Clapham Nomads averages for 2017 season.
Batting (qualification - 3 innings)
Hassan 668 runs at an average of 66.80
Zia 401 runs @ 44.56
Riaz 206 runs @ 20.60
Javed 244 runs @ 20.33
Darwin 238 runs @ 19.83
Mahesh 240 runs @ 17.14
Sami 97 runs @ 16.17
Faseeh 95 runs @ 15.83
Abbas 76 runs @ 12.67
KK 88 runs @ 11.00
Emil 16 runs @ 5.33
John 4 runs @ 2.00
Bowling (qualification - 4 wickets)
Riaz 7 wickets at an average of 15.43
Hassan 16 wickets @ 16.13
Javed 5 wickets @ 18.80
Faseeh 7 wickets @ 21.43
Abbas 23 wickets @ 22.48
Sami 10 wickets @ 22.50
Zia 14 wickets @ 24.64
KK 12 wickets @ 27.75
Emil 6 wickets @ 56.33
Bowling strike rate;
Javed - a wicket every 19 balls
Riaz - a wicket every 20 balls
Hassan - a wicket every 21 balls
Abbas - a wicket every 25 balls
Faseeh - a wicket every 30 balls
KK - a wicket every 31 balls
Zia - a wicket every 32 balls
Sami - a wicket every 33 balls
Emil - a wicket every 66 balls
Bowling economy rate;
Sami - 4.07 runs per over
Faseeh - 4.23
Zia - 4.60
Hassan - 4.69
Riaz - 4.73
Emil - 5.12
Abbas - 5.367
KK - 5.371
Javed - 5.81.
Fielding.
Catches (qualification - 2 catches)
Zia - 11
John - 9 (all as wicketkeeper)
Mahesh - 7 (1 as wicketkeeper)
Abbas - 4
Darwin 4
Faseeh - 4
KK - 3
Hassan - 2
Sami - 2
Report on the season to follow soon.
Tuesday 26 September 2017
Thursday 21 September 2017
Team India A v Clapham Nomads - 17/9/17
Nomads finished off the season with a rather tame defeat against Team India A at Bromley Common. This was a new fixture suggested by Mahesh Vyas and they were very pleasant opponents with a nice ground and we would be probably be quite well matched although, unusually for this season, Nomads batting did not come off.
I don't know if that is due to the shock of a start time of 11:45, which is a time many Nomads probably did not realise existed, for sporting purposes anyway.
I arrived at 3.45, due to working Night Shift, and found that our bowlers had done a good job to dismiss Team India for 153. However, the boundaries were long and the outfield slow-ish, so this was probably worth 170 or so.
A 10 a side match had already been agreed on.
Unfortunately we lost Mahesh who gloved one to the keeper 4th ball. There then followed the best batting of the innings with a stand of 33 between Darwin and Riaz, Riaz was then out for 21 - the top scorer - and a collapse followed from 33 for 1 to 37 for 6. Even Hassan missed out, which is very unusual for him this season.
The bowling was steady and varied but not spectacular and the pitch was decent, so it was just one of those inexplicable things. This season's has been one of the best batting line-ups we have ever had, so we cannot really complain.
Abbas did steady the ship a bit batting at No. 8 until his dismissal brought together the old favourites Emil Todorow and John Crossland, hopefully to make the deficit respectable and provide a bit of entertainment along the way. Emil had started shakily but, after 3 or 4 overs, began to look assured; he hit a nice 4 and was beginning to middle the ball. The pair were reasonably amicable with one another initially, despite Emil's basso profundo cry of "Calm down, John" becoming a temporary catchphrase for Team India's younger fielders. Soon however, John charged down the pitch and flicked the ball to Short Midwicket and yelled for a single, Emil hesitated, went for it, but was run out. I was half asleep (despite being umpire) so I cannot really say whose fault it was but there was a lengthy and ongoing analysis of the situation from the 2 protagonists. Spectator Andrew West also joined in. Anyway, Nomads were all out for 74 at 5 c'clock.
A beer match was hastily arranged which made an already unhappy John even less contented. I had to leave when Team India A were on about 40 for 3 but apparently they won the beer match as well. It's not all about me but I must mention that I took my first wicket for Nomads for several years in the beer match - caught on the boundary beautifully by Faseeh off a half volley. Shit gets wickets as the cliche goes.
So there was a strange end of term feel to what has been one of Nomads' best season, but it was still an enjoyable afternoon (and morning) of cricket.
More details and analysis of the season to follow.
Team India A (recorded in scorebook by John as Gupta XI) - 153 all out from 33.3 overs
Nomads' bowling;
Hassan 5-2-10-2
Emil 5-0-33-1
Abbas 7-1-39-1
Sami 7-0-31-0
Faseeh 4.3-0-12-3
KK 3-0-12-1
Riaz 2-1-4-2
Clapham Nomads 74 all out from 20.2 overs
Mahesh 0
Darwin 8
Riaz 21
Hassan 1
KK 6
Faseeh 0
Sami 1
Abbas 8
Emil 10
John not out 1
F.O.W. - 0, 33, 35, 35, 36, 37, 45, 56, 74
Nomads lost by 79 runs.
Man of the Match - Faseeh - Not just because he took a catch off my bowling;.he also took 3 wickets in the main match
Fielder of the Day - Abbas (he took 2 catches.)
I don't know if that is due to the shock of a start time of 11:45, which is a time many Nomads probably did not realise existed, for sporting purposes anyway.
I arrived at 3.45, due to working Night Shift, and found that our bowlers had done a good job to dismiss Team India for 153. However, the boundaries were long and the outfield slow-ish, so this was probably worth 170 or so.
A 10 a side match had already been agreed on.
Unfortunately we lost Mahesh who gloved one to the keeper 4th ball. There then followed the best batting of the innings with a stand of 33 between Darwin and Riaz, Riaz was then out for 21 - the top scorer - and a collapse followed from 33 for 1 to 37 for 6. Even Hassan missed out, which is very unusual for him this season.
The bowling was steady and varied but not spectacular and the pitch was decent, so it was just one of those inexplicable things. This season's has been one of the best batting line-ups we have ever had, so we cannot really complain.
Abbas did steady the ship a bit batting at No. 8 until his dismissal brought together the old favourites Emil Todorow and John Crossland, hopefully to make the deficit respectable and provide a bit of entertainment along the way. Emil had started shakily but, after 3 or 4 overs, began to look assured; he hit a nice 4 and was beginning to middle the ball. The pair were reasonably amicable with one another initially, despite Emil's basso profundo cry of "Calm down, John" becoming a temporary catchphrase for Team India's younger fielders. Soon however, John charged down the pitch and flicked the ball to Short Midwicket and yelled for a single, Emil hesitated, went for it, but was run out. I was half asleep (despite being umpire) so I cannot really say whose fault it was but there was a lengthy and ongoing analysis of the situation from the 2 protagonists. Spectator Andrew West also joined in. Anyway, Nomads were all out for 74 at 5 c'clock.
A beer match was hastily arranged which made an already unhappy John even less contented. I had to leave when Team India A were on about 40 for 3 but apparently they won the beer match as well. It's not all about me but I must mention that I took my first wicket for Nomads for several years in the beer match - caught on the boundary beautifully by Faseeh off a half volley. Shit gets wickets as the cliche goes.
So there was a strange end of term feel to what has been one of Nomads' best season, but it was still an enjoyable afternoon (and morning) of cricket.
More details and analysis of the season to follow.
Team India A (recorded in scorebook by John as Gupta XI) - 153 all out from 33.3 overs
Nomads' bowling;
Hassan 5-2-10-2
Emil 5-0-33-1
Abbas 7-1-39-1
Sami 7-0-31-0
Faseeh 4.3-0-12-3
KK 3-0-12-1
Riaz 2-1-4-2
Clapham Nomads 74 all out from 20.2 overs
Mahesh 0
Darwin 8
Riaz 21
Hassan 1
KK 6
Faseeh 0
Sami 1
Abbas 8
Emil 10
John not out 1
F.O.W. - 0, 33, 35, 35, 36, 37, 45, 56, 74
Nomads lost by 79 runs.
Man of the Match - Faseeh - Not just because he took a catch off my bowling;.he also took 3 wickets in the main match
Fielder of the Day - Abbas (he took 2 catches.)
Tuesday 12 September 2017
Clapham Nomads v Gentlemen of Hampstead - 10/9/17
A rare cancellation from the reliable Barnes Occasionals left Nomads looking for a replacement fixture last weekend but we soon managed to arrange a game against the excellently-named Gentlemen of Hampstead.
There are several unusual links between the 2 clubs; a) both are named after areas with astronomical property prices and famous open spaces (Hampstead has its Heath - a hillier, larger, wilder version of Clapham's famous Common) which are, I am informed by people in the know, used for very particular "leisure pursuits" - I mean long, healthy walks of course. b) With a surprise appearance from Andrew West - still banned from playing or umpiring, but remaining a Nomads Legend who can still update the scoreboard and eat a large tea - we were justified in subtitling ourselves "the Gentlemen of Clapham." c) Both clubs have Eastern Bloc connections; Nomads' is well-known but the "Gents'" is perhaps more interesting as they went on tour to Moscow in 1988, during the last days of the USSR, and played matches against three embassy sides; UK, Australia and New Zealand. They played at Moscow's Olympic Stadium, and had to prepare the pitch themselves using a scythe. d) Finally, they were founded in 1960 by the late, great actor Sir John Hurt, star of Midnight Express, Champions and The Naked Civil Servant. The connection here - Nomads have been represented by several civil servants, but probably none you would wish to see naked.
Anyway, to cricket. In a 10-a-side contest The Gents won the toss and batted under threatening skies with rain forecast. Their openers Brann and Nelms started well, peppering the short boundaries. The pitch was basically good but with a touch of irregular bounce both high and low. The breakthrough came in the 8th over when Emil Todorow, who bowled a good steady spell, found a little extra bounce and had Nelms well-caught in the slips by Mahesh Vyas - 32 for 1. Abbas replaced Hassan and, with a touch of extra pace, caused Brann to play on off the inside edge. 41 for 2 . Not long after, Abbas found the edge of No. 3 Preston's bat but it dropped just short of keeper John Crossland. That would have put us in a good position but Preston took full advantage of the let-off and dealt harshly with the frequent short balls. With the left-handed Cleeve also playing well the Gents made remorseless progress, with
just one half-chance going down, to 111 when Abbas found Cleeve's edge and Crossland snaffled the chance.
Another profitable stand followed between Preston and skipper Matt Bell but this was marked by some comedy (? tragicomedy) fielding by 2 of Nomads' veterans. The bowling was too short but the batsmen, almost as if they were doing it on purpose, kept chipping the ball up into the inner leg-side. Our 2 seniors (yes, alright, I was one of them...NL) missed 2 chances each in a 6-over period. One each was eminently catchable but both old-timers were also confronted by hideous, swirling skyers, neither of which they managed to get a hand to. (Well, it was a bit gusty.) The unluckiest bowler was Javed who should have had 3 wickets. Eventually, Faseeh showed us the way to do it when he did well to catch both these batsmen, in successive balls from Sami, on the Deep Mid Wicket boundary with the score on an imposing 183 in the 28th over. A late flurry, led by Sadip, took the North London side just over the 200, having scored at over 6.5 an over.
An eclectic, alfresco tea was enjoyed despite the high winds which we can call Hurricane Andrew as Mr West was on hand to increase our eating rate and chase off stray dogs.
Nomads had lost several batsmen due to late withdrawals (Zia, Riaz and KK) so this target looked tall. Even more so when Matt Bell, bowling a tricky length up the hill, had Mahesh and Javed caught, and back in the pavilion, with the total on 21.
There followed a superlative stand between Darwin, producing his best batting of the season and absolutely leathering the ball, mainly between Extra Cover and Mid Off but also over Square Leg, and Hassan who started the game on ? 597 runs this year at an average of well over 70. Hassan batted really elegantly and did not give a chance until he was finally out for 71 later on. In the meantime, the stand was tragically broken after the pair had put on 96 for the 3rd wicket when Darwin was run out to a smart piece of work in the covers. 117 for 3 and a lot now appeared to rest on Hassan. Faseeh started well but fell to a caught and bowled from the tricky left-arm spinner Alex Bell. 141 for 4. Hassan finally fell 3 runs later and, at 144 for 5 with only 4 wickets left, we seemed up against it, particularly to scorer John Crossland who was becoming so apopleptic on the sidelines that a colleague had to point out to him the difficulty of obtaining emergency medical assistance on a Sunday.
Abbas and Sami batted nicely to add 29 before Abbas was well stumped by Preston. Sami was starting to knock it about really well but now had only Nick Lefebve, Emil Todorow and John Crossland for company with 30 still needed. Thanks to Hassan and Darwin we were well up with the rate with about 8 overs to go. Lefebve had not held a bat for 4 months and showed virtually zero technique but fortunately some guts in sealing one end while Sami played some cracking shots. The pair took us in sight of victory when a short one reared up, ? off the edge, and hit Sami in the face causing temporary retirement. Still 4 to win off about 14 balls as Emil Todorow walked out. The elderly pair of Lefebve and Todorow - opening batsmen in a previous lifetime but who now had to concentrate as much on wiping the drizzle off their spectacles as on batting - streaked a couple before Lefebve finally got hold of a leg-stump delivery and smacked it towards the boundary. Victory seemed sealed but then, simultaneously, the batsman skidded back on the slippery crease and upended a stump and Alex Bell soared to take a mid-air one-handed catch at Backward Square. Out, however you want to label it (I will settle for Hit Wicket so I can blame the pitch). With 2 still needed off 7 balls, Sami bravely returned with a swollen cheek but was bowled. This left Emil with 6 balls to face and 2 to win. Gents had run out of front-line bowling options and turned to the gentle pace but reasonable accuracy of Nelms. This was definitely an "Eric Situation" - see report for Nomads v Surbiton Imperials from April 2014. The ghost of Eric loomed very large as Emil failed to connect with the first 3 deliveries but finally received one "in the zone" (short and outside off stump). Our hero belted it past the despairing dive of Point, went through for an easy single, and then halted. With all Nomads, Andrew West, and especially non-striker John Crossland bellowing obscenities at him, the skipper revved up again and scampered home for the second to secure victory in a real squeaky bum thriller.
Not out best perfomance by any means, despite excellent perfomances from Hassan, Darwin and Sami, but a fine team effort with everyone contributing something. A team for whom winning has become a habit - our 9th of the season - we could not countenance defeat and dug deep for the win. All credit to Hampstead as well, a talented, pleasant and very interesting side. When you arrange a Conference Fixture you are looking for well-matched opponents - and a 1-wicket win shows the teams certainly were well-matched.
Gentlemen of Hampstead 202 for 6 from 30 overs
Brann b Abbas 25
Nelms c Mahesh b Emil 9
Preston (wkt) c Faseeh b Sami 84
Cleeve c John b Abbas 20
M. Bell (cpt) c Faseeh b Sami 33
Sadip not out 14
AJ b Sami 0
Welton not out 2
F.O.W. - 32, 41, 111, 183, 183, 183
Nomads' bowling;
Hassan 5-1-19-0
Emil 6-1-29-1
Abbas 6-0-48-2
Faseeh 6-0-30-0
Sami 4-0-39-3
Javed 3-0-32-0
Clapham Nomads 203 for 8 from 29.4 overs
Mahesh c ---------- b M.Bell 3
Darwin run out 53
Javed c ----------- b M. Bell 3
Hassan c ----------- b Cleeve 71
Faseeh c & b A. Bell 4
Sami b Cleeve 34
Abbas stumped Preston b Sadip 12
Nick hit wicket b Cleeve 1
Emil not out 3
John not out 0
F./O.W. - 7, 21, 117, 141, 144, 173, 201, 201
Gentlemen of Hampstead's bowling;
Welton 5-0-47-0
M. Bell 6-0-47-2
A. Bell 6-0-35-1
Sadip 6-0-47-1
Cleeve 6-3-16-3
Nelms 0.4-0-2-0
Clapham Nomads won by 1 wicket (10-a-side match)
Man of the Match - Hassan
Fielder of the Day - Faseeh.
There are several unusual links between the 2 clubs; a) both are named after areas with astronomical property prices and famous open spaces (Hampstead has its Heath - a hillier, larger, wilder version of Clapham's famous Common) which are, I am informed by people in the know, used for very particular "leisure pursuits" - I mean long, healthy walks of course. b) With a surprise appearance from Andrew West - still banned from playing or umpiring, but remaining a Nomads Legend who can still update the scoreboard and eat a large tea - we were justified in subtitling ourselves "the Gentlemen of Clapham." c) Both clubs have Eastern Bloc connections; Nomads' is well-known but the "Gents'" is perhaps more interesting as they went on tour to Moscow in 1988, during the last days of the USSR, and played matches against three embassy sides; UK, Australia and New Zealand. They played at Moscow's Olympic Stadium, and had to prepare the pitch themselves using a scythe. d) Finally, they were founded in 1960 by the late, great actor Sir John Hurt, star of Midnight Express, Champions and The Naked Civil Servant. The connection here - Nomads have been represented by several civil servants, but probably none you would wish to see naked.
Anyway, to cricket. In a 10-a-side contest The Gents won the toss and batted under threatening skies with rain forecast. Their openers Brann and Nelms started well, peppering the short boundaries. The pitch was basically good but with a touch of irregular bounce both high and low. The breakthrough came in the 8th over when Emil Todorow, who bowled a good steady spell, found a little extra bounce and had Nelms well-caught in the slips by Mahesh Vyas - 32 for 1. Abbas replaced Hassan and, with a touch of extra pace, caused Brann to play on off the inside edge. 41 for 2 . Not long after, Abbas found the edge of No. 3 Preston's bat but it dropped just short of keeper John Crossland. That would have put us in a good position but Preston took full advantage of the let-off and dealt harshly with the frequent short balls. With the left-handed Cleeve also playing well the Gents made remorseless progress, with
just one half-chance going down, to 111 when Abbas found Cleeve's edge and Crossland snaffled the chance.
