2021 season - Clapham Nomads v SW United - 6/6/21

 SW United 263 for 7 from 35 overs 

Nomads bowling;

Zia - 7-1-47-1

KK - 7-0-43-0

Emil - 5-0-28-2

Riaz - 7-0-27-2

Hasan - 4-0-53-0

Rayan - 2-0-22-0

Abdul - 2-0-36-0

Darwin - 1-0-9-2

Clapham Nomads 60 all out from 18 overs

Mahesh - 3

Abdul - 0

Darwin - 7

Hasan - 4

Zia - 20

Riaz - 7

KK - 1

Rayan - 1

Nick - 0

Emil - 1 not out

John - 3

F.O.W - 1, 5, 17, 19, 40, 49, 54, 54, 54, 60

Nomads lost by 203 runs

Man of the Match - Riaz

Fielder of the Day - Zia.

John Crossland's scorebook comment - "Slaughter!"

MATCH REPORT TO FOLLOW

Clapham Nomads 2021 season

 The peak time for arranging cricket fixtures is the second week of January and, around 10th January 2021, it did not look great. There was a serious new variant of Covid (? Kent, ? Delta) and London was on Tier 4 Restrictions (remember them?) There were even some comments in the press that the capital should be subject to a new Tier (Tier 5 - chained to the mattress??)

Anyway, by Mid-February the clouds had lifted a little and 5 matches had been arranged for the summer. By the start of the cricket season, lockdown was all but over and a few more fixtures had dropped in our laps and, with Ramadan in late April and early May, normal cricket (Nomads-style) was due back on 6/6/21.

Clapham Nomads 2020 season

 Is it really 5 years ago? Clapham Nomads played no matches at all in 2020. In January we had arranged about 10 games but within a couple of months everything had changed. I'm sure you remember it well. 

By June 2020, there were rumours that recreational cricket could return in late July. As soon as walking for more than an hour was permitted (I think), I strolled around the Wimbledon area looking at some of the pitches we had booked. A groundsman was busily working away on Nursery Road, while the Del Ballard Rec in Dundonald Road resembled a partially-neglected allotment - in other words normal service was resumed.

In late June, Prime Minister Boris Johnson described cricket balls as "vectors of disease" - the most damning assessment of Nomads' balls since Morden cc opined that we bought ours from Woolworth's. However, on 3rd July, it was reported that club cricket would be allowed to resume the following weekend with various caveats such as the requirement that balls should be cleaned with hand sanitiser every few overs - I'm sure certain teams I could mention just sanitised the ball on one side, gaining copious swing as a result. Most of the sociable aspects of the game such as tea, high fives, hugging, ? slip cordons and communal baths/ showers were either discouraged or banned - bit of a relief really.

Our first scheduled match after the resumption was away at Northfields on Sunday 19th July but, despite Emil's best efforts, and despite having been "cooped up" for 4 months, only 4 or 5 players agreed to play. It did not look good for the rest of the summer and I took the perhaps premature step of cancelling not only the Northfields game but also all the remaining 2020 fixtures. Of course, within a few weeks there was some kind of normality; pubs were packed and teams such as Energy Exiles were cavorting, in a socially-distanced way - on the playing fields of South-West London. Oh well.....

2021 to follow soon.

Clapham Nomads blog is back

 Hi all,

 I don't know how many people are interested to hear, in the middle of December, about an Amateur cricket team that folded over 3 years ago, but I have finally managed to log back into my account to update this blog.

The last entry was in 2019.

We did not play at all in 2020 due to the Pandemic.

We managed 3 games in 2021 - including a record-breaking encounter with the Energy Exiles - so I will put match reports (such as I can remember after all this time) and I will also put on career averages and stats etc. 

Nick

Clapham Nomads averages - 2019 season (and nominations for Player of the Season etc)

Clapham Nomads averages - 2019 season.

Batting (qualification - 4 innings)

Hasan  -  572 runs @ 57.20
Zia  -  454 runs @ 41.27
KK  -  273 runs @ 39.00
Riaz  -  219 runs @ 21.90
Abdul  -  248 runs @ 20.67
Abbas  - 186 runs @ 20.67
Rafi  -  79 runs @ 19.75
Imran  -  66 runs @ 16.50
John  -  11 runs @ 11.00*
Darwin  129 runs @ 9.21
Mahesh  -  135 runs @ 8.44
Sami  -  14 runs @ 4.67
Emil  -  3 runs @ 0.75

* (John was not out in any of his 8 innings.)

Bowling (qualification - 3 wickets)

Riaz  -  20 wickets @ 14.65
Abdul  -  7 wickets @ 17.57
Zia  -  16 wickets @ 22.19
Emil  -  15 wickets @ 22.67
Zaman  -  6 wickets @ 23.83
Sami  -  9 wickets @ 25.78
KK  -  17 wickets @ 26.18
Hasan  -  7 wickets @ 27.71
Abbas  -  16 wickets @ 33.81

Fielding;

Catches -

John -  9 (all as wicketkeeper)
Abbas  - 9
Abdul  -  9
Darwin  -  6
Hasan  -  6
Zia  -  6
Imran  -  4
KK  -  4
Mahesh  - 3
Hayan  - 2
Kalam  - 2
Sami  - 1

Stumpings  -

John  - 1


Based on these figures, Hasan is clearly Batsman of the Year with the most runs and easily the best average.  Similarly, Riaz is Bowler of the Year with the most wickets and the best average.  Fielder of the Year seems wide open.
For Player of the Year, John Crossland has already received one nomination for excellent wicketkeeping and managing to go through a whole season of batting without being dismissed. I will also nominate Hasan for brilliant batting and captaining the side well while Emil was away, Riaz for being clearly the best bowler on the figures and being up near the top of the batting; KK for very sound batting, being the first bowler to bowl 100 overs in a season for several years, and taking 3 great catches in the final game. Also Zia for excellent figures with bat and ball. If anyone wants to nominate another player before we vote on it at the meeting - ? in February - please let me know.  Nick

Agricola v Clapham Nomads - 22/9/19

For last weekend, our great friends the Energy Exiles set us up with a match at Nursery Road against one of their toughest and longest-standing opposition teams - Agricola. We were looking forward to this even though it would have been a bit like going on a date with your wife's best friend, or possibly your best friend's wife. Anyway, at 10 a.m on Sunday, I was basking in the sun at an outdoor cafe, looking out over a parched Clapham Common, when I took a call from Agricola's organiser to say that their captain had called the game off as there was torrential rain where he was. I am not sure of the skipper's precise location; Seathwaite Tarn? Bergen? Possibly Manchester?  Probably not in South West London judging by the sky. So it was off, but at least that meant we finished a rather mixed 2019 season on a win (against India Legends.)  I think our final record was played 16; won 6; drawn 1 and lost 9. I'll confirm that and put the averages on here soon.

