20) - This is not so much a moment as a dance / comedy routine which was performed almost every time Andrew did something good on the cricket pitch; which, to give him his due, was frequently. a) Andrew would, for example, bowl a frustrated slogger; b) John Crossland would rush over and the pair would engage in a light-hearted wrestling bout; c) Emil Todorow would saunter over to the friends, possibly disentangle the pair of them and then, patting Andrew playfully on the gut, would ask him; "when is it due?"
19) - About 5 years ago, we were relaxing with a post-match pint in one of South Wimbledon's many fine and customer-friendly hostelries, which is now - sadly - a Tesco Metro. Suddenly, the tranquility was disturbed as a large and feisty rottweiler began scrabbling frantically behind the gate which led to the sealed-off roof and started to bark and snarl at the Nomads. Surreally, the dog was then joined by a small, beautiful, grey wild boar. Entranced by all this wildlife, Andrew walked over, bravely thrust his fingers through the gate and stroked the boar on the tusk. The pig purred contentedly. I don't think I have ever witnessed such a profound connection between man and beast.
18) - A Nomads / Exiles game in August 2014. Exiles had posted a 200-plus total but were a fielder short and so skipper Todorow sportingly / rashly agreed to lend them a fielder. Is it customary in these situations to give one of your more mobile fielders and so Emil asked Andrew West to join the opposition. He quite soon made a series of absolutely basic fielding errors. I was umpire and had a close-up view of Exiles' skipper Chris Plume's reaction. To be fair to him, he hid his annoyance very well - and tried to hide Andrew at gully. Almost instantly, a thick edge from Hamid found its way straight into our hero's meaty paws, and it stuck. Andrew became an instant Exiles legend. In a tight match, this catch could have been crucial - though Hamid only made about 8 - but an all-time-great innings from Hassan steered Nomads to victory.
17) - v Crete Sports at Duppas Hill on 14/7/96. I will let John's scorebook comment tell the tale; "Andrew West could not bowl or field as he injured his finger just before the start." Crete made 194 for 8. This kind of cemented Andrew's reputation as being quite exceptionally injury-prone (it was an extremely gentle pre-match throw-around - I think I might have made the throw himself.) The day also showed Andrew's willingness to stick around and play through his pain. He batted at No. 11 but, through no fault of Andrew's, Nomads' last pair were only able to put on 7, rather than the 138 needed for victory. I was the man who was dismissed and left Andrew stranded on 1 Not Out. Sorry, Andrew.
16) - Purplegate. We played Dulwich one Sunday in May 2007 at the Del Ballard Rec in Wimbledon. A 2 pm start. Showing a blithe disregard for punctuality (most Nomads had probably arrived at about 2.40), Andrew West pitched up at 3.25. For some reason I put Purplegate in the notes but he was, in fact, wearing his other shirt - the blue one; not quite as figure-hugging as the purple number - ?? his One Day International Top. Bizarrely, the AWAY SIDE (Dulwich) refused to let Andrew play. Who do they think they are? The MCC? Versace? They might have had the hump because Nomads had selected a terrifyingly fast Geordie ringer - name to follow - but the man from Northumberland went for 51 off his 7 overs and it is unlikely Andrew would have gone for 7.3 an over against Dulwich; so even if Andrew had bowled just 2 overs we might well have won a game which we ended up losing by 2 runs. Who knows, Andrew might even have hit the 3 runs we needed to win (we batted with 10 men.)
15) - 21/7/14. We were sitting in the pub having been hammered by 9 wickets by Addington. John was repeatedly telling the opposition, much to their amusement, that the day had been a complete waste of his time. It was not an evening that filled me with a love of playing for the Nomads. Poignantly though, Andrew suddenly gazed, misty-eyed, into the middle distance and said; "I'd love to play in every game." (He has not really been a regular player for some time - possibly since 2007 when Emil took over the team selection from John.)