Another profitable stand followed between Preston and skipper Matt Bell but this was marked by some comedy (? tragicomedy) fielding by 2 of Nomads' veterans. The bowling was too short but the batsmen, almost as if they were doing it on purpose, kept chipping the ball up into the inner leg-side. Our 2 seniors (yes, alright, I was one of them...NL) missed 2 chances each in a 6-over period. One each was eminently catchable but both old-timers were also confronted by hideous, swirling skyers, neither of which they managed to get a hand to. (Well, it was a bit gusty.) The unluckiest bowler was Javed who should have had 3 wickets. Eventually, Faseeh showed us the way to do it when he did well to catch both these batsmen, in successive balls from Sami, on the Deep Mid Wicket boundary with the score on an imposing 183 in the 28th over. A late flurry, led by Sadip, took the North London side just over the 200, having scored at over 6.5 an over.
An eclectic, alfresco tea was enjoyed despite the high winds which we can call Hurricane Andrew as Mr West was on hand to increase our eating rate and chase off stray dogs.
Nomads had lost several batsmen due to late withdrawals (Zia, Riaz and KK) so this target looked tall. Even more so when Matt Bell, bowling a tricky length up the hill, had Mahesh and Javed caught, and back in the pavilion, with the total on 21.
There followed a superlative stand between Darwin, producing his best batting of the season and absolutely leathering the ball, mainly between Extra Cover and Mid Off but also over Square Leg, and Hassan who started the game on ? 597 runs this year at an average of well over 70. Hassan batted really elegantly and did not give a chance until he was finally out for 71 later on. In the meantime, the stand was tragically broken after the pair had put on 96 for the 3rd wicket when Darwin was run out to a smart piece of work in the covers. 117 for 3 and a lot now appeared to rest on Hassan. Faseeh started well but fell to a caught and bowled from the tricky left-arm spinner Alex Bell. 141 for 4. Hassan finally fell 3 runs later and, at 144 for 5 with only 4 wickets left, we seemed up against it, particularly to scorer John Crossland who was becoming so apopleptic on the sidelines that a colleague had to point out to him the difficulty of obtaining emergency medical assistance on a Sunday.
Abbas and Sami batted nicely to add 29 before Abbas was well stumped by Preston. Sami was starting to knock it about really well but now had only Nick Lefebve, Emil Todorow and John Crossland for company with 30 still needed. Thanks to Hassan and Darwin we were well up with the rate with about 8 overs to go. Lefebve had not held a bat for 4 months and showed virtually zero technique but fortunately some guts in sealing one end while Sami played some cracking shots. The pair took us in sight of victory when a short one reared up, ? off the edge, and hit Sami in the face causing temporary retirement. Still 4 to win off about 14 balls as Emil Todorow walked out. The elderly pair of Lefebve and Todorow - opening batsmen in a previous lifetime but who now had to concentrate as much on wiping the drizzle off their spectacles as on batting - streaked a couple before Lefebve finally got hold of a leg-stump delivery and smacked it towards the boundary. Victory seemed sealed but then, simultaneously, the batsman skidded back on the slippery crease and upended a stump and Alex Bell soared to take a mid-air one-handed catch at Backward Square. Out, however you want to label it (I will settle for Hit Wicket so I can blame the pitch). With 2 still needed off 7 balls, Sami bravely returned with a swollen cheek but was bowled. This left Emil with 6 balls to face and 2 to win. Gents had run out of front-line bowling options and turned to the gentle pace but reasonable accuracy of Nelms. This was definitely an "Eric Situation" - see report for Nomads v Surbiton Imperials from April 2014. The ghost of Eric loomed very large as Emil failed to connect with the first 3 deliveries but finally received one "in the zone" (short and outside off stump). Our hero belted it past the despairing dive of Point, went through for an easy single, and then halted. With all Nomads, Andrew West, and especially non-striker John Crossland bellowing obscenities at him, the skipper revved up again and scampered home for the second to secure victory in a real squeaky bum thriller.
Not out best perfomance by any means, despite excellent perfomances from Hassan, Darwin and Sami, but a fine team effort with everyone contributing something. A team for whom winning has become a habit - our 9th of the season - we could not countenance defeat and dug deep for the win. All credit to Hampstead as well, a talented, pleasant and very interesting side. When you arrange a Conference Fixture you are looking for well-matched opponents - and a 1-wicket win shows the teams certainly were well-matched.
Gentlemen of Hampstead 202 for 6 from 30 overs
Brann b Abbas 25
Nelms c Mahesh b Emil 9
Preston (wkt) c Faseeh b Sami 84
Cleeve c John b Abbas 20
M. Bell (cpt) c Faseeh b Sami 33
Sadip not out 14
AJ b Sami 0
Welton not out 2
F.O.W. - 32, 41, 111, 183, 183, 183
Nomads' bowling;
Hassan 5-1-19-0
Emil 6-1-29-1
Abbas 6-0-48-2
Faseeh 6-0-30-0
Sami 4-0-39-3
Javed 3-0-32-0
Clapham Nomads 203 for 8 from 29.4 overs
Mahesh c ---------- b M.Bell 3
Darwin run out 53
Javed c ----------- b M. Bell 3
Hassan c ----------- b Cleeve 71
Faseeh c & b A. Bell 4
Sami b Cleeve 34
Abbas stumped Preston b Sadip 12
Nick hit wicket b Cleeve 1
Emil not out 3
John not out 0
F./O.W. - 7, 21, 117, 141, 144, 173, 201, 201
Gentlemen of Hampstead's bowling;
Welton 5-0-47-0
M. Bell 6-0-47-2
A. Bell 6-0-35-1
Sadip 6-0-47-1
Cleeve 6-3-16-3
Nelms 0.4-0-2-0
Clapham Nomads won by 1 wicket (10-a-side match)
Man of the Match - Hassan
Fielder of the Day - Faseeh.
Thursday 7 September 2017
Recent reports plus tributes to Hassan and Emil
I have finally finished the reports of recent matches, so if you need some really boring reading to help you drop off to sleep at night, here they are.
Also, I am soon going to do the long overdue tributes to Hassan for reaching 5,000 runs for the club (this is so overdue that he is now up to about 5,500) and to Emil for achieving 250 successive appearances for the club (I think he is now on 258.)
In the report of the match against Wimbledon United (6/8/17) I said that Hassan had made his second century of the season. Sorry, it was - of course - his third. I will list all his centuries for the club in the tribute.
Nick
Also, I am soon going to do the long overdue tributes to Hassan for reaching 5,000 runs for the club (this is so overdue that he is now up to about 5,500) and to Emil for achieving 250 successive appearances for the club (I think he is now on 258.)
In the report of the match against Wimbledon United (6/8/17) I said that Hassan had made his second century of the season. Sorry, it was - of course - his third. I will list all his centuries for the club in the tribute.
Nick
Southall Dragons v Clapham Nomads - 3/9/17
After our scheduled game against Surbiton Imperials was called off, we were pleased to secure an away fixture at the Perivale home of the Southall Dragons.
Both John Crossland and I remembered playing at this venue - the Ealing Central Sports Ground - for Open University sometime in the early 1990s and it was an ideal venue at which to represent the OU as the roar of traffic from the neighbouring A40 drowned out the constructive criticism dealt out by skipper Dave Hunter and other team-mates such as Micky and Benny.
Anyway, enough nostalgia. Nomads took a 12-man squad up there and looked strong in batting. The Dragons are a talented and friendly side with some excellent players.
Nomads batted but came up against a fine opening bowler in Jasmeet who had 2 main deliveries; the bullet speared in from a wide angle towards leg stump and the crafty slower ball that moves away off the pitch. Both Mahesh and No. 4 Javed were undone by the first of these while Darwin unfortunately holed out into the covers off the other opener Raj. Nomads were in deep trouble at 15 for 3. Enter 2 men who have been absolute stars this season; Hassan and Zia. They steered Nomads sensibly up to 45 before the splendidly named Guv had Zia caught. Riaz was No. 6 and he is a man who, if he survives his first 2 or 3 overs, can cause havoc. We needed this to be one of those days. He certainly obliged with a massively entertaining 49 including an enormous straight 6 right out of the ground. I was waiting anxiously for the tinkle of glass and screech of brakes from the A40 when the ball sailed over the trees, but I think the ball might actually have got closer to the A4. (2 miles away).
When Jasmeet returned for his second spell (his last 2 overs), I felt that, if Hassan and Riaz survived it, we would have a decent chance. Unfortunately, Hassan got hold of a rare half-volley but it went hard and low in the air straight to Cover. 89 for 5.
Riaz kept up the entertainment but Faseeh and Abbas didn't last too long. Luckily he found a partner in No. 9 Sami who played a series of sensible groundshots for 24. Dragons' usual opening bowler "Da Man" arrived late but accounted for both Riaz - 1 short of a fifty - and Sami in the same over. On the final ball of the over he bowled Emil off the inside edge leaving No. 11 John Crossland frustrated on 0 not out without facing a ball. Emil was hard on himself over this dismissal and even made whispers about retirement at some point - probably 20 years time, but there is no disgrace in being done first ball by an opening bowler with a straight one, especially as this is not the best "seeing" ground with its trees on the boundary and no sightscreen.
Nomads finished on 144 all out and had failed to use 3 of the 30 overs. Could this be crucial?
There was a quick turn-around as tea wasn't ready yet and, for possibly the only time in the match, Nomads got their noses in front when a fine bit of bowling from Zia accounted for No. 2 with the score on 12. This was, however, followed by a remorseless stand, full of good batting, between Robbie and Yas. Tea was taken on about 60 for 1 but this failed to disrupt their concentration and, as the score passed 100, a 9-wicket defeat looked possible. 3 quick wickets from Hassan, including an excellent catch on the boundary from Zia to dismiss Robbie for 64, made it respectable and then a further 2 men fell. With Dragons on 128 for 6 and the left-handed No. 8 not looking immediately assured, there appeared to be just a sniff. The West London side had good depth to their batting though and they steered the hosts home with the loss of just one further wicket, despite tight and pacy bowling from Faseeh near the end.
It was an enjoyable game and the defeat was not a disgrace. On the day, Dragons had the best bowler and the best batsman and this proved crucial.
Clapham Nomads 144 all out from 27 overs.
Mahesh 6
Darwin 0
Hassan 22
Javed 0
Zia 15
Riaz 49
Faseeh 0
Abbas 4
Sami 24
Emil (capt) 0
John (wkt) not out 0
F.O.W. - 7, 7, 15, 45, 89, 91, 96, 140, 144, 144
Southall Dragons 145 for 7 from 26.2 overs.
Nomads' bowling
Sami 5-0-30-1
Zia 6-0-27-1
Abbas 4.2-0-27-0
Hassan 6-0-31-3
Faseeh 5-0-18-2
Nomads lost by 3 wickets.
Man of the Match. Hassan came very close with a useful 22 and 3 wickets which dragged us back into the game. However, in a low-scoring game, Riaz provided some vital and very entertaining batting and gets the nod.
Fielder of the Day - The most consistent ground-fielder was possibly Faseeh, but Zia's excellent catch to remove the top scorer wins him the vote.
Nomads have now played 13, won 8, drawn 1 and lost 4. Our best season was 2001 when we won 10 and lost 4, so we have a chance of of equalling this if we win our last 2 games. Next up are new opponents - The Gentlemen of Hampstead - at home on Sunday 10th.
Both John Crossland and I remembered playing at this venue - the Ealing Central Sports Ground - for Open University sometime in the early 1990s and it was an ideal venue at which to represent the OU as the roar of traffic from the neighbouring A40 drowned out the constructive criticism dealt out by skipper Dave Hunter and other team-mates such as Micky and Benny.
Anyway, enough nostalgia. Nomads took a 12-man squad up there and looked strong in batting. The Dragons are a talented and friendly side with some excellent players.
Nomads batted but came up against a fine opening bowler in Jasmeet who had 2 main deliveries; the bullet speared in from a wide angle towards leg stump and the crafty slower ball that moves away off the pitch. Both Mahesh and No. 4 Javed were undone by the first of these while Darwin unfortunately holed out into the covers off the other opener Raj. Nomads were in deep trouble at 15 for 3. Enter 2 men who have been absolute stars this season; Hassan and Zia. They steered Nomads sensibly up to 45 before the splendidly named Guv had Zia caught. Riaz was No. 6 and he is a man who, if he survives his first 2 or 3 overs, can cause havoc. We needed this to be one of those days. He certainly obliged with a massively entertaining 49 including an enormous straight 6 right out of the ground. I was waiting anxiously for the tinkle of glass and screech of brakes from the A40 when the ball sailed over the trees, but I think the ball might actually have got closer to the A4. (2 miles away).
When Jasmeet returned for his second spell (his last 2 overs), I felt that, if Hassan and Riaz survived it, we would have a decent chance. Unfortunately, Hassan got hold of a rare half-volley but it went hard and low in the air straight to Cover. 89 for 5.
Riaz kept up the entertainment but Faseeh and Abbas didn't last too long. Luckily he found a partner in No. 9 Sami who played a series of sensible groundshots for 24. Dragons' usual opening bowler "Da Man" arrived late but accounted for both Riaz - 1 short of a fifty - and Sami in the same over. On the final ball of the over he bowled Emil off the inside edge leaving No. 11 John Crossland frustrated on 0 not out without facing a ball. Emil was hard on himself over this dismissal and even made whispers about retirement at some point - probably 20 years time, but there is no disgrace in being done first ball by an opening bowler with a straight one, especially as this is not the best "seeing" ground with its trees on the boundary and no sightscreen.
Nomads finished on 144 all out and had failed to use 3 of the 30 overs. Could this be crucial?
There was a quick turn-around as tea wasn't ready yet and, for possibly the only time in the match, Nomads got their noses in front when a fine bit of bowling from Zia accounted for No. 2 with the score on 12. This was, however, followed by a remorseless stand, full of good batting, between Robbie and Yas. Tea was taken on about 60 for 1 but this failed to disrupt their concentration and, as the score passed 100, a 9-wicket defeat looked possible. 3 quick wickets from Hassan, including an excellent catch on the boundary from Zia to dismiss Robbie for 64, made it respectable and then a further 2 men fell. With Dragons on 128 for 6 and the left-handed No. 8 not looking immediately assured, there appeared to be just a sniff. The West London side had good depth to their batting though and they steered the hosts home with the loss of just one further wicket, despite tight and pacy bowling from Faseeh near the end.
It was an enjoyable game and the defeat was not a disgrace. On the day, Dragons had the best bowler and the best batsman and this proved crucial.
Clapham Nomads 144 all out from 27 overs.
Mahesh 6
Darwin 0
Hassan 22
Javed 0
Zia 15
Riaz 49
Faseeh 0
Abbas 4
Sami 24
Emil (capt) 0
John (wkt) not out 0
F.O.W. - 7, 7, 15, 45, 89, 91, 96, 140, 144, 144
Southall Dragons 145 for 7 from 26.2 overs.
Nomads' bowling
Sami 5-0-30-1
Zia 6-0-27-1
Abbas 4.2-0-27-0
Hassan 6-0-31-3
Faseeh 5-0-18-2
Nomads lost by 3 wickets.
Man of the Match. Hassan came very close with a useful 22 and 3 wickets which dragged us back into the game. However, in a low-scoring game, Riaz provided some vital and very entertaining batting and gets the nod.
Fielder of the Day - The most consistent ground-fielder was possibly Faseeh, but Zia's excellent catch to remove the top scorer wins him the vote.
Nomads have now played 13, won 8, drawn 1 and lost 4. Our best season was 2001 when we won 10 and lost 4, so we have a chance of of equalling this if we win our last 2 games. Next up are new opponents - The Gentlemen of Hampstead - at home on Sunday 10th.
Monday 21 August 2017
Clapham Nomads v Energy Exiles - 20/8/17
Nomads beat Energy Exiles by 7 wickets at Abbey Rec. Exiles were depleted but, thanks to Hassan for finding them some extra players - including former Nomads 20-20 hero Bilal - they were able to put a side out.
Energy Exiles 117 all out from 32.2 overs
Nomads' bowling
Sami 6.2-2-17-3
Emil 7-0-21-0
Abbas 7-1-30-4
Zia 7-1-16-2
KK 5-0-28-0
Clapham Nomads 120 for 3 from 25.3 overs
Mahesh 7
Darwin 16
Javed 25
Hassan 37 not out
Riaz 19 not out
Did not bat; Zia, KK, Abbas, Sami, Emil (capt), John (Wkt)
F.O.W. - 27, 35, 87
More on this and other recent games to follow soon.
THERE IS NO MATCH NEXT SUNDAY 27th AUGUST AS IT IS BANK HOLIDAY WEEKEND WHICH IS ALWAYS A PROBLEM, (We have had many games cancelled on this date)
UPDATE ON EXILES' MATCH;
This game against our fiercest rivals but closest cricketing friends the Energy Exiles looked in doubt the evening before the match as Exiles were down to 6 or 7 players but Emil and Hassan got together to save the day with Hassan finding 3 or 4 extra players to bolster the away side. I'm glad he did as this is always a fixture to savour, particularly as Nomads managed to record our first victory over Energy for 3 years. At that time, 2014, Exiles were riding high but Hassan played probably the finest innings ever seen from a Nomads player to secure victory. This season, Exiles have been struggling a little for players but they are still very hard to beat.
Energy won the toss and elected to bat on a strip at Abbey Rec, which used to be Merton's best batting venue but must now tip its hat to Cottenham Park in this respect. This track was rather worn and tired. Exiles found it hard going against some excellent pace and seam bowling from Sami, Abbas and Zia - backed up by the trickery and guile of Emil and KK. The Away side had a fine half-century from skipper Chris Plume to thank (along with sensible support from Andy Wingfield) for achieving some kind of respectability on 117 all out. This is a total that has won several Exiles/Nomads games and come close to winning others so we could not be complacent, given our historical tendency to freeze against these opponents.
An unfortunate early-ish run out saw off Mahesh and then, when Darwin fell on 35 for 2, we had reached a point when less ruthless Nomads line-ups from the past might have thrown it away. We have added a streak of steel to our batting this year though. A useful 25 from Javed was followed by a very controlled 37 not out from Hassan; unusually for him, there was not a single boundary in this knock, but it was a vital innings. Riaz then helped to shove us over the line with 4 boundaries in a cameo 19.
A very satisfying win for Nomads.