India Legends v Clapham Nomads - 15/9/19

It looked tough for the Nomads yesterday as we got up at the crack of dawn and made the long journey for an 11:30 start against India Legends - a team who have only lost once this season - without our two best players, Hasan and Zia, It got even better when skipper Emil Todorow won the toss and promptly inserted the home side; in 79 degree heat.
There were a couple of silver linings; we were playing at Bromley Common cc, an excellent ground, and the only team to beat the Legends so far this season was ....Clapham Nomads (way back in Mid-Summer.)
Against a strong India line-up all the bowlers did well - with, strangely, the two quickest bowlers, Zaman and Abbas, going uphill. Sami also put a lot of effort into his long new ball spell. The highlight though was one of the finest collective catching performances ever produced by a Nomads team. The first 6 wickets were all caught, with keeper John Crossland snapping up a brace to celebrate his xxth birthday, and the first 4 outfield catches just got better and better. First, a lifter from Zaman was cut uppishly to Deep Point where Abdul made no mistake. Then a very thick outside edge off Sami swirled and spun its way to Backward Point where Darwin held it smartly. The highlights were the third and fourth, both taken low by KK at Shortish Third Man; the second of these was an absolute screamer of a diving effort, probably in the top half-dozen of all-time Nomads catches.  Drinks were gratefully accepted with the Legends on 73 for 6. There was a feeling that they would bat all the way down and a recovery did follow to around 115 before KK produced a double strike with the only bowled of the innings followed in the same over by another sharp low catch by Abbas at Deep Gully. I could have watched this quality cricket all day from my vantage point in the shade but I suddenly realised it was 130 for 8 and I had to put our tea out. Unfortunately I missed 2 wickets from the evergreen Emil Todorow; both catches of course with KK pouching a skied effort for his third catch of the innings. A slight wag of the tail could not prevent Nomads from dismissing a strong Legends line-up for 163 with 4 overs unused.  A superb, crucial effort in the field. On an average to good day, we would probably only have taken 6 or 7 of these 9 catches and could have been facing 200.
There was still a lot of work for Nomads, missing Hasan and Zia, and on a track which, surprisingly for a ground which won the Kent Premier League Groundsmanship award a couple of years back, was giving considerable help to the bowlers with both high and low bounce.
Mahesh and Abdul started grittily against an awkward new ball attack and saw off some of the shine. Mahesh fell unluckily played on in the 6th over and Abdul was run out shortly afterwards and hopes were low at 19 for 2. We were fortunate in having at No. 4 Rafi, possibly Nomads' most talented player of all time. He doesn't play much cricket these days and failed to connect with some giant heaves early on but, once he had survived three overs, he began to hit it with brutal force and dominated a partnership of 64 with Darwin, who was playing a responsible hand. In an effort to break this threatening stand, Legends' skipper brought back the young opener but Rafi took him for 18 in an over with such powerful straight hits that, as the umpire at the bowler's end, I started looking around for a helmet.
Drinks came at the wrong time and Rafi fell shortly afterwards, caught by a well-placed fielder on the fence at Deep Long-On. Riaz soon followed him back to the pavilion and we were back in trouble at 84 for 4.
We were blessed to have 2 players in Darwin and KK who have hit top form at just the right time. The pair played out a fantastic, match-winning stand of 83. KK in particular looked unshiftable and played a series of fine shots, milking the empty spaces on the leg side almost at will, while Darwin, who had been out there a long time in the heat, deployed his trademark forcing shots through the covers to great effect and did well to keep calm despite continual field changes and a decidedly slow over rate. The partnership had John raving; "This was proper batting, I mean, it was like watching proper players."
With the scores level, KK sealed the victory with a cracking leg-side drive past Mid-Wicket to bring up his second successive half-century.
A great all-round performance by Nomads to beat a tough side at their own fortress. Had we lost that would probably have been it for the season but it now seems we will have another match or even two.

India Legends 163 all out from 36.1 overs

Nomads bowling;

Sami  8-0-31-1
Zaman  8-1-44-4
KK  8-0-34-2
Abbas  8-2-39-1
Emil  4.1-0-18-2

Catches; KK - 3
               John - 2
               Abdul - 2
               Abbas - 1
               Darwin - 1
             

Clapham Nomads 167 for 4 from 32.5 overs

Mahesh  1
Abdul  13
Darwin  42 not out
Rafi  44
Riaz  1
KK  51 not out

Did not bat; Abbas, Sami, Zaman, Emil (capt), John (wkt)

