57.
Bowling (qualification 10 overs and 3 wickets)
Safi - 5 wickets @ 11.80
KK Khusro - 20 wickets @ 13.30
Abbas Khan - 25 wickets @ 19.00
Zeeshan - 5 wickets @ 20.00
Riaz Khan - 9 wickets @ 26.67
Emil Todorow - 12 wickets @ 27.50
Hassan Khan - 7 wickets @ 28.29
Abdul Khan - 3 wickets @ 32.67
Zia - 12 wickets @ 34.83
Catches
15 - John Crossland (all as wicketkeeper)
4 - Abbas, Zia, Darwin, Mahesh (1 as wkt)
3 - KK
2 - Javed, Hamid
1 - Zeeshan, Emil, Abdul, Gul, Riaz, Zain, Hassan, Safi.
Stumpings
2 - John Crossland
Man of the Match awards:
3 - Abbas
2 - Abdul, Javed
1 - Chris, Hassan, Patrick, Faruk, Riaz, Zia, Darwin, Prasanth, Zeeshan
Fielder of the Day awards (one award was shared 3 ways);
6 - John Crossland
2 - Zia
1 - Chris, Riaz, Gul, Darwin, Abdul, Abbas
0.33 - Zeeshan, Hassan, Nick
Batting (qualification - 3 innings)
Javed Iqbal - 158 runs @ 52.67
Hassan Khan - 248 runs @ 27.56
Patrick - 51 runs @ 25.50
Zia - 252 runs @ 22.91
Prasanth Pattiyil - 134 runs @ 22.33
Abdul Khan - 157 runs @ 19.63
Darwin Gunawardena - 251 runs @ 19.31
Zeeshan - 112 runs @ 18.67
John Crossland - 15 runs @ 15.00* (John was not dismissed in any of his 9 innings.)
Paul Murphy - 43 runs @ 14.33
Mahesh Vyas - 185 runs @ 14.23
Riaz Khan - 129 runs ~@ 10.75
KK Khusro - 115 runs @ 10.45
Nick Lefebve - 51 runs @ 10.20
Abbas Khan - 105 runs @ 9.55
Gul - 44 runs @ 8.80
Safi - 8 runs @ 4.00
Emil Todorow - 25 runs @ 3.57.
Bowling (qualification 10 overs and 3 wickets)
Safi - 5 wickets @ 11.80
KK Khusro - 20 wickets @ 13.30
Abbas Khan - 25 wickets @ 19.00
Zeeshan - 5 wickets @ 20.00
Riaz Khan - 9 wickets @ 26.67
Emil Todorow - 12 wickets @ 27.50
Hassan Khan - 7 wickets @ 28.29
Abdul Khan - 3 wickets @ 32.67
Zia - 12 wickets @ 34.83
Catches
15 - John Crossland (all as wicketkeeper)
4 - Abbas, Zia, Darwin, Mahesh (1 as wkt)
3 - KK
2 - Javed, Hamid
1 - Zeeshan, Emil, Abdul, Gul, Riaz, Zain, Hassan, Safi.
Stumpings
2 - John Crossland
Man of the Match awards:
3 - Abbas
2 - Abdul, Javed
1 - Chris, Hassan, Patrick, Faruk, Riaz, Zia, Darwin, Prasanth, Zeeshan
Fielder of the Day awards (one award was shared 3 ways);
6 - John Crossland
2 - Zia
1 - Chris, Riaz, Gul, Darwin, Abdul, Abbas
0.33 - Zeeshan, Hassan, Nick
Tuesday 13 September 2016
Clapham Nomads v Wimbledon United - 11/9/16
Clapham Nomads finished their fine season with an incredible win over local rivals Wimbledon United at Cottenham Park on Sunday.
On the usual batting paradise, the Dons rattled up 231 for 4 with Anand making his first ever 50 and going on to score 112. Pick of the rest was James Flannery with a half-century. The only Nomads bowler to really escape punishment was KK, who opened and went for only 10 off his 7 overs - it would have been 7 runs but for a mis-field in his last over. Abbas was unlucky when he rattled the stumps but there was a late no-ball call (Nomads reciprocated in spectacular fashion later on.) Fielding was not great. 7 or 8 catchable chances went down, with a one-handed diving catch from keeper John Crossland one of the few bright spots. Even without their star batsman Dave Hitchman, United have great depth to their batting, so they would probably have topped 200 even if most of the catches had been taken.
It didn't look good for Nomads who were missing their all-time highest run scorer, Hassan. When asked at tea for his opinion of our chances of victory, John Crossland replied; "Well, we've got no ****ing chance, have we?"
A good start for Abdul and Mahesh saw us put on 48 for the first wicket, but below the required run rate. This was soon to change with the arrival of No.3 Javed Iqbal but not before he had survived with the help of a controversial no ball call. This was a high full toss off a spinner/slow medium bowler which may have hit Javed high on the chest and dropped onto the stumps. It is possible the rules may have been misinterpreted by our umpire - very sorry if that was the case. Anyway, Javed capitalised spectacularly, racing to 50 in around 20 balls which might just have broken our club fastest 50 record (50 off 20 balls by Jim Joyce on the same ground but against much worse bowling than Wimbledon produced on Sunday.) Javed stormed on to 81 and there was massive relief for United when he was brilliantly caught by a diving Peter Brown at Long On.
Nomads' chance looked to have gone, especially when Zia looked in difficulty early on, being hit in his midriff via the inside edge which produced a deafening and baffling appeal for LBW. A ball or two later he was hit on the pad around off stump or possibly just outside and I have to say that the first of the appeals did not increase the chances of the second appeal being successful. It was anything but plumb anyway. I am, of course, giving the unbiased version. Wimbledon United's website www.wucc.org.uk may tell a different story. Anyway, Zia was soon in his stride and just about matched Javed's strike rate with a 40 full of sixes.
Darwin also played really sensibly for 28 and when both he and Zia were dismissed in quick succession, we only needed 5 or 6 but the momentum was with the home side. Brown bowled a maiden and we still needed 2 to win with 11 balls to go. A potential Eric situation. With KK and Safi at the crease though, the dot balls could not continue indefinitely. KK smacked it to Long On which looked to have levelled the scores and the ball was then misfielded; the resulting boundary giving Nomads a famous victory; our highest-ever successful run chase, I believe.
So Nomads finished the season with 9 wins and 7 defeats.... Sorry, 8 defeats including the 2nd game on 20-20 semi-finals day (the 12-over-a-side match.) The last 7 weeks have been one of the best spells in the club's history with 6 wins and just 1 loss.
I'll put the scores and more detail on here when I finally get the scorebook back from John. He is on a walking holiday in Germany at the moment - obviously in training for next season already.
MORE........
I had predicted in the previous report that Wimbledon's likeable and prolific captain, Dave Hitchman, would score a century in this game, and I'm sure - given the benign nature of the pitch - that he would have done so if he hadn't suffered a freak foot injury caused by a rusty piece of sharp metal in some woodland. Despite Nomads discussing this at length before the game, wicketkeeper John Crossland repeatedly encouraged and congratulated United's James Flannery throughout his innings of 80 with "Well played, Dave", "Shot, Dave" and "You're going well, Dave." At least he didn't ask James; "When's James coming in, Dave?" Crossland did laugh off his error when it was revealed at tea and both Flannery and Hitchman did acknowledge that they are gradually morphing into one another, in terms of looks and batting ability.
YET MORE........ I am not sure if Javed's fantastic innings equalled the club record fastest 50 (20 balls by Jim Joyce) but it must have come mighty close. My hunch is that it might have fallen a ball or 2 short as Javed did play two or possibly even three defensive shots in his innings. The only way to find out will be to look in United's scorebook next season. I hope we do play them next season - we can promise to use different umpires if necessary.
Wimbledon United 231 for 4 from 35 overs
Nomads' bowling;
E. Todorow 6-1-37-0
KK Khusro 7-3-10-2
Abbas Khan 7-0-54-0
Safi 5-0-34-0
Zia 5-0-52-1
R. Khan 4-0-23-1
Abdul Khan 1-0-15-0
Clapham Nomads 234 for 6 from 33.2 overs (Javed Iqbal 81)
M. Vyas 23
Abdul Khan 31
J. Iqbal 81
R. Khan 0
Zia 40
D. Gunawardena 28
KK Khusro not out 5
Safi not out 0
Did not bat; - Abbas Khan, E. Todorow (capt), J. Crossland (wkt)
Clapham Nomads won by 4 wickets.
Man of the Match - Javed Iqbal
Fielder of the Day - John Crossland
On the usual batting paradise, the Dons rattled up 231 for 4 with Anand making his first ever 50 and going on to score 112. Pick of the rest was James Flannery with a half-century. The only Nomads bowler to really escape punishment was KK, who opened and went for only 10 off his 7 overs - it would have been 7 runs but for a mis-field in his last over. Abbas was unlucky when he rattled the stumps but there was a late no-ball call (Nomads reciprocated in spectacular fashion later on.) Fielding was not great. 7 or 8 catchable chances went down, with a one-handed diving catch from keeper John Crossland one of the few bright spots. Even without their star batsman Dave Hitchman, United have great depth to their batting, so they would probably have topped 200 even if most of the catches had been taken.
It didn't look good for Nomads who were missing their all-time highest run scorer, Hassan. When asked at tea for his opinion of our chances of victory, John Crossland replied; "Well, we've got no ****ing chance, have we?"
A good start for Abdul and Mahesh saw us put on 48 for the first wicket, but below the required run rate. This was soon to change with the arrival of No.3 Javed Iqbal but not before he had survived with the help of a controversial no ball call. This was a high full toss off a spinner/slow medium bowler which may have hit Javed high on the chest and dropped onto the stumps. It is possible the rules may have been misinterpreted by our umpire - very sorry if that was the case. Anyway, Javed capitalised spectacularly, racing to 50 in around 20 balls which might just have broken our club fastest 50 record (50 off 20 balls by Jim Joyce on the same ground but against much worse bowling than Wimbledon produced on Sunday.) Javed stormed on to 81 and there was massive relief for United when he was brilliantly caught by a diving Peter Brown at Long On.
Nomads' chance looked to have gone, especially when Zia looked in difficulty early on, being hit in his midriff via the inside edge which produced a deafening and baffling appeal for LBW. A ball or two later he was hit on the pad around off stump or possibly just outside and I have to say that the first of the appeals did not increase the chances of the second appeal being successful. It was anything but plumb anyway. I am, of course, giving the unbiased version. Wimbledon United's website www.wucc.org.uk may tell a different story. Anyway, Zia was soon in his stride and just about matched Javed's strike rate with a 40 full of sixes.
Darwin also played really sensibly for 28 and when both he and Zia were dismissed in quick succession, we only needed 5 or 6 but the momentum was with the home side. Brown bowled a maiden and we still needed 2 to win with 11 balls to go. A potential Eric situation. With KK and Safi at the crease though, the dot balls could not continue indefinitely. KK smacked it to Long On which looked to have levelled the scores and the ball was then misfielded; the resulting boundary giving Nomads a famous victory; our highest-ever successful run chase, I believe.
So Nomads finished the season with 9 wins and 7 defeats.... Sorry, 8 defeats including the 2nd game on 20-20 semi-finals day (the 12-over-a-side match.) The last 7 weeks have been one of the best spells in the club's history with 6 wins and just 1 loss.
I'll put the scores and more detail on here when I finally get the scorebook back from John. He is on a walking holiday in Germany at the moment - obviously in training for next season already.
MORE........
I had predicted in the previous report that Wimbledon's likeable and prolific captain, Dave Hitchman, would score a century in this game, and I'm sure - given the benign nature of the pitch - that he would have done so if he hadn't suffered a freak foot injury caused by a rusty piece of sharp metal in some woodland. Despite Nomads discussing this at length before the game, wicketkeeper John Crossland repeatedly encouraged and congratulated United's James Flannery throughout his innings of 80 with "Well played, Dave", "Shot, Dave" and "You're going well, Dave." At least he didn't ask James; "When's James coming in, Dave?" Crossland did laugh off his error when it was revealed at tea and both Flannery and Hitchman did acknowledge that they are gradually morphing into one another, in terms of looks and batting ability.
YET MORE........ I am not sure if Javed's fantastic innings equalled the club record fastest 50 (20 balls by Jim Joyce) but it must have come mighty close. My hunch is that it might have fallen a ball or 2 short as Javed did play two or possibly even three defensive shots in his innings. The only way to find out will be to look in United's scorebook next season. I hope we do play them next season - we can promise to use different umpires if necessary.
Wimbledon United 231 for 4 from 35 overs
Nomads' bowling;
E. Todorow 6-1-37-0
KK Khusro 7-3-10-2
Abbas Khan 7-0-54-0
Safi 5-0-34-0
Zia 5-0-52-1
R. Khan 4-0-23-1
Abdul Khan 1-0-15-0
Clapham Nomads 234 for 6 from 33.2 overs (Javed Iqbal 81)
M. Vyas 23
Abdul Khan 31
J. Iqbal 81
R. Khan 0
Zia 40
D. Gunawardena 28
KK Khusro not out 5
Safi not out 0
Did not bat; - Abbas Khan, E. Todorow (capt), J. Crossland (wkt)
Clapham Nomads won by 4 wickets.
Man of the Match - Javed Iqbal
Fielder of the Day - John Crossland
Wednesday 7 September 2016
Old Leagonians v Clapham Nomads - 4/9/16
This was due to be 20-20 Finals Day but 2 of the teams dropped out, leaving Nomads to play the hosts, Old Leagonians, in a 35-overs-a-side contest; presumably still for the championship.
Nomads batted first by agreement on the excellent pitch at Epsom cc.
Abdul survived one of the best balls we have faced this season in the first over, from one of the Bradford brothers - a fast yorker that swung from leg, hit him on the pad in front of middle and might (just conceivably) have been sliding past off. With the umpire's finger remaining in his pocket, Abdul celebrated his return from injury with a cracking 48.
At one stage, with Abdul receiving good support from Mahesh and Hassan, Nomads were on 87 for 2 with plenty of overs left and looked set for a possible 200. However, some cavalier shots from the middle order, together with some great catching and groundfielding, and a five-fer for another Bradford (Lewis), found the Clapham boys in some difficulty at 134 for 9.
John Crossland then joined Emil Todorow and the veteran pair played a classic partnership. John produced a feather-light leg glance worthy of Ranjitsinghi, while Emil smacked a resounding cut in front of point for 4 - reminiscent of Mark Bradshaw. Inevitably there was controversy though and when Emil produced a sumptuous Cover Drive, he disregarded the fact that it had gone straight to Leagonians' best fielder. The result; our 2 heroes were able to shake hands in mid-pitch as the bails were removed. However, the pair had put on 17 valuable runs and there was a feeling that our 151 might just be enough.
So it proved. Hassan struck with an early wicket - and we were told later that his victim was the Epsom side's best batsman. The 2nd wicket pair put on quite a few but three quick dismissals reduced OLCC to 51 for 4 at the 17-over drinks break. I had to leave at this point but I'm told by Emil that there were a few tense moments, with Leagonians' youngest player notching 30 or so, before tight bowling by Zia and Riaz at the death left the Home side needing 16 off the last over and we duly ran out winners by 11 runs, allowing Nomads skipper Emil Todorow to (figuratively speaking) lift the trophy.
Thanks to Richard and the Leagonians for hosting a fixture that we always enjoy. They are definitely an improving side who will be even tougher opponents next season.
So with 1 game to play, Nomads have won 8 and lost 7 and, if there was a League Table, would be in the top half.
Clapham Nomads 151 all out from 32.2 overs
M. Vyas 7
Abdul Khan 48
J. Iqbal 6
H. Khan 16
R. Khan 15
Zia 5
KK Khusro 0
Safi 3
Abbas Khan 7
E. Todorow (capt) 6
J. Crossland (wkt) not out 5
F.O.W. - 32, 52, 87, 96, 120, 120, 120, 131, 134, 151
Old Leagonians 140 for 8 from 35 overs
Nomads' bowling
H. Khan 5-0-17-1
Safi 7-1-22-1
KK Khusro 7-1-15-3
Abbas Khan 6-0-31-1
Zia 6-0-26-1
R. Khan 4-0-24-0
Clapham Nomads won by 11 runs
Man of the Match - Abdul Khan
Fielder of the Day - Sorry, I've forgotten parts of this game and I missed some of our fielding anyway (so, not awarded.) -- NL 7/10/16.
Nomads batted first by agreement on the excellent pitch at Epsom cc.
Abdul survived one of the best balls we have faced this season in the first over, from one of the Bradford brothers - a fast yorker that swung from leg, hit him on the pad in front of middle and might (just conceivably) have been sliding past off. With the umpire's finger remaining in his pocket, Abdul celebrated his return from injury with a cracking 48.
At one stage, with Abdul receiving good support from Mahesh and Hassan, Nomads were on 87 for 2 with plenty of overs left and looked set for a possible 200. However, some cavalier shots from the middle order, together with some great catching and groundfielding, and a five-fer for another Bradford (Lewis), found the Clapham boys in some difficulty at 134 for 9.
John Crossland then joined Emil Todorow and the veteran pair played a classic partnership. John produced a feather-light leg glance worthy of Ranjitsinghi, while Emil smacked a resounding cut in front of point for 4 - reminiscent of Mark Bradshaw. Inevitably there was controversy though and when Emil produced a sumptuous Cover Drive, he disregarded the fact that it had gone straight to Leagonians' best fielder. The result; our 2 heroes were able to shake hands in mid-pitch as the bails were removed. However, the pair had put on 17 valuable runs and there was a feeling that our 151 might just be enough.
So it proved. Hassan struck with an early wicket - and we were told later that his victim was the Epsom side's best batsman. The 2nd wicket pair put on quite a few but three quick dismissals reduced OLCC to 51 for 4 at the 17-over drinks break. I had to leave at this point but I'm told by Emil that there were a few tense moments, with Leagonians' youngest player notching 30 or so, before tight bowling by Zia and Riaz at the death left the Home side needing 16 off the last over and we duly ran out winners by 11 runs, allowing Nomads skipper Emil Todorow to (figuratively speaking) lift the trophy.
Thanks to Richard and the Leagonians for hosting a fixture that we always enjoy. They are definitely an improving side who will be even tougher opponents next season.
So with 1 game to play, Nomads have won 8 and lost 7 and, if there was a League Table, would be in the top half.
Clapham Nomads 151 all out from 32.2 overs
M. Vyas 7
Abdul Khan 48
J. Iqbal 6
H. Khan 16
R. Khan 15
Zia 5
KK Khusro 0
Safi 3
Abbas Khan 7
E. Todorow (capt) 6
J. Crossland (wkt) not out 5
F.O.W. - 32, 52, 87, 96, 120, 120, 120, 131, 134, 151
Old Leagonians 140 for 8 from 35 overs
Nomads' bowling
H. Khan 5-0-17-1
Safi 7-1-22-1
KK Khusro 7-1-15-3
Abbas Khan 6-0-31-1
Zia 6-0-26-1
R. Khan 4-0-24-0
Clapham Nomads won by 11 runs
Man of the Match - Abdul Khan
Fielder of the Day - Sorry, I've forgotten parts of this game and I missed some of our fielding anyway (so, not awarded.) -- NL 7/10/16.
Wednesday 31 August 2016
Dulwich v Clapham Nomads - 28/8/16
Nomads made the short trip to Giant Arches Road, the home of Dulwich cc, probably South London's finest club, to play their young but talented Development XI, well-managed as ever by John Lawrence.
Mr Lawrence is a Dulwich institution. There is a scorecard on the wall of Dulwich's bar describing a match he played in for the club in 1966. He is a primarily a coach/manager now but he still took an excellent slip catch on Sunday to dismiss Nomads' finest batsman - Hassan.
Anyway, after a slight delay due to rain, the Home side batted. As expected, their technique was good, but some of them did struggle a bit against the pace of Zia and especially Abbas, who continued his excellent run of form with 4 for 16 in a rapid 7-over spell of pace bowling, Hassan, Safi and KK also bowled well but the other Nomads bowler that the youngsters had particular difficulty with was Emil, who got through 5 overs and conceded only 5 runs. Presumably it was not Emil's pace they had trouble with but just the mystique of the man. Facing Emil is not something that can be taught or coached, it is just a life skill that the lucky few can acquire (if they are not bowled slogging first.)
With the exception of the No. 6 - name to follow -(G. Davies)- who made 31, no-one could really turn a start into big runs, and a steady stream of wickets resulted in Dulwich being dismissed for 96.
The same No. 6, G. Davies, opened the bowling and took 2 quick wickets - including the valuable one of Darwin - to rock the visitors back on their heels. Nomads were scoring at 7 an over though and, once the wickets dried up, we soon began to look comfortable with Mahesh - who has had a great August - and Hassan dominating. The useful leg-spinner / slow-medium leg-cutter bowler Alex had Hassan well caught by John Lawrence in the slips but Zia kept up the momentum and then struck 2 large sixes to have the match won before half past 5. Zia just overtook Mahesh with these late sixes to finish top-scorer with 25 not out. A very creditable unbeaten 24 for Mahesh.
So an enjoyable day out at an excellent ground against opposition who are always interesting and are a very pleasant and polite bunch - a credit to their club.
Nomads now stand at 7 wins and 7 defeats with just Old Leagonians (against whom we could be pre-match favourites) and Wimbledon United (for whom Dave Hitchman will score his usual century) to play. We would have a chance of finishing in the top half of the table (if there was a table, that is.)
Man of the Match was Abbas for another deadly spell of green tea-fuelled fast bowling. Fielder of the Day was John Crossland who took 2 catches behind the stumps on his return from injury.
Dulwich 96 all out from 28 overs
Nomads' bowling;
H. Khan 5-2-11-0
E. Todorow 5-1-5-0
Abbas Khan 7-0-16-4
Zia 7-0-33-2
Safi 4-1-3-2
KK Khusro 4-0-17-2
Clapham Nomads 98 for 3 from 15.5 overs
M. Vyas not out 24
D. Gunawardena 4
Naeem 5
H. Khan 19
Zia not out 25
Did not bat; - J. Iqbal, Safi, KK Khusro, Abbas Khan, E. Todorow (capt), J. Crossland (wkt)
F.O.W. - 5, 13, 43
Clapham Nomads won by 7 wickets.
Mr Lawrence is a Dulwich institution. There is a scorecard on the wall of Dulwich's bar describing a match he played in for the club in 1966. He is a primarily a coach/manager now but he still took an excellent slip catch on Sunday to dismiss Nomads' finest batsman - Hassan.
Anyway, after a slight delay due to rain, the Home side batted. As expected, their technique was good, but some of them did struggle a bit against the pace of Zia and especially Abbas, who continued his excellent run of form with 4 for 16 in a rapid 7-over spell of pace bowling, Hassan, Safi and KK also bowled well but the other Nomads bowler that the youngsters had particular difficulty with was Emil, who got through 5 overs and conceded only 5 runs. Presumably it was not Emil's pace they had trouble with but just the mystique of the man. Facing Emil is not something that can be taught or coached, it is just a life skill that the lucky few can acquire (if they are not bowled slogging first.)
With the exception of the No. 6 - name to follow -(G. Davies)- who made 31, no-one could really turn a start into big runs, and a steady stream of wickets resulted in Dulwich being dismissed for 96.
The same No. 6, G. Davies, opened the bowling and took 2 quick wickets - including the valuable one of Darwin - to rock the visitors back on their heels. Nomads were scoring at 7 an over though and, once the wickets dried up, we soon began to look comfortable with Mahesh - who has had a great August - and Hassan dominating. The useful leg-spinner / slow-medium leg-cutter bowler Alex had Hassan well caught by John Lawrence in the slips but Zia kept up the momentum and then struck 2 large sixes to have the match won before half past 5. Zia just overtook Mahesh with these late sixes to finish top-scorer with 25 not out. A very creditable unbeaten 24 for Mahesh.
So an enjoyable day out at an excellent ground against opposition who are always interesting and are a very pleasant and polite bunch - a credit to their club.
Nomads now stand at 7 wins and 7 defeats with just Old Leagonians (against whom we could be pre-match favourites) and Wimbledon United (for whom Dave Hitchman will score his usual century) to play. We would have a chance of finishing in the top half of the table (if there was a table, that is.)