Man of the Match - Abbas's spell of 4 for 30 was high-class fast bowling but winning is all-important against the Exiles and the sheer professionalism of Hassan's innings made him Man of the Match.
Fielder of the Day - I missed this game due to work and no-one particularly mentioned the fielding afterwards; but Zia took 2 catches so that is good enough for me.
Nomads won by 7 wickets.
Energy Exiles 117 all out from 32.2 overs
Nomads' bowling
Sami 6.2-2-17-3
Emil 7-0-21-0
Abbas 7-1-30-4
Zia 7-1-16-2
KK 5-0-28-0
Clapham Nomads 120 for 3 from 25.3 overs
Mahesh 7
Darwin 16
Javed 25
Hassan 37 not out
Riaz 19 not out
Did not bat; Zia, KK, Abbas, Sami, Emil (capt), John (Wkt)
F.O.W. - 27, 35, 87
More on this and other recent games to follow soon.
THERE IS NO MATCH NEXT SUNDAY 27th AUGUST AS IT IS BANK HOLIDAY WEEKEND WHICH IS ALWAYS A PROBLEM, (We have had many games cancelled on this date)
UPDATE ON EXILES' MATCH;
This game against our fiercest rivals but closest cricketing friends the Energy Exiles looked in doubt the evening before the match as Exiles were down to 6 or 7 players but Emil and Hassan got together to save the day with Hassan finding 3 or 4 extra players to bolster the away side. I'm glad he did as this is always a fixture to savour, particularly as Nomads managed to record our first victory over Energy for 3 years. At that time, 2014, Exiles were riding high but Hassan played probably the finest innings ever seen from a Nomads player to secure victory. This season, Exiles have been struggling a little for players but they are still very hard to beat.
Energy won the toss and elected to bat on a strip at Abbey Rec, which used to be Merton's best batting venue but must now tip its hat to Cottenham Park in this respect. This track was rather worn and tired. Exiles found it hard going against some excellent pace and seam bowling from Sami, Abbas and Zia - backed up by the trickery and guile of Emil and KK. The Away side had a fine half-century from skipper Chris Plume to thank (along with sensible support from Andy Wingfield) for achieving some kind of respectability on 117 all out. This is a total that has won several Exiles/Nomads games and come close to winning others so we could not be complacent, given our historical tendency to freeze against these opponents.
An unfortunate early-ish run out saw off Mahesh and then, when Darwin fell on 35 for 2, we had reached a point when less ruthless Nomads line-ups from the past might have thrown it away. We have added a streak of steel to our batting this year though. A useful 25 from Javed was followed by a very controlled 37 not out from Hassan; unusually for him, there was not a single boundary in this knock, but it was a vital innings. Riaz then helped to shove us over the line with 4 boundaries in a cameo 19.
A very satisfying win for Nomads.
Man of the Match - Abbas's spell of 4 for 30 was high-class fast bowling but winning is all-important against the Exiles and the sheer professionalism of Hassan's innings made him Man of the Match.
Fielder of the Day - I missed this game due to work and no-one particularly mentioned the fielding afterwards; but Zia took 2 catches so that is good enough for me.
Nomads won by 7 wickets.
Thursday 17 August 2017
Banstead v Clapham Nomads - 13/8/17
Banstead 196 for 9 declared from 39.5 overs
Nomads' bowling;
Sami 7-1-11-0
Emil 7-0-31-1
Abbas 7-0-43-1
Zia 7-0-44-0
KK 5-0-22-4
Hassan 4-0-35-1
Riaz 1-0-1-1
Clapham Nomads 200 for 6 from 36.2 overs
Mahesh 2
Darwin 25
Javed 0
Hassan 54
Riaz 10
Zia not out 88
KK 1
Abbas not out 2
Did not bat; Sami, Emil (capt), John (Wkt)
F.O.W. - 34, 38, 53, 73, 151, 187
Clapham Nomads won by 4 wickets
Man of the Match - Zia
Fielder of the Day - John.
REPORT TO FOLLOW
REPORT;
Nomads had a home pitch and opponents - Burgh Heath - lined up but the Surrey side were unable to get a team out - they did seem to be in transition when we played them in April.
I thought we were going to miss out as masses of home teams were circling like hungry vultures around the handful of sides who were looking for an Away game. In the end, I had to settle for an Away game but the pain of missing out on a few quid was alleviated by the knowledge that we would be playing on one of the most picturesque grounds in Surrey. Not that I would be able to attend; it's work work work work work work at the moment but at least Nomads always seem to win when I don't turn up.
We last played at Banstead in 2002 and held on for a losing draw. I think it was Abdul's debut. Nomads are much stronger this season though, and Banstead had assured me they were Weak-Medium, so we looked set for a decent game.
As ever with this type of opponent, the pitch was excellent and the Home side had its share of well-coached youngsters who are very hard to shift on a good track. Banstead did bat well but Nomads kept their shape with the ball and in the field. Sami, although he didn't get a wicket, had absolutely excellent figures, going for only 11 off his 7 overs. This is some achievement on such a good wicket - equivalent to bowling a couple of maidens in a T-20. It was KK, slightly unorthodox and with a little more variety than some of the other bowlers, who really found the key and he took 4 for 22. The fielding looks in the book as if it was a great effort with 5 catches taken and a run out. Banstead declared on 196 for 9.
Clapham were up against a high class opening bowler in Kugathas and, this being a time game, he got through 13 overs taking 4 for 43 with 6 maidens. In many seasons, that would have been crucial, but this is one of the best batting line-ups Nomads have been able to boast and we chased down a famous victory. A cracking start from Darwin with a rapid 25 had us 34 for 0. A mini-collapse dragged us down to 73 for 4 but this brought together the Dream Team of Hassan and Zia and this pair have been mostly unstoppable this season. Hassan fell just after reaching a vital half-century to make the score 151 for 5. Zia then took over and put on 36 for the 6th wicket with KK. (KK only scored 1 of these but played a useful supporting role.)
Zia just got better and better and raced from 60 to victory with three sixes and a couple of fours with Abbas keeping the other end intact. Zia was 88 when we ran out of target but he would surely have made his first Nomads century had Banstead scored 20 or so more.
An excellent and enjoyable day out and a good warm-up for the important business - The Exiles next week.
Nomads won by 4 wickets
Nomads' bowling;
Sami 7-1-11-0
Emil 7-0-31-1
Abbas 7-0-43-1
Zia 7-0-44-0
KK 5-0-22-4
Hassan 4-0-35-1
Riaz 1-0-1-1
Clapham Nomads 200 for 6 from 36.2 overs
Mahesh 2
Darwin 25
Javed 0
Hassan 54
Riaz 10
Zia not out 88
KK 1
Abbas not out 2
Did not bat; Sami, Emil (capt), John (Wkt)
F.O.W. - 34, 38, 53, 73, 151, 187
Clapham Nomads won by 4 wickets
Man of the Match - Zia
Fielder of the Day - John.
REPORT TO FOLLOW
REPORT;
Nomads had a home pitch and opponents - Burgh Heath - lined up but the Surrey side were unable to get a team out - they did seem to be in transition when we played them in April.
I thought we were going to miss out as masses of home teams were circling like hungry vultures around the handful of sides who were looking for an Away game. In the end, I had to settle for an Away game but the pain of missing out on a few quid was alleviated by the knowledge that we would be playing on one of the most picturesque grounds in Surrey. Not that I would be able to attend; it's work work work work work work at the moment but at least Nomads always seem to win when I don't turn up.
We last played at Banstead in 2002 and held on for a losing draw. I think it was Abdul's debut. Nomads are much stronger this season though, and Banstead had assured me they were Weak-Medium, so we looked set for a decent game.
As ever with this type of opponent, the pitch was excellent and the Home side had its share of well-coached youngsters who are very hard to shift on a good track. Banstead did bat well but Nomads kept their shape with the ball and in the field. Sami, although he didn't get a wicket, had absolutely excellent figures, going for only 11 off his 7 overs. This is some achievement on such a good wicket - equivalent to bowling a couple of maidens in a T-20. It was KK, slightly unorthodox and with a little more variety than some of the other bowlers, who really found the key and he took 4 for 22. The fielding looks in the book as if it was a great effort with 5 catches taken and a run out. Banstead declared on 196 for 9.
Clapham were up against a high class opening bowler in Kugathas and, this being a time game, he got through 13 overs taking 4 for 43 with 6 maidens. In many seasons, that would have been crucial, but this is one of the best batting line-ups Nomads have been able to boast and we chased down a famous victory. A cracking start from Darwin with a rapid 25 had us 34 for 0. A mini-collapse dragged us down to 73 for 4 but this brought together the Dream Team of Hassan and Zia and this pair have been mostly unstoppable this season. Hassan fell just after reaching a vital half-century to make the score 151 for 5. Zia then took over and put on 36 for the 6th wicket with KK. (KK only scored 1 of these but played a useful supporting role.)
Zia just got better and better and raced from 60 to victory with three sixes and a couple of fours with Abbas keeping the other end intact. Zia was 88 when we ran out of target but he would surely have made his first Nomads century had Banstead scored 20 or so more.
An excellent and enjoyable day out and a good warm-up for the important business - The Exiles next week.
Nomads won by 4 wickets
Wednesday 9 August 2017
Wimbledon United v Clapham Nomads - 6/8/17
A brilliant 102 from Hassan Khan led Nomads to a 100-run victory over Wimbledon United at Cottenham Park. What more can you say about the man? He is a genius. He is now getting close to 5,500 runs for the club. This was his third century of the season and his 8th or 9th - or possibly even 10th - for Nomads.
Nomads batted first by agreement to enable United to set up a post-match barbecue to mark their captain Dave Hitchman's last game for the club this season - I originally thought this was his last-ever game as he is going to work in Greece (he would surely have qualified for the Greek National Side within a few years and maybe played in the final of the 20-20 Balkan Cup against a Bulgarian line-up managed by Emil Todorow); however, it turns out he will be back next year which is good as he is a nice guy, even if he tends to score massive amounts of runs against us.
Anyway, it was good to see Abdul back for the Nomads and he opened the batting with the ever-consistent Mahesh Vyas.. An early-ish wicket brought Javed to the crease. He won this match for us last year and showed similar form here with a very entertaining 40. The team score was only 69 when he was out so it was a dominant knock. Hassan then took over with a masterful, controlled innings, with best support coming from Darwin(28) and KK(27). Nomads rattled up 258 for 8 off the full 40 which is the largest total by either side in a match between these 2 sides.
Our chances of victory (? 90%) went up to about 99% when Dave Hitchman fell to Sami second ball - a rare failure against the Nomads. Sami maintained his form for a fine spell of 2 for 15 off 5 overs. United do bat pretty much all the way down and their number 6 hit a rapid 90-odd but a very impressive and hostile spell of pace bowling from Abbas kept is in the box-seat and 3 wickets in 11 balls from Javed at the end wrapped up a satisfying victory - our 5th in 11 games (6 defeats) against these opponents.
Clapham Nomads 258 for 8 from 40 overs
Mahesh 24
Abdul 5
Javed 40
Hassan 102
Darwin 28
Zia 3
KK 27
Abbas not out 5
Emil 0
Sami not out 3
Did not bat; John
F.O.W. - 17, 69, 81, 159, 183, 231, 255, 256
Wimbledon United 158 all out from 31.5 overs
Nomads' bowling
Sami 5-0-15-2
Zia 8-0-48-0
Abbas 8-0-25-4
Hassan 3-0-25-0
KK 6-0-33-1
Javed 1.5-0-6-3
Clapham Nomads won by 100 runs
Man of the Match - Hassan
Fielder of the Day - Zia
Nomads batted first by agreement to enable United to set up a post-match barbecue to mark their captain Dave Hitchman's last game for the club this season - I originally thought this was his last-ever game as he is going to work in Greece (he would surely have qualified for the Greek National Side within a few years and maybe played in the final of the 20-20 Balkan Cup against a Bulgarian line-up managed by Emil Todorow); however, it turns out he will be back next year which is good as he is a nice guy, even if he tends to score massive amounts of runs against us.
Anyway, it was good to see Abdul back for the Nomads and he opened the batting with the ever-consistent Mahesh Vyas.. An early-ish wicket brought Javed to the crease. He won this match for us last year and showed similar form here with a very entertaining 40. The team score was only 69 when he was out so it was a dominant knock. Hassan then took over with a masterful, controlled innings, with best support coming from Darwin(28) and KK(27). Nomads rattled up 258 for 8 off the full 40 which is the largest total by either side in a match between these 2 sides.
Our chances of victory (? 90%) went up to about 99% when Dave Hitchman fell to Sami second ball - a rare failure against the Nomads. Sami maintained his form for a fine spell of 2 for 15 off 5 overs. United do bat pretty much all the way down and their number 6 hit a rapid 90-odd but a very impressive and hostile spell of pace bowling from Abbas kept is in the box-seat and 3 wickets in 11 balls from Javed at the end wrapped up a satisfying victory - our 5th in 11 games (6 defeats) against these opponents.
Clapham Nomads 258 for 8 from 40 overs
Mahesh 24
Abdul 5
Javed 40
Hassan 102
Darwin 28
Zia 3
KK 27
Abbas not out 5
Emil 0
Sami not out 3
Did not bat; John
F.O.W. - 17, 69, 81, 159, 183, 231, 255, 256
Wimbledon United 158 all out from 31.5 overs
Nomads' bowling
Sami 5-0-15-2
Zia 8-0-48-0
Abbas 8-0-25-4
Hassan 3-0-25-0
KK 6-0-33-1
Javed 1.5-0-6-3
Clapham Nomads won by 100 runs
Man of the Match - Hassan
Fielder of the Day - Zia
Sunday 30 July 2017
Palm Tree v Clapham Nomads - 30/7/17
Nomads' "tour" match at Highgate Woods against Palm Tree was called off after torrential rain across the capital last night. This is a good fixture on a lovely ground but it could have been a bit problematic getting there due to roads being closed for the London Cycle Race. Also, showers were forecast so it was a good call. Hope to play Palm Tree again next year.
Monday 24 July 2017
Northfields v Clapham Nomads - 23/7/17
Nomads won an incredible game by 1 run - our narrowest-ever winning margin, I think - away at Northfields' ground in London W5 yesterday in a 30-overs a side contest.
Actually, the most miraculous thing about this match was that it was played at all. I had to put up a guarantee of a fairly decent sum of money in case there was damage caused by Nomads' players to the properties bordering the ground (presumably from big shots, but - who knows - maybe from other causes as well.) I hasten to add that Nomads have never damaged any property***, despite our many big hitters, but apparently some of Northfields' other opponents have. I would have cancelled the game if it was not for the dread of having to organise another match while working night shift. Then, yesterday morning, I started receiving dire warnings of torrential rain, hail, frogs, tsunamis etc in West London (from the BBC and from the opposition) and some Nomads wanted the game cancelled - I'm very glad that I did not do so. Finally, Emil did brilliantly to take a 13-man squad to Ealing - which most Nomads assume is quite near Cardiff.
Anyway, enough self-indulgent waffle. Nomads batted (? we were inserted) on a very green track with variable bounce and were soon 10 for 3. A half-century stand between Riaz and Hassan ( of which, amazingly, Hassan only scored 4 but played a fine support role) followed. The main act was Riaz who played possibly his finest innings for the club with a devastating 52, including 22 off the last 10 balls from Kent, Northfields' best bowler, who had been unplayable until that point.
Once these two departed, the innings tailed off a bit but some fine hitting from Abbas (16) took us over the 100 at least.
After just a few spots of rain the skies brightened after tea but Nomads looked clear second favourites, especially when the 1st over of the home side's reply (from Abbas) went for 13. Emil claims he then "said something" to Abbas and, whatever it was, it should be patented as Abbas did not concede a single scoring shot in his remaining 5 overs. Sami also bowled very well, going for only 10 off his 6 overs but the best bowling was from Zia who ended with the remarkable figures of 4 for 6 off 6 overs. This was absolutely top-class pace bowling; John said it was the best collective bowling he had seen from a Nomads attack.
The low target, plus some byes conceded by stand-in keeper Mahesh, who otherwise had a good day behind the stumps, meant that the West London outfit were not totally out of the hunt at any stage. Faseeh, Hassan, Javed and KK bowled respectably and only 80 runs were scored in the 28 overs between the end of the first and the start of the last. Northfields needed 12 to win (with 1 or 2 wickets remaining) from the final over, bowled by KK. 6 were needed from the last 3 and then, I'm told by Emil and John, the ball went through to keeper Mahesh who did not take it cleanly but removed the bails in a reflex "stumping action." An umpire decided that this constituted a No Ball and initially wanted to give 2 runs for the no ball (I don't think that has been done on Sunday cricket for 15 years). The official backed down on the 2 issue but insisted that it was a no ball due to Mahesh removing the bails. I wasn't there but it all sounds quite random (rather like stating that a bowler wearing green socks means 4 is given to the batting side) but I'll probably check the rules - sorry, laws - and end up with egg on my face as usual. Anyway, 1 was given for the no ball, the batsmen also ran 1 off this ball and, with the extra delivery, 4 were needed off 3. Thankfully, our fielders, who had been a tad "puzzled" by the decision soon had something to celebrate as only 2 further singles were scored with a run out off the final ball. Nomads had won by the minimum margin. Amazing scenes.
Man of the Match - You would not often take 4 for 6 off 6 overs and not be man of the match but Zia is unlucky to miss out to an incredible display of hitting by Riaz (he even managed to avoid smashing any windows.) His 52 is put into context by the next highest score on either side being 16.
I will do Fielder of the Day and update the scores and report when I get the scorebook back.
Nomads won by 1 run.
*** The oak tree on Wandsworth Common?
Clapham Nomads 104 all out from 21.5 overs
Mahesh 6
Darwin 1
Javed 0
Hassan 4
Riaz 52
Zia 9
Faseeh 4
KK 3
Abbas 16
Sami 4
Emil not out 0
F.O.W. - 7, 7, 10, 62, 67, 71, 83, 83, 100, 104
Northfields 103 for 9 from 30 overs
Nomads' bowling;
Abbas 6-4-10-1
Sami 6-2-10-0
Zia 6-2-6-4
Hassan 1-0-4-0
Faseeh 5-0-23-1
Javed 3-0-14-0
KK 3-0-16-1
Man of the Match - Riaz
Fielder of the Day - ??