F.O.W. - 8, 19, 83, 84

Clapham Nomads won by 6 wickets

Man of the Match - KK
Fielder of the Day - KK

Clapham Nomads v Chelsea and Westminster - 8/9/19

Unfortunately Nomads' fixture against our oldest friend Barnes Occasionals fell through last Sunday as several of them were unable to play due to family commitments (in other words they were told the dreaded words; "Darling, you have to choose. It's me or Clapham Nomads!")
Well, surprisingly, few of them chose Clapham Nomads and it was back to the internet to find a replacement fixture which soon came in the shape of Chelsea and Westminster. I had a gut feeling that they might be rather a decent side and so it proved; they were a nice bunch of guys as well.
The legendary Emil Todorow made his re-appearance after a 3-game absence - hopefully this was the first of another 285-game unbroken run.
I arrived with the tea just before the interval and Chelsea were in the 220s - they closed on an imposing 232 for 9 from 35 overs. Most of our bowling figures were decent and 5 catches were taken and Sami and KK combined for a run out however, as that astute judge John Crossland pointed out in the scorebook; "Seven dropped catches didn't help."
Against Chelsea's impressive new ball pairing, Zahi and Naya, who both did a fair bit with the ball, Mahesh looked particularly determined and dug in with grit and used his feet to good effect. Unfortunately wickets fell at the other end. Last week's hero Darwin was bowled early on, Kalam played a few nice shots before falling and then Hasan, who has been in great from, holed out over the bowler's head. The West London side were now clear favourites and worse was to follow as Mahesh fell to a bizarre run out and Zia and Riaz were back in the pavilion for 4 between them. This must be the first time for ages, possibly ever, that star men Hasan and Zia failed to score a run between them. However, they have done incredible things for the Nomads and even Steve Smith fails occasionally (or does he?)
Nomads were 39 for 6 at this stage but KK and Sami combined very nicely to take us up to 72 before Sami was bowled. I left for work at this stage and, as always seems to happen, I missed the best as KK kicked on for a fine innings of 79, his best for the Nomads and he completely dominated stands of 20 and 43 with Zaman and Emil, taking us up to 135 for 9 and he added a further 9 after last man John had arrived at the crease. A great innings and a bit unlucky as, with a capable blocker at the other end and 22 balls to go, he must have been in with a chance of a ton.
Anyway, one of our few heavy defeats this season but not the worst day in the world.

Chelsea and Westminster - 232 for 9 from 35 overs

Nomads' bowling;

Sami  7-0-32-1
Zaman  7-0-42-1
Zia 2-0-23-0
Emil (not Jamil as the opposition called him in their scorebook)  5-0-32-1
KK  7-0-38-2
Riaz  3-0-21-1
Kalam  2-0-15-1
Hasan  2-0-16-1

Clapham Nomads  144 all out from 31.2 overs

Mahesh  19
Darwin  0
Kalam  11
Hasan  0
Riaz  4
Zia  0
KK  79
Sami  14
Zaman  4
Emil (capt)  2-
John  0 not out

F.O.W. - 2, 25, 25, 39, 39, 39, 72, 92, 135, 144

Clapham Nomads lost by 88 runs

Man of the Match - KK
Fielder of the Day - Kalam

Energy Exiles v Clapham Nomads - 1/9/19

Nomads played Exiles last Sunday for an unprecedented 4th time this season. I think there is some stalking going on here.  Here is John Crossland's report which he actually wrote for the Energy Exiles' website but it is so good that I am going to risk infringing copyright laws by putting it on here as well.

"On winning the toss, Clapham Nomads decided to bat first which they don’t do very often, normally preferring to bowl.  Mahesh Vyas and Abdul got the innings off to a good start, putting on 62. Abdul made a quickfire 39 with 6 fours and 2 sixes, a lot of his runs coming off the bowling of Jamshed who did however get him out LBW.  Darwin, who has really been struggling for runs this season, came in and he finally found some form hitting exactly 50 in a partnership of 101 with Hasan, who was still captaining the side while Emil Todorow is in Bulgaria. Hasan retired on 56. I think this might be the first time a Nomads player has retired, at least in a proper game.  The rest of the batsmen lost their wickets going for quick runs towards the end of the innings but a total of 222 was probably going to be enough on a slightly dodgy wicket.

Energy Exiles were handicapped in their bowling as Andrew Wingfield had an injury and could only bowl at a reduced pace. Bernard Leuvennink bowled reasonably well taking 3 for 42. Phil Ling, who opened the bowling, did not bowl badly either although he did not take a wicket.

In reply the Exiles lost both openers cheaply and were soon 4 wickets down for not many. The impressive Bilal and Leuvennink repaired some of the damage with a decent partnership for the 5^th wicket. Zia came into the attack and bowled really well dismissing the dangerous Bilal for 56 and also Leuvennink for 32. He finished with 4 for 7 from 5 overs.  Abbas had earlier taken 3 for 43. Until Bilal was out the Exiles were still in with a chance. They were eventually all out for 111.

This season the Nomads and Exiles have played each other 4 times. The score is 2 each. If possible it would be good to have a 5^th and deciding game before the season ends."

John Crossland.

So the amazing possibility has been suggested. A 5th test decider. Just to let you know that The Oval costs about 25,000 to book for a match - so only just over a grand a player. But would it be big enough?

Clapham Nomads 222 from 35 overs

Mahesh  14

Abdul  39

Darwin  50

Hasan (capt)  retired 56

Zia  13

KK  13

Hayan  2

Abbas  0

Zaman 5

John (wkt)  not out 1

F.O.W. - 62, 69, 170, 183, 212, 212, 215, 222

Energy Exiles  111 from 23.1 overs

Nomads' bowling;

Abbas  7-0-34-3

Zaman  5-0-35-1

KK  5-0-29-0

Zia  5-2-7-4

Abdul  1.1-0-3-2

Nomads won by 111 runs

Man of the Match - Zia

Fielder of the Day - To be decided.

I just noticed. 222 beat 111. A triple Nelson. Someone is trying to tell us something. 