Man of the Match was Abbas for another deadly spell of green tea-fuelled fast bowling. Fielder of the Day was John Crossland who took 2 catches behind the stumps on his return from injury.
Dulwich 96 all out from 28 overs
Nomads' bowling;
H. Khan 5-2-11-0
E. Todorow 5-1-5-0
Abbas Khan 7-0-16-4
Zia 7-0-33-2
Safi 4-1-3-2
KK Khusro 4-0-17-2
Clapham Nomads 98 for 3 from 15.5 overs
M. Vyas not out 24
D. Gunawardena 4
Naeem 5
H. Khan 19
Zia not out 25
Did not bat; - J. Iqbal, Safi, KK Khusro, Abbas Khan, E. Todorow (capt), J. Crossland (wkt)
F.O.W. - 5, 13, 43
Clapham Nomads won by 7 wickets.
Monday 22 August 2016
Clapham Nomads v Streatham & Marlborough - 21/8/16
Nomads hosted a youthful Streatham & Marlborough side in a conference fixture at the Del Ballard Rec in Dundonald Road, Wimbledon, on Sunday and took our unbeaten streak against this well-organised club to 4 games.
Nomads batted first and recorded our highest score of the season - 211 - in a see-saw innings. The early dismissal of Darwin, which should probably have been called for a high no-ball, was followed by an excellent stand of 93, our highest partnership of the season so far, between Mahesh Vyas and Paul Murphy. 4 wickets then fell for 1 run in the mid-90s before a hard-hitting 67 not out - including 13 boundaries, from Javed Iqbal, with good support especially from KK, took Nomads well over 200 against a bowling line-up that tried their best.
Streatham shot out of the traps with 35 off the first 3 overs, but Nomads gradually bowled their way back into it and a great spell of hostile fast bowling from Abbas seemed to have swung the pendulum in the Home side's favour. At this point, in steady drizzle, the visitors took a fairly unilateral decision to leave the field and call things off. It is not clear whether they feared getting into trouble for arriving home wearing sopping wet kit, or that they felt the game had begun to turn decisively against them. There was a rumour that it was the latter. Anyway, the rain stopped after 30 minutes. Although the Away side were fractionally ahead on run rate (6.14 to 6.03), the minimum Nomads will claim from this game is a draw and I might consult Messrs Duckworth and Lewis to see if we did, in fact, win. Not that we are desperate, of course.
UPDATE....I have just checked out Duckworth-Lewis and, guess what; Nomads won by 12 runs. Call us lucky, call us winners, call me a sad *****, but just don't ask me to explain. Anyway, congrats to Nomads on our 6th win of the season.
Clapham Nomads 211 for 8 from 35 overs
M. Vyas (wkt) 38
D. Gunawardena 0
P. Murphy 38
R. Khan 0
Zia 1
Safi 5
J. Iqbal not out 67
KK Khusro 16
Abbas Khan 7
N. Lefebve not out 0
Did not bat; E. Todorow (capt)
F.O.W. - 1, 94, 94, 94, 95, 132, 190, 207
Streatham & Marlborough 129 for 5 from 21 overs
Nomads' bowling;
Zia 5-0-31-1
R. Khan 5-0-35-0
KK Khusro 5-0-32-0
Abbas Khan 5-0-23-3
Safi 1-1-0-1
Nomads either drew or won - further details to follow
UPDATE - Clapham Nomads won by 12 runs. (Duckworth-Lewis formula)
Man of the Match was Javed Iqbal, though Abbas might well have claimed this, with another wicket or two, had he been able to complete his spell. Zia was Fielder of the Day.
Nomads batted first and recorded our highest score of the season - 211 - in a see-saw innings. The early dismissal of Darwin, which should probably have been called for a high no-ball, was followed by an excellent stand of 93, our highest partnership of the season so far, between Mahesh Vyas and Paul Murphy. 4 wickets then fell for 1 run in the mid-90s before a hard-hitting 67 not out - including 13 boundaries, from Javed Iqbal, with good support especially from KK, took Nomads well over 200 against a bowling line-up that tried their best.
Streatham shot out of the traps with 35 off the first 3 overs, but Nomads gradually bowled their way back into it and a great spell of hostile fast bowling from Abbas seemed to have swung the pendulum in the Home side's favour. At this point, in steady drizzle, the visitors took a fairly unilateral decision to leave the field and call things off. It is not clear whether they feared getting into trouble for arriving home wearing sopping wet kit, or that they felt the game had begun to turn decisively against them. There was a rumour that it was the latter. Anyway, the rain stopped after 30 minutes. Although the Away side were fractionally ahead on run rate (6.14 to 6.03), the minimum Nomads will claim from this game is a draw and I might consult Messrs Duckworth and Lewis to see if we did, in fact, win. Not that we are desperate, of course.
UPDATE....I have just checked out Duckworth-Lewis and, guess what; Nomads won by 12 runs. Call us lucky, call us winners, call me a sad *****, but just don't ask me to explain. Anyway, congrats to Nomads on our 6th win of the season.
Clapham Nomads 211 for 8 from 35 overs
M. Vyas (wkt) 38
D. Gunawardena 0
P. Murphy 38
R. Khan 0
Zia 1
Safi 5
J. Iqbal not out 67
KK Khusro 16
Abbas Khan 7
N. Lefebve not out 0
Did not bat; E. Todorow (capt)
F.O.W. - 1, 94, 94, 94, 95, 132, 190, 207
Streatham & Marlborough 129 for 5 from 21 overs
Nomads' bowling;
Zia 5-0-31-1
R. Khan 5-0-35-0
KK Khusro 5-0-32-0
Abbas Khan 5-0-23-3
Safi 1-1-0-1
Nomads either drew or won - further details to follow
UPDATE - Clapham Nomads won by 12 runs. (Duckworth-Lewis formula)
Man of the Match was Javed Iqbal, though Abbas might well have claimed this, with another wicket or two, had he been able to complete his spell. Zia was Fielder of the Day.
Wednesday 17 August 2016
Clapham Nomads v Energy Exiles - 14/8/16 - Updated
Even if Clapham Nomads are unable to win a particular match, we always like to make it interesting for the opposition and we certainly succeeded in doing the latter at Raynes Park last Sunday. There was a great deal of interest for the visitors as they stacked up the runs; just which batting records would they break and by how much? They ended up setting three new marks; their all-team highest team total - 283 for 4; their highest individual score - Steve Parkinson's 141 off only 107 balls; and their highest-ever 2nd wicket stand - Parkinson sharing 191 off just over 150 balls with Bernard Leuvennink, who scored even faster than his partner with 81 runs off 52 balls. The innings was also the highest total Clapham Nomads have ever conceded.
I have to say this was just brilliant batting, though of course the track was excellent and there was one short boundary. The greatest assistance, though, was from some truly terrible fielding from the Nomads.
It all started so differently with tight swing bowling from Hassan and a very rapid spell from Zeeshan restricting Exiles to only 36 off the first 9 and 2 very catchable chances had gone down. From this point however, the throttle was well and truly choked. Abbas had Tom brilliantly caught by Hassan in the deep but the introduction of Leuvennink was the cue for massive acceleration. 90 runs were taken between overs 9 and the 18-over drinks break.
I have to say that Nomads bowling remained reasonable throughout but there were some spectacular missed chances, many caused by the sun being in fielders' eyes. Other possible causes were the hubbub coming from the pavilion (where a large extended family picnic was taking place with food and organised activities such as bike races and running on to the outfield to see if you could get injured), also the fierce heat and being just generally pissed off.
I'm sure there must have been a few Nomads fielders that didn't make any mistakes but our only real bright spot in the field was a fantastic, energy-packed performance by the oldest man in the side, Chris Kennedy. He made a full-length diving stop, didn't miss anything easy and injured his finger attempting a flying catch which would have been Nomads' finest of all time but unfortunately didn't quite stick. The ball just kept coming to him as he protected the short boundary and he was very solid. He did put another one down but it was very firmly struck and he had 2 injured fingers by this point.
The whole ground had a slightly odd feel to it as there was a large 12-foot high hoarding just behind the short boundary running about a third of the way around the pitch. Extensive building work was taking place behind this. We speculated as to what was being built and the general consensus was that it would be a main stand accommodating 6,000 ticket-holders, complete with a Media Centre, luxury changing facilities, an Indoor Cricket Academy and a licensed restaurant. One Exile pointed out that, since Nomads are one of the main users of Raynes Park, this new stand could contain facilities for an LBW decision review system. I'll get onto Merton Council about it - we do pay over £100 a game after all.
300 looked a possibility at one point but good bowling from KK, and a slight improvement in the fielding with Abbas taking a neat catch, meant that Energy only just passed their previous record score of 280. Well done to them though. Magnificent batting.
This was a hell of a task for Nomads but we had a few targets; a) about 60, which would prevent this being our heaviest runs defeat of all time and becoming known as "Slaughter in the Sun 2"; b) pass the 100; c) get within 100 runs of Exiles' total and d) hit the ball out of the ground and onto the building site- which Energy had done about 6 times - on at least one occasion.
We cracked on at about 6 an over but for the loss of Mahesh and KK fairly early. Hassan joined new man Javed and they produced probably the best stand of the innings. Hassan has been in great from and has been averaging over 55 since Ramadan. The boundary rope began to be peppered and Exiles skipper Chris Plume did acknowledge later that he had just a slight concern at this point. Javed eventually fell but Abbas, at No. 5, took 4 boundaries off an over in a bright 20. Zia joined Hassan and these two batting at their very best would certainly have had the potential to at least make it tense. Sadly Zia, hampered by injury, didn't last too long. Hassan made a nice 43 which looked like it would be our top score until Zeeshan began to really get after the bowling. With Nick Lefebve blocking the other end (after surviving a strong LBW shout early on from swing bowler Phil Ling), Zeeshan assumed command with a series of heavy blows and managed to get the ball into the building site twice, once via an Exile's fingertips. He completed an excellent half-century which we were told was his first 50 in any form of cricket. Well done!
After Zeeshan fell for 55, Lefebve kept the board rolling with some agricultural leg-side blows, supported by Kennedy, who very sportingly walked after an edge that no-one else had heard, and Emil Todorow. In trying to get the margin of defeat below 100, Lefebve holed out tamely to mid-wicket off Leuvennink with 4 balls to go and exposed John Crossland, who had a possible thumb fracture, to 4 balls which Nomads' tough guy coped with admirably to at least prevent Nomads being all out. In fact, our total of 176 for 9 is our second highest against Exiles in the last 10 games.
So a memorable game, played competitively with just a few hints of tetchiness but not even at the Handbags at 10 paces level, more Jellybabies on the Pitch but good-humoured in the main. We always enjoy playing the Exiles and may now consider paying boot money to any ringers that could make us enjoy it even more. If any readers know any First Class players that would be interested in playing against the Exiles next year for ....er, the honour of turning out for the Nomads....please let me know.
Energy Exiles 283 for 4 from 35 overs
Nomads' bowling;
H. Khan 7-0-53-0
Zeeshan 7-2-33-0
Abbas Khan 7-0-51-1
Zia 2-0-24-0
E. Todorow 4-0-39-0
Javed Iqbal 4-0-48-0
KK Khusro 4-0-31-3
Clapham Nomads 176 for 9 from 35 overs
M. Vyas 8
KK Khusro 14
Javed Iqbal 4
H. Khan 43
Abbas Khan 20
Zia 0
Zeeshan 55
N. Lefebve 23
C. Kennedy 0
E. Todorow(capt) not out 4
J. Crossland(wkt) not out 0
F.O.W. - 21, 22, 59, 81, 81, 115, 149, 157, 176
Clapham Nomads lost by 107 runs.
Full scores to follow. (Now included.)
Normally, I would give Man of The Match to Zeeshan for his 50 and he played really well. However, Chris Kennedy produced something really special today. He threw everything into his fielding, despite injury and he produced a great moment of sportsmanship in walking when no-one else realised he was out. He is a model Sportsman and a true Nomads legend. He is Man of the Match and Fielder of the Day.
I have to say this was just brilliant batting, though of course the track was excellent and there was one short boundary. The greatest assistance, though, was from some truly terrible fielding from the Nomads.
It all started so differently with tight swing bowling from Hassan and a very rapid spell from Zeeshan restricting Exiles to only 36 off the first 9 and 2 very catchable chances had gone down. From this point however, the throttle was well and truly choked. Abbas had Tom brilliantly caught by Hassan in the deep but the introduction of Leuvennink was the cue for massive acceleration. 90 runs were taken between overs 9 and the 18-over drinks break.
I have to say that Nomads bowling remained reasonable throughout but there were some spectacular missed chances, many caused by the sun being in fielders' eyes. Other possible causes were the hubbub coming from the pavilion (where a large extended family picnic was taking place with food and organised activities such as bike races and running on to the outfield to see if you could get injured), also the fierce heat and being just generally pissed off.
I'm sure there must have been a few Nomads fielders that didn't make any mistakes but our only real bright spot in the field was a fantastic, energy-packed performance by the oldest man in the side, Chris Kennedy. He made a full-length diving stop, didn't miss anything easy and injured his finger attempting a flying catch which would have been Nomads' finest of all time but unfortunately didn't quite stick. The ball just kept coming to him as he protected the short boundary and he was very solid. He did put another one down but it was very firmly struck and he had 2 injured fingers by this point.
The whole ground had a slightly odd feel to it as there was a large 12-foot high hoarding just behind the short boundary running about a third of the way around the pitch. Extensive building work was taking place behind this. We speculated as to what was being built and the general consensus was that it would be a main stand accommodating 6,000 ticket-holders, complete with a Media Centre, luxury changing facilities, an Indoor Cricket Academy and a licensed restaurant. One Exile pointed out that, since Nomads are one of the main users of Raynes Park, this new stand could contain facilities for an LBW decision review system. I'll get onto Merton Council about it - we do pay over £100 a game after all.
300 looked a possibility at one point but good bowling from KK, and a slight improvement in the fielding with Abbas taking a neat catch, meant that Energy only just passed their previous record score of 280. Well done to them though. Magnificent batting.
This was a hell of a task for Nomads but we had a few targets; a) about 60, which would prevent this being our heaviest runs defeat of all time and becoming known as "Slaughter in the Sun 2"; b) pass the 100; c) get within 100 runs of Exiles' total and d) hit the ball out of the ground and onto the building site- which Energy had done about 6 times - on at least one occasion.
We cracked on at about 6 an over but for the loss of Mahesh and KK fairly early. Hassan joined new man Javed and they produced probably the best stand of the innings. Hassan has been in great from and has been averaging over 55 since Ramadan. The boundary rope began to be peppered and Exiles skipper Chris Plume did acknowledge later that he had just a slight concern at this point. Javed eventually fell but Abbas, at No. 5, took 4 boundaries off an over in a bright 20. Zia joined Hassan and these two batting at their very best would certainly have had the potential to at least make it tense. Sadly Zia, hampered by injury, didn't last too long. Hassan made a nice 43 which looked like it would be our top score until Zeeshan began to really get after the bowling. With Nick Lefebve blocking the other end (after surviving a strong LBW shout early on from swing bowler Phil Ling), Zeeshan assumed command with a series of heavy blows and managed to get the ball into the building site twice, once via an Exile's fingertips. He completed an excellent half-century which we were told was his first 50 in any form of cricket. Well done!
After Zeeshan fell for 55, Lefebve kept the board rolling with some agricultural leg-side blows, supported by Kennedy, who very sportingly walked after an edge that no-one else had heard, and Emil Todorow. In trying to get the margin of defeat below 100, Lefebve holed out tamely to mid-wicket off Leuvennink with 4 balls to go and exposed John Crossland, who had a possible thumb fracture, to 4 balls which Nomads' tough guy coped with admirably to at least prevent Nomads being all out. In fact, our total of 176 for 9 is our second highest against Exiles in the last 10 games.
So a memorable game, played competitively with just a few hints of tetchiness but not even at the Handbags at 10 paces level, more Jellybabies on the Pitch but good-humoured in the main. We always enjoy playing the Exiles and may now consider paying boot money to any ringers that could make us enjoy it even more. If any readers know any First Class players that would be interested in playing against the Exiles next year for ....er, the honour of turning out for the Nomads....please let me know.
Energy Exiles 283 for 4 from 35 overs
Nomads' bowling;
H. Khan 7-0-53-0
Zeeshan 7-2-33-0
Abbas Khan 7-0-51-1
Zia 2-0-24-0
E. Todorow 4-0-39-0
Javed Iqbal 4-0-48-0
KK Khusro 4-0-31-3
Clapham Nomads 176 for 9 from 35 overs
M. Vyas 8
KK Khusro 14
Javed Iqbal 4
H. Khan 43
Abbas Khan 20
Zia 0
Zeeshan 55
N. Lefebve 23
C. Kennedy 0
E. Todorow(capt) not out 4
J. Crossland(wkt) not out 0
F.O.W. - 21, 22, 59, 81, 81, 115, 149, 157, 176
Clapham Nomads lost by 107 runs.
Full scores to follow. (Now included.)
Normally, I would give Man of The Match to Zeeshan for his 50 and he played really well. However, Chris Kennedy produced something really special today. He threw everything into his fielding, despite injury and he produced a great moment of sportsmanship in walking when no-one else realised he was out. He is a model Sportsman and a true Nomads legend. He is Man of the Match and Fielder of the Day.
Monday 8 August 2016
Clapham Nomads v Barnes Occasionals - 7/8/16
Nomads entertained our oldest cricketing friends, the Barnes Occasionals, at a gloriously sunny Raynes Park Sports Ground on Sunday.
Inserted by Barnes skipper Ollie Hogg, Nomads' openers Mahesh and Darwin resumed their almost telepathic understanding at the crease. They seem to take it in turns to dominate and it was Mahesh's turn to force the pace this week as they faced up to the contrasting pace and styles of Hooker and Hogg. Vyas raced to 13 but Ollie Hogg always produces something, usually leaving the victim feeling bamboozled. On this occasion, a slow one caused Mahesh to move forward just a little too much and become unbalanced. The batsman could not regain his ground in time even though the keeper fumbled it, and off came the bails. 19 for 1.
Excellent batting from Darwin and Prasanth, containing a high proportion of boundaries, kept up the pace. Hooker bowled Darwin for a nice 25 in the 11th over with the 50 just on the board. Hassan continued his good work of last week until Prasanth fell for 23 to a one-handed catch described by John Crossland as "amazing." Not a word John is given to using - it must have been quite something. Looks like Prasanth is coming into form to face his favourite opponents, the Energy Exiles, next week.
I arrived with the score 100 for 3 and Nomads were in full flood. Zia and Hassan matching each other stride for stride until Zia struck 2 sixes off an over from Keith Seed, not the easiest bowler to get away. Inevitably, the Barnes Legend struck back in the following over to bowl Zia, just after Hassan had fallen for 45 (top-scorer for the second week in a row.)
Nomads were down to 158 for 5 and still needed quite a few to put ourselves in command. Patrick struck 3 nice boundaries while KK and Zeeshan were there and then Abbas smacked it around at the death to bring Nomads up to 197 at the close.
Occasionals were missing their star batsman Roger Price but there were one or two players we did not know too much about. You can never write off the Occasionals as we know from long experience.
Keith Seed opened the batting, which I cannot remember him doing for many years but, together with his left-handed partner, he played a nice hand; craftily dropping it into the gaps and showing a keen instinct for the quick single and strike rotation. Hassan was again tight, going of just above 2 an over. Zeeshan showed real pace and was denied what looked a certain caught behind when he followed through in front of the umpire who did not get a clear view of the incident.
Barnes were falling behind the rate but it took the arrival of Emil Todorow to break the partnership. A slow full toss managed to find its way past Seed's bat onto off stump. This may become a late inswinging yorker by September. Someone remarked that "Shit gets wickets," to which someone else added that Emil has taken more wickets than any other Nomad. Emil had a bit of an aura about him in this game though. He would receive the ball, shake his head, examine the seam (without, of course, any suggestion that he was going to pick it) shake his head again and lope up five strides and deliver the ball. Most batsmen know that they will receive either a full toss, a deadly delivery on the stumps, or a near wide. They don't know which it will be (how could they? Todorow doesn't know himself) but the suspense seems to destroy them. A hint.....if Emil's hair is floating horizontally the ball will be on middle and leg, but I have said too much already.
Abbas took over at the top end and kicked off with one of the fastest overs I have seen a Nomads produce for some time. Possibly since the days of Ajmal 7 years ago. An absolute flyer was followed by a shortish one which the left-handed batsman only had time to chip back to Abbas for wicket 2. Barnes had their moments but as Abbas continued his spell he began to swing it and the one that moved late to rattle middle stump was the ball of the day. Abbas has been bowling some great stuff in the last month and he puts his success down to drinking copious amounts of green tea. I am tempted to try this myself but I would probably take it with milk, 2 sugars and a couple of Danish pastries which might take away the benefit.
Several Barnes players got a start but few could consolidate. A couple of wickets for KK were followed by the introduction of the leg-spinner Patrick to the attack. He started with 2 full tosses which were hit for 8 by the last of the recognised hitters but, having tasted blood, the player came forward again to a better length ball, missed, and keeper John Crossland gleefully whipped the bails off - a rare stumping for the Nomads.
Ollie Hogg and Mike Webster were the last pair. Both capable players but the required rate was around 10 and an LBW soon confirmed our victory.
A fine victory for an improving Nomads side that is starting to look a well-balanced outfit. We will need to be against the Exiles next week.
As ever, I enjoyed reminiscing with Keith Seed about the halcyon days of Open University v Barnes Occasionals matches in the mid-90s. He reminded me of a match when OU dismissed Barnes for 90, possibly their lowest total against OU. In reply, we were 73 for 3 and Dave Hunter was smacking it around. Sensing that their was just a chance (approximately 99%) that the ball might pop up at Deep Mid Wicket at some stage, the wily Seed put his best fielder, Adam Hogg, and OU's Dublin-born star responded by pulling the ball straight into Adam's hands. It did not shock me to hear that OU then lost the game or that Dave Hunter (who I must mention is a brilliant bloke and I am proud to call a good friend) then set about berating OU's BOWLERS for losing us the game. Happy days, but that's enough rambling about the past. This Nomads side appears to have a bright future.
Man of the Match? I must raise a glass of herbal tea to Abbas. I forgot to mention he unfortunately put down a caught and bowled chance which would have given him a deserved five-fer. Fielder of the Day? KK and Zia made good stops. Sub fielder Nick Lefebve was busy and tidy but, for the third week in the row, John Crossland takes the prize for a stumping, a catch-that-might-have-been and only conceding one bye.
Clapham Nomads 197 for 7 from 35 overs
M. Vyas stumped, b Hogg 13
D. Gunawardena b Hooker 25
P.Pattiyil caught-------- b Gokul 23
H. Khan caught wicket b Binoy 45
Zia b Seed 38
Patrick not out 16
KK Khusro caught-------- b Gokul 4
Zeeshan b Gokul 2
Abbas Khan not out 16
Did not bat; E. Todorow, J. Crossland.
Substitute Fielder (whole of 2nd innings) - N. Lefebve
F. O. W. - 19, 50, 86, 158, 158, 169, 179
Barnes Occasionals 93 all out from 27.2 overs
Nomads' bowling
H. Khan 5-1-11-0
Zeeshan 5-0-16-0
Abbas Khan 7-1-24-4
E. Todorow 6-1-17-2
KK Khusro 2.2-0-7-2
Patrick 2-0-14-1
Clapham Nomads won by 104 runs
Inserted by Barnes skipper Ollie Hogg, Nomads' openers Mahesh and Darwin resumed their almost telepathic understanding at the crease. They seem to take it in turns to dominate and it was Mahesh's turn to force the pace this week as they faced up to the contrasting pace and styles of Hooker and Hogg. Vyas raced to 13 but Ollie Hogg always produces something, usually leaving the victim feeling bamboozled. On this occasion, a slow one caused Mahesh to move forward just a little too much and become unbalanced. The batsman could not regain his ground in time even though the keeper fumbled it, and off came the bails. 19 for 1.
Excellent batting from Darwin and Prasanth, containing a high proportion of boundaries, kept up the pace. Hooker bowled Darwin for a nice 25 in the 11th over with the 50 just on the board. Hassan continued his good work of last week until Prasanth fell for 23 to a one-handed catch described by John Crossland as "amazing." Not a word John is given to using - it must have been quite something. Looks like Prasanth is coming into form to face his favourite opponents, the Energy Exiles, next week.
I arrived with the score 100 for 3 and Nomads were in full flood. Zia and Hassan matching each other stride for stride until Zia struck 2 sixes off an over from Keith Seed, not the easiest bowler to get away. Inevitably, the Barnes Legend struck back in the following over to bowl Zia, just after Hassan had fallen for 45 (top-scorer for the second week in a row.)
Nomads were down to 158 for 5 and still needed quite a few to put ourselves in command. Patrick struck 3 nice boundaries while KK and Zeeshan were there and then Abbas smacked it around at the death to bring Nomads up to 197 at the close.
Occasionals were missing their star batsman Roger Price but there were one or two players we did not know too much about. You can never write off the Occasionals as we know from long experience.
Keith Seed opened the batting, which I cannot remember him doing for many years but, together with his left-handed partner, he played a nice hand; craftily dropping it into the gaps and showing a keen instinct for the quick single and strike rotation. Hassan was again tight, going of just above 2 an over. Zeeshan showed real pace and was denied what looked a certain caught behind when he followed through in front of the umpire who did not get a clear view of the incident.
Barnes were falling behind the rate but it took the arrival of Emil Todorow to break the partnership. A slow full toss managed to find its way past Seed's bat onto off stump. This may become a late inswinging yorker by September. Someone remarked that "Shit gets wickets," to which someone else added that Emil has taken more wickets than any other Nomad. Emil had a bit of an aura about him in this game though. He would receive the ball, shake his head, examine the seam (without, of course, any suggestion that he was going to pick it) shake his head again and lope up five strides and deliver the ball. Most batsmen know that they will receive either a full toss, a deadly delivery on the stumps, or a near wide. They don't know which it will be (how could they? Todorow doesn't know himself) but the suspense seems to destroy them. A hint.....if Emil's hair is floating horizontally the ball will be on middle and leg, but I have said too much already.
Abbas took over at the top end and kicked off with one of the fastest overs I have seen a Nomads produce for some time. Possibly since the days of Ajmal 7 years ago. An absolute flyer was followed by a shortish one which the left-handed batsman only had time to chip back to Abbas for wicket 2. Barnes had their moments but as Abbas continued his spell he began to swing it and the one that moved late to rattle middle stump was the ball of the day. Abbas has been bowling some great stuff in the last month and he puts his success down to drinking copious amounts of green tea. I am tempted to try this myself but I would probably take it with milk, 2 sugars and a couple of Danish pastries which might take away the benefit.
Several Barnes players got a start but few could consolidate. A couple of wickets for KK were followed by the introduction of the leg-spinner Patrick to the attack. He started with 2 full tosses which were hit for 8 by the last of the recognised hitters but, having tasted blood, the player came forward again to a better length ball, missed, and keeper John Crossland gleefully whipped the bails off - a rare stumping for the Nomads.
Ollie Hogg and Mike Webster were the last pair. Both capable players but the required rate was around 10 and an LBW soon confirmed our victory.
A fine victory for an improving Nomads side that is starting to look a well-balanced outfit. We will need to be against the Exiles next week.
As ever, I enjoyed reminiscing with Keith Seed about the halcyon days of Open University v Barnes Occasionals matches in the mid-90s. He reminded me of a match when OU dismissed Barnes for 90, possibly their lowest total against OU. In reply, we were 73 for 3 and Dave Hunter was smacking it around. Sensing that their was just a chance (approximately 99%) that the ball might pop up at Deep Mid Wicket at some stage, the wily Seed put his best fielder, Adam Hogg, and OU's Dublin-born star responded by pulling the ball straight into Adam's hands. It did not shock me to hear that OU then lost the game or that Dave Hunter (who I must mention is a brilliant bloke and I am proud to call a good friend) then set about berating OU's BOWLERS for losing us the game. Happy days, but that's enough rambling about the past. This Nomads side appears to have a bright future.
Man of the Match? I must raise a glass of herbal tea to Abbas. I forgot to mention he unfortunately put down a caught and bowled chance which would have given him a deserved five-fer. Fielder of the Day? KK and Zia made good stops. Sub fielder Nick Lefebve was busy and tidy but, for the third week in the row, John Crossland takes the prize for a stumping, a catch-that-might-have-been and only conceding one bye.
Clapham Nomads 197 for 7 from 35 overs
M. Vyas stumped, b Hogg 13
D. Gunawardena b Hooker 25
P.Pattiyil caught-------- b Gokul 23
H. Khan caught wicket b Binoy 45
Zia b Seed 38
Patrick not out 16
KK Khusro caught-------- b Gokul 4
Zeeshan b Gokul 2
Abbas Khan not out 16
Did not bat; E. Todorow, J. Crossland.
Substitute Fielder (whole of 2nd innings) - N. Lefebve
F. O. W. - 19, 50, 86, 158, 158, 169, 179
Barnes Occasionals 93 all out from 27.2 overs
Nomads' bowling
H. Khan 5-1-11-0
Zeeshan 5-0-16-0
Abbas Khan 7-1-24-4
E. Todorow 6-1-17-2
KK Khusro 2.2-0-7-2
Patrick 2-0-14-1
Clapham Nomads won by 104 runs
Long Ditton v Clapham Nomads - 31/7/16
A much stronger-looking Nomads side turned out for this one, with Prasanth, Hassan, Zeeshan and Zia all making welcome returns. Most of us managed to avoid the absolute chaos caused by the London to Box Hill cycle ride but we were still short at 2.20 and, for the 3rd week in a row, had to bat first by agreement.
This proved no bad thing at all as Mahesh and Darwin, who are developing into a fine opening pair, put on 74 - our best opening stand of the season by some distance.
Mahesh was first to go, LBW to the stand-out bowler T. Leaning. By then, Darwin almost had his 50 and he duly completed the landmark before falling to Spahr. A fine knock. Prasanth and Hassan took us into three figures but the loss of Prasanth on 102 left the game hanging delicately in the balance.
Hassan was in fine form though, and a magnificent 63 not out dominated the second half of our innings. He was well-supported by all his partners with KK (15) and Zeeshan (13) contributing most. A sharp piece of work from mid-off to run out Patrick and late wickets from the Neely siblings were the best moments for the home side, but Nomads' pace never relented and a single from Hassan off the last ball of the 35 overs took us up to our first 200 for a while.
Long Ditton are more than useful though and contain plenty of the type of opponent we fear more than any other; the well-trained youngster.
I didn't attend this game and someone told me later that, at the halfway point of Long Ditton's innings, they were only on 50. I think that is a slight exaggeration looking at the figures, but certainly excellent bowling from Hassan, despite injury, kept a firm brake on the scoring rate. The legendary all-rounder capped a great performance to record figures of 7-2-10-1. Zia bowled at high pace at the other end and also went for less than the required rate. Long Ditton could not really make up the lost ground despite acceleration around drinks. Most Nomads bowlers were pretty economical; only Emil went for the 10 an over Ditton needed by that stage but he retaliated with the inevitable wicket.
It was not totally without tension but we held on well to record a 25-run victory.
John Crossland stated in the scorebook; "we had enough runs on the board but fielding was not good." I trust he is not including himself in this as, with 2 catches and a run out, the evergreen keeper is Fielder of the Day. Darwin took the other catch. Clear Man of the Match was Hassan for a commanding individual performance.
Clapham Nomads 200 for 8 from 35 overs
M. Vyas 13
D. Gunawardena 51
P. Pattiyil 7
H. Khan not out 63
Zia 5
KK Khusro 15
Patrick 4
Zeeshan 13
Abbas Khan 7
E. Todorow not out 3
Did not bat; J. Crossland
F.O.W. - 74, 80, 102, 107, 151, 168, 185, 194
Long Ditton 175 for 7 from 35 overs
Clapham Nomads' bowling
H. Khan 7-2-10-1
Zia 6-1-26-1
KK Khusro 5-0-23-2
Abbas Khan 7-0-45-0
Zeeshan 7-0-30-1
E. Todorow 3-0-30-1
Clapham Nomads won by 25 runs
Man of the Match - Hassan Khan
Fielder of the Day - John Crossland
This proved no bad thing at all as Mahesh and Darwin, who are developing into a fine opening pair, put on 74 - our best opening stand of the season by some distance.
Mahesh was first to go, LBW to the stand-out bowler T. Leaning. By then, Darwin almost had his 50 and he duly completed the landmark before falling to Spahr. A fine knock. Prasanth and Hassan took us into three figures but the loss of Prasanth on 102 left the game hanging delicately in the balance.
Hassan was in fine form though, and a magnificent 63 not out dominated the second half of our innings. He was well-supported by all his partners with KK (15) and Zeeshan (13) contributing most. A sharp piece of work from mid-off to run out Patrick and late wickets from the Neely siblings were the best moments for the home side, but Nomads' pace never relented and a single from Hassan off the last ball of the 35 overs took us up to our first 200 for a while.
Long Ditton are more than useful though and contain plenty of the type of opponent we fear more than any other; the well-trained youngster.
I didn't attend this game and someone told me later that, at the halfway point of Long Ditton's innings, they were only on 50. I think that is a slight exaggeration looking at the figures, but certainly excellent bowling from Hassan, despite injury, kept a firm brake on the scoring rate. The legendary all-rounder capped a great performance to record figures of 7-2-10-1. Zia bowled at high pace at the other end and also went for less than the required rate. Long Ditton could not really make up the lost ground despite acceleration around drinks. Most Nomads bowlers were pretty economical; only Emil went for the 10 an over Ditton needed by that stage but he retaliated with the inevitable wicket.
It was not totally without tension but we held on well to record a 25-run victory.
John Crossland stated in the scorebook; "we had enough runs on the board but fielding was not good." I trust he is not including himself in this as, with 2 catches and a run out, the evergreen keeper is Fielder of the Day. Darwin took the other catch. Clear Man of the Match was Hassan for a commanding individual performance.
Clapham Nomads 200 for 8 from 35 overs
M. Vyas 13
D. Gunawardena 51
P. Pattiyil 7
H. Khan not out 63
Zia 5
KK Khusro 15
Patrick 4
Zeeshan 13
Abbas Khan 7
E. Todorow not out 3
Did not bat; J. Crossland
F.O.W. - 74, 80, 102, 107, 151, 168, 185, 194
Long Ditton 175 for 7 from 35 overs
Clapham Nomads' bowling
H. Khan 7-2-10-1
Zia 6-1-26-1
KK Khusro 5-0-23-2
Abbas Khan 7-0-45-0
Zeeshan 7-0-30-1
E. Todorow 3-0-30-1
Clapham Nomads won by 25 runs
Man of the Match - Hassan Khan
Fielder of the Day - John Crossland
Wednesday 27 July 2016
Palm Tree v Clapham Nomads - 24/7/16
Nomads lost again (for the 2nd successive week after being forced to bat first as some players had not yet arrived) but it was an interesting and enjoyable afternoon in the delightful surroundings of Highgate Woods watched by a crowd of at least 100.
Everyone in the side made some positive contribution. It was good to welcome 3 men making their debuts; talented leg-spinning all-rounders Max Mertens and Patrick, and Zain Nouman who produced some rapid pace bowling.
Sadly, it looks as if Palm Tree have poached Max to play for them but, fair enough, he does live in Highgate.
FULL REPORT TO FOLLOW......
Scores.(35 overs per side)
Clapham Nomads 99 all out in 30 overs (10 men)
M. Vyas 16
D. Gunawardena 11
Z. Nouman 0
KK. Khusro 12
M. Mertens 5
Patrick 31
Abbas Khan 6
N. Lefebve 7
E. Todorow (capt) 0
J. Crossland (wkt) not out 0
F.O.W. - 22, 22, 34, 45, 50, 57, 96, 98, 99
Palm Tree 102 for 5 from 21.5 overs
Nomads' bowling
Z. Nouman 4-0-22-0
KK Khusro 3-0-26-0
E. Todorow 3-0-12-1
Abbas Khan 7-1-20-3
Patrick 2-0-9-0
M. Mertens 2.5-1-13-1
Nomads lost by 5 wickets
For the 2nd week in a row, excellent fast bowling from Abbas was our bowling highlight and he was well and entertainingly supported by 3 "leg-spinners"; 2 real ones (Patrick and Max) and one who can bowl it and looks like a leg-spinner - specifically Mushtaq Ahmed (Emil.). Patrick's bowling, together with being the top scorer gives him Man of the Match. I asked John Crossland who the Fielder of the Day was out of Zain, Mahesh Vyas and John Crossland and his verdict was.....John Crossland (he did take 2 catches.)
MORE TO FOLLOW SOON....
Clapham Nomads, who are notorious for their dislike of long-haul travel, were struggling for players for this trip to North London but a Gumtree ad produced 2 new players in Zain Nouman and Patrick and a quick trawl by John Crossland of the 100-plus crowd brought in local lad Max Mertens who had been hoping for a quiet afternoon practicing in the nets with his friends. This gave us a full team, but one Nomad failed to negotiate the marathon trek, leaving us with 10.
Due to late arrivals, Nomads had to bat first and Mahesh Vyas and Darwin made a good start. A string of twos were taken from the opener Russell but his partner Howes proved tough to get away, only conceding 4 scoring shots in his 5 overs. Howes struck first, bowling Darwin leg stump. Debutant Zain shaped nicely at the crease but a jaffa of an away-swinger from Howes found his outside edge third ball. 22 for 2. Mahesh was playing really nicely, including on the off side, and it took a bowling change to remove him; Simon Maggs sneaking one under Vyas's bat and on to the very top of his off stump. Maggs is a crafty and interesting bowler who openly discusses his variations and also gives the umpire a running commentary on where the ball would be hitting, possibly with a view to softening up the official for an LBW decision. Maggs' nickname is "Shelfy" which was later explained as being short for "Top Shelf." Top Shelf Mags.....hmm, he must be interested in motoring. Anyway, he did get his LBW but it was pretty plumb.
An entertaining cameo 12 from KK was followed by a textbook boundary from Max but both perished fairly quickly; Max to another one that just clipped the top of the stumps.
Suddenly Nomads, having perhaps not had the rub of the green, were 50 for 5 and Abbas fell shortly after. 57 for 6 and a short afternoon beckoned.
Nick Lefebve joined Patrick and there was a double bowling change and the pair agreed they would try to take it up to 100. One of the more cynical Nomads also suggested that Palm Tree wanted to gift us the 40 or so runs to give their batsmen a target. The bowlers were by no means comedians though, probably roughly what you would expect from third-changers at this level. In this situation you must a) not throw it away and b) put away the loosest of the balls. Lefebve just about managed the first, while Patrick did both admirably and hit a fine 31. After around 11 overs of this, Nomads were up to 96 for 6 but one of these bowlers, Crego, found another gear and dismissed Patrick, Emil and Nick in very quick succession, leaving a less-than-impressed John Crossland stranded with the score one short of the 100.
This did not look too demanding an ask for the home side, but Palm Tree had only managed 127 against us in May and all of our 3 new players were bowlers so we retained some slight hope.......
....... which lasted about an over and a half as Zain bowled too short and Bill Wood helped himself. He also hit KK out of the ground twice and both balls were lost somewhere in Highgate Woods - though Bill hits it so hard they might have ended up in Queens Wood or even Hampstead Heath.
Zain's 3rd and 4th overs were much better and he looks a really useful paceman, but by then the home side were approaching 50 without loss. A fine catch by Zain on the boundary off the bowling of Emil Todorow prevented the dreaded 10-wicket defeat but it looked to be no more than a consolation until a devastating burst of pace bowling from Abbas produced 3 further wickets, a catch from Mahesh Vyas at very deep slip was the highlight. Max Mertens and Patrick then showed some interesting leg-spin bowling. Max produced some venomous top spin to feed another slip chance to Mahesh Vyas, which was snapped up panther-like as usual.
The Palms were almost there though and victory was soon confirmed - it had never been in much doubt from 22 for 2 in our innings, onwards.
An entertaining game though. It is just a pity we had not managed another 30 which could have produced a treat for the crowd. There were over 100 present; picnicking, enjoying the sun and keeping half an eye on the decent gentlemanly chaps in flannels taking part in England's great summer game. It is a pity we did not select Andrew West.
Nomads gained one of our very rare links with Pop/Celebrity culture when Patrick revealed that he had played on tour in the Cotswolds and had been collected from the station by chart-topping singer Lily Allen. I think Emil was jealous about this as he is big fan of Ms Allen and can often be heard humming her catchy hit single "Smile."
Everyone in the side made some positive contribution. It was good to welcome 3 men making their debuts; talented leg-spinning all-rounders Max Mertens and Patrick, and Zain Nouman who produced some rapid pace bowling.
Sadly, it looks as if Palm Tree have poached Max to play for them but, fair enough, he does live in Highgate.
FULL REPORT TO FOLLOW......
Scores.(35 overs per side)
Clapham Nomads 99 all out in 30 overs (10 men)
M. Vyas 16
D. Gunawardena 11
Z. Nouman 0
KK. Khusro 12
M. Mertens 5
Patrick 31
Abbas Khan 6
N. Lefebve 7
E. Todorow (capt) 0
J. Crossland (wkt) not out 0
F.O.W. - 22, 22, 34, 45, 50, 57, 96, 98, 99
Palm Tree 102 for 5 from 21.5 overs
Nomads' bowling
Z. Nouman 4-0-22-0
KK Khusro 3-0-26-0
E. Todorow 3-0-12-1
Abbas Khan 7-1-20-3
Patrick 2-0-9-0
M. Mertens 2.5-1-13-1
Nomads lost by 5 wickets
For the 2nd week in a row, excellent fast bowling from Abbas was our bowling highlight and he was well and entertainingly supported by 3 "leg-spinners"; 2 real ones (Patrick and Max) and one who can bowl it and looks like a leg-spinner - specifically Mushtaq Ahmed (Emil.). Patrick's bowling, together with being the top scorer gives him Man of the Match. I asked John Crossland who the Fielder of the Day was out of Zain, Mahesh Vyas and John Crossland and his verdict was.....John Crossland (he did take 2 catches.)
MORE TO FOLLOW SOON....
Clapham Nomads, who are notorious for their dislike of long-haul travel, were struggling for players for this trip to North London but a Gumtree ad produced 2 new players in Zain Nouman and Patrick and a quick trawl by John Crossland of the 100-plus crowd brought in local lad Max Mertens who had been hoping for a quiet afternoon practicing in the nets with his friends. This gave us a full team, but one Nomad failed to negotiate the marathon trek, leaving us with 10.
Due to late arrivals, Nomads had to bat first and Mahesh Vyas and Darwin made a good start. A string of twos were taken from the opener Russell but his partner Howes proved tough to get away, only conceding 4 scoring shots in his 5 overs. Howes struck first, bowling Darwin leg stump. Debutant Zain shaped nicely at the crease but a jaffa of an away-swinger from Howes found his outside edge third ball. 22 for 2. Mahesh was playing really nicely, including on the off side, and it took a bowling change to remove him; Simon Maggs sneaking one under Vyas's bat and on to the very top of his off stump. Maggs is a crafty and interesting bowler who openly discusses his variations and also gives the umpire a running commentary on where the ball would be hitting, possibly with a view to softening up the official for an LBW decision. Maggs' nickname is "Shelfy" which was later explained as being short for "Top Shelf." Top Shelf Mags.....hmm, he must be interested in motoring. Anyway, he did get his LBW but it was pretty plumb.
An entertaining cameo 12 from KK was followed by a textbook boundary from Max but both perished fairly quickly; Max to another one that just clipped the top of the stumps.
Suddenly Nomads, having perhaps not had the rub of the green, were 50 for 5 and Abbas fell shortly after. 57 for 6 and a short afternoon beckoned.
Nick Lefebve joined Patrick and there was a double bowling change and the pair agreed they would try to take it up to 100. One of the more cynical Nomads also suggested that Palm Tree wanted to gift us the 40 or so runs to give their batsmen a target. The bowlers were by no means comedians though, probably roughly what you would expect from third-changers at this level. In this situation you must a) not throw it away and b) put away the loosest of the balls. Lefebve just about managed the first, while Patrick did both admirably and hit a fine 31. After around 11 overs of this, Nomads were up to 96 for 6 but one of these bowlers, Crego, found another gear and dismissed Patrick, Emil and Nick in very quick succession, leaving a less-than-impressed John Crossland stranded with the score one short of the 100.
This did not look too demanding an ask for the home side, but Palm Tree had only managed 127 against us in May and all of our 3 new players were bowlers so we retained some slight hope.......
....... which lasted about an over and a half as Zain bowled too short and Bill Wood helped himself. He also hit KK out of the ground twice and both balls were lost somewhere in Highgate Woods - though Bill hits it so hard they might have ended up in Queens Wood or even Hampstead Heath.
Zain's 3rd and 4th overs were much better and he looks a really useful paceman, but by then the home side were approaching 50 without loss. A fine catch by Zain on the boundary off the bowling of Emil Todorow prevented the dreaded 10-wicket defeat but it looked to be no more than a consolation until a devastating burst of pace bowling from Abbas produced 3 further wickets, a catch from Mahesh Vyas at very deep slip was the highlight. Max Mertens and Patrick then showed some interesting leg-spin bowling. Max produced some venomous top spin to feed another slip chance to Mahesh Vyas, which was snapped up panther-like as usual.
The Palms were almost there though and victory was soon confirmed - it had never been in much doubt from 22 for 2 in our innings, onwards.
An entertaining game though. It is just a pity we had not managed another 30 which could have produced a treat for the crowd. There were over 100 present; picnicking, enjoying the sun and keeping half an eye on the decent gentlemanly chaps in flannels taking part in England's great summer game. It is a pity we did not select Andrew West.
Nomads gained one of our very rare links with Pop/Celebrity culture when Patrick revealed that he had played on tour in the Cotswolds and had been collected from the station by chart-topping singer Lily Allen. I think Emil was jealous about this as he is big fan of Ms Allen and can often be heard humming her catchy hit single "Smile."
Tuesday 19 July 2016
Northfields v Clapham Nomads - 17/7/16
Nomads lost a very pleasant conference game against Northfields (on the Brentford /Ealing border) on Sunday.
Nomads took 10 over to Northfields cc for this match. Was it the West London post code that put the 11th man off? It shouldn't have done. Emil drove from Clapham to Northfields in 48 minutes.
Surprisingly, there were a few Nomads' late-comers and so the Home side inserted us, but steady rain delayed the start until we had almost all arrived.
Northfields - probably uniquely - feature 3 players called D. Redhead and one of these (Derrick) opened along with Thompson, and this pair soon had Nomads in trouble at 2 for 1 in the 4th over, Redhead clipping Mahesh's leg stump.
Fine batting from Abdul and Darwin improved our fortunes. Several nice shots stopped inches from the boundary in the wet grass, though a 6 from Abdul showed the way to avoid that. Abdul survived an LBW appeal when a yorker hit him full on the foot. Sadly he has fractured his little toe and may be out for the season. At least the fact that it was the little toe on the front foot vindicates the Not Out decision but this is scant consolation. I hope you feel better soon, Abdul. Batting with a runner, Abdul was bowled for 18 with the score on 27.
Hassan strode out and produced, with Darwin, Nomads' best batting. Darwin produced the 2 most classical shots with a bullet straight drive and a sumptuous cover drive for 4. Hassan was more cautious but looked very solid and took singles at will. Darwin fell to David Redhead for a top-score 30 and was replaced by Zia who made a most entertaining 24, taking 14 off the first 3 balls of a David Redhead over before being bowled off the 5th ball. KK kept up the good work with Hassan and 117 for 4 was our high-point. A steady slump after that was enlivened by a hard-hitting 18 from Abbas with deceptive medium-pacer Connelly striking 3 late blows for the home side. There was a vintage Crossland leg glance for 3 off the last ball. We used up our full 35 anyway and finished on 142 for 8 which was not a disaster.