Actually, the most miraculous thing about this match was that it was played at all. I had to put up a guarantee of a fairly decent sum of money in case there was damage caused by Nomads' players to the properties bordering the ground (presumably from big shots, but - who knows - maybe from other causes as well.) I hasten to add that Nomads have never damaged any property***, despite our many big hitters, but apparently some of Northfields' other opponents have. I would have cancelled the game if it was not for the dread of having to organise another match while working night shift. Then, yesterday morning, I started receiving dire warnings of torrential rain, hail, frogs, tsunamis etc in West London (from the BBC and from the opposition) and some Nomads wanted the game cancelled - I'm very glad that I did not do so. Finally, Emil did brilliantly to take a 13-man squad to Ealing - which most Nomads assume is quite near Cardiff.
Anyway, enough self-indulgent waffle. Nomads batted (? we were inserted) on a very green track with variable bounce and were soon 10 for 3. A half-century stand between Riaz and Hassan ( of which, amazingly, Hassan only scored 4 but played a fine support role) followed. The main act was Riaz who played possibly his finest innings for the club with a devastating 52, including 22 off the last 10 balls from Kent, Northfields' best bowler, who had been unplayable until that point.
Once these two departed, the innings tailed off a bit but some fine hitting from Abbas (16) took us over the 100 at least.
After just a few spots of rain the skies brightened after tea but Nomads looked clear second favourites, especially when the 1st over of the home side's reply (from Abbas) went for 13. Emil claims he then "said something" to Abbas and, whatever it was, it should be patented as Abbas did not concede a single scoring shot in his remaining 5 overs. Sami also bowled very well, going for only 10 off his 6 overs but the best bowling was from Zia who ended with the remarkable figures of 4 for 6 off 6 overs. This was absolutely top-class pace bowling; John said it was the best collective bowling he had seen from a Nomads attack.
The low target, plus some byes conceded by stand-in keeper Mahesh, who otherwise had a good day behind the stumps, meant that the West London outfit were not totally out of the hunt at any stage. Faseeh, Hassan, Javed and KK bowled respectably and only 80 runs were scored in the 28 overs between the end of the first and the start of the last. Northfields needed 12 to win (with 1 or 2 wickets remaining) from the final over, bowled by KK. 6 were needed from the last 3 and then, I'm told by Emil and John, the ball went through to keeper Mahesh who did not take it cleanly but removed the bails in a reflex "stumping action." An umpire decided that this constituted a No Ball and initially wanted to give 2 runs for the no ball (I don't think that has been done on Sunday cricket for 15 years). The official backed down on the 2 issue but insisted that it was a no ball due to Mahesh removing the bails. I wasn't there but it all sounds quite random (rather like stating that a bowler wearing green socks means 4 is given to the batting side) but I'll probably check the rules - sorry, laws - and end up with egg on my face as usual. Anyway, 1 was given for the no ball, the batsmen also ran 1 off this ball and, with the extra delivery, 4 were needed off 3. Thankfully, our fielders, who had been a tad "puzzled" by the decision soon had something to celebrate as only 2 further singles were scored with a run out off the final ball. Nomads had won by the minimum margin. Amazing scenes.
Man of the Match - You would not often take 4 for 6 off 6 overs and not be man of the match but Zia is unlucky to miss out to an incredible display of hitting by Riaz (he even managed to avoid smashing any windows.) His 52 is put into context by the next highest score on either side being 16.
I will do Fielder of the Day and update the scores and report when I get the scorebook back.
Nomads won by 1 run.
*** The oak tree on Wandsworth Common?
Clapham Nomads 104 all out from 21.5 overs
Mahesh 6
Darwin 1
Javed 0
Hassan 4
Riaz 52
Zia 9
Faseeh 4
KK 3
Abbas 16
Sami 4
Emil not out 0
F.O.W. - 7, 7, 10, 62, 67, 71, 83, 83, 100, 104
Northfields 103 for 9 from 30 overs
Nomads' bowling;
Abbas 6-4-10-1
Sami 6-2-10-0
Zia 6-2-6-4
Hassan 1-0-4-0
Faseeh 5-0-23-1
Javed 3-0-14-0
KK 3-0-16-1
Man of the Match - Riaz
Fielder of the Day - ??
Monday 17 July 2017
Long Ditton v Clapham Nomads
Long Ditton 166 for 7 from 35 overs beat Clapham Nomads 141 all out from 27.5 overs by 25 runs.
This fixture had lapsed for some reason but a quick arrangement was made via "The Fixture List" on wednesday when both clubs were looking for a game.
It was an excellent game with some of Nomads' tightest bowling of the season restricting the hosts to what seemed like a gettable total.
We looked to be in the box seat for most of our innings (and several Long Ditton players confirmed that they had shared this feeling) but we kept picking out fielders just a little too often with aerial shots and a dramatic final over in which (?) Neely took our last 3 wickets ended our effort prematurely.
It was played in a very good spirit though with the Surrey side well captained by Tom Bennett, who was also one of their trio of impressive spinners; a useful asset which Nomads lacked on this slow pitch.
Nomads batted very entertainingly.
Just a note on Umpiring decisions; Several Nomads players felt that a shot given as 2 had crossed the line and had gone for 4. It is rare that these calls make a massive difference to the outcome and it did not do so yesterday. Unless the white line is very bright and the umpire can see what has happened, you really have to take the fielder's word for it. This is something that almost all Sunday teams do and accept - not just the Nomads. Rather more significant in the context of the match result were a couple of diving catches that were claimed, and the batsmen were dismissed. These both looked close calls and some of the Nomads felt they should have been challenged. I had a few doubts about the second one myself - KK's wicket. However, it is extremely difficult for the umpires to query it when the fielder says he has caught it legitimately, without causing serious damage to the integrity and atmosphere of the match which again, particularly at Sunday friendly level, no-one wants.
These are two areas where it is accepted that the fielding side has the benefit of the doubt. The batsmen benefit from having the benefit of the doubt on LBW, Caught Behind, Run out and Stumped decisions and the major advantage (massive advantage many Nomads' opponents would claim) of having umpires from their own side.
The atmosphere in this fixture the last time I played in it (in 2015) was not great if I remember correctly and so it was important to have an improvement in this area yesterday, which we did. NL
SCORES AND FULL REPORT TO FOLLOW - SCORES NOW ADDED
(I forgot to bring the scorebook but fortunately John had an old piece of paper in his back pocket - not the sort of paper Emil suggested he keep score on. John has taken this scoresheet on his walking holiday in Staffordshire so I don't have the scores. Mahesh, Javed, Faseeh, Zia and Hassan all made a few runs. I think Sami was the most economical bowler. (UPDATE .....Faseeh was the most economical) John took a full-length diving, one-handed catch.)
Long Ditton 166 for 7 from 35 overs
Nomads bowling;
Sami 6-0-22-1
Faseeh 5-1-12-0
Abbas 7-1-43-0
Emil 3-0-15-1
Zia 6-1-23-2
KK 5-0-18-0
Hassan 2-0-11-3
Riaz 1-0-13-0
Clapham Nomads 141 all out from 27/5 overs
Mahesh 25
Riaz 0
Javed 30
Hassan 5
Faseeh 23
Zia 31
KK 2
Sami 9
Abbas 0
Emil not out 1
John 0
F.O.W. - 5, 56, 70, 86, 105, 117, 140, 140, 141, 141
Man of the Match - Faseeh
Fielder of the Day - John
This fixture had lapsed for some reason but a quick arrangement was made via "The Fixture List" on wednesday when both clubs were looking for a game.
It was an excellent game with some of Nomads' tightest bowling of the season restricting the hosts to what seemed like a gettable total.
We looked to be in the box seat for most of our innings (and several Long Ditton players confirmed that they had shared this feeling) but we kept picking out fielders just a little too often with aerial shots and a dramatic final over in which (?) Neely took our last 3 wickets ended our effort prematurely.
It was played in a very good spirit though with the Surrey side well captained by Tom Bennett, who was also one of their trio of impressive spinners; a useful asset which Nomads lacked on this slow pitch.
Nomads batted very entertainingly.
Just a note on Umpiring decisions; Several Nomads players felt that a shot given as 2 had crossed the line and had gone for 4. It is rare that these calls make a massive difference to the outcome and it did not do so yesterday. Unless the white line is very bright and the umpire can see what has happened, you really have to take the fielder's word for it. This is something that almost all Sunday teams do and accept - not just the Nomads. Rather more significant in the context of the match result were a couple of diving catches that were claimed, and the batsmen were dismissed. These both looked close calls and some of the Nomads felt they should have been challenged. I had a few doubts about the second one myself - KK's wicket. However, it is extremely difficult for the umpires to query it when the fielder says he has caught it legitimately, without causing serious damage to the integrity and atmosphere of the match which again, particularly at Sunday friendly level, no-one wants.
These are two areas where it is accepted that the fielding side has the benefit of the doubt. The batsmen benefit from having the benefit of the doubt on LBW, Caught Behind, Run out and Stumped decisions and the major advantage (massive advantage many Nomads' opponents would claim) of having umpires from their own side.
The atmosphere in this fixture the last time I played in it (in 2015) was not great if I remember correctly and so it was important to have an improvement in this area yesterday, which we did. NL
SCORES AND FULL REPORT TO FOLLOW - SCORES NOW ADDED
(I forgot to bring the scorebook but fortunately John had an old piece of paper in his back pocket - not the sort of paper Emil suggested he keep score on. John has taken this scoresheet on his walking holiday in Staffordshire so I don't have the scores. Mahesh, Javed, Faseeh, Zia and Hassan all made a few runs. I think Sami was the most economical bowler. (UPDATE .....Faseeh was the most economical) John took a full-length diving, one-handed catch.)
Long Ditton 166 for 7 from 35 overs
Nomads bowling;
Sami 6-0-22-1
Faseeh 5-1-12-0
Abbas 7-1-43-0
Emil 3-0-15-1
Zia 6-1-23-2
KK 5-0-18-0
Hassan 2-0-11-3
Riaz 1-0-13-0
Clapham Nomads 141 all out from 27/5 overs
Mahesh 25
Riaz 0
Javed 30
Hassan 5
Faseeh 23
Zia 31
KK 2
Sami 9
Abbas 0
Emil not out 1
John 0
F.O.W. - 5, 56, 70, 86, 105, 117, 140, 140, 141, 141
Man of the Match - Faseeh
Fielder of the Day - John
Wednesday 12 July 2017
Dulwich v Clapham Nomads - 9/7/17
Nomads beat Dulwich's talented development XI by 3 wickets on Sunday. In each innings, Dulwich had the better of it early on before Nomads recovered; the home side reaching 120 for 1 before Clapham regrouped with the declaration coming on 186 for 5 off 37. In our reply, we were 4 for 2 and 44 for 4 but brilliant batting from Hassan (65 not out) well supported by Sami and Abbas saw us home in the penultimate over.
Dulwich 186 for 7 from 37 overs
Nomads' bowling
Sami 7-0-32-0
Emil 6-0-34-0
Faseeh 6-0-36-0
Abbas 8-1-30-3
Hassan 6-1-24-3
KK 4-0-22-0
Clapham Nomads 187 for 7 from 30.3 overs
Mahesh 0
Javed 0
Darwin 30
KK 13
Faseeh 23
Zaman 5
Hassan 65 not out
Sami 11
Abbas 23 not out
Did not bat; Emil(capt), John (wkt)
F.O.W. - 0, 4, 30, 44, 58, 86, 156
Man of the match - Hassan
Fielder of the day - Sami
FULL REPORT TO FOLLOW SOON
I'll do this report soon but, in the meantime some further highlights before I forget. Hassan's batting was absolutely excellent but I must also mention the very solid support Sami gave him in a vital partnership of 70 for the 7th wicket. Also, some great hitting from Abbas who blasted us home with 23 in next to no time out of an unbroken 8th wicket stand with Hassan at a time when another wicket could have put us in trouble. Finally, some particularly impressive batting from one of Dulwich's youngsters, Shaw, who only made about 20 but scored this with excellent style and power.
Dulwich 186 for 7 from 37 overs
Nomads' bowling
Sami 7-0-32-0
Emil 6-0-34-0
Faseeh 6-0-36-0
Abbas 8-1-30-3
Hassan 6-1-24-3
KK 4-0-22-0
Clapham Nomads 187 for 7 from 30.3 overs
Mahesh 0
Javed 0
Darwin 30
KK 13
Faseeh 23
Zaman 5
Hassan 65 not out
Sami 11
Abbas 23 not out
Did not bat; Emil(capt), John (wkt)
F.O.W. - 0, 4, 30, 44, 58, 86, 156
Man of the match - Hassan
Fielder of the day - Sami
FULL REPORT TO FOLLOW SOON
I'll do this report soon but, in the meantime some further highlights before I forget. Hassan's batting was absolutely excellent but I must also mention the very solid support Sami gave him in a vital partnership of 70 for the 7th wicket. Also, some great hitting from Abbas who blasted us home with 23 in next to no time out of an unbroken 8th wicket stand with Hassan at a time when another wicket could have put us in trouble. Finally, some particularly impressive batting from one of Dulwich's youngsters, Shaw, who only made about 20 but scored this with excellent style and power.
Tuesday 4 July 2017
John's back
It was great to see John Crossland take the gloves for Nomads following his 5-match spell with Energy Exiles. He enjoyed his time with our fierce but friendly rivals and there will be an account of his adventures on this blog soon.
He is an excellent cricketer - one of the best wicketkeepers at this level and an underestimated batsman.
He is an excellent cricketer - one of the best wicketkeepers at this level and an underestimated batsman.
Barnes Occasionals v Clapham Nomads - 2/7/17
Nomads made a decent return from our Ramadan and Eid break with a good performance to get slightly the better of a draw against our oldest cricketing friends the Barnes Occasionals.
It is good to see the Occasionals have returned to their traditional tribal home at Rocks Lane. The facilities have been upgraded. I didn't play in this one myself but John and Emil were impressed.
Barnes won the toss and skipper Tom Hooker inserted Clapham, knowing that this pretty much guaranteed the Home side a draw at least, given their experienced batting line-up.
Nomads made a slightly shaky start with Javed, happily recovered from his illness in the previous game, run out in the first over. Mahesh continued his fine form with 24 but 3 early wickets had us in a little difficulty. Happily, the middle order was consistent with just about everybody chipping in with runs, led by Zia who hit a magnificent 67. It was good to see our popular swing bowler Sami make a return. Nomads reached 221 for 7 at tea which made a defeat, at least, seem unlikely.
Led by classy strokemaker Roger Price, Barnes started impressively and were in the hunt for victory at one stage with Price making 71 and number 3 Solanke hitting 49. Steady Nomads bowling and a few wickets tipped the balance back towards the Away side, Sami's cousin Faseeh, was possibly the pick of the bowlers. Barnes called off the chase and finished on 154 for 6 for a comfortable draw. There was some discussion as to whether skipper Emil Todorow should have declared but, with capable defensive players such as D.M Webster, Keith Seed and Ollie Hogg to come, we would have needed at the very least another 10 overs to have had any chance of dismissing Occasionals and declaring 10 overs earlier would have left us with only around 165 runs on the board which would not have been a safe total.
Anyway, apparently it was an enjoyable afternoon and we look forward to the return fixture in September.
Clapham Nomads - 221 for 7 from 32 overs
M.Vyas b Edwards 24
J. Iqbal run out 0
R. Khan b Hooker 12
H. Khan ct -------- b Hogg 12
Zia ct Price b Chandra 67
D. Gunawardena b Chandra
Faseeh not out 41
KK Khusro b Hogg 4
Sami not out 11
Did not bat; E.Todorow (Capt), J. Crossland (Wkt)
F.O.W. - 0, 17, 35, 151, 152, 165, 186
Barnes Occasionals - 154 for 6 from 36 overs
R. Price c H.Khan b R.Khan 71
A. Metcalfe c Zia b Hassan 6
R. Solanke c Vyas b KK Khusro 49
G. Chandra c Faseeh b Zia
JP Mauro b Faseeh 0
P. Carey b R.Khan 9
T. Edwards not out 6
T. Hooker not out 1
Did not bat; DM Webster, O. Hogg, K. Seed
F.O.W - 29, 118, 123, 124, 136, 148
Match Drawn
I will update this report when I get the scorebook back.
Man of the Match - Zia.
Fielder of the Day - I think we took 4 catches but I heard there were quite a few drops as well. I will ask John Crossland who he thought the best fielder was........and then stand well back. UPDATE - Catches were taken by Zia, Mahesh, Faseeh and Hassan. Mahesh has just informed me that his was a diving catch so that automatically gives him Fielder of the Day.
FULL REPORT TO FOLLOW
It is good to see the Occasionals have returned to their traditional tribal home at Rocks Lane. The facilities have been upgraded. I didn't play in this one myself but John and Emil were impressed.
Barnes won the toss and skipper Tom Hooker inserted Clapham, knowing that this pretty much guaranteed the Home side a draw at least, given their experienced batting line-up.
Nomads made a slightly shaky start with Javed, happily recovered from his illness in the previous game, run out in the first over. Mahesh continued his fine form with 24 but 3 early wickets had us in a little difficulty. Happily, the middle order was consistent with just about everybody chipping in with runs, led by Zia who hit a magnificent 67. It was good to see our popular swing bowler Sami make a return. Nomads reached 221 for 7 at tea which made a defeat, at least, seem unlikely.
Led by classy strokemaker Roger Price, Barnes started impressively and were in the hunt for victory at one stage with Price making 71 and number 3 Solanke hitting 49. Steady Nomads bowling and a few wickets tipped the balance back towards the Away side, Sami's cousin Faseeh, was possibly the pick of the bowlers. Barnes called off the chase and finished on 154 for 6 for a comfortable draw. There was some discussion as to whether skipper Emil Todorow should have declared but, with capable defensive players such as D.M Webster, Keith Seed and Ollie Hogg to come, we would have needed at the very least another 10 overs to have had any chance of dismissing Occasionals and declaring 10 overs earlier would have left us with only around 165 runs on the board which would not have been a safe total.
Anyway, apparently it was an enjoyable afternoon and we look forward to the return fixture in September.