Clapham Nomads v Energy Exiles - 25/8/19

Nomads entertained our old friends Energy Exiles on a scorching day at Joseph Hood over the Bank Holiday. Although it is always good to see the Exiles, and they brought some familiar faces along, for the second time this season one of the greatest days in English cricket was being played out while we were being given the run around on one of Merton's bleakest grounds.
With Emil still away, Hasan skippered but unfortunately lost the toss. In 93 degree heat, Exiles unsurprisingly batted and we faced a tough afternoon of fielding, punctuated only by extra drinks breaks. In Keith Roberts and Bilal Musakhel, Exiles had a fine left-hand / right-hand partnership. Nomads' bowling was decent and we kept the rate below 4 an over until the 15th over when the pair began to kick on. Bilal made a fine 50 with Keith looking unshiftable as ever. Having said that, quite a few chances went down and Nomads fielding was not the best it has been - understandable given the extreme conditions.
Bilal fell to a smart stumping bt keeper Crossland off the bowling of Hasan in the 21st over but then a string of right-handers gave the left-handed Roberts good support as he upper the tempo. Roberts seemes to have got even better recently. In the heyday of Nomads-Exiles games 10 years ago, he could always be relied on for a steady 30 but he seems to score a 50 every time he plays against us now.
Keith was eventually out for 70 in the final over. It was good to see Amil Patel; I haven't seen him for a few years and he chipped in with some runs at the end as Exiles finished on 183 for 5. Captain Hasan was the pick of the bowlers with 3 for 24 but everyone returned reasonable figures.
184 is a total Nomads have scored on quite a few occasions at Joseph Hood but we would need to be at our best against what was likely to be crafty bowling.
It was a vintage Exiles opening attack with Naren Patel opening his box of tricks from the Pavilion End and Phil Ling somehow getting a very dusty ball to swing sharply from the Back Gardens End. Our early batting has been patchy this year and we were soon 14 for 3 with Mahesh run out, Hayan falling to Naren and Phil swinging one in skilfully to bowl Sami. Abdul and Zia put on 29 for the 4th wicket before Abdul fell to a memorable Roberts family wicket. Keith's son, the useful medium pacer Alex, inducing a lofted shot from Abdul which was scooped by a diving Keith at Mid-Off.
It was clear a lot was going to depend on Zia and Hasan - where have I heard that before. I had to leave for work at this point and it took me about 15 minutes to limp round the ground and, as I left the car park, Zia and Hasan were still there so there was some hope.
Exiles legend Andy Wingfield turned up at half-time. He had been injured while playing the previous day and had made the surprising decision to watch the end of the Test Match rather than savouring the raw excitement of Joseph Hood cricket. He arrived once Ben Stokes had completed his heroics and he offered to umpire in Nomads' innings. I know Andy has long been an admirer of Nomads' very high standard of unbiased umpiring and it seemed he was learning fast when he turned down a vociferous appeal for caught behind early on. However he did give Zia LBW for 30 off the bowling of Naren but, to be fair, most of those present thought it was out.
Hasan was still there and batting excellently. Partners came and went until, with 39 needed, last man John Crossland joined him in the middle. Hasan was in full flight, and John is a capable defensive player on his day, so we still had a reasonable chance in the time remaining. They made 15 before Hasan (Stokes) was rather unluckily bowled by a ball deflecting off his body leaving John (Leach) stranded on 0 not out.
Still it was a reasonable game and it was good to see some old Exiles faces. If it had been 20 degress cooler it might have been an enjoyable day.

Energy Exiles 183 for 5 from 35 overs (K.Roberts 70, B. Musakhel 60)

Nomads' bowling;

Abbas 7-2-33-1
Zaman  5-0-22-0
Sami  5-1-29-0
Zia  6-0-36-0
Hasan  6-1-24-3
Abdul 6-1-35-1

Clapham Nomads 160 for 8 (all out) from 28.4 overs

Mahesh  run out 7
Hayan  b N.Patel  6
Sami b P.Ling  0
Abdul c K.Roberts b A.Roberts 19
Zia  lbw N. Patel 30
Hasan (capt) b Iqbal  73
Abbas  c ---------- b Iqbal  4
Zaman  b P. Ling  0
John (wkt)  not out 0
Did not bat; Nick (had to leave for work)

F.O.W. - 14, 14, 14, 43, 126, 140, 145, 160

Nomads lost by 23 runs.

Man of the Match - Hasan
Fielder of the Day - John

Norwood v Clapham Nomads

Nomads made the short trip to South Norwood to play new opponents  Norwood cc last Sunday.

A major shock is that Emil Todorow missed a Nomads match for the first time since September 2002 - that's about 285 successive appearances. I want to re-assure fans of the great man that he's absolutely fine and will be back in a Nomads shirt very soon.

In the meantime, Hasan did a great job as skipper in his first full match as captain of the side.

Hasan won the toss and elected to bat - a departure from Emil's usual policy. After Mahesh was run out on 9, Abdul and Darwin put on 31 for the second wicket, which was basically resolute batting peppered with some boundaries from Abdul including a six. The bowling from Norwood was more than useful.

After the loss of Darwin, KK was LBW to the dangerous Khyber in the same over, but with Zia joining Abdul, we made good progress and at 88 for 3 had made one of our best starts of the season.  Abdul fell to a caught and bowled - Khyber again - for a fine half-century but there was then a slump to 108 for 6. Skipper Hasan turned things round with a responsible innings and shepherded the lower order up to a respectable 177 for 9 at the close. New man Qari making a useful 13 and Nomads' very own Steve Smith ** John Crossland was still there keeping Hasan company at the end.

** - Well he does look a bit like Smith (just draw a light brown moustache on a picture of the Australian star and you will see.) Also, the way Smith was out LBW at Lord's on Saturday was a bit reminscent of one of John's famous dismissals by Energy Exiles. Having said all that, John is pretty tough and I don't think he would be bothered by something like a blow on the neck.

For Nomads' reply, we were pleased to welcome back Sami, who shared the new ball with Abbas, and Sami chipped in with 3 wickets. KK bowled a very tight 6-over spell for only 17 and there were 2 late wickets for Abdul but the pick of the bowlers, as last week, was probably Riaz who got through some good  work against a strong batting side and finished with 5.3-2-14-2.

Norwood passed our total for the loss of 8 wickets with 15 balls remaining but John told me that it was not quite as close as it looked as 2 of their best players had retired (not hurt.)

Still, another decent game. Energy Exiles are next up.

Clapham Nomads - 177 for 9 from 35 overs

Mahesh  2
Abdul  51
Darwin  0
KK  0
Zia  31
Hasan (capt)  43 not out
Riaz  3
Abbas  18
Sami  0
Qari  13
John (wkt)  2 not out

F.O.W. - 9, 40, 40, 88, 100, 108, 136, 137, 170

Norwood cc  - 180 for 2 from 32.3 overs

Nomads' bowling;

Abbas   4-0-40-0
Sami  6-1-48-3
KK  6-0-17-0
Zia  4-0-24-0
Qari  4-1-20-1
Riaz  5.3-2-14-2
Abdul  3-1-4-2

Clapham Nomads lost by 2 wickets.

Man of the Match - Abdul
Fielder of the Day - 4 players took a catch each, including John, and John told me that there was an absolutely cast-iron, nailed-on edge which he pouched but it was not given out. He is always honest with that sort of thing so I will say that, morally, he took 2 catches and award him Fielder of the Day.

