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."