Clapham Nomads - 221 for 7 from 32 overs
M.Vyas b Edwards 24
J. Iqbal run out 0
R. Khan b Hooker 12
H. Khan ct -------- b Hogg 12
Zia ct Price b Chandra 67
D. Gunawardena b Chandra
Faseeh not out 41
KK Khusro b Hogg 4
Sami not out 11
Did not bat; E.Todorow (Capt), J. Crossland (Wkt)
F.O.W. - 0, 17, 35, 151, 152, 165, 186
Barnes Occasionals - 154 for 6 from 36 overs
R. Price c H.Khan b R.Khan 71
A. Metcalfe c Zia b Hassan 6
R. Solanke c Vyas b KK Khusro 49
G. Chandra c Faseeh b Zia
JP Mauro b Faseeh 0
P. Carey b R.Khan 9
T. Edwards not out 6
T. Hooker not out 1
Did not bat; DM Webster, O. Hogg, K. Seed
F.O.W - 29, 118, 123, 124, 136, 148
Match Drawn
I will update this report when I get the scorebook back.
Man of the Match - Zia.
Fielder of the Day - I think we took 4 catches but I heard there were quite a few drops as well. I will ask John Crossland who he thought the best fielder was........and then stand well back. UPDATE - Catches were taken by Zia, Mahesh, Faseeh and Hassan. Mahesh has just informed me that his was a diving catch so that automatically gives him Fielder of the Day.
FULL REPORT TO FOLLOW
Tuesday 30 May 2017
Paul Murphy
Hi all, I have been contacted by Paul Murphy who played for us last summer. He will be working in London later this summer at a University and needs accommodation for 2 to 3 weeks. He is a nice guy who loves his cricket and he did say that he is a quiet tenant. If anyone has a room or knows anyone that has a room going that Paul can rent, please let me know (you can put a comment on here or text Emil and I will pass the message on to Paul.)
See you all on 2nd July. Nick
See you all on 2nd July. Nick
Monday 29 May 2017
Come on you Exiles!!
With Nomads not playing now until 2nd July. The club has transferred its allegiance to local rivals - and friends - the Energy Exiles. Sensationally, Nomads' wicketkeeper, scorer and all-round legend John Crossland has gone one step further, crossed the sectarian divide, and made his debut for Exiles on Sunday 28/5. He shone as well, stepping straight into the keeping position and claiming 2 catches. He was also the not out man in Energy's innings. We can only hope they do not try to poach him. Please, Johnny, don't go. We will offer him a new contract on improved terms. I think I have some coins down the back of my sofa.
Come on you Exiles!!
Come on you Exiles!!
Thursday 25 May 2017
Clapham Nomads v Wimbledon United - 21/5/17
Clapham Nomads lost to Wimbledon United at Cottenham Park last Sunday. It was reasonably close. United were 79 for 0 after 10 overs so we did well to keep them to 207 for 8 off the full 35. Nomads started cautiously against the usual accurate and disciplined bowling - a sprinkling of beamers notwithstanding. We were 66 for 2 at the halfway mark and needed 8 an over at that point. I had to leave early to go to work but Emil told me that Zia was batting really well, bearing down on the total, when he was unfortunately run out. Nomads tailed off a little after that but still finished on a respectable 180 for 6 for a 27 run defeat.
It was Emil Todorow's 250th successive appearance for the club. He hasn't missed a Nomads match since September 2002. The verdict of most people is that this is a fantastic achievement. John's verdict; "Doesn't he have a life?" Mind you, John hardly ever misses a match himself.
Tributes to Emil and to Hassan - who is now on about 5,150 runs for the club - will follow soon.
Wimbledon United 207 for 8 from 35 overs.
Nomads' bowling
Hassan 5-1-38-1
Emil 2-0-22-0
Zia 7-2-32-0
Abbas 7-1-43-3
KK 7-0-37-3
Riaz 7-0-37-1
Clapham Nomads 180 for 6 from 35 overs.
Mahesh 36
Nick 6
Farhan 7
Hassan 25
Darwin 37 not out
Riaz 9
Zia 43
KK 0 not out
Did not bat; Abbas, Emil (captain), John (wkt)
F.O.W. - 15, 28, 78, 83, 99, 166
Nomads lost by 27 runs.
FULL REPORT TO FOLLOW WHEN I GET THE SCOREBOOK BACK
UPDATE......Nomads skipper Emil Todorow, playing his 250th successive game for the club, controversially inserted Wimbledon after winning the toss and our fielders stood apprehensively in the hot sun, watching Dons' prolific opening batsman Dave Hitchman taking guard. After plentiful rain in recent days, the pitch looked quite green and maybe gave hope that we could restrict Hitchman to 80 or so instead of his usual century.
This hope soon looked forlorn as United raced to 79 off 10 overs with Hitchman being outscored by his partner. Emil only bowled 2 overs as he had heavy summer flu (this was never going to prevent him, trouper that he is, from reaching his 250 game landmark.) Around this time, there was a disturbing incident as Javed, our match-winner in the corresponding fixture last year, doubled up with severe stomach pains. An ambulance was called and Javed was rushed to St George's hospital with suspected kidney stones. I hope you are feeling better, Javed.
Excellent bowling by Abbas and, particularly, Zia kept Dons to about 45 for the loss of 3 off the next 12 overs, including the vital wicket of Hitchman for 30. The pace increased again after that but the 6 wickets that were shared equally by Abbas and KK (who was unlucky not to get more) prevented the away side from racing away and our eventual target of 208 off 35 did not seem totally impossible for an in-form Nomads line-up, albeit one that was missing Javed, one of our hardest-hitting players.
Javed's place was taken by Nick Lefebve who had to open as he needed to leave early for work. Not expecting to play, Lefebve was decked out in a sort of Primark Spring/Summer Collection outfit with a loose-fitting helmet and a borrowed box, but he managed a streaky 6 before dabbing one tamely to gully off the bowling of Peter Brown "The Southfields Express."
At the other end, Mahesh Vyas continued his great form and he played out a consolidating stand of 13 from 5 overs with debutant Farhan. Cripps had Farhan caught behind but this brought Hassan out to join Mahesh and this pair have been batting brilliantly together so far this summer. The fiery Greg Dean replaced Brown downhill and had our men in some trouble with some rapid deliveries. We did pretty well to hold on, play a few shots and the score of 66 for 2 at the halfway drinks break looked OK but we now needed to score at around 8 an over.
Sadly, we lost Hassan not long after drinks and then Mahesh and Darwin, who normally have a great understanding, were involved in a run out incident and the opener departed for a fine 36. Riaz played a nice, cameo 9 but his departure put us on 99 for 5 and up against it.
It is a luxury to have a player as fine as Zia coming in at 7 and he has been in great form. Well supported by Darwin, Zia struck 6 boundaries and was on 43 with Nomads back in the hunt when we unfortunately lost him to another run out. That just about ended our chance though we flicked another 14 to bring us to 180 and a respectable defeat by only 27 runs against a fine side.
Man of the Match was Zia. Fielder of the Day is tricky for me as I did not see much of our fielding but Mahesh took a catch and made at least one fine stop at slip so he gets the nod.
No games now until 2nd July. To all those who observe Ramadan, best wishes for the month and for Eid as well. Nick
It was Emil Todorow's 250th successive appearance for the club. He hasn't missed a Nomads match since September 2002. The verdict of most people is that this is a fantastic achievement. John's verdict; "Doesn't he have a life?" Mind you, John hardly ever misses a match himself.
Tributes to Emil and to Hassan - who is now on about 5,150 runs for the club - will follow soon.
Wimbledon United 207 for 8 from 35 overs.
Nomads' bowling
Hassan 5-1-38-1
Emil 2-0-22-0
Zia 7-2-32-0
Abbas 7-1-43-3
KK 7-0-37-3
Riaz 7-0-37-1
Clapham Nomads 180 for 6 from 35 overs.
Mahesh 36
Nick 6
Farhan 7
Hassan 25
Darwin 37 not out
Riaz 9
Zia 43
KK 0 not out
Did not bat; Abbas, Emil (captain), John (wkt)
F.O.W. - 15, 28, 78, 83, 99, 166
Nomads lost by 27 runs.
FULL REPORT TO FOLLOW WHEN I GET THE SCOREBOOK BACK
UPDATE......Nomads skipper Emil Todorow, playing his 250th successive game for the club, controversially inserted Wimbledon after winning the toss and our fielders stood apprehensively in the hot sun, watching Dons' prolific opening batsman Dave Hitchman taking guard. After plentiful rain in recent days, the pitch looked quite green and maybe gave hope that we could restrict Hitchman to 80 or so instead of his usual century.
This hope soon looked forlorn as United raced to 79 off 10 overs with Hitchman being outscored by his partner. Emil only bowled 2 overs as he had heavy summer flu (this was never going to prevent him, trouper that he is, from reaching his 250 game landmark.) Around this time, there was a disturbing incident as Javed, our match-winner in the corresponding fixture last year, doubled up with severe stomach pains. An ambulance was called and Javed was rushed to St George's hospital with suspected kidney stones. I hope you are feeling better, Javed.
Excellent bowling by Abbas and, particularly, Zia kept Dons to about 45 for the loss of 3 off the next 12 overs, including the vital wicket of Hitchman for 30. The pace increased again after that but the 6 wickets that were shared equally by Abbas and KK (who was unlucky not to get more) prevented the away side from racing away and our eventual target of 208 off 35 did not seem totally impossible for an in-form Nomads line-up, albeit one that was missing Javed, one of our hardest-hitting players.
Javed's place was taken by Nick Lefebve who had to open as he needed to leave early for work. Not expecting to play, Lefebve was decked out in a sort of Primark Spring/Summer Collection outfit with a loose-fitting helmet and a borrowed box, but he managed a streaky 6 before dabbing one tamely to gully off the bowling of Peter Brown "The Southfields Express."
At the other end, Mahesh Vyas continued his great form and he played out a consolidating stand of 13 from 5 overs with debutant Farhan. Cripps had Farhan caught behind but this brought Hassan out to join Mahesh and this pair have been batting brilliantly together so far this summer. The fiery Greg Dean replaced Brown downhill and had our men in some trouble with some rapid deliveries. We did pretty well to hold on, play a few shots and the score of 66 for 2 at the halfway drinks break looked OK but we now needed to score at around 8 an over.
Sadly, we lost Hassan not long after drinks and then Mahesh and Darwin, who normally have a great understanding, were involved in a run out incident and the opener departed for a fine 36. Riaz played a nice, cameo 9 but his departure put us on 99 for 5 and up against it.
It is a luxury to have a player as fine as Zia coming in at 7 and he has been in great form. Well supported by Darwin, Zia struck 6 boundaries and was on 43 with Nomads back in the hunt when we unfortunately lost him to another run out. That just about ended our chance though we flicked another 14 to bring us to 180 and a respectable defeat by only 27 runs against a fine side.
Man of the Match was Zia. Fielder of the Day is tricky for me as I did not see much of our fielding but Mahesh took a catch and made at least one fine stop at slip so he gets the nod.
No games now until 2nd July. To all those who observe Ramadan, best wishes for the month and for Eid as well. Nick
Monday 15 May 2017
Ham & Petersham v Clapham Nomads - 14/5/17.
This was the match that had everything. I've run out of time to do the report but there will be a lot to put in it when I do. A few of the home side were less than impressed but Nomads were examplary in every sense and, as you will see from the scores, were very well-matched opponents for the home side. Ham and Petersham are an excellent club - over 200 years old - with fine facilities. It was one of the most enjoyable Nomads games and was a privilege to be a part of - even though I am still only umpiring, due to injury.
A few points. This was the Nomads highest-ever successful run chase and, I believe, our highest total batting second. Hassan also passed the fantastic landmark of 5,000 runs for the club - full tribute to follow. He also appeared to have made his highest score for Nomads but something has gone wrong with the adding up of individual totals (no problems at all with the team total, I hasten to add) and he appears actually to have made only 105 rather than the 122 John arrived at after a hasty tally. We will sort this out next week. I would be severely cheesed off if my scorebook total was ever reduced by 17 but that is because it would usually leave me with a minus score - I suppose ending up on 105 is not so bad.
Time game.
Ham and Petersham 262 for 4 from 35 overs.
Nomads' bowling;
Hassan 6-1-23-1
Emil 6-0-37-0
Abbas 8-0-64-1
Zia 6-0-43-1
KK 4-0-49-0
Mudassar 2-0-19-0
Abdul 2-0-13-0
Javed 1-0-8-0
Clapham Nomads 263 for 5 from 40.4 overs
Mahesh 8 (Returned after retiring hurt in 3rd over.)
Abdul 10
Javed 63 (originally recorded as 58)
Hassan 105 not out (originally recorded as 122 not out)
Darwin 0
Zia 66 (originally recorded as 55)
KK not out 4
Did not bat; Abbas, Emil (capt), John (wkt), Mudassar
F.O.W. - 47, 114, 119, 128, 244
Clapham Nomads won by 5 wickets with 8 balls remaining.
Man of the Match - Hassan (a fairly easy choice)
Fielder of the Day - Mudassar
As I say, there was absolutely no problem with John's recording of the scores or the team total. He just added up some players' totals wrongly (I noticed this this morning when I realised Zia's 55 looked a bit low for the amount of boundaries he had hit.)
So Nomads have one more game before our mid-season break. Wimbledon United - always difficult opponents but we have, in Hassan, a man who is averaging over 250 with the bat.
FULL REPORT TO FOLLOW.
UPDATE - Nomads arrived promptly and all on time for this fixture - arranged in midweek via The Fixture List - against Ham and Petersham at their excellent Ham Common ground. Nomads skipper Emil Todorow, in his 249th successive appearance for the club, won the toss and elected to bat, maintaining quite audibly that this gave us the additional option of drawing this Time Game if things didn't go well. This had the result of causing H & P to underestimate us slightly, which might have been of benefit later on.
The home side got off to a good start with their more senior opener milking the short square boundaries well; however we had a stroke of good fortune when he edged one from Hassan into the ground and it rolled languidly back onto the stumps - approx 20 for 1.
From then on it was hard work for our bowlers and fielders. I had a long chat with Ham's Fixtures Secretary Bobby Jordan who told me some of the history of this 202-year-old club. They have close links with the mega-rich Goldsmith family. The former MP Zac Goldsmith has played on the ground along with, I think, Imran Khan, Shane Warne and several Crystal Palace footballers. It was an interesting conversation but, when I looked up, the score had moved on to about 65 for 1. The batting was very sound but Nomads were not quite getting the rub of the green when several close LBW shouts rebutted and a couple of fiery overs from Abbas which produced a string of edges flying harmlessly over the keeper and slips.
We kept our shape in the field for a long while - though Emil was unlucky with several misfields off his bowling - but Mudassar, the youngest member of the side, showed us the way with some excellent stops and running dragbacks just short of the rope. He then finally caused the breakthrough with a well-judged catch at Short Third Man.
Ham kicked on in the second half of the innings. Excellent batting from the young Reddish, aged 15 or so and he represents his district at his age group, was a highlight. Nomads fielding became a little ragged with three Overthrows for 4 causing unnecessary runs. A nice catch was taken by Darwin at Square Leg and it was good to see Abdul back on the pitch and close to his deadly best with a Direct Hit from two-thirds of the way back and a good throw in to KK which resulted in a run out - our only other wicket. The declaration came at tea with 262 for 4 on the board. Nomads' over rate was 14.5 per hour which was not too atrocious given the amount of time we had spent collecting the ball from various parts of Ham Common, and the lack of spinners in the side. Hassan had the only really decent bowling figures with 1 for 23 off 6. Everyone else went for above 6.
Nomads were a little downhearted while we munched the excellent tea but one of the opposition did assure us there were still plenty of runs in the pitch.
As we commenced our reply, it was clear H & P were going full throttle for the win. At one end, the distinctly quick and bouncy S. Khan roared in, encouraged by vocal close up fielders, and looked a handful. At the other end. A slow bowler fed us short-ish stuff in what was clearly an attempt to gift us some runs and keep us interested in the chase. In the third over, a bouncer from Khan caught Mahesh on the top edge of his visor and our opener had to go off with facial bleeding. One of the Nomads implied that the level of concern shown to Mahesh by the home side was not exactly overwhelming but, as umpire, I am not sure that was the case and anyway, as former Nomads' paceman Jason Srhoj put it; "it's not a softcock game;" (even in Sunday non-league fixtures.)
Abdul kept up a stout defence against some fiery stuff from Khan while Javed creamed the slow bowler to the leg-side and straight boundaries - there was no-one deep - and raced into the thirties in no time. In the 9th over, with the score already on 47, Khan - who had had a half-hearted leg before shout turned down, got Abdul to glove one to the keeper. Abdul had showed guts to tough it out early on and boost our chances of achieving our target - at that stage, holding on for the draw.
Hassan came out and good, untroubled progress was maintained at both ends with the paceman tiring. Ahmed replaced Khan at the Park End and angled the ball in sharply at good pace. Runs were still on tap at the Pond End but Ham's ploy to keep us interested almost paid off as Javed skied one off the slow bowler, but fortunately for us it fell between 3 men. As the score passed 100, a paceman was also brought on at the Pond End. Javed and, particularly, Hassan were playing brilliantly but the game looked like petering out into a draw as we were well behind the rate. Then the game suddenly changed as Ahmed jagged one back to bowl Javed, Hamid bowled Darwin and Mahesh, brave and bandaged, resumed but did not last too long.
There was a very strong LBW shout against Mahesh which was turned down by Umpire Todorow resulting in the following gem from Ham's angriest fielder who was becoming incandescent with rage about .....just about everything. "They obviously don't give LBWs in Bulgaria." Interesting, as it seems they don't give a lot in Ham and Petersham either.
Around this stage, Ham's skipper got his side to start racing through the overs before the 6.30 deadline. The skipper emphasized that it was the clock on the scoreboard that counted and, at one point, I thought I heard him say that he had moved the clock back 5 minutes to ensure enough overs were bowled. Hmmm....
If this is not the case, I apologise, but if it was the case, then it backfired spectacularly. Ham bowled 15.5 per hour in the period up to 6.30 which, if you take into account that they scurried through the last few, was on a par with Nomads' rate.
