Sunday 24/8 saw another trip to our old friends Barnes Occasionals at their ground opposite Ham House. Nomads' skipper Emil Todorow had done well to raise 11 on what is traditionally a difficult weekend to put out a full team.
This is an excellent venue. It has the reputation of being a bit remote but Emil Todorow made it door-to-ground in 32 minutes (driving at 29.5 mph all the way.) It has a semi-rustic feel; surrounded by allotments, historic buildings and farm animals and with the faint tang of horseshit (mostly in the literal sense) in the air. As you will see from the scores, it was possible to bat well on this pitch but there was plenty of assistance for both fast and slow bowlers as well.
A strong-ish Nomads batting order was inserted by Occasionals for this time game. It was nice to see two Barnes regulars; Mark Lichfield and Mike Webster, who had not played against us for a while. It was a shame the legend Keith Seed was missing but this could only help our cause.
As ever, Ollie Hogg was one of the New Ball bowlers and he bamboozled the batsmen with his mixture of swing, drift, float and occasional temptation. Tom Hooker, at just above Medium, kept it steady at the other end. Hogg rarely seems to miss out against Nomads and he struck twice in his second over; bowling, in quick succession, Gul and Prasanth, 2 players you would always back to score at least 40 between them.
6 for 2. Time for some hard graft. I thought Mahesh did a fine job in knuckling down and seeing off the shine. Tom Hooker was finding some high bounce and rapped Mahesh on the visor with one ball. Together with Hassan, Mahesh took Nomads into the 30s and his firm pull for 4 off Hogg in the 12th over could have heralded a change in the balance of power. Unfortunately, in trying to follow up, he holed out to Short Mid-Wicket. 37 for 3.
At this stage, it seemed 100 might be a fighting total on this pitch. Nomads were confident of reaching that as Hassan and Darwin continued where they left off the previous week. They soon showed that, once played in, class players could capitalise (particularly against anything short) on the lack of pace in this pitch. Hassan had warmed up with successive 4s off Hooker and a 6 off Hogg and, when change bowlers Findon (later revealed to be a former England Schools bowler), Nigel Pettitt and Mark Lichfield came on, our Middle Order stars cranked it up a few gears, taking these 3 bowlers for almost 9 an over between them. Hassan was still in the zone after last week's match-winning ton and he charged to 50. It then became clear Darwin was playing brilliantly as well with firmly-struck groundshots for 4 in the arc between Cover Point and Long Off. Darwin actually began to catch up with Hassan's score as he passed his first 50 for Nomads. Hassan was on 76 (and Darwin on 62) when someone whispered; "Hassan should get his second ton in a row." The very next ball he unfortunately pulled Mark Lichfield straight to Long Leg but the stand had realised 123. If you add that to their unbeaten partnership in the previous game, they scored 202 in no more than 25 overs.
Jonnie Randall was No. 6 and cracked a fine boundary but his main job was to support Darwin who was dominating and securing his place in Nomads' Hall of Fame. With the score on around 170, John started telling Emil he should declare. We reminded him that Darwin was on 74 and looked in no trouble at all. Once Darwin passed his previous lifetime best of 82, even John just concentrated on enjoying the batting. Darwin entered the 90s which proved to be anything but nervous as two successive 4s (his 13th and 14th) brought up a fantastic and very popular century. Emil promptly declared to give his bowlers an extra quarter of an hour (taken after tea) to go for the win.
Barnes were packed with experience but, on paper, the only player who could take them close to 200 in a couple of hours was opener Roger Price. We managed to get Price fairly early for a change; a fast, straight one from Abbas rattling the stumps with the score on 22.
With Peter Carey defending stoutly, Barnes' stall seemed set out for the draw attempt but Sami kept it interesting by inducing a mis-cued hook from No. 3 Benz which Jonnie Randall clung on to at Fine Leg despite a broken nail.
It was still 2 down at the start of the final 20 overs. Hassan entered the fray with some extravagant Leg Spinners before reverting to pace and bowling the obdurate Carey. Emil also bowled some spinners and even produced a genuine googly which No. 4 Makatrewicz just got his bat down on. The batsmen told Emil he had picked the googly but only because of their shared Slavonic blood.
2 further bowleds for Hassan brought the veteran Mike Webster to the middle. Emil put Abbas back on at the bouncier River End and there was an exciting passage of play as the young paceman bowled a fast, hostile spell and Webster did very well to survive some short stuff. In one over, 3 edges went either short or over the cordon but Webster handled the threat very impressively and even played a couple of deliberate Dilshan shots over the slips.
At the other end, Findon took advantage of the close-up field with a series of boundaries. By the time Hassan finally bowled Findon there were only 3 or 4 overs for Webster and Tom Hooker to survive, which they did quite comfortably and with capable defensive players Mark Lichfield and Ollie Hogg in reserve.
I have to say that Barnes drew this game quite easily and I wouldn't even call it a losing draw for them. It was an enjoyable game with the magic century from Man of the Match Darwin the obvious highlight. You wouldn't often score 76 and take 4 wickets and not be Man of the Match but that is what happened to Hassan. Sami was the most economical bowler. Jonnie Randall was Fielder of the Day with the only catch and the best diving stop; Prasanth was a close second.
Clapham Nomads 203 for 4 declared from 33 overs
M. Vyas 9
Gul 3
P. Pattiyil 0
H. Khan 76
D. Gunawardena not out 100
J. Randall not out 6
Did not bat; N.Lefebve, Sami, E.Todorow, Abbas Khan, J.Crossland
F.O.W. - 6, 6, 37, 160
Barnes' bowling
T. Hooker 9-2-37-0
O. Hogg 9-2-37-3
J. Findon 9-0-68-0
N. Pettitt 2-0-27-0
M. Lichfield 4-0-36-1
Barnes Occasionals 112 for 6 from 41 overs
R. Price 17
P. Carey 14
N. Benz 4
Makatrewicz 19
M. Webster not out 20
N. Pettitt 2
J. Findon 25
T. Hooker not out 0
Did not bat; M.Lichfield, O.Hogg
F.O.W. - 22, 33, 43, 60, 66, 104
Nomads' bowling
Sami 11-4-15-1
Abbas Khan 11-2-38-1
H. Khan 11-5-18-4
E. Todorow 6-2-23-0
Gul 2-0-13-0
Match drawn
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