A nice tea was followed by enterprising batting from the Home openers. The field was drying and a string of boundaries made it look as if this would be quite a short afternoon. Brilliant and hostile fast bowling from Abbas then brought us right back into the game. He pegged the stumps back 4 times to reduce the home side to around 55 for 4. He just missed out on his hat-trick but the match looked well-poised.
Sadly Abbas couldn't get his five-fer and, despite tight bowling from Emil, a very sensible stand between Clapham-born opener Toby Collins and vice-captain Thompson, both of whom made 50, saw Northfields home. The only chance was a drop on the boundary when about 30 were needed, but this probably wasn't crucial as Northfields had some talented players, including 2 Redheads, still in the pavilion.
This was a really enjoyable game, Northfields - well organised by Nigel Russell - are an exemplary club and a nice bunch of guys who enjoy their cricket and have worked hard to produce an excellent cricketing set-up.
Clapham Nomads 142 for 8 from 35 overs
M. Vyas 1
Abdul Khan 18
D. Gunawardena 30
H. Khan 24
Zia 24
KK. Khusro 8
Abbas Khan not out 18
N. Lefebve 1
E. Todorow (capt) 0
J. Crossland (wkt) not out 3
F.O.W. - 2, 27, 61, 94, 117, 121, 127, 132
Northfields 114 for 4 from 28.4 overs (T.Collins and A. Thompson both made 50s)
Nomads' bowling
H. Khan 4-0-19-0
Zia 7-1-39-0
Abbas Khan 7-1-36-4
E. Todorow 7-0-23-0
KK Khusro 3-0-19-0
Abdul Khan 0.4-0-6-0
Nomads lost by 6 wickets
Man of the Match was Abbas with a fierce spell of bowling which kept us in with a chance for a while. His first over was too short but a series of excellent stops from Zia at Backward Square Leg prevented too much damage and kept Abbas's confidence high, which resulted in 4 or 5 deadly overs from the young paceman. So Zia is Fielder of the Day.
One strange feature of this match was that, of the 12 wickets to fall, 11 were bowled. I can't really explain that. The pitch was good, only 1 or 2 catches were spilled and there were only a couple of leg before appeals rejected. Just coincidence I guess. The only other wicket was LBW and I was the victim. I would like to claim that being given LBW is superior to being bowled but I have been trapped in front in each of the last 3 games. That must tell me something (and it can't possibly be that Nomads' umpires are over-generous to the bowling side.)
Nomads took 10 over to Northfields cc for this match. Was it the West London post code that put the 11th man off? It shouldn't have done. Emil drove from Clapham to Northfields in 48 minutes.
Surprisingly, there were a few Nomads' late-comers and so the Home side inserted us, but steady rain delayed the start until we had almost all arrived.
Northfields - probably uniquely - feature 3 players called D. Redhead and one of these (Derrick) opened along with Thompson, and this pair soon had Nomads in trouble at 2 for 1 in the 4th over, Redhead clipping Mahesh's leg stump.
Fine batting from Abdul and Darwin improved our fortunes. Several nice shots stopped inches from the boundary in the wet grass, though a 6 from Abdul showed the way to avoid that. Abdul survived an LBW appeal when a yorker hit him full on the foot. Sadly he has fractured his little toe and may be out for the season. At least the fact that it was the little toe on the front foot vindicates the Not Out decision but this is scant consolation. I hope you feel better soon, Abdul. Batting with a runner, Abdul was bowled for 18 with the score on 27.
Hassan strode out and produced, with Darwin, Nomads' best batting. Darwin produced the 2 most classical shots with a bullet straight drive and a sumptuous cover drive for 4. Hassan was more cautious but looked very solid and took singles at will. Darwin fell to David Redhead for a top-score 30 and was replaced by Zia who made a most entertaining 24, taking 14 off the first 3 balls of a David Redhead over before being bowled off the 5th ball. KK kept up the good work with Hassan and 117 for 4 was our high-point. A steady slump after that was enlivened by a hard-hitting 18 from Abbas with deceptive medium-pacer Connelly striking 3 late blows for the home side. There was a vintage Crossland leg glance for 3 off the last ball. We used up our full 35 anyway and finished on 142 for 8 which was not a disaster.
A nice tea was followed by enterprising batting from the Home openers. The field was drying and a string of boundaries made it look as if this would be quite a short afternoon. Brilliant and hostile fast bowling from Abbas then brought us right back into the game. He pegged the stumps back 4 times to reduce the home side to around 55 for 4. He just missed out on his hat-trick but the match looked well-poised.
Sadly Abbas couldn't get his five-fer and, despite tight bowling from Emil, a very sensible stand between Clapham-born opener Toby Collins and vice-captain Thompson, both of whom made 50, saw Northfields home. The only chance was a drop on the boundary when about 30 were needed, but this probably wasn't crucial as Northfields had some talented players, including 2 Redheads, still in the pavilion.
This was a really enjoyable game, Northfields - well organised by Nigel Russell - are an exemplary club and a nice bunch of guys who enjoy their cricket and have worked hard to produce an excellent cricketing set-up.
Clapham Nomads 142 for 8 from 35 overs
M. Vyas 1
Abdul Khan 18
D. Gunawardena 30
H. Khan 24
Zia 24
KK. Khusro 8
Abbas Khan not out 18
N. Lefebve 1
E. Todorow (capt) 0
J. Crossland (wkt) not out 3
F.O.W. - 2, 27, 61, 94, 117, 121, 127, 132
Northfields 114 for 4 from 28.4 overs (T.Collins and A. Thompson both made 50s)
Nomads' bowling
H. Khan 4-0-19-0
Zia 7-1-39-0
Abbas Khan 7-1-36-4
E. Todorow 7-0-23-0
KK Khusro 3-0-19-0
Abdul Khan 0.4-0-6-0
Nomads lost by 6 wickets
Man of the Match was Abbas with a fierce spell of bowling which kept us in with a chance for a while. His first over was too short but a series of excellent stops from Zia at Backward Square Leg prevented too much damage and kept Abbas's confidence high, which resulted in 4 or 5 deadly overs from the young paceman. So Zia is Fielder of the Day.
One strange feature of this match was that, of the 12 wickets to fall, 11 were bowled. I can't really explain that. The pitch was good, only 1 or 2 catches were spilled and there were only a couple of leg before appeals rejected. Just coincidence I guess. The only other wicket was LBW and I was the victim. I would like to claim that being given LBW is superior to being bowled but I have been trapped in front in each of the last 3 games. That must tell me something (and it can't possibly be that Nomads' umpires are over-generous to the bowling side.)
Tuesday 21 June 2016
Old Leagonians v Clapham Nomads - 20/20 at Epsom cc updated
Nomads did well to take a 12-man squad down to Epsom cc for our 20-20 against the Old Leagonians on Sunday.
There were 2 new men; Faruk Patel and Paul Murphy and also a first appearance for Hameed who had come all the way to Joseph Hood the previous week only to be denied a game because of Burgh Heath cc's mud allergy.
Nomads won the toss and batted first in what soon turned out to be quite difficult conditions. The pitch was slow and had some very low bounce for bowlers from the Town End. The outfield was extremely slow after the recent mini-monsoon.
Darwin and Mahesh had first go and they chugged along at around 4 an over against some useful swing bowling from the Leagonians' youngsters. Darwin scored the faster of the 2 but Mahesh was an entertaining presence at the other end; doing an "Ali Shuffle" before every ball. Darwin calls Mahesh "Max" but "Mark" might have been more appropriate as Mahesh played several Bradshaw-style drives in front of square on the off side. It is always a good sign when this predominantly leg-side player hits it to the off.
The rate of around 4 an over was kept up and after about the 6th over, umpire/skipper Todorow began to have urgent conferences with the pair - aware that Nomads line-up was packed out with strokemakers, and presumably telling them to hit out.
Darwin was first out for 24 with the score on around 40 in the 9th or 10th over. Wickets then began to fall with regularity. Mahesh made about 23. Gul and KK made a few each. Riaz, our made hope of a big, rapid score was unfortunately out early. Hameed looked stylish but unfortunately skied the ball - he had lost his bat on the way to the game and had to use one of the pieces of driftwood in Nomads' kit bag. The pick of the middle order was Faruk who hit a breezy 20-ish including the only 6 of the innings. Paul Murphy hit a beautiful straight boundary back over the bowler's head as the rate climbed above 5. After 18 overs we were 94 for 6 and 110 looked a possibility.
The last 2 overs are best glossed over as only 1 run came from them. Nick faced the last over but, after failing to connect with the first 4 balls, panicked and went for a suicidal single, running out his partner. Sorry again, Paul. The last ball was a dot and so Nomads had achieved that extreme rarity; a Maiden 20th over in a T20. Nomads' scorer and analyst John Crossland was less than impressed. "We needed a bare minimum of 100", he growled. Could he be proven wrong? It has happened but only occasionally.
A quick turn-around and the experienced pair of Emil and Riaz kicked it off for Clapham. Riaz went for around 6 an over but Emil, hair floating in the breeze at the Racecourse End, bowled an excellent spell of 4 overs. His figures must have been good. Leagonians just about matched the asking rate but for the loss of 4 wickets early on. One Riaz over was kept back for the death and the skipper threw the ball to Hameed and Faruk. This proved a master-stroke of ruthlessness as this pair pretty much bowled the Epsom side out of the game (or so we thought). Hameed slanted it in at above medium and can't have conceded many. After 2 looseners, Faruk announced his intentions by scattering the stumps with his third ball. He went for about 4 an over but his 3 wickets ripped the heart out of OLCC's batting in a fine spell of Fast-Medium bowling.
KK kept up the good work and by the end of the 16th over, Leagonians needed 38 off 4 with only about 3 wickets left. 3 came from the 17th but a scorer's error then apparently left the batting side requiring 35 from just 2 overs. It looked all over but one of the OLCC youngsters took a shine to the bowling of the returning Riaz with 20 off the over including 2 sixes. The scoreboard error was then realised and suddenly the home team only needed an eminently gettable 15 off 2. Happily, a fine pressure catch from Riaz in the deep removed the star batsman. 10 to win off the last 6 balls but Todorow had mis-calculated and was not able to put on one of his main bowlers for the final over. Luckily he was able to turn to Darwin, a specialist Death Bowler who bowled a match-winning final over against Carshalton Athletic in the 20-20 last year. Darwin proved more than up to the task again with 2 wickets for no runs off 3 balls and Nomads emerged victorious by 9 runs.
This was more like an attritional full-length game than a 20-20 and it showed the value of our careful 1st-wicket partnership. Excellent bowling and fielding from Clapham. John Crossland only conceded a very few byes, Hameed and Darwin impressed in the field but Fielder of the Day was Riaz for his vital pressure catch. Man of the Match was Faruk for his excellent all-round performance, though Darwin also had a brilliant game.
Clapham Nomads 95 for 8 from 20 overs
M.Vyas 23
D. Gunawardena 22
Gul 4
Hameed 2
Faruk 18
R.Khan 0
KK Khusro 5
P. Murphy 5
N. Lefebve not out 1
E. Todorow(capt) not out 0
Did not bat; J. Crossland (wkt)
F.O.W. - 33, 46, 51, 82, 84, 88, 94, 95
Old Leagonians 86 all out from 19.3 overs
Nomads' bowling
R. Khan 4-0-29-1
E. Todorow 4-1-10-2
Hameed 4-0-14-0
Faruk 4-0-19-3
KK.Khusro 3-0-13-2
D. Gunawardena 0.3-0-0-2
Clapham Nomads won by 9 runs
After tea and with rain and bad light threatening, it was decided to play 12 overs a side. Emil shuffled the pack and Chris Kennedy came in for Nick Lefebve (I wasn't dropped - though after scoring 1 not out off 7 balls and running Paul out I deserved to be - I had to go to work.)
Nomads fielded and Spin Twins Paul Murphy and Emil Todorow opened the bowling. Murphy showed some crafty twirl and flight, but the batsmen were able to take ones and twos to the deep-set field. Emil is not technically a spinner but is wily enough to be one and also he actually looks like a spinner. We had transferred onto the correct Sunday pitch and OLCC opener Richard Teasdale led a fierce assault on Emil;s bowling. The 50 came up in the 5th over. When I left, the score was around 66 for 2 off 6 overs and Nomads looked on course for a hiding. I will let readers know what happened when after I have seen Emil and I will amend the report and include more scores when I get the scorebook back.
Thanks again to Richard for organising the day and we look forward to 20-20 finals day on Sunday 4th September.
UPDATE.....We did lose the second game which was 12 overs a side. Old Leagonians made 123 for (?) 2. Nomads made 61 for 7 and so lost by 62 runs. Further scores to follow.
Old Leagonians 123 for 2 from 12 overs
Nomads' bowling
P. Murphy 3-0-34-0
E. Todorow 2-0-29-0
Faruk 2-0-24-1
Kk. Khusro 3-0-19-1
Hameed 2-0-27-0
Clapham Nomads 61 for 7 from 12 overs
R. Khan 33
KK. Khusro 0
Gul 13
D. Gunawardena 0
Hameed 2
Faruk 1
P. Murphy 0
E. Todorow not out 1
J. Crossland not out 6
F. O. W. - 20, 40, 46, 49, 53, 53, 54
There were 2 new men; Faruk Patel and Paul Murphy and also a first appearance for Hameed who had come all the way to Joseph Hood the previous week only to be denied a game because of Burgh Heath cc's mud allergy.
Nomads won the toss and batted first in what soon turned out to be quite difficult conditions. The pitch was slow and had some very low bounce for bowlers from the Town End. The outfield was extremely slow after the recent mini-monsoon.
Darwin and Mahesh had first go and they chugged along at around 4 an over against some useful swing bowling from the Leagonians' youngsters. Darwin scored the faster of the 2 but Mahesh was an entertaining presence at the other end; doing an "Ali Shuffle" before every ball. Darwin calls Mahesh "Max" but "Mark" might have been more appropriate as Mahesh played several Bradshaw-style drives in front of square on the off side. It is always a good sign when this predominantly leg-side player hits it to the off.
The rate of around 4 an over was kept up and after about the 6th over, umpire/skipper Todorow began to have urgent conferences with the pair - aware that Nomads line-up was packed out with strokemakers, and presumably telling them to hit out.
Darwin was first out for 24 with the score on around 40 in the 9th or 10th over. Wickets then began to fall with regularity. Mahesh made about 23. Gul and KK made a few each. Riaz, our made hope of a big, rapid score was unfortunately out early. Hameed looked stylish but unfortunately skied the ball - he had lost his bat on the way to the game and had to use one of the pieces of driftwood in Nomads' kit bag. The pick of the middle order was Faruk who hit a breezy 20-ish including the only 6 of the innings. Paul Murphy hit a beautiful straight boundary back over the bowler's head as the rate climbed above 5. After 18 overs we were 94 for 6 and 110 looked a possibility.
The last 2 overs are best glossed over as only 1 run came from them. Nick faced the last over but, after failing to connect with the first 4 balls, panicked and went for a suicidal single, running out his partner. Sorry again, Paul. The last ball was a dot and so Nomads had achieved that extreme rarity; a Maiden 20th over in a T20. Nomads' scorer and analyst John Crossland was less than impressed. "We needed a bare minimum of 100", he growled. Could he be proven wrong? It has happened but only occasionally.
A quick turn-around and the experienced pair of Emil and Riaz kicked it off for Clapham. Riaz went for around 6 an over but Emil, hair floating in the breeze at the Racecourse End, bowled an excellent spell of 4 overs. His figures must have been good. Leagonians just about matched the asking rate but for the loss of 4 wickets early on. One Riaz over was kept back for the death and the skipper threw the ball to Hameed and Faruk. This proved a master-stroke of ruthlessness as this pair pretty much bowled the Epsom side out of the game (or so we thought). Hameed slanted it in at above medium and can't have conceded many. After 2 looseners, Faruk announced his intentions by scattering the stumps with his third ball. He went for about 4 an over but his 3 wickets ripped the heart out of OLCC's batting in a fine spell of Fast-Medium bowling.
KK kept up the good work and by the end of the 16th over, Leagonians needed 38 off 4 with only about 3 wickets left. 3 came from the 17th but a scorer's error then apparently left the batting side requiring 35 from just 2 overs. It looked all over but one of the OLCC youngsters took a shine to the bowling of the returning Riaz with 20 off the over including 2 sixes. The scoreboard error was then realised and suddenly the home team only needed an eminently gettable 15 off 2. Happily, a fine pressure catch from Riaz in the deep removed the star batsman. 10 to win off the last 6 balls but Todorow had mis-calculated and was not able to put on one of his main bowlers for the final over. Luckily he was able to turn to Darwin, a specialist Death Bowler who bowled a match-winning final over against Carshalton Athletic in the 20-20 last year. Darwin proved more than up to the task again with 2 wickets for no runs off 3 balls and Nomads emerged victorious by 9 runs.
This was more like an attritional full-length game than a 20-20 and it showed the value of our careful 1st-wicket partnership. Excellent bowling and fielding from Clapham. John Crossland only conceded a very few byes, Hameed and Darwin impressed in the field but Fielder of the Day was Riaz for his vital pressure catch. Man of the Match was Faruk for his excellent all-round performance, though Darwin also had a brilliant game.
Clapham Nomads 95 for 8 from 20 overs
M.Vyas 23
D. Gunawardena 22
Gul 4
Hameed 2
Faruk 18
R.Khan 0
KK Khusro 5
P. Murphy 5
N. Lefebve not out 1
E. Todorow(capt) not out 0
Did not bat; J. Crossland (wkt)
F.O.W. - 33, 46, 51, 82, 84, 88, 94, 95
Old Leagonians 86 all out from 19.3 overs
Nomads' bowling
R. Khan 4-0-29-1
E. Todorow 4-1-10-2
Hameed 4-0-14-0
Faruk 4-0-19-3
KK.Khusro 3-0-13-2
D. Gunawardena 0.3-0-0-2
Clapham Nomads won by 9 runs
After tea and with rain and bad light threatening, it was decided to play 12 overs a side. Emil shuffled the pack and Chris Kennedy came in for Nick Lefebve (I wasn't dropped - though after scoring 1 not out off 7 balls and running Paul out I deserved to be - I had to go to work.)
Nomads fielded and Spin Twins Paul Murphy and Emil Todorow opened the bowling. Murphy showed some crafty twirl and flight, but the batsmen were able to take ones and twos to the deep-set field. Emil is not technically a spinner but is wily enough to be one and also he actually looks like a spinner. We had transferred onto the correct Sunday pitch and OLCC opener Richard Teasdale led a fierce assault on Emil;s bowling. The 50 came up in the 5th over. When I left, the score was around 66 for 2 off 6 overs and Nomads looked on course for a hiding. I will let readers know what happened when after I have seen Emil and I will amend the report and include more scores when I get the scorebook back.
Thanks again to Richard for organising the day and we look forward to 20-20 finals day on Sunday 4th September.
UPDATE.....We did lose the second game which was 12 overs a side. Old Leagonians made 123 for (?) 2. Nomads made 61 for 7 and so lost by 62 runs. Further scores to follow.
Old Leagonians 123 for 2 from 12 overs
Nomads' bowling
P. Murphy 3-0-34-0
E. Todorow 2-0-29-0
Faruk 2-0-24-1
Kk. Khusro 3-0-19-1
Hameed 2-0-27-0
Clapham Nomads 61 for 7 from 12 overs
R. Khan 33
KK. Khusro 0
Gul 13
D. Gunawardena 0
Hameed 2
Faruk 1
P. Murphy 0
E. Todorow not out 1
J. Crossland not out 6
F. O. W. - 20, 40, 46, 49, 53, 53, 54
Wednesday 15 June 2016
Clapham Nomads v Burgh Heath - 12/6/16
Last Sunday's home game against Burgh Heath unfortunately fell victim to the weather. Next up is the 20-20 tournament on Sunday 19th.
Monday 30 May 2016
Barnes Occasionals v Clapham Nomads - 29/5/16
Late May Bank Holiday Sunday saw Nomads make the long trip to King George's Field, Ham, the riverside home of our old friends the Barnes Occasionals; a side some of us have been playing against now for 23 years.
Both teams have been struggling slightly for players this season so it was testament to the enduring popularity of this fixture that each side had 12 available, Either that or some of us are too old and sad to have anything else to do on a Bank Holiday weekend.
John Crossland was due for his annual turn as captain. He always used to skipper against Touring Theatres (our weakest opponents) before they folded in 2014, but he can't really be accused of cherry-picking by choosing this fixture as Occasionals are a talented and rather unpredictable side against whom we have a less than fantastic record.
Crossland won the toss and, seeking to maximise our chances of a second win before the end of May, inserted the Home side.
Roger Price and Peter Carey opened for Barnes and Abbas was handed the new ball. Price was out of the blocks immediately, hooking the young Nomads paceman out of the ground. Abbas himself had to retrieve the ball by climbing a high barbed wire fence and negotiating a field full of ponies. Abbas and Riaz tightened it up after this. Price (a talented wicket-keeper/batsman who, it was later revealed, once bowled to England test player Wilf Slack) was looking in ominous form. Usually, once he gets a start, he goes on to make a major and often match-winning score, so we were extremely grateful to bag both openers with the score in the early thirties.
I went for a stroll at this point and watched Richmond Baseball Club playing nearby (Random question.....Do Baseball players ever bat left-handed?). When I returned, a further 30 runs had been added in 10 overs for the loss of one more wicket - an attritional passage of play. There were also some murmurings of discontent that one bowler had been kept on for 10 overs - although admittedly it was an excellent spell from Riaz and you could understand John keeping him on as he is very accurate - a wicketkeeper's dream bowler.
After drinks the tempo increased somewhat. Barnes' two Aussies/Kiwis played nicely and a grey-haired chap, whose name I forget (?? Williams) but who has played against us several times down the years, all played some forceful shots and a total of 180 looked a possibility at one point. Fortunately, Emil Todorow intervened in characteristic style, a slow-ish full toss hitting the pad outside the crease and rolling agonisingly back onto the stumps before exhaustedly dislodging a bail. Someone muttered that "Shit gets wickets" but I must assume that this dismissal was cooked up in Emil's extremely conspiratorial brain.
Further wickets followed and a few of John's field position changes came off. Gul took a very smart catch at Deep Backward Square off Todorow's bowling to remove Barnes' classy left-hander. Nomads then didn't exactly cover themselves in glory by bowling a bouncer at Stan (aged 13 or 14). Riaz bowled the youngster via the edge of the bat in the following over.
Good fielding from Nomads, especially the catching from Gul, KK and Crossland, despite a comedy collision between sub-fielder Nick and Zia, both trying to catch the same skier (my fault, I didn't call, but at least the collision prevented me from dropping it....NL)
Nomads' over rate had not been brilliant and 35 overs had been bowled as the 2 and a half hours ran out with the score on 148 for 9.
Tea was enlivened by the appearance of Andrew West and reminiscences with Keith Seed about the halcyon days of the mid-1990s and feisty matches between the Occasionals and Open University (captained by Dave Hunter.)
The match situation looked well-balanced. Trackside bookies would probably have offered 4-5 both teams for the win and the draw a rank outsider at about 8 to 1, given Nomads' reliance on strokemakers. Hassan had left injured and Nick Lefebve took his place in the batting order. The pitch was producing some very low bounce but we had the men to see us home if things went well.
Paceman Daniel Hogg took an over to find his range and Nomads took advantage with 11 (7 in extras and a pull for 4 from the excellent pinch-hitter KK Khusro.) Warwick Proctor was steadier at the other end and had KK trapped plumb in front in the 4th over but we already had 29 on the board. In the following over, D. Hogg produced the ball of the day to clean bowl Gul. 30 for 2 and this was too close to call. Despite creaking knees, Barnes captain Ollie Hogg came on to bowl a 2-over spell and, though not at his best, inevitably produced at least 3 very awkward deliveries resulting in a close LBW shout and the wicket of Zeeshan who skied the ball to mid-on for Hogg's 705th wicket for the Occasionals. 44 for 3. Prasanth has been in excellent form and with one 4 already in the book, looked the man to steady Nomads' ship. Unfortunately, he didn't quite middle a half volley from Aaron Blair and chipped a catch up to the covers. 53 for 4 and Barnes moving slightly ahead on points.
Zia and Abdul kept up a fair pace with 2 resounding fours from Abdul off the bowling of Stan the highlight, before Blair jagged one back into Abdul's pads for an LBW that was possibly a little generous, especially by Nomads' standards. 83 for 5. 66 to win, ample time but the last of the 2 recognised specialist batsmen at the square. Happily, both players, Zia and Riaz, are in fine form and they continued this with a high-quality stand full of shots, the highlight was the 6 - the only maximum in Nomads' innings - struck by Riaz of the curmudgeonly bowling of Keith Seed, a notoriously difficult bowler to get after on a tricky pitch. At 128 for 5, Nomads were clear favourites for the first time but Zia was well-caught and, 6 runs later, an even better catch removed Riaz to tilt the balance back to the home side once more.
Fortunately, D. Hogg and Blair bowled some short leg-side stuff at No. 9 Nick Lefebve and the veteran was able to keep the scoreboard ticking over. Abbas then departed to make the score 143 for 8. Lefebve at the crease, Todorow and Crossland to come. 6 to win. 4.1 overs to go. You would have to say that there was a fair chance of any of the 4 results (including a tie) with a draw possibly the slight favourite. There is always potential for controversy and tragicomedy in any stand between Lefebve/Todorow/Crossland - you would think they would all have a telepathic understanding after over 30 years of acquaintance; but no. On this day though, Nick and Emil played it out calmly with a few singles before the ball flicked off Nick's pad for a likely 2 which would level the scores. "Come the **** on!!" the younger man bellowed at his partner, desperate for a tie, before both realised that the ball had crossed the boundary line and a hard-fought victory had been secured.
I have to say that there was a bit of bad feeling around, especially regarding some of the captaincy decisions, but I hope this won't put anyone off playing. We really enjoy having our current players in the side. Normally, we are very careful to make sure everyone gets a fair slice of the action and we appreciate people giving up their precious days off and paying to play. Please stick with it and let the good times continue.
John came out with a good quote while he was justifying his bowling changes (or lack of changes.) "I just couldn't afford to give away too many runs," he said. "It is not as it we have got Nick Cook batting for us." Hmmm, Nick Cook, the Leicestershire and England spinner from the 1980s. Actually, I'm sure Nick Cook could do a good job for us with the bat; he is probably still only about 60 years old. In fact, if you are reading this, Mr Cook, please get in touch. I think John might have meant Alastair Cook but you are never totally sure with John; he might well have meant Sam Cooke.
Man of the Match was Riaz for another fine knock and a tight, lengthy spell of bowling. Close second was top-scorer Zia. Fielder of the Day was Gul for his fine and crucial catch.
Barnes Occasionals - 148 for 9 from 35 overs
Nomads' bowling
Abbas Khan 4-0-19-0
R. Khan 12-2-29-3
Zia 8-1-41-2
E. Todorow 6-1-27-3
KK Khusro 3-1-11-1
Abdul Khan 2-0-14-0
Clapham Nomads - 150 for 8 from 26.5 overs
Gul b D.Hogg 4
KK Khusro lbw Proctor 14
P. Pattiyil c --------- b Blair 5
Zeeshan c -------- b O. Hogg 6
Zia c ---------- b Blair 39
Abdul Khan lbw Blair 15
R. Khan c -------- b D.Hogg 24
Abbas Khan b D.Hogg 4
N. Lefebve not out 13
E. Todorow not out 1
Did not bat; J. Crossland (cpt/wkt)
Fielded in 1st innings; H. Khan
Clapham Nomads won by 2 wickets
Both teams have been struggling slightly for players this season so it was testament to the enduring popularity of this fixture that each side had 12 available, Either that or some of us are too old and sad to have anything else to do on a Bank Holiday weekend.
John Crossland was due for his annual turn as captain. He always used to skipper against Touring Theatres (our weakest opponents) before they folded in 2014, but he can't really be accused of cherry-picking by choosing this fixture as Occasionals are a talented and rather unpredictable side against whom we have a less than fantastic record.
Crossland won the toss and, seeking to maximise our chances of a second win before the end of May, inserted the Home side.
Roger Price and Peter Carey opened for Barnes and Abbas was handed the new ball. Price was out of the blocks immediately, hooking the young Nomads paceman out of the ground. Abbas himself had to retrieve the ball by climbing a high barbed wire fence and negotiating a field full of ponies. Abbas and Riaz tightened it up after this. Price (a talented wicket-keeper/batsman who, it was later revealed, once bowled to England test player Wilf Slack) was looking in ominous form. Usually, once he gets a start, he goes on to make a major and often match-winning score, so we were extremely grateful to bag both openers with the score in the early thirties.
I went for a stroll at this point and watched Richmond Baseball Club playing nearby (Random question.....Do Baseball players ever bat left-handed?). When I returned, a further 30 runs had been added in 10 overs for the loss of one more wicket - an attritional passage of play. There were also some murmurings of discontent that one bowler had been kept on for 10 overs - although admittedly it was an excellent spell from Riaz and you could understand John keeping him on as he is very accurate - a wicketkeeper's dream bowler.
After drinks the tempo increased somewhat. Barnes' two Aussies/Kiwis played nicely and a grey-haired chap, whose name I forget (?? Williams) but who has played against us several times down the years, all played some forceful shots and a total of 180 looked a possibility at one point. Fortunately, Emil Todorow intervened in characteristic style, a slow-ish full toss hitting the pad outside the crease and rolling agonisingly back onto the stumps before exhaustedly dislodging a bail. Someone muttered that "Shit gets wickets" but I must assume that this dismissal was cooked up in Emil's extremely conspiratorial brain.
Further wickets followed and a few of John's field position changes came off. Gul took a very smart catch at Deep Backward Square off Todorow's bowling to remove Barnes' classy left-hander. Nomads then didn't exactly cover themselves in glory by bowling a bouncer at Stan (aged 13 or 14). Riaz bowled the youngster via the edge of the bat in the following over.
Good fielding from Nomads, especially the catching from Gul, KK and Crossland, despite a comedy collision between sub-fielder Nick and Zia, both trying to catch the same skier (my fault, I didn't call, but at least the collision prevented me from dropping it....NL)
Nomads' over rate had not been brilliant and 35 overs had been bowled as the 2 and a half hours ran out with the score on 148 for 9.
Tea was enlivened by the appearance of Andrew West and reminiscences with Keith Seed about the halcyon days of the mid-1990s and feisty matches between the Occasionals and Open University (captained by Dave Hunter.)
The match situation looked well-balanced. Trackside bookies would probably have offered 4-5 both teams for the win and the draw a rank outsider at about 8 to 1, given Nomads' reliance on strokemakers. Hassan had left injured and Nick Lefebve took his place in the batting order. The pitch was producing some very low bounce but we had the men to see us home if things went well.
Paceman Daniel Hogg took an over to find his range and Nomads took advantage with 11 (7 in extras and a pull for 4 from the excellent pinch-hitter KK Khusro.) Warwick Proctor was steadier at the other end and had KK trapped plumb in front in the 4th over but we already had 29 on the board. In the following over, D. Hogg produced the ball of the day to clean bowl Gul. 30 for 2 and this was too close to call. Despite creaking knees, Barnes captain Ollie Hogg came on to bowl a 2-over spell and, though not at his best, inevitably produced at least 3 very awkward deliveries resulting in a close LBW shout and the wicket of Zeeshan who skied the ball to mid-on for Hogg's 705th wicket for the Occasionals. 44 for 3. Prasanth has been in excellent form and with one 4 already in the book, looked the man to steady Nomads' ship. Unfortunately, he didn't quite middle a half volley from Aaron Blair and chipped a catch up to the covers. 53 for 4 and Barnes moving slightly ahead on points.
Zia and Abdul kept up a fair pace with 2 resounding fours from Abdul off the bowling of Stan the highlight, before Blair jagged one back into Abdul's pads for an LBW that was possibly a little generous, especially by Nomads' standards. 83 for 5. 66 to win, ample time but the last of the 2 recognised specialist batsmen at the square. Happily, both players, Zia and Riaz, are in fine form and they continued this with a high-quality stand full of shots, the highlight was the 6 - the only maximum in Nomads' innings - struck by Riaz of the curmudgeonly bowling of Keith Seed, a notoriously difficult bowler to get after on a tricky pitch. At 128 for 5, Nomads were clear favourites for the first time but Zia was well-caught and, 6 runs later, an even better catch removed Riaz to tilt the balance back to the home side once more.
Fortunately, D. Hogg and Blair bowled some short leg-side stuff at No. 9 Nick Lefebve and the veteran was able to keep the scoreboard ticking over. Abbas then departed to make the score 143 for 8. Lefebve at the crease, Todorow and Crossland to come. 6 to win. 4.1 overs to go. You would have to say that there was a fair chance of any of the 4 results (including a tie) with a draw possibly the slight favourite. There is always potential for controversy and tragicomedy in any stand between Lefebve/Todorow/Crossland - you would think they would all have a telepathic understanding after over 30 years of acquaintance; but no. On this day though, Nick and Emil played it out calmly with a few singles before the ball flicked off Nick's pad for a likely 2 which would level the scores. "Come the **** on!!" the younger man bellowed at his partner, desperate for a tie, before both realised that the ball had crossed the boundary line and a hard-fought victory had been secured.
I have to say that there was a bit of bad feeling around, especially regarding some of the captaincy decisions, but I hope this won't put anyone off playing. We really enjoy having our current players in the side. Normally, we are very careful to make sure everyone gets a fair slice of the action and we appreciate people giving up their precious days off and paying to play. Please stick with it and let the good times continue.
John came out with a good quote while he was justifying his bowling changes (or lack of changes.) "I just couldn't afford to give away too many runs," he said. "It is not as it we have got Nick Cook batting for us." Hmmm, Nick Cook, the Leicestershire and England spinner from the 1980s. Actually, I'm sure Nick Cook could do a good job for us with the bat; he is probably still only about 60 years old. In fact, if you are reading this, Mr Cook, please get in touch. I think John might have meant Alastair Cook but you are never totally sure with John; he might well have meant Sam Cooke.
Man of the Match was Riaz for another fine knock and a tight, lengthy spell of bowling. Close second was top-scorer Zia. Fielder of the Day was Gul for his fine and crucial catch.
Barnes Occasionals - 148 for 9 from 35 overs
Nomads' bowling
Abbas Khan 4-0-19-0
R. Khan 12-2-29-3
Zia 8-1-41-2
E. Todorow 6-1-27-3
KK Khusro 3-1-11-1
Abdul Khan 2-0-14-0
Clapham Nomads - 150 for 8 from 26.5 overs
Gul b D.Hogg 4
KK Khusro lbw Proctor 14
P. Pattiyil c --------- b Blair 5
Zeeshan c -------- b O. Hogg 6
Zia c ---------- b Blair 39
Abdul Khan lbw Blair 15
R. Khan c -------- b D.Hogg 24
Abbas Khan b D.Hogg 4
N. Lefebve not out 13
E. Todorow not out 1
Did not bat; J. Crossland (cpt/wkt)
Fielded in 1st innings; H. Khan
Clapham Nomads won by 2 wickets
Monday 23 May 2016
Energy Exiles v Clapham Nomads - 22/5/16
For the second successive week it was off to Cottenham Park, this time for the 27th meeting with our friends and hard-but-fair rivals the Energy Exiles.
Unfortunately, Hassan was injured after last week's exertions and Nick Lefebve came in as replacement. Abdul and Gul withdrew and organiser Todorow was in despair with a fast-shrinking line-up of 9. Happily, Riaz produced yet another discovery from his never-ending production line of talent - the excellent Khusro (known as KK) - and a 10-strong Nomads side prepared to face the music as we recalled last year's games against Energy.
There were a fair few of our long-standing Exiles favourites on view; Andy Wingfield, Phil Ling, Keith Roberts and, inevitably, Simon Gundry who rarely misses an Exiles/Nomads contest. Simon was sporting a retro West German football away strip from the early 70s with which John Crossland was much impressed. The back of this garment honoured "Der Bomber" a sobriquet given to legendary goal-poacher Gerd Muller but which could equally apply to the big Exiles' paceman.
Emil won the toss and put the Home side in. There was a fairly quick reward with a splendid diving catch by keeper John Crossland off the bowling of Zia. Keith Roberts was the other opener and he began to play his trademark forcing off-drives and flicks behind square to leg. He is a very interesting player to watch and clever at finding gaps and taking the single to rotate the strike. His partnerships with our own Mark Bradshaw for Exiles in the mid-2000s were an essential feature of Exiles play at that time. If anything, he seems to be hitting it slightly harder these days. If he has any weakness, he can on occasions become a little bogged down and I think perhaps we should have opened with our most accurate bowler, Riaz. As it was, Abbas and Zia bowled fine and hostile spells but Roberts was able to use the pace of the ball to good advantage. No. 3 batsman quickly impressed and Exiles looked comfortable moving it on at about 5 an over. It took a freak wicket to finally remove Roberts as he top-edged a high but dipping full toss gently into the gloves of Crossland.
Tea was taken at 20 overs with score around 95 for 2.
The second phase saw Energy plough serenely on. There was something of a reprieve for Clapham when Exiles' hardest hitter Gundry was caught by Darwin fairly early, but the batting order is deep. As our fielders moved back, singles were taken pretty much at will and there were a few big overs thrown in to demoralise us. Having said that, we stuck to the task pretty well in the field. Only one catchable chance went down and KK and Prasanth, in particular, got through loads of work in the deep.
200 was passed in the 34th over and suddenly there was all action. A suicidal single was attempted and the bowler Riaz threw the stumps down. 201 for 5 and we trooped off. I had assumed it was a 40-over game (I was knackered, half-deaf and also we had taken tea at 20 overs) so this sudden cessation was a delightful surprise. I told John Crossland I had expected 40 overs and he said; "Christ, if you want to be tortured there are places in the West End you can go if you have got the money." It is the sheer range of life experiences the Nomads players possess that makes playing for this club so worthwhile.
I had also not realised that Exiles' No. 3 was on 95 which accounted for the attempted single. Unfortunately he missed out on his ton but it was an excellent innings.
I wouldn't say we were over confident as we began our reply, especially when Andy Wingfield produced a beauty with his 4th ball to uproot Mahesh Vyas's leg stump. The debutant KK then "played himself in" against Akhtar by attempting to smack his first ball over long on for 6. He did not get that close and the second ball hit him on the knee roll for a decent LBW shout. KK continued to try to hit almost every ball out of the ground but without success. This did not look particularly promising. Suddenly, he connected off Akhtar and it sailed for 4. He repeated this with 2 resounding boundaries off Wingfield. Nomads had discovered a pinch-hitter. No. 3 Prasanth began to play nicely after a careful start and skipper Chris Plume turned to Gundry. Andy Wingfield had been bowling rapidly, with keeper Plume taking it above his head on occasions, but Gundry just increased the tempo with a rapid spell of bowling downhill. Prasanth did well to see his 4-over spell off and both batsmen continued to force the pace against Akhtar.
An absorbing knock from KK ended when a clever slower one from Akhtar pegged back his off stump with the score on 49.
Darwin joined Prasanth to continue the good work. Our high-point was 81 for 2 with a fair bit of batting to come. Prasanth had survived a hostile spell of fast bowling (and also a run out appeal - a 20-yard direct hit by Gundry - that was extremely, some might say controversially, close). When 3rd change Terence Moynihan bowled him a gentle long hop, he unfortunately mistimed the pull shot straight back into the bowler's hands to end a decent knock of 30.
2nd change Phil Ling was plying his trade up the hill and producing some really alarming in-swing (described by Umpire Todorow as "banana balls.") Riaz and Darwin were coping well until Ling produced some very late in-swing from outside off to hit the top of middle and leg and remove Darwin. Possibly the ball of the day.
Riaz and Zia probably represented our last real hope and they made an excellent fist of it. Both brilliant natural hitters, they suddenly took a liking to Ling's bowling and took 34 from 8 of his balls, including 26 off an over (not quite a Nomads record) and 4 sixes in an over (which I think is a record.) It took the return of Simon Gundry to finally break this exhilarating stand with Riaz caught above head height right on the Square Leg boundary.
Abbas and Nick didn't last long but they managed at least to ensure that Der Bomber's overs were used up before Emil and John came out to support Zia.
Skipper Plume had a slight dilemma. He obviously brought back Wingfield downhill but at the other end, instead of turning to a part-time bowler, he bravely threw the ball back to Phil Ling, who was 1 for 46 from 4, to bowl his final three. This gamble worked out well as Ling bowled shorter and quicker than before and neither Zia nor Emil Todorow could really get him away. The gathering gloom did not help Ling only conceded 2 scoring shots in his final 3 overs and Wingfield only conceded a single in his last 2. Nomads' innings rather petered out but our final total of 164 for 7 was our best innings of the season so far, and scored off arguably the strongest bowling line-up we have faced this year.
So respectability was achieved with some entertaining cricket in an enjoyable match. We did consider that, had Hassan been fit, we would probably have conceded 10 or 15 fewer and scored a few more, but that is clutching at straws. Energy often find another gear anyway when they need it.
Man of the Match was Zia for his 57 not out and his best bowling of the season so far. Fielder of the Day was John Crossland.
Energy Exiles - 201 for 5 from 35 overs (No. 3 bat - ??Craig? 95 not out.)
Nomads' bowling
Abbas Khan 7-0-44-0
Zia 7-1-34-1
E. Todorow 7-0-36-0
R. Khan 7-0-26-0
KK Khusro 6-0-43-2
D. Gunawardena 1-0-11-1
Clapham Nomads - 164 for 7 from 35 overs
M. Vyas b Wingfield 0
KK Khusro b Akhtar 22
P. Pattiyil c and b Moynihan 30
D. Gunawardena b Ling 18
R.Khan c No. 3 bat b Gundry 19
Zia not out 57
Abbas Khan b Gundry 0
N. Lefebve lbw Gundry 0
E. Todorow(capt) not out 3
Did not bat - J. Crossland(wkt)
F. O.W. - 1, 49, 81, 83, 135, 147, 147
Energy Exiles won by 37 runs
Unfortunately, Hassan was injured after last week's exertions and Nick Lefebve came in as replacement. Abdul and Gul withdrew and organiser Todorow was in despair with a fast-shrinking line-up of 9. Happily, Riaz produced yet another discovery from his never-ending production line of talent - the excellent Khusro (known as KK) - and a 10-strong Nomads side prepared to face the music as we recalled last year's games against Energy.
There were a fair few of our long-standing Exiles favourites on view; Andy Wingfield, Phil Ling, Keith Roberts and, inevitably, Simon Gundry who rarely misses an Exiles/Nomads contest. Simon was sporting a retro West German football away strip from the early 70s with which John Crossland was much impressed. The back of this garment honoured "Der Bomber" a sobriquet given to legendary goal-poacher Gerd Muller but which could equally apply to the big Exiles' paceman.
Emil won the toss and put the Home side in. There was a fairly quick reward with a splendid diving catch by keeper John Crossland off the bowling of Zia. Keith Roberts was the other opener and he began to play his trademark forcing off-drives and flicks behind square to leg. He is a very interesting player to watch and clever at finding gaps and taking the single to rotate the strike. His partnerships with our own Mark Bradshaw for Exiles in the mid-2000s were an essential feature of Exiles play at that time. If anything, he seems to be hitting it slightly harder these days. If he has any weakness, he can on occasions become a little bogged down and I think perhaps we should have opened with our most accurate bowler, Riaz. As it was, Abbas and Zia bowled fine and hostile spells but Roberts was able to use the pace of the ball to good advantage. No. 3 batsman quickly impressed and Exiles looked comfortable moving it on at about 5 an over. It took a freak wicket to finally remove Roberts as he top-edged a high but dipping full toss gently into the gloves of Crossland.
Tea was taken at 20 overs with score around 95 for 2.
The second phase saw Energy plough serenely on. There was something of a reprieve for Clapham when Exiles' hardest hitter Gundry was caught by Darwin fairly early, but the batting order is deep. As our fielders moved back, singles were taken pretty much at will and there were a few big overs thrown in to demoralise us. Having said that, we stuck to the task pretty well in the field. Only one catchable chance went down and KK and Prasanth, in particular, got through loads of work in the deep.
200 was passed in the 34th over and suddenly there was all action. A suicidal single was attempted and the bowler Riaz threw the stumps down. 201 for 5 and we trooped off. I had assumed it was a 40-over game (I was knackered, half-deaf and also we had taken tea at 20 overs) so this sudden cessation was a delightful surprise. I told John Crossland I had expected 40 overs and he said; "Christ, if you want to be tortured there are places in the West End you can go if you have got the money." It is the sheer range of life experiences the Nomads players possess that makes playing for this club so worthwhile.
I had also not realised that Exiles' No. 3 was on 95 which accounted for the attempted single. Unfortunately he missed out on his ton but it was an excellent innings.
I wouldn't say we were over confident as we began our reply, especially when Andy Wingfield produced a beauty with his 4th ball to uproot Mahesh Vyas's leg stump. The debutant KK then "played himself in" against Akhtar by attempting to smack his first ball over long on for 6. He did not get that close and the second ball hit him on the knee roll for a decent LBW shout. KK continued to try to hit almost every ball out of the ground but without success. This did not look particularly promising. Suddenly, he connected off Akhtar and it sailed for 4. He repeated this with 2 resounding boundaries off Wingfield. Nomads had discovered a pinch-hitter. No. 3 Prasanth began to play nicely after a careful start and skipper Chris Plume turned to Gundry. Andy Wingfield had been bowling rapidly, with keeper Plume taking it above his head on occasions, but Gundry just increased the tempo with a rapid spell of bowling downhill. Prasanth did well to see his 4-over spell off and both batsmen continued to force the pace against Akhtar.
An absorbing knock from KK ended when a clever slower one from Akhtar pegged back his off stump with the score on 49.
Darwin joined Prasanth to continue the good work. Our high-point was 81 for 2 with a fair bit of batting to come. Prasanth had survived a hostile spell of fast bowling (and also a run out appeal - a 20-yard direct hit by Gundry - that was extremely, some might say controversially, close). When 3rd change Terence Moynihan bowled him a gentle long hop, he unfortunately mistimed the pull shot straight back into the bowler's hands to end a decent knock of 30.
2nd change Phil Ling was plying his trade up the hill and producing some really alarming in-swing (described by Umpire Todorow as "banana balls.") Riaz and Darwin were coping well until Ling produced some very late in-swing from outside off to hit the top of middle and leg and remove Darwin. Possibly the ball of the day.
Riaz and Zia probably represented our last real hope and they made an excellent fist of it. Both brilliant natural hitters, they suddenly took a liking to Ling's bowling and took 34 from 8 of his balls, including 26 off an over (not quite a Nomads record) and 4 sixes in an over (which I think is a record.) It took the return of Simon Gundry to finally break this exhilarating stand with Riaz caught above head height right on the Square Leg boundary.
Abbas and Nick didn't last long but they managed at least to ensure that Der Bomber's overs were used up before Emil and John came out to support Zia.
Skipper Plume had a slight dilemma. He obviously brought back Wingfield downhill but at the other end, instead of turning to a part-time bowler, he bravely threw the ball back to Phil Ling, who was 1 for 46 from 4, to bowl his final three. This gamble worked out well as Ling bowled shorter and quicker than before and neither Zia nor Emil Todorow could really get him away. The gathering gloom did not help Ling only conceded 2 scoring shots in his final 3 overs and Wingfield only conceded a single in his last 2. Nomads' innings rather petered out but our final total of 164 for 7 was our best innings of the season so far, and scored off arguably the strongest bowling line-up we have faced this year.
So respectability was achieved with some entertaining cricket in an enjoyable match. We did consider that, had Hassan been fit, we would probably have conceded 10 or 15 fewer and scored a few more, but that is clutching at straws. Energy often find another gear anyway when they need it.
Man of the Match was Zia for his 57 not out and his best bowling of the season so far. Fielder of the Day was John Crossland.