After 6.30, the final 20 overs kicked in but Nomads needed around 150 and, once we were 4 down, a draw seemed to be the only target. A few more overs from slow or part-time bowlers were used to keep us chasing but this only had the effect of allowing Zia to play himself in and start to bat brilliantly, seeing it like a football. Hassan had been doing so for quite a while already. Ham seemed shocked by the power of our middle-order (a few whispers had indicated they had expected the opposite) as successive enormous sixes flew off Zia's bat - the second one right out of the ground.
Suddenly only around 65 were needed from the last 10. It was all out attack from Ham as Reddish and Ahmed steamed in, but it was sensible, controlled cricket from our boys as they chipped away at the rate.
Towards the end, Reddish bowled Zia for a fine 66. There was slight pressure on new man KK but he shrugged this off with a resounding pull for 4 (which actually looked like 6.) We were almost over the line and 5 were needed from 2 overs. Man of the Match Hassan achieved this in 4 balls to put a seal on what was a fantastic win for the Nomads.
It could be said - and was - that Nomads faced more overs than the opposition but remember that the home side did declare. Obviously, a tea-time declaration is expected but it was clear they thought they had enough runs on the board to avoid defeat and were going all out to maximise their number of overs to go for the win.
Their ploy of gifting us runs and trying to induce shots was worth a try. I could see the point in it but it backfired with Nomads having batsmen as destructive as Hassan, Javed and Zia. Overall though, it was a splendid match between two sides who were a very good match-up in terms of batting (we had slightly the most destructive players), bowling (Ham had the best bowler), scoring rate and over rate. Ham had the edge in fielding but both sides had very good wicketkeepers.
I don't know if they will want to play us again. The vibe was that they won't, but it will be a game to look forward to if they do.
Man of the Match - Hassan. Originally it seemed he had made 122, his highest Nomads score, but after a recount it looks like 105. Still probably his second-best Nomads innings of all time. He was the best bowler as well. He also brought up his 5,000 runs for the Nomads. This is well clear of any other Nomads player and will almost certainly not be achieved by anyone else. I cannot think of anyone else that has managed 5,000 runs for a club of our type. Full tribute to follow.
Fielder of the Day - Mudassar.
If you check out Ham and Petersham's website (search Ham and Petersham cc on google) you will find the details of this match.....kind of. Apparently H & P lost to Battersea Eagles. Oh, close one! Clapham and Battersea do have a kind of symbiotic relationship (Clapham Junction station is in Battersea town centre). And then there is that whole Nomads and Eagles connection.....well, maybe if you live in the Atlas Mountains. To be honest though, I enjoyed this win so much I wouldn't mind if it was credited to the Mitcham Turtles.......The plot thickens, not only were we the Battersea Eagles for this match but, according to Ham and Petersham's (fake) news department, our batting was opened by Jonny Rosenthal. They must mean the Surbiton Imperials skipper, which would be great if it was true - he is a brilliant player.
A few points. This was the Nomads highest-ever successful run chase and, I believe, our highest total batting second. Hassan also passed the fantastic landmark of 5,000 runs for the club - full tribute to follow. He also appeared to have made his highest score for Nomads but something has gone wrong with the adding up of individual totals (no problems at all with the team total, I hasten to add) and he appears actually to have made only 105 rather than the 122 John arrived at after a hasty tally. We will sort this out next week. I would be severely cheesed off if my scorebook total was ever reduced by 17 but that is because it would usually leave me with a minus score - I suppose ending up on 105 is not so bad.
Time game.
Ham and Petersham 262 for 4 from 35 overs.
Nomads' bowling;
Hassan 6-1-23-1
Emil 6-0-37-0
Abbas 8-0-64-1
Zia 6-0-43-1
KK 4-0-49-0
Mudassar 2-0-19-0
Abdul 2-0-13-0
Javed 1-0-8-0
Clapham Nomads 263 for 5 from 40.4 overs
Mahesh 8 (Returned after retiring hurt in 3rd over.)
Abdul 10
Javed 63 (originally recorded as 58)
Hassan 105 not out (originally recorded as 122 not out)
Darwin 0
Zia 66 (originally recorded as 55)
KK not out 4
Did not bat; Abbas, Emil (capt), John (wkt), Mudassar
F.O.W. - 47, 114, 119, 128, 244
Clapham Nomads won by 5 wickets with 8 balls remaining.
Man of the Match - Hassan (a fairly easy choice)
Fielder of the Day - Mudassar
As I say, there was absolutely no problem with John's recording of the scores or the team total. He just added up some players' totals wrongly (I noticed this this morning when I realised Zia's 55 looked a bit low for the amount of boundaries he had hit.)
So Nomads have one more game before our mid-season break. Wimbledon United - always difficult opponents but we have, in Hassan, a man who is averaging over 250 with the bat.
FULL REPORT TO FOLLOW.
UPDATE - Nomads arrived promptly and all on time for this fixture - arranged in midweek via The Fixture List - against Ham and Petersham at their excellent Ham Common ground. Nomads skipper Emil Todorow, in his 249th successive appearance for the club, won the toss and elected to bat, maintaining quite audibly that this gave us the additional option of drawing this Time Game if things didn't go well. This had the result of causing H & P to underestimate us slightly, which might have been of benefit later on.
The home side got off to a good start with their more senior opener milking the short square boundaries well; however we had a stroke of good fortune when he edged one from Hassan into the ground and it rolled languidly back onto the stumps - approx 20 for 1.
From then on it was hard work for our bowlers and fielders. I had a long chat with Ham's Fixtures Secretary Bobby Jordan who told me some of the history of this 202-year-old club. They have close links with the mega-rich Goldsmith family. The former MP Zac Goldsmith has played on the ground along with, I think, Imran Khan, Shane Warne and several Crystal Palace footballers. It was an interesting conversation but, when I looked up, the score had moved on to about 65 for 1. The batting was very sound but Nomads were not quite getting the rub of the green when several close LBW shouts rebutted and a couple of fiery overs from Abbas which produced a string of edges flying harmlessly over the keeper and slips.
We kept our shape in the field for a long while - though Emil was unlucky with several misfields off his bowling - but Mudassar, the youngest member of the side, showed us the way with some excellent stops and running dragbacks just short of the rope. He then finally caused the breakthrough with a well-judged catch at Short Third Man.
Ham kicked on in the second half of the innings. Excellent batting from the young Reddish, aged 15 or so and he represents his district at his age group, was a highlight. Nomads fielding became a little ragged with three Overthrows for 4 causing unnecessary runs. A nice catch was taken by Darwin at Square Leg and it was good to see Abdul back on the pitch and close to his deadly best with a Direct Hit from two-thirds of the way back and a good throw in to KK which resulted in a run out - our only other wicket. The declaration came at tea with 262 for 4 on the board. Nomads' over rate was 14.5 per hour which was not too atrocious given the amount of time we had spent collecting the ball from various parts of Ham Common, and the lack of spinners in the side. Hassan had the only really decent bowling figures with 1 for 23 off 6. Everyone else went for above 6.
Nomads were a little downhearted while we munched the excellent tea but one of the opposition did assure us there were still plenty of runs in the pitch.
As we commenced our reply, it was clear H & P were going full throttle for the win. At one end, the distinctly quick and bouncy S. Khan roared in, encouraged by vocal close up fielders, and looked a handful. At the other end. A slow bowler fed us short-ish stuff in what was clearly an attempt to gift us some runs and keep us interested in the chase. In the third over, a bouncer from Khan caught Mahesh on the top edge of his visor and our opener had to go off with facial bleeding. One of the Nomads implied that the level of concern shown to Mahesh by the home side was not exactly overwhelming but, as umpire, I am not sure that was the case and anyway, as former Nomads' paceman Jason Srhoj put it; "it's not a softcock game;" (even in Sunday non-league fixtures.)
Abdul kept up a stout defence against some fiery stuff from Khan while Javed creamed the slow bowler to the leg-side and straight boundaries - there was no-one deep - and raced into the thirties in no time. In the 9th over, with the score already on 47, Khan - who had had a half-hearted leg before shout turned down, got Abdul to glove one to the keeper. Abdul had showed guts to tough it out early on and boost our chances of achieving our target - at that stage, holding on for the draw.
Hassan came out and good, untroubled progress was maintained at both ends with the paceman tiring. Ahmed replaced Khan at the Park End and angled the ball in sharply at good pace. Runs were still on tap at the Pond End but Ham's ploy to keep us interested almost paid off as Javed skied one off the slow bowler, but fortunately for us it fell between 3 men. As the score passed 100, a paceman was also brought on at the Pond End. Javed and, particularly, Hassan were playing brilliantly but the game looked like petering out into a draw as we were well behind the rate. Then the game suddenly changed as Ahmed jagged one back to bowl Javed, Hamid bowled Darwin and Mahesh, brave and bandaged, resumed but did not last too long.
There was a very strong LBW shout against Mahesh which was turned down by Umpire Todorow resulting in the following gem from Ham's angriest fielder who was becoming incandescent with rage about .....just about everything. "They obviously don't give LBWs in Bulgaria." Interesting, as it seems they don't give a lot in Ham and Petersham either.
Around this stage, Ham's skipper got his side to start racing through the overs before the 6.30 deadline. The skipper emphasized that it was the clock on the scoreboard that counted and, at one point, I thought I heard him say that he had moved the clock back 5 minutes to ensure enough overs were bowled. Hmmm....
If this is not the case, I apologise, but if it was the case, then it backfired spectacularly. Ham bowled 15.5 per hour in the period up to 6.30 which, if you take into account that they scurried through the last few, was on a par with Nomads' rate.
After 6.30, the final 20 overs kicked in but Nomads needed around 150 and, once we were 4 down, a draw seemed to be the only target. A few more overs from slow or part-time bowlers were used to keep us chasing but this only had the effect of allowing Zia to play himself in and start to bat brilliantly, seeing it like a football. Hassan had been doing so for quite a while already. Ham seemed shocked by the power of our middle-order (a few whispers had indicated they had expected the opposite) as successive enormous sixes flew off Zia's bat - the second one right out of the ground.
Suddenly only around 65 were needed from the last 10. It was all out attack from Ham as Reddish and Ahmed steamed in, but it was sensible, controlled cricket from our boys as they chipped away at the rate.
Towards the end, Reddish bowled Zia for a fine 66. There was slight pressure on new man KK but he shrugged this off with a resounding pull for 4 (which actually looked like 6.) We were almost over the line and 5 were needed from 2 overs. Man of the Match Hassan achieved this in 4 balls to put a seal on what was a fantastic win for the Nomads.
It could be said - and was - that Nomads faced more overs than the opposition but remember that the home side did declare. Obviously, a tea-time declaration is expected but it was clear they thought they had enough runs on the board to avoid defeat and were going all out to maximise their number of overs to go for the win.
Their ploy of gifting us runs and trying to induce shots was worth a try. I could see the point in it but it backfired with Nomads having batsmen as destructive as Hassan, Javed and Zia. Overall though, it was a splendid match between two sides who were a very good match-up in terms of batting (we had slightly the most destructive players), bowling (Ham had the best bowler), scoring rate and over rate. Ham had the edge in fielding but both sides had very good wicketkeepers.
I don't know if they will want to play us again. The vibe was that they won't, but it will be a game to look forward to if they do.
Man of the Match - Hassan. Originally it seemed he had made 122, his highest Nomads score, but after a recount it looks like 105. Still probably his second-best Nomads innings of all time. He was the best bowler as well. He also brought up his 5,000 runs for the Nomads. This is well clear of any other Nomads player and will almost certainly not be achieved by anyone else. I cannot think of anyone else that has managed 5,000 runs for a club of our type. Full tribute to follow.
Fielder of the Day - Mudassar.
If you check out Ham and Petersham's website (search Ham and Petersham cc on google) you will find the details of this match.....kind of. Apparently H & P lost to Battersea Eagles. Oh, close one! Clapham and Battersea do have a kind of symbiotic relationship (Clapham Junction station is in Battersea town centre). And then there is that whole Nomads and Eagles connection.....well, maybe if you live in the Atlas Mountains. To be honest though, I enjoyed this win so much I wouldn't mind if it was credited to the Mitcham Turtles.......The plot thickens, not only were we the Battersea Eagles for this match but, according to Ham and Petersham's (fake) news department, our batting was opened by Jonny Rosenthal. They must mean the Surbiton Imperials skipper, which would be great if it was true - he is a brilliant player.
Saturday 13 May 2017
Energy Exiles v Clapham Nomads - 7/5/17
After a bright start - 114 for 2 at one point - and another excellent partnership beteen Mahesh and Hassan, Nomads threw it away a bit against some professional and enterprising Exiles bowling and finished on a rather under par 147 all out. At least we had a chance to savour a 10th wicket stand between Emil and John; always worth the admission money.
In reply, our 2 veteran heroes struck early to remove Steve Parkinson - who scored an all-time Exiles record score of 141 against us last year - with a fine diving catch behind the stumps. However a well-paced stand of 90 or so between Keith Roberts - whose 50 came up with the score on only around 85 - and skipper Chris Plume took the Exiles within striking distance of victory, and they got home comfortably despite 2 late wickets from Zia.
FULL REPORT TO FOLLOW - In the meantime there is a report on Exiles' website. If you search Energy Exiles on google and then go into Match Reports and 2017 Match reports - there it is.
UPDATE - A slightly disappointing defeat against our perennial nemesis (or to use the Clapham vernacular - bloody awkward sods who always beat us) the Energy Exiles.
Nomads were surprisingly inserted by the Exiles - what were they up to this time? Also surprisingly, Simon Gundry was missing from the line-up but in Jibran Ahmed they have an opening bowler who does not quite have Gundry's accuracy but may have the slight edge on pace at times. He roared downhill and soon claimed the scalp of Darwin. A quality catch in the gully by Keith Roberts. 8 for 1. KK made his debut in this fixture last year and produced a similar pinch-hitting performance - 5 boundaries in his 22 - to lift the gloom a little. Mahesh's excellent form was continuing and his usual mixture of obduracy, flamboyant footwork and crunching leg-side blows was rapidly improving our position. When Hassan joined him, the pair picked up where they left off 2 weeks previously and produced a really high-class stand of 81 for the 3rd wicket. They kept up a good rate against the openers but Exiles fielding was, as ever, tight - particularly newcomer Geoff Ng. Having overheard that this was Ng's first competitive cricket match, our heroes tried to take a cheeky single to him, not realising that he is a Canadian baseball player. "Thwack" went the bullet throw into keeper Chris Plume's gloves right over the stumps. We survived by millimetres. Andy Wingfield and Bernard Leuvinnink took over the bowling. With the 20-over drinks break in sight, Hassan played his only loose shot of the innings, cutting one from Leuvinnink that was a little too close and being unlucky to get a thick inside edge onto the stumps. An absolutely crucial wicket.
114 for 3 quickly became 114 for 5 as Riaz - a fine catch over the fielder's shoulder - and Naeem departed either side of the drinks break. Javed and Mahesh stroked another valuable 22 runs but Exiles had, in Wingfield and Phil Ling, a pair of thinking bowlers who get a lot of movement - Ling in the air; Wingfield usually off the seam. Wingfield was not fully fit but even at 80% pace down the hill he was a handful and bowled Javed followed by the vital wicket of Zia - clipping leg stump. Meanwhile Mahesh, who had played very well for his 35 (possibly his best score against the Exiles) was deceived by an inswinger from Ling that did not move as much as Ling's usually do and was bowled. Abbas hit our only 6 of the day but departed to bring together Emil Todorow and John Crossland in what, as ever, was a treat for fans of adult entertainment. The pair stayed together for 5 overs in what Exiles' report described diplomatically as a gritty stand. It was fairly uncontroversial by their standards but they did have a sharp exchange of views about who played the most shots which, when you have just made a stand of 5 in 5 overs is rather like 2 UKIP candidates arguing about who has the greater love for the EU Parliament. Eventually Crossland holed out - his first dismissal for over a year and a half - and left Nomads with 2 unused overs and a total of 147 which was probably at last 50 below par for Cottenham Park in the sunshine.
An excellent tea was enjoyed as Nomads mulled over the possible methods of avoiding defeat. A sudden torrential thunderstorm appearing out of the bright blue sky? Mining subsidence causing the pitch to disappear? Just going home? What was not helpful, when defending 147 on a batting paradise, was seeing a man who scored 141 against us last year taking strike. Surprisingly, Exiles highest individual innings man, Steve Parkinson, was undone by a brilliant combination from Emil Todorow and John Crossland. The keeper diving forward to snaffle a ball that the veteran seamer had drifted onto the outside edge of Parkinson's bat. A fine start but Keith Roberts and Chris Plume soon began to look very assured. Roberts has always been extremely difficult to get out but he is even more adept these days at using the pace of the ball and the short straight boundaries at Cottenham Park facilitated this. Plume is also an accomplished accumulator of runs and the pair were in little trouble and took singles at will against a field that was too deep in places. Roberts passed his 50 with the score still well below 100. Some small hope was revived when Zia produced a beauty first ball up after drinks to have Roberts caught behind. Zia and John Crossland combined again for the third wicket but Plume led his side safely home for a victory that had never been in doubt from about 40 for 1 onwards.
Well done Exiles ... yet again. It was actually a fine achievement to dismiss a Nomads line-up who, in our other 3 matches this season to date (15/5), have scored a total of 703 runs for the loss of only 14 wickets.
We had an enjoyable drink afterwards in the Raynes Park Tavern where we learned that Keith Roberts' son, an off-spinner, has just made his debut for the Exiles. So there is another generation rising up to torment us. Is there no hope?
We also met Simon Gundry, taking an afternoon constitutional with his excellent dog - a pug called Beefy. Yes, named after Ian Botham, an opponent only slightly less formidable than Gundry himself. I do not know whether any Nomads have pets but, if Emil Todorow had a dog, one assumes it would be called Hick, or Graeme, after his favourite player/obsession (it would therefore have to be a Rhodesian - or Zimbabwean - Ridgeback). Being a keeper, I imagine John Crossland would have a Jack Russell. Maybe we will just hire a big, fluffy, animal mascot (like football teams have) and bring it along for the return match against Exiles on 20th August. It is worth trying anything to put them off.
Man of the Match was Hassan who scored 44.