Clapham Nomads v Wimbledon United

Nomads played an absolutely classic match against local rivals Wimbledon United on Sunday.
For a change, the venue was Wandsworth Common; a ground with a resonant history for the Nomads as it was the scene of Emil Todorow's first competitive game and also featured one of Andrew West's most memorable moments. I think there was also a 50 partnership between Emil and John Crossland about 15 years ago - must have been a thing of beauty.
It is also the sort of ground that makes many cricketers who have played there involuntarily rub the sites of long-forgotten bruises on their heads and upper body and, in fact, when we arrived, a crowd of players was examining a very green strip with extreme scepticism. Thankfully, when I returned with the tea, the groundsman had put us on a strip on the Prison Side which is basically for kids but has lines for Adult matches as well. This played pretty well as you will see from the scores.
Nomads batted by arrangement (some of our batsmen were late) and we were soon in difficulty at 30 for 3 . The third man to fall was Mahesh to an LBW decision off the bowling of Greg Dean which looked a little unlucky (? a touch high - I wouldn't have given it, anyway) but this brought together the Old Firm of Hasan and Zia and they quickly showed this pitch was more than playable with an excellent stand of 61 for the 4th wicket before Zia fell to another LBW from Dean - a ball that kept a little low.  There was always hope for the bowlers on this pitch with some irregular bounce both high and low but quick scoring was eminently possible, helped by a short boundary on the Tennis Side.
Zia's departure brought Imran who hit a nice boundary before making way for Riaz who was at his entertaining best; the highlight being a Flat Six that never got above head height. Hasan was making very good progress at the other end (racing from 30 to 50 aided by a couple of sixes) and, when Riaz was run out for 39, Hasan assumed command. He had fine support from Abbas in taking himself to an excellent 77 not out and Nomads to a more than satisfactory 206 for 6 from the full 35. As our batsmen left, Wimbledon United remained out in the middle in a sort of huddle and for a brief period I didn't think they were going to come off at all. I was unsure whether they were displeased by a rather adjacent run out appeal going against them late on (I doubt it, they had been given 2 LBWs, which is quite a result against the Nomads) or whether it was a form of motivational exercise.  If it was the latter it certainly worked.
United began their reply fairly steadily with Curtis Phillip looking particularly obdurate; dare I say it, almost Boycottesque at times with a very stout defence. Opening bowlers Abbas and KK kept the rate somewhat below what was required and the screw was really turned when Riaz and Emil came on around the 10th or 12th over. There was a bowled for Riaz and a catch (smartly taken by Abdul) and another bowled for Emil. 46 for 0 had become 54 for 3. United's skipper Gary Saxby came in and quickly looked dangerous, playing it straight but with aggressive intent. There was a massive moment when Saxby toe-ended a full-pitch from Emil and skied it to Short Mid-Wicket where it was put down.  For a while after drinks, the required rate was oscillating around the 8 mark but the batsmen were achieving this in most overs with the occasional tighter over bringing the rate up to almost 9. Saxby was dropped again off Todorow - a much harder chance. Nomads still seemed in charge but I recalled a game 4 years ago where United scored over 100 from the last 12 overs to beat us and something similar was always on the cards. Phillip finally got the measure off Todorow in the veteran's final over from which he milked 12 or 14.
The stand reached exactly 100 before Riaz produced a potentially match-winning burst with 3 wickets in an over (the first of them a fantastic catch from Abdul right on the fence to dismiss Saxby) but Curtis Phillip was playing with increasing assurance and took the 8 or 9 needed from most overs with ease. Another wicket fell at 184 and at the end of this over the target was 31 off 3 - more than 10 an over for the first time. The new man was Rohan who to be honest looked the cleanest hitter of the lot. Amid scenes of unbearable tension, and talk of a One-Day Final-style Extra Over - ideally to be bowled by Emil - United faced the final 6 balls needing 16. Nomads slight favourites but 6, 4, Dot, 4 from Rohan blew us away and the 1 to win was achieved with yet another boundary off the penultimate ball.
A classic match and a brilliant 93 not out for Curtis Phillip, just 3 short of his best score for the Wimbledon side. There was just a nagging feeling though that they had it under control throughout and engineered a final over victory just to annoy us.
Nomads' bowling and fielding were pretty good - it was just a rampant batting display from the Dons.
Zia had to leave and was unable to bowl but let's take nothing away from the visitors - it was a brilliant win for them.

Clapham Nomads - 206 for 6 from 35 overs;

Mahesh  5
Abdul  12
Darwin  0
Hasan  77 not out
Zia  23
Imran  5
Riaz  39
Abbas  16 not out
Did not bat: KK, Emil (Capt), John (Wkt) - Sub-fielder - Rayan.

F.O.W. - 21, 21, 30, 91, 112, 159

Wimbledon United - 210 for 7 from 34.5 overs (C.Phillip 93 not out)

Nomads' bowling;

Abbas  7-1-40-0
KK  7-0-35-0
Riaz  7-0-18-4
Emil  6-0-37-2
Imran  3-0-17-0
Hasan  3-0-26-0
Abdul  1.5-0-28-1

Clapham Nomads lost by 3 wickets.

Man of the Match - Hasan is very unlucky not to get this after an excellent 77 not out, but Riaz produced some very entertaining batting, was unluckily run out and had by far our best bowling figures with 4-for 18.
Fielder of the Day - Abdul

SW United v Clapham Nomads - 4/8/19

Nomads beat SW United in a low-scoring game at London Gymkhana's ground in Tolworth yesterday.
It was a great perfomance in the field with all 7 bowlers taking wickets; 2 each for Abbas, KK and Zia with Emil being the most economical with 1 for 9 from 5 overs. 5 catches were taken as we dismissed the home side for 112 in 30.1 overs.
Emil and John were very impressed with SW United's bowling and, looking at the figures, I see that their main 4 bowlers had only 28 scoring shots taken off them in 27 overs, so they were seriously hard to get off the square. The early order were gritty but we were in trouble on 23 for 4. It took a brilliant 58 not out from Zia, the only man to reach to double figures, to turn it around for Nomads and we eventually reached the target for the loss of 6 wickets with 10 balls to spare.

MORE TO FOLLOW SOON...

SW United - 112 all out from 30.1 overs.

Nomads' bowling;

Abbas  5-1-12-2
KK  6-1-13-2
Zia  7-0-22-2
Emil  5-1-9-1
Imran  2-0-20-1
Riaz  3.1-0-20-1
Abdul  2-0-14-1

Clapham Nomads - 115 for 6 from 33.2 overs

Mahesh  6
Abdul  7
Darwin  4
Imran  0
Hasan  9
Zia  58 not out
Riaz  4
KK  8 not out

Did not bat; Abbas, Emil (capt), John (wkt)

F.O.W. - 8, 19, 21, 23, 55, 69

Nomads won by 4 wickets.

Man of the Match - Zia
Fieler of the Day - to be decided.

Clapham Nomads v Gentlemen of Hampstead - 28/7/19

Brief summary - more to follow soon.

Nomads started well on a very slow pitch with 40 for the 1st wicket from Mahesh and Abdul. Wickets then fell steadily with the middle order missing out (by their usual high standards) for a change. People were whispering that 150 would be a good score and it took excellent late hitting from Abbas (45) and KK (20) to take us well past this and we closed on 165 for 9
The Gents replied steadily at first in the face of some decent Nomads bowling and catching.  With 15 overs to go they needed about 100 and were 3 down but had some well-set batsmen in, especially the excellent left-handed Cleeve.  Despite the awkward pitch, Hampstead gradually took charge near the end and it looked like being a last over finish but a flurry of boundaries took them over the line with 11 balls to spare in the end. Much more detail to follow soon.....

Clapham Nomads - 165 for 9 from 35 overs

Mahesh  22
Abdul  31
Riaz  0
Hasan  11
Darwin  7
Zia  6
Imran  4
Abbas  45
KK  20
Emil (capt) not out 1
John  not out 4

F.O.W. - 40, 50, 63, 77, 79, 85, 87, 125, 160

Gentlemen of Hampstead  - 166 for 4 from 32.5 overs (T.Cleeve 74 not out)

Nomads' bowling figures;

Abbas  7-1-18-1
KK  7-0-26-1
Zia  6.5-0-33-1
Riaz  7-0-27-1
Emil  3-0-22-0
Imran  1-0-15-0
Hasan  1-0-14-0

Nomads lost by 6 wickets

Man of the Match - Abbas (a great all-round performance)
Fielder of the Day - Abdul

Northfields v Clapham Nomads cc - 21/7/19

Nomads crossed the river to the pleasant ground of our friends Northfields cc last Sunday with hopes of at least making it as close as the classic fixtures in the last 2 seasons - a 1 run win and a 1 wicket defeat. The home side batted and I'm told by John and Emil that their top scorer made around 80 but was dropped 4 times. Northfields closed on around 188 but at least we managed to dismiss them; a reasonable bowling performance. In reply Nomads somehow found ourselves on 8 for 4 - John started to give me a very grim post-mortem on this in the pub but thankfully we soon all started arguing about a more cheerful subject (Brexit) instead. Nomads did well to recover somewhat from this, with Riaz hitting a fine 36 or so, before he had to go off with a foot injury. KK and John stuck around for a while at the end but we finished up on about 138 - better than it could have been anyway.

More details when I get the scorebook next week.

Northfields -  188 all out from 37.5 overs

Nomads' bowling figures;

Abbas  5-0-27-0
KK  7.5-0-18-4
Zia  7-0-44-1
Hasan  8-2-31-1
Riaz  4-0-19-2
Emil  4-0-29-0
Imran  2-0-10-1
Abdul  1-0-10-0

Clapham Nomads - 138 for 9 (innings closed) from 31.4 overs

Mahesh  4
Abdul  1
Imran  1
Hasan  39
Darwin  0
Zia  12
Riaz  retired hurt 37
KK  7
Abbas  19
Emil  0
John  1 not out

F.O.W. - 6, 7, 7, 8, 49, 89, 113, 113, 138

Nomads lost by 50 runs

Man of the Match - KK
Fielder of the Day - Imran

Clapham Nomads v Ruislip Orientals - 14/7/19

Nomads did not have a scheduled fixture on this date but, despite the likelihood of the World Cup Final being shown on Proper television, we agreed to get a fixture via Internet or Conference. I arranged a match on the Wednesday against a team who sounded very keen, only for them to drop out on Friday as they wanted to watch the Final. Congratulations to **cc, you became the first team in 26 seasons (about 70 short notice fixtures) to cancel a game arranged at short notice via Conference or Internet against the Nomads. I hope you were cheering on New Zealand...(by the way, how was the Final? I heard it was a half-decent game.)
Anyway, I managed to get yet another replacement fixture against Ruislip Orientals and, knowing the strength of Middlesex clubs, prepared to face the music.
The opposition had some interesting ideas such as bowling 10 overs in a row from one end and then reverting to the other end for the next 10 overs to save time (which actually does sound like a good idea) and also adopting the "free hit" rule for No Balls but, Nomads being about as traditionalist a Sunday team as you can get,  we eventually settled on normal rules.
After an early wicket, Ruislip made progress which alternated between the steady and the remorseless and the second wicket did not fall until Emil came on just before drinks in the 18th or 19th over. The score was well over 100. I had been sub-fielding and I came off to prepare the tea and, for a while, this coincided with an improvement in our fortunes, with Emil taking 2 further wickets and Riaz claiming a couple. However, Orientals must have re-asserted themselves dramatically while I was opening food packets and warding off dogs as, when Hasan took the last 2 wickets in the final over, they had recorded 269, which I think is the 3rd-highest score made against the Nomads and possibly the highest in a 35-over a side game.
This was an extremely tall order and Nomads could not have started much worse with Darwin falling early on, followed by Mahesh to a confusing run out and then, surprisingly, Hasan. Nomads were 4 for 3. The visitors were thoroughly enjoying themselves and were in giggling, chucklesome form. Mind you, nothing deflates the cricket comedy quite like a star batsman being given Not Out to an extremely adjacent LBW appeal and that is what happened. I had to leave shortly after this - not just because of the decision; I had to go to work - but Zia was already beginning to make rapid progress, supported by the very impressive and correct-looking left-hander Imran, brother of KK.
When a copy of the scores dropped through my door the next day I was pleased to find that, although we had almost inevitably lost, we had at least made it fairly respectable, with Zia, Imran and also KK making very useful contributions with the bat.
Not quite as dramatic as events at Lord's but still a useful recovery from a terrible position. A great perfomance in the field from Abbas as well with 3 catches and a run out.

Ruislip Orientals - 269 all out from 34.3 overs

Nomads' bowling

Zia  7-0-31-1
KK  6-0-49-1
Abbas  6-0-62-0
Imran  3-0-24-0
Emil  6-0-34-3
Riaz  4-0-23-2
Rayan  2-0-10-0
Hasan  0.3-0-4-2

Clapham Nomads  209 for 6 from 35 overs

Darwin  0
Mahesh  0
Riaz  9
Hasan  0
Zia  76
Imran  56 not out
Abbas  6
KK  28 (retired)
Rayan  0 not out
Did not bat;  Emil (capt), John (wkt) -  Sub Fielder (19 overs) - Nick

F.O.W. - 0, 4, 4, 39, 134, 162

Nomads lost by 60 runs.

Man of the Match - Zia
Fielder of the Day - Abbas.

I will update the previous 2 matches with scores and more details once I have got the scorebook back, hopefully next week.

India Legends v Clapham Nomads - 7/7/19

Nomads made the long journey down to the excellent Bromley Common Cricket Club to play India Legends, who have beaten us in each of the last 2 seasons.
Nomads fielded and there was a return for Sami who roared in at good pace downhill and found the edge of the bat in taking the first 2 wickets to fall. A routine pouch by keeper John Crossland and one of his trademark reflex, diving efforts by Mahesh "The Cat" Vyas at slip.
Despite this, the Legends looked strong and they imposed a vice-like grip on early proceedings, moving up to 115 for 2 off 15 overs.
The introduction of slower bowlers seemed to change things round and Riaz and Emil bowled excellent spells. Emil, in particular, really got under the skins of the Home side with his mixture of deception and wizardry as he reverted to his old winning formula of alternating rank wides with deceptive, almost unplayable floaters on the stumps. The latter type of delivery accounted for 4 victims; 3 caught and a a plumb LBW. He had a further excellent shout for leg before turned down and, in his final over, with ardent Todorow fans and fans of free drinks roaring the veteran on, the batsman chipped the ball just short of the legendary figure, As Nomads' Poet Laureate John Crossland might have put it; "If he could dive, he would have had five."
Emil's 4 for about 20 was the highlight of the second half of Legends' innings, a period of 18.3 overs where they only managed 59 for 8 against some high quality Nomads bowling and fielding - particularly the catching. I think they just about all stuck.  Great work in the field from Darwin, Zia, Abdul and Hasan in addition to the people already mentioned.
Nomads faced a target of 170 for the win.
In reply, Mahesh and Abdul maintained their habit of getting us off to a decent start though there was an interesting incident. Mahesh was backing up too far and the bowler swiped the bails off. Umpire Todorow insisted that this should just count as a warning to the batsman. The bowler promptly did the same thing again in the following over and our opener was out. Sportingly, the Legends' captain Puneet recalled Mahesh to the crease and had his reward a few balls later in dismissing Mahesh with a full toss. Trouble soon followed as we slipped from 31 for 0 to 34 for 3. Thankfully we had Hasan and Zia to fall back on and last season's player of the year showed a return to his very best form with 10 off the first over he faced and he raced to 50 with the partnership standing at just 61. Hasan played a very sensible supporting role. This was all achieved against probably the best 2 opposition bowlers and the result did not look in much doubt once Nomads passed 120 and these bowlers had completed their spells. Hasan fell caught behind but Abbas strode out to complete the job. At 163 for 4 and with Zia on 89 not out, I pointed out to Zia that if he got all the 6 runs to equal India's score, or even 5 of them, and then won the match with a 6, he could notch up another ton. However, Nomads are just a ruthless winning machine on their day and Abbas just clouted 2 fours to wrap things up with over 8 overs to spare.
The Legends' skipper was quick at the end of their match to hint that they might not have been at their absolute full strength (probably true) and he invited us for another day out in Bromley on 15th September. Their thirst for vengeance will be strong.


India Legends - 169 all out from 33.3 overs

Nomads' bowling figures;

Sami  5-0-27-2
KK  5-0-27-0
Abbas  4.3-0-33-1
Zia  5-0-22-1
Emil  7-0-26-4
Riaz  7-0-25-2


Clapham Nomads - 171 for 4 from approx 24.3 overs.

Mahesh  8
Abdul  15
Darwin  1
Hasan  22
Zia  not out 89
Abbas  not out 18

Did not bat; Riaz, KK, Sami, Emil (capt), John (wkt)

F.O.W. - 31, 38, 38, 140

Nomads won by 6 wickets.

Man of the Match - Zia
Fielder of the Day - Mahesh

Clapham Nomads v Charing Cross Hospital Staff - 30/6/19

Following the collapse of Nomads' fixture against Surbiton Imperials (it was rumoured they found watching England v India in the world cup more appealing than playing the Nomads - hard to believe, I know) we found well-matched replacements in Charing Cross Hospital Staff cc for our fixture on Sunday.
Our visitors won the toss and batted - Nomads insisting on 35 overs a side rather than 40 that "The Medics" wanted. It was just as well we decided on 35 - more of that later.
Anyway, just a brief summary until I get the scorebook back.  Nomads' bowling and fielding was a little lacklustre at times, with a notable exception being an excellent juggling reflex catch from Zia. There was a wicket on around 25 and we were not too badly placed at drinks with the visitors about 85 for 3 from 17. The batsmen, cut loose rather in the second half, with several overs going for 15 plus. The pitch was excellent, some of the boundaries short and the outfield rapid but Charing finished on 225 for 7 at tea which looked a very tall order.
In reply, Mahesh and Abdul once again started fairly well with about 30 for the 1st wicket but 2 quick wickets - Mahesh and Darwin - then fell. At drinks we were in a roughly similar position to where Charing Cross had been, but we had Hasan and Zia just beginning to get going. Zia surprisingly fell shortly afterwards for a good knock of 25 of so but excellent attacking stroke play from Hasan and Riaz began to rattle the opposition, without it seeming as if Nomads were in a winning position. The announcement that Nomads were on 160 with 66 needed at just over a run a ball seemed to shake the fielding side but was also followed by the departure of Hasan for an excellent 74. Fortunately Riaz kept his head in difficult circumstances and, with fine support from KK, kept Nomads in with a shout. With 18 needed off the last 2 overs, there was a lengthy delay as the wicketkeeper removed his pads and gloves and prepared to bowl.  If this was timewasting it backfired spectacularly as 12 were taken from the over and then, following another lengthy delay as the keeper put his gear back on again, Riaz hit 2 boundaries in 3 or 4 balls to finish on a match-winning 72 not out and secure a famous victory for the Nomads.
There was a fair bit of controversy, more of which when I do the update.

Charing Cross Hospital Staff - 225 for 8 from 35 overs

Nomads' bowling;

Zia  7-1-28-2
KK 7-1-43-2
Abbas  5-0-48-1
Riaz  6-1-18-1
Hasan  3-0-24-0
Emil  3-0-28-0
Abdul  2-0-6-0
Rayan  2-0-9-1

Clapham Nomads - 228 for 5 from 34.2 overs


Mahesh  11
Abdul  17
Darwin  1
Hasan  74
Zia  19
Riaz  72 not out
KK  17 not out

Did not bat; Abbas, Emil (capt), John (wkt), Rayan

F.O.W. - 27, 30, 39, 111, 164

Nomads won by 5 wickets.

Man of the match - Riaz
Fielder of the day - Zia

Wimbledon United v Clapham Nomads - 23/6/19

Nomads were inserted by the hosts in another local derby against Wimbledon United at Cottenham Park.  A fine opening partnership of 55 (our best 1st wicket stand of the season so far) between Mahesh and Abdul got us off to a very solid start, though economical spells from Peter Brown and Ian kept a brake on the scoring rate.  First-changer Patel made the breakthrough in what must have been about the 18th over. Despite missing star all-rounder Hasan, Nomads had a hard-hitting middle order and local householders must have been quaking in their boots - and glaziers and garages rubbing their hands in anticipation - as Riaz and Zia prepared to clear the short boundary and the trees and rattle nearby windows and cars. They achieved a six each but United's bowlers just have that knack of popping up with wickets at the most inconvenient time and a match-changing mini-collapse took us from 94 for 2 to 98 for 5. Nomads' late-middle order, including new man Shairy, kept chipping away but a further burst for the home side took Nomads from 144 for 6 down to 148 for 9. Thankfully an excellent 10th wicket partnership between KK and John dragged us up to semi-respectability on 170 before KK was caught behind off the returning Ian on the penultimate ball of the innings.
This is the sort of total we have reached in a number of games against Wimbledon, and we have won some of them, but United's historically strong batting seems to have moved up a gear in the last year or so, judging by their scores, despite the loss of star man Dave Hitchman. All Nomads' main bowlers returned respectable figures, particularly Zia, but John and Emil told me that the home side progressed to the target with comparatively little difficulty and won by 6 wickets with almost 5 overs to spare.  Still a reasonable perfomance against a team whose batting is becoming formidable and a nice tea as usual. 

Clapham Nomads 170 all out from 39.5 overs

Mahesh  19
Abdul  38
Rafi  8
Riaz  25
Darwin  0
Zia  31
Shairy  7
KK  25
Abbas  0
Emil (capt)  0
John  3 not out

F.O.W - 55, 61, 94, 94, 98, 123, 144, 144, 148, 170

Wimbledon United  171 for 4 from 35.2 overs

Nomads' bowling;

Zia  8-1-20-1
KK 8-0-35-0
Abbas  7-1-28-2
Riaz  6-1-35-1
Abdul  2-0-23-0
Emil  3-0-19-0
Shairy  1.2-0-8-0

Nomads lost by 6 wickets

Man of the Match - Abdul
Fielder of the Day - to be decided

Energy Exiles v Clapham Nomads - 9/6/19

Clapham Nomads made a great return from our break for Ramadan and Eid with one of our most convincing wins over local rivals Energy Exiles at Nursery Road on Sunday.
Exiles were missing a few regulars; notably Simon Gundry, Keith Roberts, Chris Plume and Bernard Leuvennink, and it was pretty much a full-strength Clapham selection but it was still a fantastic win.
Exiles won the toss and, after a good start, collapsed somewhat but then made a recovery with a fine 10th wicket stand of about 40 between experienced campaigners Andy Wingfield and Phil Ling. Emil claims credit for eventually breaking this stand by getting fielders to come up and crowd Ling. The final total was 180 which Exiles felt was 30 or so below par, but Nomads' keeper John Crossland said later he felt the game might have slipped away.  I haven't seen the bowling figures but it was our best bowling of the season so far. Emil, despite being at his own admission not at his awesome best physically, bowled a good spell of 5 overs and took a wicket.
Exiles new "Tea Lady" provided quality refreshment before Nomads began their reply.
It was good to have Abdul back at the top of our order but, despite obdurate resistance from Mahesh and some quick runs from Darwin, Exiles had us in considerable trouble at 48 for 3. Fortunately we had the reliable firm of Hasan and Zia - "destroying opposing attacks a speciality" - in reserve and they did not disappoint. A fantastic unbeaten partnership of  135 took Nomads past the home side's total with around 8 overs to spare. Both Hasan (top scorer) and Zia made half-centuries.
John picked out Zia as the pick of the bowlers.  I'll have to check the stats to see if this was our most convincing win over the Exiles - it must have been close; a great win.

MORE DETAIL TO FOLLOW WHEN I HAVE SEEN THE SCOREBOOK....

Energy Exiles - 180 all out in 38.1 overs

Nomads' bowling;

Sami  8-1-35-2
KK  6.1-0-25-1
Abbas 8-1-45-3
Zia  8-1-34-3
Riaz  3-2-5-0
Emil  5-0-29-1


Clapham Nomads - 183 for 3 from 32.1 overs

Mahesh  4
Abdul  5
Darwin  18
Hasan  76 not out
Zia  64 not out

F.O.W. - 8, 30, 48

Did not bat:  Riaz, Abbas, KK, Emil (capt), Sami, John (wkt)

Clapham Nomads won by 7 wickets.

Man of the Match - Zia
Fielder of the Day (2 catches) - Abbas