Energy Exiles - 201 for 5 from 35 overs (No. 3 bat - ??Craig? 95 not out.)
Nomads' bowling
Abbas Khan 7-0-44-0
Zia 7-1-34-1
E. Todorow 7-0-36-0
R. Khan 7-0-26-0
KK Khusro 6-0-43-2
D. Gunawardena 1-0-11-1
Clapham Nomads - 164 for 7 from 35 overs
M. Vyas b Wingfield 0
KK Khusro b Akhtar 22
P. Pattiyil c and b Moynihan 30
D. Gunawardena b Ling 18
R.Khan c No. 3 bat b Gundry 19
Zia not out 57
Abbas Khan b Gundry 0
N. Lefebve lbw Gundry 0
E. Todorow(capt) not out 3
Did not bat - J. Crossland(wkt)
F. O.W. - 1, 49, 81, 83, 135, 147, 147
Energy Exiles won by 37 runs
Wimbledon United v Clapham Nomads - 15/5/16
Wimbledon United captain Dave Hitchman has become possibly Nomads' most-feared opponent. Last season, he played an extraordinary innings of 85, coming in at No. 9, to deny Nomads a victory we were probably 20 to 1 on to achieve.
The blond destroyer was, if anything, on even more formidable form this time; hitting a magnificent century to set the home side up for an apparently match-winning total of 219 for 8. Nomads have not quite hit top form yet this season with the bat and, despite United's home base of Cottenham Park tending to favour batting, 220 looked a very tough ask.
I didn't play in this one myself and I'm told fielding was not the best with about 6 chances going down. 2 catches from Darwin and 1 from Abdul spared some blushes. We never totally gave up with the ball. Hassan was the pick of the bowlers and Emil bowled his heart out in his 5 overs, with his back muscles audibly creaking as he completed his spell.
It was a rather lacklustre reply with the bat from Nomads. As usual, Peter Brown "The Southfields Express" raced down the hill and made an early breakthough, bowling Mahesh for 5. The 3 wickets that Rowan and Hasan took with the score on 34 ripped the heart out of our knock and it was hard work from then on. A fine innings of 40 from Darwin was the bright spot, with Hassan and Abbas providing the best support.
There was a rare sighting of the legendary Andrew West, who came late on to watch, and I intended to come along at 5 myself but Night Shift-itis proved too much. When I heard that Emil batted with a runner in partnership with John, I wished I had come, as this sounds like it had the potential for huge entertainment. Sadly, it didn't last too long with a run out being the not altogether surprising result. At least Nomads passed the 100 mark for some kind of respectability.
Darwin takes both Man of the Match and Fielder of the Day with a great individual display
Wimbledon United - 219 for 8 in 35 overs
Nomads' bowling
H. Khan 7-1-25-2
Abbas Khan 7-0-41-2
Zia 7-0-58-2
E. Todorow 5-0-32-0
R. Khan 5-0-34-1
Abdul Khan 4-0-25-1
Clapham Nomads - 106 all out in 25.3 overs
M. Vyas 5
Gul 9
P. Pattiyil 6
R. Khan 0
H. Khan 11
D. Gunawardena 40
Abdul Khan 0
Zia 0
Abbas Khan 11
E. Todorow(capt) 2
J. Crossland(wkt) not out 0
F. O. W. - 20, 34, 34, 34, 62, 64, 74, 100, 106, 106
Nomads lost by 113 runs
The blond destroyer was, if anything, on even more formidable form this time; hitting a magnificent century to set the home side up for an apparently match-winning total of 219 for 8. Nomads have not quite hit top form yet this season with the bat and, despite United's home base of Cottenham Park tending to favour batting, 220 looked a very tough ask.
I didn't play in this one myself and I'm told fielding was not the best with about 6 chances going down. 2 catches from Darwin and 1 from Abdul spared some blushes. We never totally gave up with the ball. Hassan was the pick of the bowlers and Emil bowled his heart out in his 5 overs, with his back muscles audibly creaking as he completed his spell.
It was a rather lacklustre reply with the bat from Nomads. As usual, Peter Brown "The Southfields Express" raced down the hill and made an early breakthough, bowling Mahesh for 5. The 3 wickets that Rowan and Hasan took with the score on 34 ripped the heart out of our knock and it was hard work from then on. A fine innings of 40 from Darwin was the bright spot, with Hassan and Abbas providing the best support.
There was a rare sighting of the legendary Andrew West, who came late on to watch, and I intended to come along at 5 myself but Night Shift-itis proved too much. When I heard that Emil batted with a runner in partnership with John, I wished I had come, as this sounds like it had the potential for huge entertainment. Sadly, it didn't last too long with a run out being the not altogether surprising result. At least Nomads passed the 100 mark for some kind of respectability.
Darwin takes both Man of the Match and Fielder of the Day with a great individual display
Wimbledon United - 219 for 8 in 35 overs
Nomads' bowling
H. Khan 7-1-25-2
Abbas Khan 7-0-41-2
Zia 7-0-58-2
E. Todorow 5-0-32-0
R. Khan 5-0-34-1
Abdul Khan 4-0-25-1
Clapham Nomads - 106 all out in 25.3 overs
M. Vyas 5
Gul 9
P. Pattiyil 6
R. Khan 0
H. Khan 11
D. Gunawardena 40
Abdul Khan 0
Zia 0
Abbas Khan 11
E. Todorow(capt) 2
J. Crossland(wkt) not out 0
F. O. W. - 20, 34, 34, 34, 62, 64, 74, 100, 106, 106
Nomads lost by 113 runs
Clapham Nomads v Palm Tree - 8/5/16
Nomads were pleased to renew rivalry with talented North London side Palm Tree who had travelled almost the whole length of the Northern Line to take us on at Nursery Road, a venue which is several notches less idyllic than Palm Tree's Highgate Woods ground, but is nonetheless a functional venue which often produces a close contest.
Clapham were inserted and this soon looked a good decision by the Away skipper, Matt Robins, as we found ourselves on 0 for 1 after 4 overs, Mahesh bowled by Waterton in the third over.
Prasanth Pattiyil now joined Gul - both making their seasonal debuts and a pair that often bat well together. Prasanth warmed himself up with 3 hard-runs threes and Gul looked solid in support. Prasanth had made a Nomads career-best 87 in his previous appearnace in September (also at the same ground) and he looked in similar form here with a string of boundaries before his partner fell for 14 out of a 2nd wicket stand of 53.
Prasanth received support from Hassan and Riaz (8 each) before he himself fell to Smith for a commanding 63 full of excellent leg side and straight shots.
Last week's top-scorer Abdul didn't last too long but there was then another flourish from Darwin and Zia with a breezy stand of 25. Wickets were falling with alarming regularity though and once the Darwin/Zia stand was broken, Nomads quickly subsided to 144 all out and committed what Richie Benaud dubbed the "Cardinal sin of One-Day cricket", failing to use up 6.3 of our allotted 35 overs. Star bowler for Palm Tree was Smith with 3 for 28.
John's verdict; "Good innings from Prasanth but too many wickets thrown away."
Anyway, a contest was on the card on a track that was producing some low bounce.
Abbas produced a hostile spell of pace bowling and Hassan was commendably tight as Nomads made a bold bid to stem the flow of runs from the usually free-scoring North Londoners. If the bowling was good, the fielding was even better. Skipper Emil Todorow set an example with a neat catch. Abdul was on top form. It was the usual drill; let's take a quick single to that grey-haired chap; pick-up, bullet-like throw; stumps scattered; Nomads celebrating. Abdul scored about 4 direct hits, 2 of which produced run outs.
After taking 3 big wickets, Riaz had to leave for work and I had to sub-field and soon forgot about my foot injury in the excitement. Palm Tree seemed to bat all the way down in our previous meeting and, even when they needed around 35 off 4 with a couple of wickets to go, we were not home and hosed. About 19 was needed off the last over but the batsmen couldn't get Abdul away and a third run out on the penultimate ball of the innings capped a fine victory.
I must point out the Palm Tree were somewhat hampered by the low sun right behind the bowlers arm late on at the Merton Park End. It was almost literally blinding and we agreed to bowl all the last 4 or 5 overs from the Prince of Wales End. I have never known this happen before, though opponents will not be surprised to hear that we have been involved in many late night finishes. Freakish weather conditions perhaps.
Well done anyway, Nomads. This was not a game we had expected to win.
Man of the Match was Nursery Road run machine Prasanth and Fielder of the Day was the deadly Abdul by some distance.
Clapham Nomads - 144 all out in 29.3 overs
M. Vyas 0
Gul 14
P. Pattiyil 63
H. Khan 8
R. Khan 8
D. Gunawardena 22
Abdul Khan 0
Zia 14
Abbas Khan 0
E. Todorow(capt) 0
J. Crossland not out 0
Substitute Fielder; N. Lefebve
F.O.W. - 0, 53, 73, 91, 110, 113, 138, 140, 140, 144
Palm Tree - 127 all out in 34.5 overs
Nomads' bowling
Abbas Khan 7-0-23-1
H. Khan 7-2-14-1
Zia 5-0-15-0
R. Khan 7-2-29-3
E. Todorow 2-0-9-0
Abdul Khan 6.5-0-26-2
Clapham Nomads won by 17 runs.
Clapham were inserted and this soon looked a good decision by the Away skipper, Matt Robins, as we found ourselves on 0 for 1 after 4 overs, Mahesh bowled by Waterton in the third over.
Prasanth Pattiyil now joined Gul - both making their seasonal debuts and a pair that often bat well together. Prasanth warmed himself up with 3 hard-runs threes and Gul looked solid in support. Prasanth had made a Nomads career-best 87 in his previous appearnace in September (also at the same ground) and he looked in similar form here with a string of boundaries before his partner fell for 14 out of a 2nd wicket stand of 53.
Prasanth received support from Hassan and Riaz (8 each) before he himself fell to Smith for a commanding 63 full of excellent leg side and straight shots.
Last week's top-scorer Abdul didn't last too long but there was then another flourish from Darwin and Zia with a breezy stand of 25. Wickets were falling with alarming regularity though and once the Darwin/Zia stand was broken, Nomads quickly subsided to 144 all out and committed what Richie Benaud dubbed the "Cardinal sin of One-Day cricket", failing to use up 6.3 of our allotted 35 overs. Star bowler for Palm Tree was Smith with 3 for 28.
John's verdict; "Good innings from Prasanth but too many wickets thrown away."
Anyway, a contest was on the card on a track that was producing some low bounce.
Abbas produced a hostile spell of pace bowling and Hassan was commendably tight as Nomads made a bold bid to stem the flow of runs from the usually free-scoring North Londoners. If the bowling was good, the fielding was even better. Skipper Emil Todorow set an example with a neat catch. Abdul was on top form. It was the usual drill; let's take a quick single to that grey-haired chap; pick-up, bullet-like throw; stumps scattered; Nomads celebrating. Abdul scored about 4 direct hits, 2 of which produced run outs.
After taking 3 big wickets, Riaz had to leave for work and I had to sub-field and soon forgot about my foot injury in the excitement. Palm Tree seemed to bat all the way down in our previous meeting and, even when they needed around 35 off 4 with a couple of wickets to go, we were not home and hosed. About 19 was needed off the last over but the batsmen couldn't get Abdul away and a third run out on the penultimate ball of the innings capped a fine victory.
I must point out the Palm Tree were somewhat hampered by the low sun right behind the bowlers arm late on at the Merton Park End. It was almost literally blinding and we agreed to bowl all the last 4 or 5 overs from the Prince of Wales End. I have never known this happen before, though opponents will not be surprised to hear that we have been involved in many late night finishes. Freakish weather conditions perhaps.
Well done anyway, Nomads. This was not a game we had expected to win.
Man of the Match was Nursery Road run machine Prasanth and Fielder of the Day was the deadly Abdul by some distance.
Clapham Nomads - 144 all out in 29.3 overs
M. Vyas 0
Gul 14
P. Pattiyil 63
H. Khan 8
R. Khan 8
D. Gunawardena 22
Abdul Khan 0
Zia 14
Abbas Khan 0
E. Todorow(capt) 0
J. Crossland not out 0
Substitute Fielder; N. Lefebve
F.O.W. - 0, 53, 73, 91, 110, 113, 138, 140, 140, 144
Palm Tree - 127 all out in 34.5 overs
Nomads' bowling
Abbas Khan 7-0-23-1
H. Khan 7-2-14-1
Zia 5-0-15-0
R. Khan 7-2-29-3
E. Todorow 2-0-9-0
Abdul Khan 6.5-0-26-2
Clapham Nomads won by 17 runs.
Burgh Heath v Clapham Nomads - 1/5/16
A late withdrawal meant Nomads were one short for the long and demanding trip to Burgh Heath.
Skipper Todorow inserted the home side and Nomads produced a pretty decent bowling and fielding performance to restrict Burgh to 139 all out - the lowest total they have made against us. Hassan and Abbas opened and kept it steady at just below 4 an over. There were 2 wickets apiece for our new ball pairing. It was good to have Zia back and he provided additional cutting edge and took a wicket. The pick of the bowlers were the previous week's star, Zeeshan, with a tight 1 for 19 off his 7, and the evergreen captain with an excellent 3 for 19. One of the home batsmen did get after Emil a bit but, inevitably, he tried it once too often and was beautifully caught by Abbas on the mid-wicket boundary. Todorow modestly denied that he had set the trap. There was a stumping for John Crossland who also combined well with Hassan to engineer a run out. Nomads munched their tea with at least a chance.
A fine opening stand of 43 between Mahesh Vyas and Abdul Khan appeared to put the visitors in the driving seat before 2 quick wickets pegged us back. Abdul and Riaz continued the good work before Abdul was bowled by the deadly Sharo for a top-scoring 38. Riaz, as is his custom, hit a big six and Hassan chipped in with a steady knock. At one stage we were 99 for 3 with Riaz and Hassan in the middle, just about up with the rate and with some batting to come. We were clear favourites at this point.
Unfortunately the Surrey side came back at us and reduced us to 119 for 8 but Zeeshan was looking useful, supported by stout defending from last man John Crossland. The pair took it up to 134 at the end of the penultimate over. 6 were needed to win with Zeeshan to face. Unfortunately, he tried to do it in one blow on the second ball and was bowled leaving Nomads just 5 short.
Still, a good performance. The scorebook comment by John Crossland speaks volumes - he is not normally generous to his own side in defeat. "Great game. We nearly won it. Might have done with 11 men."
Man of the Match was top-scorer Abdul. Fielder of the Day was Abbas.
Burgh Heath - 139 all out in 32.5 overs.
Nomads' bowling
H. Khan 7-0-24-2
Abbas Khan 7-0-28-2
Zeeshan 7-0-19-1
Zia 5-0-39-1
E. Todorow 4.5-0-19-3
R. Khan 2-0-5-0
Clapham Nomads - 134 all out in 34.2 overs
M. Vyas 14
Abdul Khan 38
D. Gunawardena 0
R. Khan 26
H. Khan 13
Zia 4
Zeeshan 17
Abbas Khan 3
E. Todorow (capt) 3
J. Crossland (wkt) not out 0
F.O.W. - 43, 43, 67, 99, 106, 114, 117, 119, 134
Clapham Nomads lost by 5 runs.
Skipper Todorow inserted the home side and Nomads produced a pretty decent bowling and fielding performance to restrict Burgh to 139 all out - the lowest total they have made against us. Hassan and Abbas opened and kept it steady at just below 4 an over. There were 2 wickets apiece for our new ball pairing. It was good to have Zia back and he provided additional cutting edge and took a wicket. The pick of the bowlers were the previous week's star, Zeeshan, with a tight 1 for 19 off his 7, and the evergreen captain with an excellent 3 for 19. One of the home batsmen did get after Emil a bit but, inevitably, he tried it once too often and was beautifully caught by Abbas on the mid-wicket boundary. Todorow modestly denied that he had set the trap. There was a stumping for John Crossland who also combined well with Hassan to engineer a run out. Nomads munched their tea with at least a chance.
A fine opening stand of 43 between Mahesh Vyas and Abdul Khan appeared to put the visitors in the driving seat before 2 quick wickets pegged us back. Abdul and Riaz continued the good work before Abdul was bowled by the deadly Sharo for a top-scoring 38. Riaz, as is his custom, hit a big six and Hassan chipped in with a steady knock. At one stage we were 99 for 3 with Riaz and Hassan in the middle, just about up with the rate and with some batting to come. We were clear favourites at this point.
Unfortunately the Surrey side came back at us and reduced us to 119 for 8 but Zeeshan was looking useful, supported by stout defending from last man John Crossland. The pair took it up to 134 at the end of the penultimate over. 6 were needed to win with Zeeshan to face. Unfortunately, he tried to do it in one blow on the second ball and was bowled leaving Nomads just 5 short.
Still, a good performance. The scorebook comment by John Crossland speaks volumes - he is not normally generous to his own side in defeat. "Great game. We nearly won it. Might have done with 11 men."
Man of the Match was top-scorer Abdul. Fielder of the Day was Abbas.
Burgh Heath - 139 all out in 32.5 overs.
Nomads' bowling
H. Khan 7-0-24-2
Abbas Khan 7-0-28-2
Zeeshan 7-0-19-1
Zia 5-0-39-1
E. Todorow 4.5-0-19-3
R. Khan 2-0-5-0
Clapham Nomads - 134 all out in 34.2 overs
M. Vyas 14
Abdul Khan 38
D. Gunawardena 0
R. Khan 26
H. Khan 13
Zia 4
Zeeshan 17
Abbas Khan 3
E. Todorow (capt) 3
J. Crossland (wkt) not out 0
F.O.W. - 43, 43, 67, 99, 106, 114, 117, 119, 134
Clapham Nomads lost by 5 runs.
Monday 9 May 2016
Recent games (May 2016)
In the last 2 games, Nomads lost narrowly to Burgh Heath (by 5 or 6 runs) on 1st May. Abdul top-scored with 38. Emil took 3 wickets.
Yesterday (8/5), Nomads carved out a brilliant victory over Palm Tree. 144 (Prasanth 63) beat 127 (2 direct hits from Abdul were the highlight. I will do reports soon. Palm Tree did a running commentary of the game on Twitter which can be found on their website (search for Palm Tree cc on google.)
Yesterday (8/5), Nomads carved out a brilliant victory over Palm Tree. 144 (Prasanth 63) beat 127 (2 direct hits from Abdul were the highlight. I will do reports soon. Palm Tree did a running commentary of the game on Twitter which can be found on their website (search for Palm Tree cc on google.)
Thursday 28 April 2016
Clapham Nomads v Surbiton Imperials - 24/4/16
Snow had been forecast for the capital on Sunday, but in the end 9-man Nomads had nothing worse to contend with than a sub-Arctic wind whipping off the Thames, and rugby and football posts covering our last-resort home venue at Barn Elms.
For our £96, we had the choice of a very heavily used adult pitch or an under-prepared kids' pitch. We chose the latter, moved the stumps back, made the back-foot bowling crease the batting crease and prepared to enjoy our day.
Both teams had 6 available in midweek, but an extra ring-round by Nomads' skipper took us up to 9. Imperials had done even better, with a well-placed Gumtree advert bringing them up to 11. Surbiton's inspirational skipper Jonny Rosenthal was up in the Midlands, cheering on his beloved Leicester City as they closed in on the Premier League title. The away side kindly lent us a bowler/fielder and allowed us to nominate a batsman to bat twice.
Inserted after losing the toss, and missing most of his recognised openers, Todorow turned to Abdul Khan and Nick Lefebve to take guard. After a bright start, runs dried up on the slow pitch against the awkward Siddiq. Abdul was first to go on 13 and there was a rumour that the LBW decision was a trifle magnanimous.
The 2nd and 3rd wickets; Nick and Hassan, were both considered by the batsmen to be bump balls. Were Nomads' umpires actually being generous? Surely that is unthinkable; but maybe it was indicative of the excellent spirit in which this game was played. No such doubt over the 4th wicket, a fine catch at Deep Mid-On by Siddiq accounting for Riaz. Nomads 26 for 4 and an all-time low score of 38 or below far from out of the question.
Excellent running between the wickets between Abbas and the debutant Zeeshan, by far the youngest players in the Nomads side, lifted our spirits and, as the field came in, they found the gaps and hit the only 3 boundaries Nomads managed on the slow and grassy outfield. An excellent diving catch by Surbiton's star fielder Siddiq broke the partnership with Abbas departing for 6 and Nomads up to the riches of 44 for 5. Chris Kennedy fell shortly after but another nice stand between Zeeshan, looking increasingly confident through the leg side and Emil Todorow, who looked full of shots, took us into a position where at least we would have something to bowl at. 58 for 6 was our high water mark but the charismatic Mr Harris, who bowled for both sides, found a fatal edge of Zeeshan's bat. Emil and John put on a disappointingly uneventful 4. For the last wicket, Riaz returned and, with the capable blocker John at the other end, a total of 100 was not out of the question. Sadly, Riaz fell quickly to the slow-medium Jimmy and 65 all out was our lot.
On a terrible pitch and with the Away side missing Jonny and having a makeshift batting line-up, Clapham were by no means out of it. We also had in Abbas the fastest bowler on either side. It was great to have him back. I think both the Surbiton openers were Gumtree players and, having rather ridden their luck against Abbas and Hassan with a few edges, one of which flew just past the diving glovesman John Crossland, they began to play really nicely; peppering the boundary rope as the outfield dried. When Emil put down a caught and bowled chance (or stopped a certain 4 with his right nipple - whichever way you want to look at it), the dreaded possibility of our first ever 10-wicket defeat loomed.
At 51, both batsmen suddenly retired. I remarked to John that at least we could not lose by 10 wickets which, oddly, seemed to displease him. By this time, Zeeshan was bowling and he produced a series of pacy yorkers and 2 quick wickets. Our loaned player, Mr Harris, then came on and his crafty spin produced a 3rd wicket, the ubiquitous Zeeshan the catcher. Mr Harris was an interesting character, full of verbal encouragement and wry observation. He disclosed that he had looked for a game on Gumtree because he had been suspended for 1 match by his usual club. Definitely Nomads material. Another wicket for the excellent Zeeshan followed and there was a mildly interesting point where Imperials still needed about 8 and had only 3 wickets to fall. (Though I assume we would have allowed the retired men to come back.) In the event, they weren't needed and Surbiton strode over the winning line with ease to a victory by either 5 wickets or 3 wickets. I think I'll call it 3 wickets just to wind John up.
In his scorebook comment, John wrote; "Zeeshan played well but that is the only bright spot." I disagree profoundly with this. From an unpromising set of circumstances, both sides put on a half-decent game. If you treat it as what it was, basically a pre-season practice match, it was fine. Enjoyable and played in a great spirit. Thank you to both sides.
Man of the Match was Zeeshan by some distance. In the field, the best moments were a catch by Zeeshan, a direct hit from Hassan and an unlikely diving stop by Nick. These 3 share Fielder of the Day.
Clapham Nomads 65 all out in 27 overs. (9 men - 1 batted twice)
Abdul Khan lbw b Siddiq 7
N. Lefebve c wkt b Jimmy 6
H. Khan c wkt b Rashid 6
R. Khan c Siddiq b Jimmy 1
Zeeshan c wkt b Harris 19
Abbas Khan c Siddiq b Sanka 6
C. Kennedy b Maruf 0
E. Todorow (capt) b Maruf 5
J. Crossland not out 1
R. Khan (2nd innings) b Jimmy 3
F.O.W. - 13, 22, 24, 26, 44, 44, 58, 62, 65
Surbiton Imperials 66 for 4 in 18.2 overs (10 men - 2 retired.)
Nomads' bowling
Abbas Khan 4-0-20-0
H. Khan 4-0-14-0
Abdul Khan 2-0-12-0
E. Todorow 1-0-5-0
Zeeshan 4-1-2-3
Harris 2-1-6-1
R. Khan 1.2-0-6-0
Nomads lost by either 3 wickets, 4 wickets or 6 wickets depending on your interpretation. Mine is 3 wickets.
For our £96, we had the choice of a very heavily used adult pitch or an under-prepared kids' pitch. We chose the latter, moved the stumps back, made the back-foot bowling crease the batting crease and prepared to enjoy our day.
Both teams had 6 available in midweek, but an extra ring-round by Nomads' skipper took us up to 9. Imperials had done even better, with a well-placed Gumtree advert bringing them up to 11. Surbiton's inspirational skipper Jonny Rosenthal was up in the Midlands, cheering on his beloved Leicester City as they closed in on the Premier League title. The away side kindly lent us a bowler/fielder and allowed us to nominate a batsman to bat twice.
Inserted after losing the toss, and missing most of his recognised openers, Todorow turned to Abdul Khan and Nick Lefebve to take guard. After a bright start, runs dried up on the slow pitch against the awkward Siddiq. Abdul was first to go on 13 and there was a rumour that the LBW decision was a trifle magnanimous.
The 2nd and 3rd wickets; Nick and Hassan, were both considered by the batsmen to be bump balls. Were Nomads' umpires actually being generous? Surely that is unthinkable; but maybe it was indicative of the excellent spirit in which this game was played. No such doubt over the 4th wicket, a fine catch at Deep Mid-On by Siddiq accounting for Riaz. Nomads 26 for 4 and an all-time low score of 38 or below far from out of the question.
Excellent running between the wickets between Abbas and the debutant Zeeshan, by far the youngest players in the Nomads side, lifted our spirits and, as the field came in, they found the gaps and hit the only 3 boundaries Nomads managed on the slow and grassy outfield. An excellent diving catch by Surbiton's star fielder Siddiq broke the partnership with Abbas departing for 6 and Nomads up to the riches of 44 for 5. Chris Kennedy fell shortly after but another nice stand between Zeeshan, looking increasingly confident through the leg side and Emil Todorow, who looked full of shots, took us into a position where at least we would have something to bowl at. 58 for 6 was our high water mark but the charismatic Mr Harris, who bowled for both sides, found a fatal edge of Zeeshan's bat. Emil and John put on a disappointingly uneventful 4. For the last wicket, Riaz returned and, with the capable blocker John at the other end, a total of 100 was not out of the question. Sadly, Riaz fell quickly to the slow-medium Jimmy and 65 all out was our lot.
On a terrible pitch and with the Away side missing Jonny and having a makeshift batting line-up, Clapham were by no means out of it. We also had in Abbas the fastest bowler on either side. It was great to have him back. I think both the Surbiton openers were Gumtree players and, having rather ridden their luck against Abbas and Hassan with a few edges, one of which flew just past the diving glovesman John Crossland, they began to play really nicely; peppering the boundary rope as the outfield dried. When Emil put down a caught and bowled chance (or stopped a certain 4 with his right nipple - whichever way you want to look at it), the dreaded possibility of our first ever 10-wicket defeat loomed.
At 51, both batsmen suddenly retired. I remarked to John that at least we could not lose by 10 wickets which, oddly, seemed to displease him. By this time, Zeeshan was bowling and he produced a series of pacy yorkers and 2 quick wickets. Our loaned player, Mr Harris, then came on and his crafty spin produced a 3rd wicket, the ubiquitous Zeeshan the catcher. Mr Harris was an interesting character, full of verbal encouragement and wry observation. He disclosed that he had looked for a game on Gumtree because he had been suspended for 1 match by his usual club. Definitely Nomads material. Another wicket for the excellent Zeeshan followed and there was a mildly interesting point where Imperials still needed about 8 and had only 3 wickets to fall. (Though I assume we would have allowed the retired men to come back.) In the event, they weren't needed and Surbiton strode over the winning line with ease to a victory by either 5 wickets or 3 wickets. I think I'll call it 3 wickets just to wind John up.
In his scorebook comment, John wrote; "Zeeshan played well but that is the only bright spot." I disagree profoundly with this. From an unpromising set of circumstances, both sides put on a half-decent game. If you treat it as what it was, basically a pre-season practice match, it was fine. Enjoyable and played in a great spirit. Thank you to both sides.
Man of the Match was Zeeshan by some distance. In the field, the best moments were a catch by Zeeshan, a direct hit from Hassan and an unlikely diving stop by Nick. These 3 share Fielder of the Day.
Clapham Nomads 65 all out in 27 overs. (9 men - 1 batted twice)
Abdul Khan lbw b Siddiq 7
N. Lefebve c wkt b Jimmy 6
H. Khan c wkt b Rashid 6
R. Khan c Siddiq b Jimmy 1
Zeeshan c wkt b Harris 19
Abbas Khan c Siddiq b Sanka 6
C. Kennedy b Maruf 0
E. Todorow (capt) b Maruf 5
J. Crossland not out 1
R. Khan (2nd innings) b Jimmy 3
F.O.W. - 13, 22, 24, 26, 44, 44, 58, 62, 65
Surbiton Imperials 66 for 4 in 18.2 overs (10 men - 2 retired.)
Nomads' bowling
Abbas Khan 4-0-20-0
H. Khan 4-0-14-0
Abdul Khan 2-0-12-0
E. Todorow 1-0-5-0
Zeeshan 4-1-2-3
Harris 2-1-6-1
R. Khan 1.2-0-6-0
Nomads lost by either 3 wickets, 4 wickets or 6 wickets depending on your interpretation. Mine is 3 wickets.
Sunday 17 April 2016
1st match
Hi all,
The season starts next Sunday 24th April with a match against Surbiton Imperials. Emil will be in touch with you this week. Nick
The season starts next Sunday 24th April with a match against Surbiton Imperials. Emil will be in touch with you this week. Nick
Monday 7 March 2016
Clapham Nomads Annual Meeting for 2015 season
Nomads finally held their 2015 meeting in the Mirch Masala in Upper Tooting Road on Sunday February 28th.
A total of 14 people who have turned out for Nomads attended for all or part of the meeting and a 15th person rang Emil while it was going on. This is the highest number we have ever had. Since the food was as good as ever (Emil ended up with a giant bone on his plate as usual, and there was delicious complimentary spicy battered fish supplied by the management - thanks very much) this must rate as our most successful meeting ever.
The 15 were (in alphabetical order);
Abbas, Abdul, Chris, Darwin, Emil, Gul, Hassan, Ish, John, Mahesh, Mark, Nick, Prasanth, Riaz and Terry.
8 people were still around to vote at the end of the meeting. The results were;
Batsman of the Year - A share between Mark (4 votes) and Riaz (4 votes)
Bowler of the Year - A share between Emil (3 votes) and Riaz (3 votes) - Hassan and Sami also got 1 vote each.
Fielder of the Year - Abdul (6 votes) - John also got 2 votes
2015 PLAYER OF THE YEAR - Riaz (6 votes) - Mark also got 2 votes.
So congratulations to all the above, especially to Riaz who had a great season. I feel a tribute coming on.
A total of 14 people who have turned out for Nomads attended for all or part of the meeting and a 15th person rang Emil while it was going on. This is the highest number we have ever had. Since the food was as good as ever (Emil ended up with a giant bone on his plate as usual, and there was delicious complimentary spicy battered fish supplied by the management - thanks very much) this must rate as our most successful meeting ever.
The 15 were (in alphabetical order);
Abbas, Abdul, Chris, Darwin, Emil, Gul, Hassan, Ish, John, Mahesh, Mark, Nick, Prasanth, Riaz and Terry.
8 people were still around to vote at the end of the meeting. The results were;
Batsman of the Year - A share between Mark (4 votes) and Riaz (4 votes)
Bowler of the Year - A share between Emil (3 votes) and Riaz (3 votes) - Hassan and Sami also got 1 vote each.
Fielder of the Year - Abdul (6 votes) - John also got 2 votes
2015 PLAYER OF THE YEAR - Riaz (6 votes) - Mark also got 2 votes.
So congratulations to all the above, especially to Riaz who had a great season. I feel a tribute coming on.
Monday 22 February 2016
Upeka Perera
Many of you will remember Upeka, who played regularly for Nomads around 1999-2000 and again in 2005. He was probably the first really high-class regular player we had (good enough to play for a strong club's first or second XI, say.) He was an extremely hard-hitting middle order batsman. I think he still holds the Nomads record for runs off 1 over (28 plundered from John Warnaby of Touring Theatres at Wandsworth Common in 1999.) This was achieved on a terrible pitch, but I suppose that doesn't really matter if you come forward and hit the ball on the full toss for 6. He was also a very rapid bowler who didn't actually take a massive number of wickets (due to being too fast for many opponents to get an edge to) but helped Nomads to several victories by demoralising opposing sides who were "up with the rate" in run chases.
I have promised Upeka I will list all the matches he played in on this blog, so I will do that this week. There are about 25 to 30 of them.
Upeka recently sent me a couple of photos of the Nomads from 10 to 15 years ago. I will try and post them on here. One of them features Upeka himself, John Chance, Nick Lefebve and Andrew West but, on Facebook, Upeka listed the players with him as being John (Benny), Nick and Emil. In other words he thought the photo of Andrew West was Emil. An easy mistake to make and I must say I found this quite funny; funnier than Emil found it, anyway. I don't know what Andrew will think of it.
Upeka made his debut on 16/5/99 against Caribbean cc, a North London-based side that we played for a couple of years before the travelling got too much (many Nomads probably think Wood Green is in Scotland.)
16/5/1999 v Caribbean at Wood Green, N22 (Away) - 35 overs a side
Clapham Nomads - 125 for 6 from 35 overs
Emil Todorow (capt) c wkt b Thomas 4
John Chance b McIntyre 16
Eddie Phillips c wkt b McIntyre 40
Upeka Perera c wkt b McIntyre 0
Gaurang Vyas c wkt b McIntyre 8
Joe Chance run out 27
Nick Lefebve not out 2
Steve Tjasink not out 2
Did not bat; Andrew West, Raj Vyas, John Crossland (wkt)
Fall of wickets; 24, 34, 34, 56, 118, 120
Caribbean - 126 for 8 from 31.1 overs
Nomads bowling;
Upeka Perera 7-2-23-1
Andrew West 7-0-22-1
Gaurang Vyas 7-1-22-2
Joe Chance 4-0-21-0
Emil Todorow 4-1-25-3
Eddie Phillips 2.1-1-5-1
Upeka took 1 catch
Nomads lost by 2 wickets
Man of the Match - Eddie Phillips
So, a reasonable debut, after coming across a very dangerous bowler in McIntyre, Upeka did well with the ball to make Caribbean's run chase tricky (he had the honour of opening the bowling with Andrew West) and he took a catch
I will list Upeka's other games of the 1999 season in shorter form;
23/5/99 v Battersea Ironside at Dundonald Road, SW19 (Away).
Clapham Nomads - 223 for 8 (Upeka Perera 95, John Chance 43) beat Battersea Ironside - 111 by 112 runs (Upeka's bowling 5-0-18-0, he took 1 catch).
This was Upeka's best score for the Nomads and, at the time, was the highest score any Nomads batsman had made. Sadly, we copied the scorebook from the opposition, so I don't know how many 4s and 6s it included but I estimate it was off about 85 balls. Devastating batting.
4/7/99 v Woodside at Duppas Hill, Croydon (Home)
Woodside - 174 for 7 from 35 overs (Upeka's bowling - 10-0-33-1) beat Clapham Nomads - 39 all out (Upeka Perera 7) by 165 runs.
11/7/99 v Battersea Ironside at Duppas Hill, Croydon (Home) - 40 overs a side
Clapham Nomads - 144 for 9 (Upeka Perera 2) tied with Battersea Ironside - 144 for 9 (Upeka Perera 9-1-17-0)
25/7/99 v Tower Ravens at South Park, SW6 (Away) - time match
Clapham Nomads - 201 for 7 from 39 overs (Ahmed 62, Gaurang Vyas 58, Upeka Perera 18 not out) beat Tower Ravens - 97 all out (Upeka Perera 7-5-3-2, Ben Cobley 7-2-17-4) by 104 runs.
Upeka's bowling set, I believe, 2 Nomads records. Although this was a time match, Upeka bowled 7 overs which is the usual allocation for our bowlers and I think the 3 he conceded is the lowest ever from a 7-over stint. Also, incredibly, there was not a single scoring shot off Upeka's bowling; the 3 he conceded were wides.
1/8/99 v Caribbean at South Park, SW6 (Home)
Caribbean - 95 all out (Upeka Perera 5-2-19-1) lost to Clapham Nomads - 96 for 3 (Glen Kerr 28 - Upeka did not bat) by 7 wickets.
Upeka shared the new ball with Jamaican parishes paceman Patrick Blair- probably the fastest opening bowling combination Nomads have ever deployed.
15/8/99 v Touring Theatres at Wandsworth Common, SW18 (Home) - 35 overs a side
Touring Theatres - 126 for 7 (Patrick Blair 3-14, Upeka Perera 7-0-33-1) lost to Clapham Nomads - 127 for 5 from 21 overs (Upeka Perera 69) - by 5 wickets.
Upeka's 50 came off 24 balls, so it is not the fastest 50 a Nomads player has scored (that was Jim Joyce off 20 balls against the same opposition a decade later) but there was 1 record-breaking over in which John Warnaby was hit for 28 by Upeka. The over went - 466444 - surely the only time a Nomad has hit boundaries off all 6 balls of an over. Later in his innings Upeka hit 3 successive 6s.
4/9/99 v Battersea Spinners at Duppas Hill, Croydon (Home) - 40 overs a side
Clapham Nomads - 215 for 7 (John Chance 94 not out, Upeka Perera b Feroz Baluch 86) beat Battersea Spinners - 128 (Patrick Blair 4-16, Emil Todorow 3-24, Upeka Perera 8-0-38-0) by 87 runs. Upeka took 2 catches.
Upeka shared in a 3rd-wicket stand of 146 with John Chance whose 94 not out was his highest for the club. They faced some decent bowling, Feroz Baluch took 5 wickets for the Renato Philip's Spinners side.
18/9/99 v Battersea Spinners at Wandsworth Common, SW18 - 30 overs a side.
Clapham Nomads - 150 for 9 (Upeka Perera c wicketkeeper b Feroz Baluch 70) beat Battersea Spinners 71 (Andrew West 4-29, Upeka Perera 2-0-8-1) by 79 runs. Upeka took 2 catches.
Upeka hit 3 sixes and 9 fours in his innings of 70.
So a fine first season, especially with the bat. Upeka's other main seasons were 2000 and 2005, so I'll add these and other games and print the stats soon.
2000 SEASON
7/5/00 v Pavilion at Duppas Hill, Croydon (Home) - All London League - 40 overs a side
Clapham Nomads - 74 all out (Upeka Perera 4) beat Pavilion - 72 all out (M. Ali 4-12; Upeka Perera 5.3-2-8-3) by 2 runs.
A memorable game. Nomads' first league match and we beat one of the pre-season favourites by our closest-ever winning margin. Nomads were skittled on a decent pitch. Top scorer made 6 (apart from Extras which scored 38). Nomads skipper Emil Todorow opened the bowling with Andrew West and Mubasher Ali, a slight but pacey seamer from Lahore. Mubasher took probably the longest-ever run-up by a Nomads bowler - well over half way back to the boundary. At the start of each run-up, the imposing Qumber Tremasi bellowed 20 seconds worth of instructions in Urdu which reverberated and echoed around the natural bowl of Duppas Hill. This proved devastating (Emil said he could hear the batsmen's knees knocking) and Ali removed almost the entire top order with Pavilion being about 20 for 5 at one stage. The talented, mainly Caribbean, away side staged a comeback but fortunately we had Upeka at first change and, with 3 quick wickets, he removed the late order just in time to secure an exciting victory.
28/5/00 v Battersea Spinners at Wandsworth Common (Home) - All London League.
Battersea Spinners- 85 all out (Paul Martin 4-3, Upeka Perera 7-2-19-0) lost to Clapham Nomads - 91 for 6 (G. Vyas 42 not out; Upeka Perera 27) by 4 wickets.
Nomads were dead in the water on 14 for 5 (bowling by Des Peters and Feroz Baluch, humorous sledging by Jim Ferguson) when Upeka came in at No. 7 but he shared in a partnership of 62 with Gaurang Vyas to take us close to victory. Upeka was dismissed (caught behind) off the bowling of Renato Philip, but Renato was a half-decent swing bowler in those days.
16/7/00 v London Nigerians at Joseph Hood Rec, SW20 (Away) - All London League
London Nigerians - 165 for 9 (Raja Kabir 5-14; Upeka Perera 8-1-38-1) beat Clapham Nomads - 141 all out (Upeka Perera 71) by 24 runs.
Another memorable game. The talented and unorthodox Nigerians - at least one of whom had represented their country in an international match against Gambia - started imposingly before being pegged back by the bowling of Kabir. In reply, it looked all over at 37 for 3 but Upeka, ably supported by the young Cambridge student Ben Cobley, took the fight to the League Leaders. When Upeka passed 50 we were 5 down but with a strong tail and up with the rate. LNCC became decidedly twitchy. A close-ish LBW shout was turned down and the massive row that ensued saw Nomads' hard-bitten umpire (? Emil) replaced with the younger, more pliable Cobley. Upeka smacked another massive straight 6 (I can still see it sailing back over my head) and the mood was turning ugly. Eventually, Upeka fell for 71, probably his finest innings for the Nomads. I had remembered this as LBW but in fact he was bowled. Anyway, it was a close-run thing for the Nigerians.
6/8/00 v Syndicate at Dulwich Common, SE21 (Away) - All London League
Clapham Nomads - 110 all out (Upeka Perera 7) lost to Syndicate - 111 for 7 (Upeka Perera 1.2-0-16-1) by 3 wickets. Upeka took 1 catch.
13/8/00 v Sporting Caribs in Acton W3 (Away) - All London League
Clapham Nomads 40 all out (Upeka Perera 4 - joint top-scorer) lost to Sporting Caribs - 41 for 4 (Upeka Perera 5-0-27-1) by 6 wickets.
Nomads' lowest-ever total with a full team. It was never going to be enough but a very strong 4-man Nomads bowling line-up (Rafi, Upeka, Emil and Riaz) at least took 4 consolation wickets. These 4 were so strong that Andrew West didn't get a bowl.
20/8/00 v Viscount at Old Deer Park, Richmond (Home) - Friendly, 35 overs a side.
Viscount - 144 for 3 (Upeka Perera 3-0-18-1) beat Clapham Nomads - 76 (Rafi 23, Upeka Perera 15) by 68 runs.
10/9/00 v London Nigerians at Raynes Park Sports Ground, SW20 (Home) - All London League
London Nigerians - 234 for 5 (Todorow 3-21; Upeka Perera 5-0-46-0) beat Clapham Nomads - 174 for 9 (Mahesh Vyas 63; Upeka Perera 0) by 60 runs
Nomads' bowlers were put to the sword by the all-conquering All London League champions-elect. My main memory is of Joe Chance - who was an excellent bowler for the Nomads - on this occasion getting an attack of the yips and bowling 4 successive long hops, all of which were pulled behind square leg by the grateful batsman, each one right into the middle of the most badly situated picnic in history on the pavilion steps. All I remember is smashing crockery, scattering children and squawking mothers, but fortunately no injury. There was another serious umpiring dispute which caused Glen Kerr to leave. Nomads made a decent fist of the reply, with Mahesh notching probably his best innings for the club. Not enough though to prevent us finishing a rather unlucky last in the League Table.
A poor but memorable season for Nomads and an up-and-down season for Upeka, though his bowling against Pavilion and his batting in the first London Nigerians match were moments of pure class.
2001 SEASON
Upeka only played 1 game for Nomads in 2001.
9/9/01 v Energy Exiles at Nursery Road, SW19 (Away)
Clapham Nomads 152 for 9 (innings closed) from 28.5 overs
Jamie Wood b T. Cox 0
Emil Todorow (capt) run out 18
Tabish b Devlin 18
Gaurang Vyas caught -------- b G. Thomas 33
Upeka Perera caught -------- b G. Thomas 19
Rafi c N. Patel b G. Thomas 24
Eddie Phillips run out 12
Riaz Khan lbw G. Thomas 2
Ben Cobley caught --------- b G.Thomas 0
John Crossland (wkt) not out 0
Ali retired (the scorebook entry reads "retired sulking") 0
F.O.W. - 4, 46, 62, 111, 111, 147, 152, 152, 152
Exiles bowling
T. Cox 6-0-13-1
N. Patel 6-1-36-0
S. Devlin 6-0-35-1
W. Scott 5-0-39-0
G. Thomas 5.5-0-24-5
Energy Exiles 121 all out from 27.1 overs
(Batting scores not recorded - ? Top-scorer T.Cox with 60-plus)
Nomads bowling
Ali 6-2-9-3
B. Cobley 5-0-25-1
Riaz Khan 3-0-18-1
Rafi 6-0-21-3
J. Wood 1-0-6-1
E. Phillips 1-0-11-0
G. Vyas 1-0-13-0
E. Todorow 2.1-0-9-0
Upeka Perera 2-0-8-0
Clapham Nomads won by 31 runs.
Man of the Match - Rafi.
I wondered why I didn't play in this match and I have realised that on this day I was in Memphis, Tennessee; specifically at Graceland, by the grave of Elvis Presley. No offence to Elvis if he is reading this, or his many fans, ditto, but on balance I wish I had been at Nursery Road. I didn't realise back in 2001 how rare and precious Nomads wins over the Exiles would prove to be. After this game, the tally between the 2 clubs was Played 2, Nomads wins 2. Joyous days indeed.
2002 SEASON
19/5/02 v Carshalton Athletic in Wallington (Away) - 35 overs a side
Clapham Nomads 306 for 5 (Tabish 66, Adam Tegg 93, Upeka Perera 52) beat Carshalton Athletic 89 (Rafi 7-2-6-8) by 217 runs. Upeka did not bowl.
Nomads' highest total at that time and still our 2nd highest-ever. It is little wonder that a Carshalton Athletic player said to skipper Todorow; "Weak-Medium, my arse!" referring to the rating we had given the Conference when we arranged the fixture. All of Nomads top 7 had or went on to make 50s for the club at some point, and 4 of them recorded scores of 90-plus. Top-scorer Adam Tegg was an uncanny Graeme Hick lookalike from Perth, Western Australia. Rafi's incredible bowling figures are the best-ever by a Nomads player.
2/6/02 v Unpredictables at Battersea Park, SW11 (Away)
Unpredictables - 148 for 9 (Upeka Perera 1-1-0-0) lost to Clapham Nomads - 152 for 9 (Upeka Perera 30) by 1 wicket. Upeka top-scored as Nomads scraped home in a thriller with last-wicket pair Elroy Singroy and Ben Cobley putting on 11 to see us home.
I think this was Upeka's last game for 2 or 3 years, so it was a good way to go out. I'll put on his remaining games in the next few days.
Upeka returned in 2005 which was one of the most enjoyable Nomads seasons and one of the best-balanced teams we have had, featuring a high-class left-handed batsman in Gaurang Vyas and Nomads' best-ever spinner, Shailesh Bhatia.
22/5/05 v Kingston Lefthanders at South Park SW6 (Home) - 35 overs per side
Kingston Lefthanders 166 for 5 (Upeka Perera 4-0-20-2) lost to Clapham Nomads 170 for 6 (G. Vyas 73, Upeka Perera 20) by 4 wickets. Upeka took 1 catch.
29/5/05 v North Croydon at Battersea Park, SW11 (Home) - 40 overs per side.
North Croydon 224 for 3 (Upeka Perera 8-0-49-1) lost to Clapham Nomads 228 for 6 (Sumith Prasanna 60, Upeka Perera 68 not out) by 4 wickets.
A brilliant Nomads run chase and a match full of incident. Controversial uncle and nephew Dean Thomas and Dwight Williams walked off the pitch in the middle of their 5th Nomads game, never to be seen again. I was absent and the (nameless) person in charge of putting the tea out left about 75% of it in his car so Croydon's fielders were starving, but the main feature was a fantastic match-winning stand of 89 (still Nomads' best for the 7th wicket) between Upeka and Emil Todorow (18 not out.) One of Upeka's best innings for the club and probably Emil's best, though not his biggest.
5/6/05 v Touring Theatres at King George's Field, Tolworth (Home) - 35 overs per side
Clapham Nomads 109 (Jean-Claude 22, Upeka Perera 8) lost to Touring Theatres 111 for 5 (Upeka Perera 7-2-13-0) by 5 wickets. One of only 3 Theatres victories over us in around 30 meetings. They were inspired with bat, ball and in the field. When a guy of around 60 took a diving, one-handed catch, we guessed it was not our day.
10/7/05 v Burgh Heath at Tattenham Way, Burgh Heath, Surrey (Away) - 40 overs per side.
Burgh Heath 154 for 8 (Upeka Perera 8-0-32-2) beat Clapham Nomads 48 (Upeka Perera 7) by 106 runs.
This was a very different Burgh Heath side to the one we currently play. They had a lot of South Africans and were seriously strong. It is fair to see we possibly underperformed slightly or, as John put it in the scorebook, "Shit from the Nomads". Upeka did OK though, along with Dave Hunter and Emil, he was one of the better bowlers and he was 3rd-top scorer.
21/8/05 v Morden at Morden Park, SM4 (Away) - 40 overs per side.
Morden 233 for 7 (Upeka Perera 8-1-44-0) lost to Clapham Nomads 234 for 7 (G. Vyas 50, Upeka Perera 85 not out) by 3 wickets.
Possibly Nomads' best-ever run chase against Morden's Sunday Firsts. A brilliant 4th-wicket stand of 98 between Upeka and Jean-Claude took us to 203 for 4 and then Upeka protected a shaky late-middle-order to see us home. Controversy struck though as John related in his scorebook comment; "Dispute over run out. Upeka given not out by Benny. Morden angry." Morden angry? I'm deeply shocked. This was the start of the deterioration in relations between the 2 teams which culminated in them accusing us of buying our match balls from Woolworth's.
28/8/05 v Chiswick and Latymer at King George's Field, Tolworth (Home) - 35 overs per side
Clapham Nomads 163 for 9 (Jean-Claude 34, Shailesh Bhatia 26, John Chance 28, Upeka Perera 17) beat Chiswick and Latymer 135 all out off 34.1 overs (Sumith Prasanna 4-3, Upeka Perera 7-0-14-1) by 28 runs.
Upeka was by far the most economical bowler and this was vital. I remember very little about this game except that Chiswick's skipper was gutted and we went to a bizarre pub in a converted cricket pavilion by the A3 afterwards.
4/9/05 v CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) - SW London at Nursery Road, SW19 (Away) - 30 overs per side
CAMRA 169 for 8 (Abdul Khan 4-0-22-4, Upeka Perera 6-0-47-1) beat Clapham Nomads 157 for 9 (G. Vyas 52, Upeka Perera 1) by 8 runs.
A very close game but all I really remember is going to the Sultan pub (with its notoriously strong beer) together with a load of Real Ale enthusiasts, and waking up with a nasty headache.
The Team of 2005 was a fine Nomads side of which Upeka was a big part. A typical line-up would have been;
Sumith Prasanna, Chris Kennedy, John Chance, Gaurang Vyas, Jean-Claude, Abdul Khan, Nick Lefebve, Shailesh Bhatia, Emil Todorow, John Crossland and either Andrew West, Terry Bruce-Mills or Dave Hunter (though Dave would not be batting at No. 11.)
2006 SEASON
28/5/06 v Energy Exiles at Civil Service Sports Ground, W4 (Away) - 40 overs per side
Clapham Nomads 122 (Upeka Perera 40) lost to Energy Exiles 123 for 7 (Upeka Perera 5-0-24-1) by 3 wickets.
An archetypal Exiles v Nomads match of this era. Nomads scored faster but only lasted 36.1 overs (Scott - ?Wil - did the main damage with 4-37) Nomads had only 10 men but no excuses as the highly-disciplined Exiles ground out a last over victory despite scoring at only 3.15 per over.
2/7/06 v Morden at Morden Park, SM4 (Away) - 40 overs per side.
Clapham Nomads 259 for 5 (Hassan Khan 117 not out, John Chance 36, Upeka Perera 31) beat Morden 181 for 7 (Upeka Perera 1-0-1-0) by 78 runs.
Brilliant batting from the Nomads. Hassan was well and truly back in the side. This continued the usual pattern of Morden v Nomads fixtures
This appears to have been Upeka's final appearance for the club, so it was a good way to finish. I'll double check the later scorebooks but I think that was that. I'll do a statistical summary soon.
I have promised Upeka I will list all the matches he played in on this blog, so I will do that this week. There are about 25 to 30 of them.
Upeka recently sent me a couple of photos of the Nomads from 10 to 15 years ago. I will try and post them on here. One of them features Upeka himself, John Chance, Nick Lefebve and Andrew West but, on Facebook, Upeka listed the players with him as being John (Benny), Nick and Emil. In other words he thought the photo of Andrew West was Emil. An easy mistake to make and I must say I found this quite funny; funnier than Emil found it, anyway. I don't know what Andrew will think of it.
Upeka made his debut on 16/5/99 against Caribbean cc, a North London-based side that we played for a couple of years before the travelling got too much (many Nomads probably think Wood Green is in Scotland.)
16/5/1999 v Caribbean at Wood Green, N22 (Away) - 35 overs a side
Clapham Nomads - 125 for 6 from 35 overs
Emil Todorow (capt) c wkt b Thomas 4
John Chance b McIntyre 16
Eddie Phillips c wkt b McIntyre 40
Upeka Perera c wkt b McIntyre 0
Gaurang Vyas c wkt b McIntyre 8
Joe Chance run out 27
Nick Lefebve not out 2
Steve Tjasink not out 2
Did not bat; Andrew West, Raj Vyas, John Crossland (wkt)
Fall of wickets; 24, 34, 34, 56, 118, 120
Caribbean - 126 for 8 from 31.1 overs
Nomads bowling;
Upeka Perera 7-2-23-1
Andrew West 7-0-22-1
Gaurang Vyas 7-1-22-2
Joe Chance 4-0-21-0
Emil Todorow 4-1-25-3
Eddie Phillips 2.1-1-5-1
Upeka took 1 catch
Nomads lost by 2 wickets
Man of the Match - Eddie Phillips
So, a reasonable debut, after coming across a very dangerous bowler in McIntyre, Upeka did well with the ball to make Caribbean's run chase tricky (he had the honour of opening the bowling with Andrew West) and he took a catch
I will list Upeka's other games of the 1999 season in shorter form;
23/5/99 v Battersea Ironside at Dundonald Road, SW19 (Away).
Clapham Nomads - 223 for 8 (Upeka Perera 95, John Chance 43) beat Battersea Ironside - 111 by 112 runs (Upeka's bowling 5-0-18-0, he took 1 catch).
This was Upeka's best score for the Nomads and, at the time, was the highest score any Nomads batsman had made. Sadly, we copied the scorebook from the opposition, so I don't know how many 4s and 6s it included but I estimate it was off about 85 balls. Devastating batting.
4/7/99 v Woodside at Duppas Hill, Croydon (Home)
Woodside - 174 for 7 from 35 overs (Upeka's bowling - 10-0-33-1) beat Clapham Nomads - 39 all out (Upeka Perera 7) by 165 runs.
11/7/99 v Battersea Ironside at Duppas Hill, Croydon (Home) - 40 overs a side
Clapham Nomads - 144 for 9 (Upeka Perera 2) tied with Battersea Ironside - 144 for 9 (Upeka Perera 9-1-17-0)
25/7/99 v Tower Ravens at South Park, SW6 (Away) - time match
Clapham Nomads - 201 for 7 from 39 overs (Ahmed 62, Gaurang Vyas 58, Upeka Perera 18 not out) beat Tower Ravens - 97 all out (Upeka Perera 7-5-3-2, Ben Cobley 7-2-17-4) by 104 runs.
Upeka's bowling set, I believe, 2 Nomads records. Although this was a time match, Upeka bowled 7 overs which is the usual allocation for our bowlers and I think the 3 he conceded is the lowest ever from a 7-over stint. Also, incredibly, there was not a single scoring shot off Upeka's bowling; the 3 he conceded were wides.
1/8/99 v Caribbean at South Park, SW6 (Home)
Caribbean - 95 all out (Upeka Perera 5-2-19-1) lost to Clapham Nomads - 96 for 3 (Glen Kerr 28 - Upeka did not bat) by 7 wickets.
Upeka shared the new ball with Jamaican parishes paceman Patrick Blair- probably the fastest opening bowling combination Nomads have ever deployed.
15/8/99 v Touring Theatres at Wandsworth Common, SW18 (Home) - 35 overs a side
Touring Theatres - 126 for 7 (Patrick Blair 3-14, Upeka Perera 7-0-33-1) lost to Clapham Nomads - 127 for 5 from 21 overs (Upeka Perera 69) - by 5 wickets.
Upeka's 50 came off 24 balls, so it is not the fastest 50 a Nomads player has scored (that was Jim Joyce off 20 balls against the same opposition a decade later) but there was 1 record-breaking over in which John Warnaby was hit for 28 by Upeka. The over went - 466444 - surely the only time a Nomad has hit boundaries off all 6 balls of an over. Later in his innings Upeka hit 3 successive 6s.
4/9/99 v Battersea Spinners at Duppas Hill, Croydon (Home) - 40 overs a side
Clapham Nomads - 215 for 7 (John Chance 94 not out, Upeka Perera b Feroz Baluch 86) beat Battersea Spinners - 128 (Patrick Blair 4-16, Emil Todorow 3-24, Upeka Perera 8-0-38-0) by 87 runs. Upeka took 2 catches.
Upeka shared in a 3rd-wicket stand of 146 with John Chance whose 94 not out was his highest for the club. They faced some decent bowling, Feroz Baluch took 5 wickets for the Renato Philip's Spinners side.
18/9/99 v Battersea Spinners at Wandsworth Common, SW18 - 30 overs a side.
Clapham Nomads - 150 for 9 (Upeka Perera c wicketkeeper b Feroz Baluch 70) beat Battersea Spinners 71 (Andrew West 4-29, Upeka Perera 2-0-8-1) by 79 runs. Upeka took 2 catches.
Upeka hit 3 sixes and 9 fours in his innings of 70.
So a fine first season, especially with the bat. Upeka's other main seasons were 2000 and 2005, so I'll add these and other games and print the stats soon.
2000 SEASON
7/5/00 v Pavilion at Duppas Hill, Croydon (Home) - All London League - 40 overs a side
Clapham Nomads - 74 all out (Upeka Perera 4) beat Pavilion - 72 all out (M. Ali 4-12; Upeka Perera 5.3-2-8-3) by 2 runs.
A memorable game. Nomads' first league match and we beat one of the pre-season favourites by our closest-ever winning margin. Nomads were skittled on a decent pitch. Top scorer made 6 (apart from Extras which scored 38). Nomads skipper Emil Todorow opened the bowling with Andrew West and Mubasher Ali, a slight but pacey seamer from Lahore. Mubasher took probably the longest-ever run-up by a Nomads bowler - well over half way back to the boundary. At the start of each run-up, the imposing Qumber Tremasi bellowed 20 seconds worth of instructions in Urdu which reverberated and echoed around the natural bowl of Duppas Hill. This proved devastating (Emil said he could hear the batsmen's knees knocking) and Ali removed almost the entire top order with Pavilion being about 20 for 5 at one stage. The talented, mainly Caribbean, away side staged a comeback but fortunately we had Upeka at first change and, with 3 quick wickets, he removed the late order just in time to secure an exciting victory.
28/5/00 v Battersea Spinners at Wandsworth Common (Home) - All London League.
Battersea Spinners- 85 all out (Paul Martin 4-3, Upeka Perera 7-2-19-0) lost to Clapham Nomads - 91 for 6 (G. Vyas 42 not out; Upeka Perera 27) by 4 wickets.
Nomads were dead in the water on 14 for 5 (bowling by Des Peters and Feroz Baluch, humorous sledging by Jim Ferguson) when Upeka came in at No. 7 but he shared in a partnership of 62 with Gaurang Vyas to take us close to victory. Upeka was dismissed (caught behind) off the bowling of Renato Philip, but Renato was a half-decent swing bowler in those days.
16/7/00 v London Nigerians at Joseph Hood Rec, SW20 (Away) - All London League
London Nigerians - 165 for 9 (Raja Kabir 5-14; Upeka Perera 8-1-38-1) beat Clapham Nomads - 141 all out (Upeka Perera 71) by 24 runs.
Another memorable game. The talented and unorthodox Nigerians - at least one of whom had represented their country in an international match against Gambia - started imposingly before being pegged back by the bowling of Kabir. In reply, it looked all over at 37 for 3 but Upeka, ably supported by the young Cambridge student Ben Cobley, took the fight to the League Leaders. When Upeka passed 50 we were 5 down but with a strong tail and up with the rate. LNCC became decidedly twitchy. A close-ish LBW shout was turned down and the massive row that ensued saw Nomads' hard-bitten umpire (? Emil) replaced with the younger, more pliable Cobley. Upeka smacked another massive straight 6 (I can still see it sailing back over my head) and the mood was turning ugly. Eventually, Upeka fell for 71, probably his finest innings for the Nomads. I had remembered this as LBW but in fact he was bowled. Anyway, it was a close-run thing for the Nigerians.
6/8/00 v Syndicate at Dulwich Common, SE21 (Away) - All London League
Clapham Nomads - 110 all out (Upeka Perera 7) lost to Syndicate - 111 for 7 (Upeka Perera 1.2-0-16-1) by 3 wickets. Upeka took 1 catch.
13/8/00 v Sporting Caribs in Acton W3 (Away) - All London League
Clapham Nomads 40 all out (Upeka Perera 4 - joint top-scorer) lost to Sporting Caribs - 41 for 4 (Upeka Perera 5-0-27-1) by 6 wickets.
Nomads' lowest-ever total with a full team. It was never going to be enough but a very strong 4-man Nomads bowling line-up (Rafi, Upeka, Emil and Riaz) at least took 4 consolation wickets. These 4 were so strong that Andrew West didn't get a bowl.
20/8/00 v Viscount at Old Deer Park, Richmond (Home) - Friendly, 35 overs a side.
Viscount - 144 for 3 (Upeka Perera 3-0-18-1) beat Clapham Nomads - 76 (Rafi 23, Upeka Perera 15) by 68 runs.
10/9/00 v London Nigerians at Raynes Park Sports Ground, SW20 (Home) - All London League
London Nigerians - 234 for 5 (Todorow 3-21; Upeka Perera 5-0-46-0) beat Clapham Nomads - 174 for 9 (Mahesh Vyas 63; Upeka Perera 0) by 60 runs
Nomads' bowlers were put to the sword by the all-conquering All London League champions-elect. My main memory is of Joe Chance - who was an excellent bowler for the Nomads - on this occasion getting an attack of the yips and bowling 4 successive long hops, all of which were pulled behind square leg by the grateful batsman, each one right into the middle of the most badly situated picnic in history on the pavilion steps. All I remember is smashing crockery, scattering children and squawking mothers, but fortunately no injury. There was another serious umpiring dispute which caused Glen Kerr to leave. Nomads made a decent fist of the reply, with Mahesh notching probably his best innings for the club. Not enough though to prevent us finishing a rather unlucky last in the League Table.
A poor but memorable season for Nomads and an up-and-down season for Upeka, though his bowling against Pavilion and his batting in the first London Nigerians match were moments of pure class.
2001 SEASON
Upeka only played 1 game for Nomads in 2001.
9/9/01 v Energy Exiles at Nursery Road, SW19 (Away)
Clapham Nomads 152 for 9 (innings closed) from 28.5 overs
Jamie Wood b T. Cox 0
Emil Todorow (capt) run out 18
Tabish b Devlin 18
Gaurang Vyas caught -------- b G. Thomas 33
Upeka Perera caught -------- b G. Thomas 19
Rafi c N. Patel b G. Thomas 24
Eddie Phillips run out 12
Riaz Khan lbw G. Thomas 2
Ben Cobley caught --------- b G.Thomas 0
John Crossland (wkt) not out 0
Ali retired (the scorebook entry reads "retired sulking") 0
F.O.W. - 4, 46, 62, 111, 111, 147, 152, 152, 152
Exiles bowling
T. Cox 6-0-13-1
N. Patel 6-1-36-0
S. Devlin 6-0-35-1
W. Scott 5-0-39-0
G. Thomas 5.5-0-24-5
Energy Exiles 121 all out from 27.1 overs
(Batting scores not recorded - ? Top-scorer T.Cox with 60-plus)
Nomads bowling
Ali 6-2-9-3
B. Cobley 5-0-25-1
Riaz Khan 3-0-18-1
Rafi 6-0-21-3
J. Wood 1-0-6-1
E. Phillips 1-0-11-0
G. Vyas 1-0-13-0
E. Todorow 2.1-0-9-0
Upeka Perera 2-0-8-0
Clapham Nomads won by 31 runs.
Man of the Match - Rafi.
I wondered why I didn't play in this match and I have realised that on this day I was in Memphis, Tennessee; specifically at Graceland, by the grave of Elvis Presley. No offence to Elvis if he is reading this, or his many fans, ditto, but on balance I wish I had been at Nursery Road. I didn't realise back in 2001 how rare and precious Nomads wins over the Exiles would prove to be. After this game, the tally between the 2 clubs was Played 2, Nomads wins 2. Joyous days indeed.
2002 SEASON
19/5/02 v Carshalton Athletic in Wallington (Away) - 35 overs a side
Clapham Nomads 306 for 5 (Tabish 66, Adam Tegg 93, Upeka Perera 52) beat Carshalton Athletic 89 (Rafi 7-2-6-8) by 217 runs. Upeka did not bowl.
Nomads' highest total at that time and still our 2nd highest-ever. It is little wonder that a Carshalton Athletic player said to skipper Todorow; "Weak-Medium, my arse!" referring to the rating we had given the Conference when we arranged the fixture. All of Nomads top 7 had or went on to make 50s for the club at some point, and 4 of them recorded scores of 90-plus. Top-scorer Adam Tegg was an uncanny Graeme Hick lookalike from Perth, Western Australia. Rafi's incredible bowling figures are the best-ever by a Nomads player.
2/6/02 v Unpredictables at Battersea Park, SW11 (Away)
Unpredictables - 148 for 9 (Upeka Perera 1-1-0-0) lost to Clapham Nomads - 152 for 9 (Upeka Perera 30) by 1 wicket. Upeka top-scored as Nomads scraped home in a thriller with last-wicket pair Elroy Singroy and Ben Cobley putting on 11 to see us home.
I think this was Upeka's last game for 2 or 3 years, so it was a good way to go out. I'll put on his remaining games in the next few days.
Upeka returned in 2005 which was one of the most enjoyable Nomads seasons and one of the best-balanced teams we have had, featuring a high-class left-handed batsman in Gaurang Vyas and Nomads' best-ever spinner, Shailesh Bhatia.
22/5/05 v Kingston Lefthanders at South Park SW6 (Home) - 35 overs per side
Kingston Lefthanders 166 for 5 (Upeka Perera 4-0-20-2) lost to Clapham Nomads 170 for 6 (G. Vyas 73, Upeka Perera 20) by 4 wickets. Upeka took 1 catch.
29/5/05 v North Croydon at Battersea Park, SW11 (Home) - 40 overs per side.
North Croydon 224 for 3 (Upeka Perera 8-0-49-1) lost to Clapham Nomads 228 for 6 (Sumith Prasanna 60, Upeka Perera 68 not out) by 4 wickets.
A brilliant Nomads run chase and a match full of incident. Controversial uncle and nephew Dean Thomas and Dwight Williams walked off the pitch in the middle of their 5th Nomads game, never to be seen again. I was absent and the (nameless) person in charge of putting the tea out left about 75% of it in his car so Croydon's fielders were starving, but the main feature was a fantastic match-winning stand of 89 (still Nomads' best for the 7th wicket) between Upeka and Emil Todorow (18 not out.) One of Upeka's best innings for the club and probably Emil's best, though not his biggest.
5/6/05 v Touring Theatres at King George's Field, Tolworth (Home) - 35 overs per side
Clapham Nomads 109 (Jean-Claude 22, Upeka Perera 8) lost to Touring Theatres 111 for 5 (Upeka Perera 7-2-13-0) by 5 wickets. One of only 3 Theatres victories over us in around 30 meetings. They were inspired with bat, ball and in the field. When a guy of around 60 took a diving, one-handed catch, we guessed it was not our day.
10/7/05 v Burgh Heath at Tattenham Way, Burgh Heath, Surrey (Away) - 40 overs per side.
Burgh Heath 154 for 8 (Upeka Perera 8-0-32-2) beat Clapham Nomads 48 (Upeka Perera 7) by 106 runs.
This was a very different Burgh Heath side to the one we currently play. They had a lot of South Africans and were seriously strong. It is fair to see we possibly underperformed slightly or, as John put it in the scorebook, "Shit from the Nomads". Upeka did OK though, along with Dave Hunter and Emil, he was one of the better bowlers and he was 3rd-top scorer.
21/8/05 v Morden at Morden Park, SM4 (Away) - 40 overs per side.
Morden 233 for 7 (Upeka Perera 8-1-44-0) lost to Clapham Nomads 234 for 7 (G. Vyas 50, Upeka Perera 85 not out) by 3 wickets.
Possibly Nomads' best-ever run chase against Morden's Sunday Firsts. A brilliant 4th-wicket stand of 98 between Upeka and Jean-Claude took us to 203 for 4 and then Upeka protected a shaky late-middle-order to see us home. Controversy struck though as John related in his scorebook comment; "Dispute over run out. Upeka given not out by Benny. Morden angry." Morden angry? I'm deeply shocked. This was the start of the deterioration in relations between the 2 teams which culminated in them accusing us of buying our match balls from Woolworth's.
28/8/05 v Chiswick and Latymer at King George's Field, Tolworth (Home) - 35 overs per side
Clapham Nomads 163 for 9 (Jean-Claude 34, Shailesh Bhatia 26, John Chance 28, Upeka Perera 17) beat Chiswick and Latymer 135 all out off 34.1 overs (Sumith Prasanna 4-3, Upeka Perera 7-0-14-1) by 28 runs.
Upeka was by far the most economical bowler and this was vital. I remember very little about this game except that Chiswick's skipper was gutted and we went to a bizarre pub in a converted cricket pavilion by the A3 afterwards.
4/9/05 v CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) - SW London at Nursery Road, SW19 (Away) - 30 overs per side
CAMRA 169 for 8 (Abdul Khan 4-0-22-4, Upeka Perera 6-0-47-1) beat Clapham Nomads 157 for 9 (G. Vyas 52, Upeka Perera 1) by 8 runs.
A very close game but all I really remember is going to the Sultan pub (with its notoriously strong beer) together with a load of Real Ale enthusiasts, and waking up with a nasty headache.
The Team of 2005 was a fine Nomads side of which Upeka was a big part. A typical line-up would have been;
Sumith Prasanna, Chris Kennedy, John Chance, Gaurang Vyas, Jean-Claude, Abdul Khan, Nick Lefebve, Shailesh Bhatia, Emil Todorow, John Crossland and either Andrew West, Terry Bruce-Mills or Dave Hunter (though Dave would not be batting at No. 11.)
2006 SEASON
28/5/06 v Energy Exiles at Civil Service Sports Ground, W4 (Away) - 40 overs per side
Clapham Nomads 122 (Upeka Perera 40) lost to Energy Exiles 123 for 7 (Upeka Perera 5-0-24-1) by 3 wickets.
An archetypal Exiles v Nomads match of this era. Nomads scored faster but only lasted 36.1 overs (Scott - ?Wil - did the main damage with 4-37) Nomads had only 10 men but no excuses as the highly-disciplined Exiles ground out a last over victory despite scoring at only 3.15 per over.
2/7/06 v Morden at Morden Park, SM4 (Away) - 40 overs per side.
Clapham Nomads 259 for 5 (Hassan Khan 117 not out, John Chance 36, Upeka Perera 31) beat Morden 181 for 7 (Upeka Perera 1-0-1-0) by 78 runs.
Brilliant batting from the Nomads. Hassan was well and truly back in the side. This continued the usual pattern of Morden v Nomads fixtures
This appears to have been Upeka's final appearance for the club, so it was a good way to finish. I'll double check the later scorebooks but I think that was that. I'll do a statistical summary soon.
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