Fielder of the Day was John Crossland; a hat-trick of catches (the only wickets we took) and only one ball went past him for byes.
Clapham Nomads 147 all out from 33 overs
Mahesh 35
Darwin 4
KK 22
Hassan 44
Riaz 0
Naeem 0
Javed 13
Zia 0
Abbas 6
Emil not out 2
John 3
F.O.W. - 8, 33, 114, 114, 114, 136, 136, 142, 142, 147
Energy Exiles 148 for 3 from 27.2 overs (K. Roberts 57)
Nomads' bowling;
Hassan 5-2-15-0
Emil 4-1-24-1
Riaz 4-0-22-0
Abbas 5-0-32-0
KK 4-0-24-0
Zia 4-0-16-2
Javed 1.2-0-8-0
Clapham Nomads lost by 7 wickets
In reply, our 2 veteran heroes struck early to remove Steve Parkinson - who scored an all-time Exiles record score of 141 against us last year - with a fine diving catch behind the stumps. However a well-paced stand of 90 or so between Keith Roberts - whose 50 came up with the score on only around 85 - and skipper Chris Plume took the Exiles within striking distance of victory, and they got home comfortably despite 2 late wickets from Zia.
FULL REPORT TO FOLLOW - In the meantime there is a report on Exiles' website. If you search Energy Exiles on google and then go into Match Reports and 2017 Match reports - there it is.
UPDATE - A slightly disappointing defeat against our perennial nemesis (or to use the Clapham vernacular - bloody awkward sods who always beat us) the Energy Exiles.
Nomads were surprisingly inserted by the Exiles - what were they up to this time? Also surprisingly, Simon Gundry was missing from the line-up but in Jibran Ahmed they have an opening bowler who does not quite have Gundry's accuracy but may have the slight edge on pace at times. He roared downhill and soon claimed the scalp of Darwin. A quality catch in the gully by Keith Roberts. 8 for 1. KK made his debut in this fixture last year and produced a similar pinch-hitting performance - 5 boundaries in his 22 - to lift the gloom a little. Mahesh's excellent form was continuing and his usual mixture of obduracy, flamboyant footwork and crunching leg-side blows was rapidly improving our position. When Hassan joined him, the pair picked up where they left off 2 weeks previously and produced a really high-class stand of 81 for the 3rd wicket. They kept up a good rate against the openers but Exiles fielding was, as ever, tight - particularly newcomer Geoff Ng. Having overheard that this was Ng's first competitive cricket match, our heroes tried to take a cheeky single to him, not realising that he is a Canadian baseball player. "Thwack" went the bullet throw into keeper Chris Plume's gloves right over the stumps. We survived by millimetres. Andy Wingfield and Bernard Leuvinnink took over the bowling. With the 20-over drinks break in sight, Hassan played his only loose shot of the innings, cutting one from Leuvinnink that was a little too close and being unlucky to get a thick inside edge onto the stumps. An absolutely crucial wicket.
114 for 3 quickly became 114 for 5 as Riaz - a fine catch over the fielder's shoulder - and Naeem departed either side of the drinks break. Javed and Mahesh stroked another valuable 22 runs but Exiles had, in Wingfield and Phil Ling, a pair of thinking bowlers who get a lot of movement - Ling in the air; Wingfield usually off the seam. Wingfield was not fully fit but even at 80% pace down the hill he was a handful and bowled Javed followed by the vital wicket of Zia - clipping leg stump. Meanwhile Mahesh, who had played very well for his 35 (possibly his best score against the Exiles) was deceived by an inswinger from Ling that did not move as much as Ling's usually do and was bowled. Abbas hit our only 6 of the day but departed to bring together Emil Todorow and John Crossland in what, as ever, was a treat for fans of adult entertainment. The pair stayed together for 5 overs in what Exiles' report described diplomatically as a gritty stand. It was fairly uncontroversial by their standards but they did have a sharp exchange of views about who played the most shots which, when you have just made a stand of 5 in 5 overs is rather like 2 UKIP candidates arguing about who has the greater love for the EU Parliament. Eventually Crossland holed out - his first dismissal for over a year and a half - and left Nomads with 2 unused overs and a total of 147 which was probably at last 50 below par for Cottenham Park in the sunshine.
An excellent tea was enjoyed as Nomads mulled over the possible methods of avoiding defeat. A sudden torrential thunderstorm appearing out of the bright blue sky? Mining subsidence causing the pitch to disappear? Just going home? What was not helpful, when defending 147 on a batting paradise, was seeing a man who scored 141 against us last year taking strike. Surprisingly, Exiles highest individual innings man, Steve Parkinson, was undone by a brilliant combination from Emil Todorow and John Crossland. The keeper diving forward to snaffle a ball that the veteran seamer had drifted onto the outside edge of Parkinson's bat. A fine start but Keith Roberts and Chris Plume soon began to look very assured. Roberts has always been extremely difficult to get out but he is even more adept these days at using the pace of the ball and the short straight boundaries at Cottenham Park facilitated this. Plume is also an accomplished accumulator of runs and the pair were in little trouble and took singles at will against a field that was too deep in places. Roberts passed his 50 with the score still well below 100. Some small hope was revived when Zia produced a beauty first ball up after drinks to have Roberts caught behind. Zia and John Crossland combined again for the third wicket but Plume led his side safely home for a victory that had never been in doubt from about 40 for 1 onwards.
Well done Exiles ... yet again. It was actually a fine achievement to dismiss a Nomads line-up who, in our other 3 matches this season to date (15/5), have scored a total of 703 runs for the loss of only 14 wickets.
We had an enjoyable drink afterwards in the Raynes Park Tavern where we learned that Keith Roberts' son, an off-spinner, has just made his debut for the Exiles. So there is another generation rising up to torment us. Is there no hope?
We also met Simon Gundry, taking an afternoon constitutional with his excellent dog - a pug called Beefy. Yes, named after Ian Botham, an opponent only slightly less formidable than Gundry himself. I do not know whether any Nomads have pets but, if Emil Todorow had a dog, one assumes it would be called Hick, or Graeme, after his favourite player/obsession (it would therefore have to be a Rhodesian - or Zimbabwean - Ridgeback). Being a keeper, I imagine John Crossland would have a Jack Russell. Maybe we will just hire a big, fluffy, animal mascot (like football teams have) and bring it along for the return match against Exiles on 20th August. It is worth trying anything to put them off.
Man of the Match was Hassan who scored 44.
Fielder of the Day was John Crossland; a hat-trick of catches (the only wickets we took) and only one ball went past him for byes.
Clapham Nomads 147 all out from 33 overs
Mahesh 35
Darwin 4
KK 22
Hassan 44
Riaz 0
Naeem 0
Javed 13
Zia 0
Abbas 6
Emil not out 2
John 3
F.O.W. - 8, 33, 114, 114, 114, 136, 136, 142, 142, 147
Energy Exiles 148 for 3 from 27.2 overs (K. Roberts 57)
Nomads' bowling;
Hassan 5-2-15-0
Emil 4-1-24-1
Riaz 4-0-22-0
Abbas 5-0-32-0
KK 4-0-24-0
Zia 4-0-16-2
Javed 1.2-0-8-0
Clapham Nomads lost by 7 wickets
Monday 1 May 2017
Burgh Heath v Clapham Nomads - 30/4/17
Nomads made it 2 out of 2 with an emphatic victory against a much-changed Burgh Heath side including several first team league players. A very entertaining match played in an excellent, sporting atmosphere
Although Nomads did not bowl a single maiden, Burgh Heath, despite including several players from their 1st team Surrey Downs League side, could not really accelerate apart from a spell around overs 25 to 30. Zia made the early breakthrough but it was Emil who really put a clamp on the scoring rate. The first man out described Emil's bowling thus; "The old boy's just so frustrating. He doesn't spin it but it just takes forever to come down." I was not going to put this in the report but in the interests of accurate journalistic representation (and not because I want to take the piss out of Emil - I'm not that brave) I have done. Anyway, if you can restrict club players to 2.3 an over on a good track in a 35 overs a side game, you must be doing something right.
Further tight spells from KK and a flurry of late wickets from Abbas, Mudassar and Javed meant Burgh only posted 141 which was gettable on paper however, with both the previous week's batting heroes missing, we felt our chances were only around 50 % at tea.
Two early wickets for the home side removed our experimental opening partnership - Zahid and Naeem and a bright start from Riaz was cut off in its prime by a rare leg before decision from Umpire Lefebve (I don't give too many but this was a yorker on leg and middle...sorry. It was given very reluctantly as I really enjoy Riaz's batting.) 35 for 3 and we were in a spot of bother. Fortunately, Darwin played a fine hand on seasonal debut with a hard-hitting 27. Javed was still there and - usually an explosive hitter - played very sensibly (rotating the strike and progressing from 20 to 40 with 2 twos and 16 singles. When Darwin departed on 88 for 4 there was still a lot of work to do but Zia took command - the highlight was a brilliant hook shot - and quickly knocked off 38 of the 53 runs we needed to win.
A great way to secure only our second victory over Burgh in about 7 games. A win that looked in doubt for while but was eventually secured with almost 10 overs to spare.
Burgh Heath 141 for 5 (Masini 49, Matthew 40) from 35 overs
Nomads bowling;
Zia 7-0-28-1
Emil 7-0-16-0
Abbas 7-0-32-1
KK 7-0-25-0
Mudassar 4-0-31-1
Javed 3-0-7-2
Clapham Nomads 143 for 4 from 25.2 overs
Zahid 3
Naeem 8
Javed 47 not out
Riaz 10
Darwin 27
Zia not out 38
Did not bat: KK, Abbas, Emil(capt), John (wkt), Mudassar
F.O.W. - 11, 17, 35, 88
Clapham Nomads won by 6 wickets.
Man of the Match - Javed
Fielder of the Day - Mudassar
Although Javed was Man of the Match on the figures, I must mention the brilliant all-round contribution made to this fixture by Zia who not only opened the bowling, saw us home to victory in an unbroken 50 partnership with Javed, but also brought along 3 new players (including the excellent, youthful Mudassar) as we were hit by injuries and withdrawals. He also played one of the best shots seen from a Nomads player; a stunning hook right off his nose against a lively paceman.
Next up is Energy Exiles and it looks as if we might have a strong side on paper - we are going to need it. If any players with test experience (oh go on, we might also consider county players as well) are reading this, then please contact me and you can have my place.
Although Nomads did not bowl a single maiden, Burgh Heath, despite including several players from their 1st team Surrey Downs League side, could not really accelerate apart from a spell around overs 25 to 30. Zia made the early breakthrough but it was Emil who really put a clamp on the scoring rate. The first man out described Emil's bowling thus; "The old boy's just so frustrating. He doesn't spin it but it just takes forever to come down." I was not going to put this in the report but in the interests of accurate journalistic representation (and not because I want to take the piss out of Emil - I'm not that brave) I have done. Anyway, if you can restrict club players to 2.3 an over on a good track in a 35 overs a side game, you must be doing something right.
Further tight spells from KK and a flurry of late wickets from Abbas, Mudassar and Javed meant Burgh only posted 141 which was gettable on paper however, with both the previous week's batting heroes missing, we felt our chances were only around 50 % at tea.
Two early wickets for the home side removed our experimental opening partnership - Zahid and Naeem and a bright start from Riaz was cut off in its prime by a rare leg before decision from Umpire Lefebve (I don't give too many but this was a yorker on leg and middle...sorry. It was given very reluctantly as I really enjoy Riaz's batting.) 35 for 3 and we were in a spot of bother. Fortunately, Darwin played a fine hand on seasonal debut with a hard-hitting 27. Javed was still there and - usually an explosive hitter - played very sensibly (rotating the strike and progressing from 20 to 40 with 2 twos and 16 singles. When Darwin departed on 88 for 4 there was still a lot of work to do but Zia took command - the highlight was a brilliant hook shot - and quickly knocked off 38 of the 53 runs we needed to win.
A great way to secure only our second victory over Burgh in about 7 games. A win that looked in doubt for while but was eventually secured with almost 10 overs to spare.
Burgh Heath 141 for 5 (Masini 49, Matthew 40) from 35 overs
Nomads bowling;
Zia 7-0-28-1
Emil 7-0-16-0
Abbas 7-0-32-1
KK 7-0-25-0
Mudassar 4-0-31-1
Javed 3-0-7-2
Clapham Nomads 143 for 4 from 25.2 overs
Zahid 3
Naeem 8
Javed 47 not out
Riaz 10
Darwin 27
Zia not out 38
Did not bat: KK, Abbas, Emil(capt), John (wkt), Mudassar
F.O.W. - 11, 17, 35, 88
Clapham Nomads won by 6 wickets.
Man of the Match - Javed
Fielder of the Day - Mudassar
Although Javed was Man of the Match on the figures, I must mention the brilliant all-round contribution made to this fixture by Zia who not only opened the bowling, saw us home to victory in an unbroken 50 partnership with Javed, but also brought along 3 new players (including the excellent, youthful Mudassar) as we were hit by injuries and withdrawals. He also played one of the best shots seen from a Nomads player; a stunning hook right off his nose against a lively paceman.
Next up is Energy Exiles and it looks as if we might have a strong side on paper - we are going to need it. If any players with test experience (oh go on, we might also consider county players as well) are reading this, then please contact me and you can have my place.
Tuesday 25 April 2017
Clapham Nomads v Vishwa - 23/4/17
Following the late withdrawal of Surbiton Imperials, Nomads were forunate to find a replacement fixture against Vishwa; a pleasant and sporting bunch of guys, for our home game at Turney Road, Dulwich.
After wnning the toss and deliberating at length, Skipper Todorow chose to bat but the wisdom of this soon looked in doubt as debutant and formed Burgh Heath player Asim was brilliantly caught in the gully in the 3rd over - 1 for 1.
Javed helped to turn the tide with a pinch-hitting 23 before a stunning 3rd wicket partnership of 127 between Mahesh Vyas (64) and Hassan Khan (117 not out) put Nomads in command. Riaz and Zia kept up the pace and we had a shot at topping 300 at one stage but finished on 297 for 5 - our 3rd highest score.
Another amazing catch - a full-length dive by Mahesh "The Cat" Vyas - came early in Vishwa's reply but a great stand of 80 or so for the 2nd wicket meant that the away side were in the hunt for a while just before tea, needing just over 9 an over but with 9 wickets standing. A well-judged diving catch on the boundary by Asim was vital and, though Vishwa kept up a very decent scoring rate, regular wickets took the edge off their momentum as the required rate moved up into the teens. We eventually wrapped it up in the twilight, dismissing them for 211 in the penultimate over for a fine start to the season.
Man of the Match was Hassan for a superlative century; very classy batting without giving a chance that I can remember. The pick of the bowlers were probably KK and Asim. Fielder of the day was Mahesh who took two top-drawer catches to add to his 64, which was his best Nomads innings for some time.
UPDATE - It's over 3 weeks since this game now and I've been a bit lazy doing my reports so I'm a bit vague about some of the details. It was a lovely way to start the season and a pleasure to play against a sporting club such as Vishwa who really enjoy their cricket and play it in the right way.
For the first time, Nomads were no longer a park team and booked a "proper" club ground and have the hole in our bank balance to show for it. We also had our own tea lady who did a good job - thanks very much, Jackie.
Several Nomads players had been practising hard pre-season and the upshot was a devastating batting performance on a track that was great for the batters but gave the bowlers a little hope too. Mahesh continued his fine form from the end of last season. As ever, he was harsh on anything loose around leg stump but, when he played a Mark Bradshaw -style square cut to the point boundary in his 20s, I knew he was in the zone.
Hassan just looked on top form from the word go and took control from the off. He did not give a chance that I can remember. There was controlled hitting all around the wicket and I would have to pick out his cuts just behind point as the most memorable shots.
Vishwa had some useful bowlers. I would have to pick out the pacy opener Path, and Samir, also the club fixtures secretary - the classic mystery spinner who had an action that made him difficult to read.
Once the main stand between Mahesh and Hassan had been broken, there was an enjoyable 24 from Riaz - inevitably including 2 large sixes - and fine batting from KK and, especially, Zia towards the end. Zia actually outscored Hassan with 41 out of a partnership of 72 for the 5th wicket.
As I said earlier, Vishwa's faint hopes were hit by a spectacular slip catch from Mahesh early on but they remained just about in the hunt with a stand of 80 or so and plenty of batting to come. However, the pressure of keeping up the rate, and some tight stuff from all the Nomads bowlers - with excellent fielding especially from Mahesh and Asim - saw Nomads move into the comfort zone.
With 14 an over required off the last 7, Nick Lefebve tore his hamstring in "sprinting" after a ball heading for the Long Leg boundary. He remained on the pitch, hobbling, at slip. Excellent commitment or a stupid sod? I will leave you to judge, but I am out of action until July (not that that will damage the overall level of athleticism of the team too much.)
There was an amusing postscript to this as the senior players in the club gathered for their post-match drink in Balham and were joined by former Nomads legends the Chance brothers. As Nick left the pub, leaning heavily to one side and dragging his left foot along the ground, he was overtaken by John and Emil, both limping heavily. "Jesus Christ," exclaimed the still fairly athletic 53 or 54 year old Joe Chance, "It's a zombie apocalypse."
Anyway, an excellent start to the season.
Clapham Nomads 297 for 5 from 35 overs
Asim 1
Mahesh 64
Javed 23
Hassan 117 not out
Riaz 24
Zia 41
KK 6 not out
Did not bat; Abbas, Nick, Emil (capt), John (Wkt)
F.O.W. - 1, 37, 164, 207, 279
Vishwa 211 in 33.5 overs.
Nomads bowling;
Zia 6-0-42-0
Emil 7-1-46-1
Abbas 7-0-51-2
KK 5-1-33-1
Asim 4-0-20-3
Riaz 3.5-0-25-1
Hassan 1-0-1-1
Clapham Nomads won by 86 runs.
Man of the Match - Hassan
Fielder of the Day - Mahesh
After wnning the toss and deliberating at length, Skipper Todorow chose to bat but the wisdom of this soon looked in doubt as debutant and formed Burgh Heath player Asim was brilliantly caught in the gully in the 3rd over - 1 for 1.
Javed helped to turn the tide with a pinch-hitting 23 before a stunning 3rd wicket partnership of 127 between Mahesh Vyas (64) and Hassan Khan (117 not out) put Nomads in command. Riaz and Zia kept up the pace and we had a shot at topping 300 at one stage but finished on 297 for 5 - our 3rd highest score.
Another amazing catch - a full-length dive by Mahesh "The Cat" Vyas - came early in Vishwa's reply but a great stand of 80 or so for the 2nd wicket meant that the away side were in the hunt for a while just before tea, needing just over 9 an over but with 9 wickets standing. A well-judged diving catch on the boundary by Asim was vital and, though Vishwa kept up a very decent scoring rate, regular wickets took the edge off their momentum as the required rate moved up into the teens. We eventually wrapped it up in the twilight, dismissing them for 211 in the penultimate over for a fine start to the season.
Man of the Match was Hassan for a superlative century; very classy batting without giving a chance that I can remember. The pick of the bowlers were probably KK and Asim. Fielder of the day was Mahesh who took two top-drawer catches to add to his 64, which was his best Nomads innings for some time.
UPDATE - It's over 3 weeks since this game now and I've been a bit lazy doing my reports so I'm a bit vague about some of the details. It was a lovely way to start the season and a pleasure to play against a sporting club such as Vishwa who really enjoy their cricket and play it in the right way.
For the first time, Nomads were no longer a park team and booked a "proper" club ground and have the hole in our bank balance to show for it. We also had our own tea lady who did a good job - thanks very much, Jackie.
Several Nomads players had been practising hard pre-season and the upshot was a devastating batting performance on a track that was great for the batters but gave the bowlers a little hope too. Mahesh continued his fine form from the end of last season. As ever, he was harsh on anything loose around leg stump but, when he played a Mark Bradshaw -style square cut to the point boundary in his 20s, I knew he was in the zone.
Hassan just looked on top form from the word go and took control from the off. He did not give a chance that I can remember. There was controlled hitting all around the wicket and I would have to pick out his cuts just behind point as the most memorable shots.
Vishwa had some useful bowlers. I would have to pick out the pacy opener Path, and Samir, also the club fixtures secretary - the classic mystery spinner who had an action that made him difficult to read.
Once the main stand between Mahesh and Hassan had been broken, there was an enjoyable 24 from Riaz - inevitably including 2 large sixes - and fine batting from KK and, especially, Zia towards the end. Zia actually outscored Hassan with 41 out of a partnership of 72 for the 5th wicket.
As I said earlier, Vishwa's faint hopes were hit by a spectacular slip catch from Mahesh early on but they remained just about in the hunt with a stand of 80 or so and plenty of batting to come. However, the pressure of keeping up the rate, and some tight stuff from all the Nomads bowlers - with excellent fielding especially from Mahesh and Asim - saw Nomads move into the comfort zone.
With 14 an over required off the last 7, Nick Lefebve tore his hamstring in "sprinting" after a ball heading for the Long Leg boundary. He remained on the pitch, hobbling, at slip. Excellent commitment or a stupid sod? I will leave you to judge, but I am out of action until July (not that that will damage the overall level of athleticism of the team too much.)
There was an amusing postscript to this as the senior players in the club gathered for their post-match drink in Balham and were joined by former Nomads legends the Chance brothers. As Nick left the pub, leaning heavily to one side and dragging his left foot along the ground, he was overtaken by John and Emil, both limping heavily. "Jesus Christ," exclaimed the still fairly athletic 53 or 54 year old Joe Chance, "It's a zombie apocalypse."
Anyway, an excellent start to the season.
Clapham Nomads 297 for 5 from 35 overs
Asim 1
Mahesh 64
Javed 23
Hassan 117 not out
Riaz 24
Zia 41
KK 6 not out
Did not bat; Abbas, Nick, Emil (capt), John (Wkt)
F.O.W. - 1, 37, 164, 207, 279
Vishwa 211 in 33.5 overs.
Nomads bowling;
Zia 6-0-42-0
Emil 7-1-46-1
Abbas 7-0-51-2
KK 5-1-33-1
Asim 4-0-20-3
Riaz 3.5-0-25-1
Hassan 1-0-1-1
Clapham Nomads won by 86 runs.
Man of the Match - Hassan
Fielder of the Day - Mahesh
Friday 24 March 2017
Nomads Player of the Year 2016 etc
Clapham Nomads held our Annual Meeting for last season in the Mirch Masala in Tooting last Sunday.
As ever, the food was delicious and surprisingly affordable. Emil's bone was smaller than in previous years (sorry to be personal) but I'm told it was still sumptuous.
There was a good turnout with 10 of our most regular players from 2016 in attendance; Emil, John, Hassan, Abdul, Riaz, Mahesh, Darwin, Abbas, KK and Nick.
The award winners were;
Fielder of the Year - John Crossland (In his victory speech he said "I love you all"....no, I'm joking, of course. He said "I know I took 15 catches but it should have been 20.")
Bowler of the Year - A share between the guile and excellent average of KK, and the raw pace and 25 wickets of Abbas.
Batsman of the Year - Hassan Khan - the best average of any regular batsman - the Bradman of the Royal Mail.
Player of the Year - KK - an outstanding first season; his bowling just got better and better.
The first game of the season will be on 23rd April against Surbiton Imperials.
There are 2 remarkable landmarks which should hopefully be achieved this summer. Hassan needs just just 173 runs (several seasons for me but (?) a couple of innings for Hassan) to become the first Clapham Nomad to score 5,000 runs for the club.
Emil Todorow has now played in 245 consecutive matches for the club, so - weather permitting - he should reach a staggering 250 successive games some time in late May.
Look forward to seeing you all again soon.
Nick
As ever, the food was delicious and surprisingly affordable. Emil's bone was smaller than in previous years (sorry to be personal) but I'm told it was still sumptuous.
There was a good turnout with 10 of our most regular players from 2016 in attendance; Emil, John, Hassan, Abdul, Riaz, Mahesh, Darwin, Abbas, KK and Nick.
The award winners were;
Fielder of the Year - John Crossland (In his victory speech he said "I love you all"....no, I'm joking, of course. He said "I know I took 15 catches but it should have been 20.")
Bowler of the Year - A share between the guile and excellent average of KK, and the raw pace and 25 wickets of Abbas.
Batsman of the Year - Hassan Khan - the best average of any regular batsman - the Bradman of the Royal Mail.
Player of the Year - KK - an outstanding first season; his bowling just got better and better.
The first game of the season will be on 23rd April against Surbiton Imperials.
There are 2 remarkable landmarks which should hopefully be achieved this summer. Hassan needs just just 173 runs (several seasons for me but (?) a couple of innings for Hassan) to become the first Clapham Nomad to score 5,000 runs for the club.
Emil Todorow has now played in 245 consecutive matches for the club, so - weather permitting - he should reach a staggering 250 successive games some time in late May.
Look forward to seeing you all again soon.
Nick
Friday 24 February 2017
Nomads Annual Meeting
To all Nomads past and present.
Just to remind you that Clapham Nomads are still going strong and will be having their Annual Meeting for 2016 (just 11 weeks late) at the Mirch Masala in Upper Tooting Road, SW17 in March. The provisional date is Sunday March 19th at 7.30 pm. All are extremely welcome. In case you have never been, the food is really good there (it was once rated the 37th-best restaurant in Great Britain - well, its Norbury Branch was.)
Hope to see you all soon.
Nick
Just to remind you that Clapham Nomads are still going strong and will be having their Annual Meeting for 2016 (just 11 weeks late) at the Mirch Masala in Upper Tooting Road, SW17 in March. The provisional date is Sunday March 19th at 7.30 pm. All are extremely welcome. In case you have never been, the food is really good there (it was once rated the 37th-best restaurant in Great Britain - well, its Norbury Branch was.)
Hope to see you all soon.
Nick
Sunday 5 February 2017
The John Crossland Wicketkeepers XI
In honour of our veteran wicketkeeper John Crossland's outstanding season last year, I have selected a Fantasy Wicketkeepers' XI made up of Nomads players past and present, together with a sprinkling of international stars;
Can you imagine the intensity of the on-field verbals with 11 keepers on the pitch, and try to picture the scene in the dressing room as they limbered up, performed imaginary stumpings, made scathing comments about outfielders' throwing ability and just generally behaved as wicketkeepers do? It would actually be quite scary and that is why I have appointed 2 Team Managers to keep order; Emil Todorow, of course, plus a specialist Wicketkeeper/Manager to be revealed later.
Here is the batting order.
1) - Alec Stewart (Surrey and England) - Much too dapper and technically correct - and not eccentric enough - for a Nomads line-up really, but would almost certainly be the best batsman in the side. Also, like the Nomads, he is believed to have played a lot of cricket in Wimbledon (but probably not at Dundonald Road Rec.)
2) - Mahesh Vyas (Croydon Spinners, Caribbean Mix and Clapham Nomads) - A very capable glovesman and stumping specialist who has deputised successfully for Crossland on several occasions. He would form one half of a classic opening batting partnership - The orthodoxy of Stewart and the improvisation of Vyas. One hopes there would not be too many run-out incidents.
3) - Paul Downton ( Middlesex and England) - Arguably the best defensive batsman in the side and a fine keeper who unfortunately suffered a freak injury worthy of Nomads' own Andrew West when a bail became lodged in his eye. He would be an ideal batting foil for Vyas if Stewart was out early.
4) - Farokh Engineer (Lancashire and India) - A dashing and charismatic performer who opened the batting for Lancashire in Sunday cricket and whose natural air of authority could be a calming influence in this dressing room.
5) - Graeme Douglas (Open University, Battersea Ironsides and Clapham Nomads) - Probably the least proficient keeper in the side but a capable Sunday Cricket batsman. Also, how many of the others in this line-up can boast a string of Top 20 hits? (Kursaal Flyers, Eddie and the Hot Rods.) Would be more than capable of participating in the banter which would quite possibly be a feature of this team - he once described an Open University Line-Up, including several Hunters, as being "a bunch of Mamas and Papas."
6) - Adam Gilchrist (Australia) - An automatic selection who was fantastic to watch but who broke English hearts probably more often than any other player. If this team took on, say, Energy Exiles, it would be great to watch him breaking their hearts if he came in at about 25 for 4 and slog-swept Simon Gundry onto the tram tracks by Nursery Road. Was known for his sporting nature and for "walking." Given Nomads umpires' reputation, he might even find himself walking when LBW appeals were rejected.
7) - Alan Knott (Kent and England) - Like many Nomads, this legend of the 70s was known to be a touch eccentric. Unlike many Nomads, he was a noted fitness fanatic. Stunningly acrobatic and agile, he was a "Keepers' Keeper." His discussions about technique with Crossland would be fascinating to listen to. A very successful late-middle-order batsman.
8) - Jack Russell (Gloucestershire and England) - Another automatic selection. The man from Stroud was pure entertainment and his famously patched-up and disintegrating gloves and hat would not be out of place in Emil Todorow's Nomads Kit Bag.
9) - Wasim Bari (Pakistan) - Rated by many as Pakistan's finest glovesman. He had to cope with facing a bowling line-up containing such diverse styles and talents as Imran Khan and Abdul Qadir. Like Crossland, he famously detested allowing the ball to pass him and, in 1978, he went through a whole 3-match Test series against England without conceding a bye.
10) John Crossland (Open University and Clapham Nomads) - (Captain) - A Clapham Nomads legend who has just had his finest season behind the sticks at the age of ?????. An underused but capable batsman who has scored a 50 for the Nomads and, when reminded that he once spanked Kingston Lefthanders all over the park, replied; "Yes, and I made some runs against them as well." Can occasionally be a harsh critic and it would be entertaining if, in this line-up, he berated Gilchrist for slow scoring e.g. "Come on Adam, we're falling behind the rate and there's only really Knott, Russell and Bari to come.
11) - Bob Taylor (Derbyshire and England) - Would be regarded by many as the most technically proficient wicketkeeper in this side but could possibly not hold his own with the other 10 as a batsman. Would be likely to bat in a 10th wicket partnership with Crossland but I'm sure the Nomads man would be able to shield Taylor from the strike.
Co-Managers;
Emil Todorow (Open University and Clapham Nomads) - It would take a tough manager to control this XI so Todorow would fit the bill. Also, given that Mahesh Vyas is the only recognised front-line bowler in the side. Todorow might be required to sub-field and could be allowed to sneak in a few overs of medium pace if the opposition were sporting.
Rod Marsh (Australia) - Ordinarily, his competitive streak and willingness to engage the opposition in on-pitch conversation would be sorely missed from any playing line-up. However, in this side, competitiveness and verbal dexterity would not be in short supply. He would still be useful in a coaching role, breaking up dressing room fights and possibly organising the tea. 3 Tinnies each for the lads at half-time?
12th Man;
Karl Krikken (Derbyshire) - Emil's favourite wicketkeeper - need I say more?
So that is the line-up, but one burning question remains. Who would actually keep wicket? I think the best solution would be for each man to take 3 overs of the usual Clapham Nomads 35. The last 2 overs could then be allotted to the keeper who had impressed most. This could be decided by calm and democratic discussion within the side.........or maybe not (we are talking about 11 wicketkeepers here.)
Can you imagine the intensity of the on-field verbals with 11 keepers on the pitch, and try to picture the scene in the dressing room as they limbered up, performed imaginary stumpings, made scathing comments about outfielders' throwing ability and just generally behaved as wicketkeepers do? It would actually be quite scary and that is why I have appointed 2 Team Managers to keep order; Emil Todorow, of course, plus a specialist Wicketkeeper/Manager to be revealed later.
Here is the batting order.
1) - Alec Stewart (Surrey and England) - Much too dapper and technically correct - and not eccentric enough - for a Nomads line-up really, but would almost certainly be the best batsman in the side. Also, like the Nomads, he is believed to have played a lot of cricket in Wimbledon (but probably not at Dundonald Road Rec.)
2) - Mahesh Vyas (Croydon Spinners, Caribbean Mix and Clapham Nomads) - A very capable glovesman and stumping specialist who has deputised successfully for Crossland on several occasions. He would form one half of a classic opening batting partnership - The orthodoxy of Stewart and the improvisation of Vyas. One hopes there would not be too many run-out incidents.
3) - Paul Downton ( Middlesex and England) - Arguably the best defensive batsman in the side and a fine keeper who unfortunately suffered a freak injury worthy of Nomads' own Andrew West when a bail became lodged in his eye. He would be an ideal batting foil for Vyas if Stewart was out early.
4) - Farokh Engineer (Lancashire and India) - A dashing and charismatic performer who opened the batting for Lancashire in Sunday cricket and whose natural air of authority could be a calming influence in this dressing room.
5) - Graeme Douglas (Open University, Battersea Ironsides and Clapham Nomads) - Probably the least proficient keeper in the side but a capable Sunday Cricket batsman. Also, how many of the others in this line-up can boast a string of Top 20 hits? (Kursaal Flyers, Eddie and the Hot Rods.) Would be more than capable of participating in the banter which would quite possibly be a feature of this team - he once described an Open University Line-Up, including several Hunters, as being "a bunch of Mamas and Papas."
6) - Adam Gilchrist (Australia) - An automatic selection who was fantastic to watch but who broke English hearts probably more often than any other player. If this team took on, say, Energy Exiles, it would be great to watch him breaking their hearts if he came in at about 25 for 4 and slog-swept Simon Gundry onto the tram tracks by Nursery Road. Was known for his sporting nature and for "walking." Given Nomads umpires' reputation, he might even find himself walking when LBW appeals were rejected.
7) - Alan Knott (Kent and England) - Like many Nomads, this legend of the 70s was known to be a touch eccentric. Unlike many Nomads, he was a noted fitness fanatic. Stunningly acrobatic and agile, he was a "Keepers' Keeper." His discussions about technique with Crossland would be fascinating to listen to. A very successful late-middle-order batsman.
8) - Jack Russell (Gloucestershire and England) - Another automatic selection. The man from Stroud was pure entertainment and his famously patched-up and disintegrating gloves and hat would not be out of place in Emil Todorow's Nomads Kit Bag.
9) - Wasim Bari (Pakistan) - Rated by many as Pakistan's finest glovesman. He had to cope with facing a bowling line-up containing such diverse styles and talents as Imran Khan and Abdul Qadir. Like Crossland, he famously detested allowing the ball to pass him and, in 1978, he went through a whole 3-match Test series against England without conceding a bye.
10) John Crossland (Open University and Clapham Nomads) - (Captain) - A Clapham Nomads legend who has just had his finest season behind the sticks at the age of ?????. An underused but capable batsman who has scored a 50 for the Nomads and, when reminded that he once spanked Kingston Lefthanders all over the park, replied; "Yes, and I made some runs against them as well." Can occasionally be a harsh critic and it would be entertaining if, in this line-up, he berated Gilchrist for slow scoring e.g. "Come on Adam, we're falling behind the rate and there's only really Knott, Russell and Bari to come.
11) - Bob Taylor (Derbyshire and England) - Would be regarded by many as the most technically proficient wicketkeeper in this side but could possibly not hold his own with the other 10 as a batsman. Would be likely to bat in a 10th wicket partnership with Crossland but I'm sure the Nomads man would be able to shield Taylor from the strike.
Co-Managers;
Emil Todorow (Open University and Clapham Nomads) - It would take a tough manager to control this XI so Todorow would fit the bill. Also, given that Mahesh Vyas is the only recognised front-line bowler in the side. Todorow might be required to sub-field and could be allowed to sneak in a few overs of medium pace if the opposition were sporting.
Rod Marsh (Australia) - Ordinarily, his competitive streak and willingness to engage the opposition in on-pitch conversation would be sorely missed from any playing line-up. However, in this side, competitiveness and verbal dexterity would not be in short supply. He would still be useful in a coaching role, breaking up dressing room fights and possibly organising the tea. 3 Tinnies each for the lads at half-time?
12th Man;
Karl Krikken (Derbyshire) - Emil's favourite wicketkeeper - need I say more?
So that is the line-up, but one burning question remains. Who would actually keep wicket? I think the best solution would be for each man to take 3 overs of the usual Clapham Nomads 35. The last 2 overs could then be allotted to the keeper who had impressed most. This could be decided by calm and democratic discussion within the side.........or maybe not (we are talking about 11 wicketkeepers here.)
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