14) - In the final game of the 2011 season, Andrew West became only the third man - following Emil and Hassan - to take 100 wickets for the Nomads. When you think of the excellent bowlers who had not reached this mark for the club, it was quite an achievement. The opponents were Energy Exiles and, coincidentally, their paceman Simon Gundry reached his 100 wickets for Exiles in the same match. 2 men who are very different in background, looks, build and pace. One could say though, that they share a few characteristics; accuracy and also a certain "assertiveness" on the field of play. Apparently John and Andrew shared a bottle of champagne which they had smuggled into a nearby pub to mark the occasion. I only hope Andrew wasn't injured by the cork.
13) - Rather like the wrestling bouts in number 20, this is a composite moment made up of various incidents. In his Nomads career, Andrew has had 3 main types of response to failure; a) Swearing - which lets face it most of us do from time to time, b) Threatening to quit cricket on the spot (usually after being taken off prematurely or having a catch dropped off his bowling) and c) Lying on the ground and refusing to move, sometimes for considerable periods of time. A most memorable example of the latter was in 2011 when Caribbean Mix rattled up one of their afternoons of 250-plus punishment. I felt like a good lie-down myself but Andrew took it literally for the last 3 overs. If I remember correctly, he lay prone at mid-wicket in overs 33 and 35, but did move round and lie prone at ? Short Third Man in Over 34. We did wonder whether it would count as 5 if the ball hit him (after all, it is 5 if the ball hits a helmet, which is rather a smaller target than West.)
12) - If the summer of 2012 was a beacon in British sport, it certainly wasn't for the Nomads. Just quite a sour, sodden experience with 6 games abandoned. On paper, the match against Exiles in August where we could only raise 6 men, had to beg a by-stander at Raynes Park to play, and got hammered, looks like a low-point even in that bad year; but this one had a few highlights. Firstly, Nomads managed to poach Naren Patel from Exiles and the sight of 2 veteran maestros of the game - Naren and Emil - opening the bowling together for Nomads must have been a sight to treasure - rather as if Frank Sinatra and John Lennon were sharing Lead Vocals - for the London Symphony Orchestra. Fantasy cricket (I only wish I had been there). Nomads had batted first and made only 47. Inevitably Todorow and Patel struck a couple of early blows for us but a brilliant 31 from Jasper Searle brought Exiles level. Andrew West came on at this point and bowled Searle with an outrageous pea-roller, which the bowler celebrated by shaking his fist at the departing Searle. (This might have been Andrew's apology for the bounce - or it might not.) Even better was to follow. Simon Gundry strolled out, not wearing pads, smacked West firmly to leg in the hope of winning the match with a 6, but was brilliantly caught on the Mid-Wicket boundary for a Golden Duck by Prasad, the by-stander who had been press-ganged to play by Emil. It has never been recorded how Andrew celebrated this wicket. Marcin Zielenewski then walked out, also with no pads and Andrew on a hat-trick Had Marcin been out, this Moment would probably have been No. 1 but the former Nomad made no mistake. 4 runs to win a match which shouldn't have been memorable, but was.
11) - I wasn't playing in this game v Wimbledon United in May 2013 but arrived at 3 pm with the tea to find that Mahesh was keeping wicket, original keeper John was rubbing his leg vigorously behind some trees, and Andrew West, who had also not been down to play, was charging around the boundary rope, clad in purple, making sensational boundary-saving stops with every part of his body. It turned out that John had broken his ankle (Emil still asked him to bat later) and I can only think that Andrew's brilliant fielding (which was the best ground-fielding I have seen him produce for the Nomads) was as a result of the emotion and concern he felt for his great friend. Actually, Andrew's smartest piece of work was when he noticed a dog approaching the food which had been laid out at the edge of the pitch. West sprinted 30 yards and the terrified mutt managed only to pouch 1 samosa and a packet of economy chicken slices before fleeing in terror. West scared me himself that day.
STILL TO FOLLOW - Numbers 10 to 1. If you are someone that feels concern for a man in pain, is worried about the disappearing rain forest and tree cover, and values the family ties that make Blood thicker than Water, then don't miss it.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment