Wimbledon United v Clapham Nomads - 3/6/12

This fixture (a replacement for the cancelled game v Bec Old Boys) was called off at 09:45 on Sunday morning after heavy rain overnight.  For a while it looked as if this might be a harsh decision by the Council but heavy rain from about 3.30 totally vindicated the call.  So Nomads suffered their 4th washout of the season - a record already with 3 months of the season still to go.

Clapham Nomads v Wimbledon Corinthians - 27/5/12

The sun finally came out and ensured Nomads' second match of the season, at home to Wimbledon Corinthians, could go ahead.
This was one of the more eventful match-ups last year, what with Jim Joyce's phenomenal century, a 3 and a quarter hour innings from Nomads - our longest ever, and the acrimonious disputed pitch incident in September.  Despite Nomads sportingly giving up our pitch last Autumn to allow Corinthians' title decider to go ahead, the opposition organiser told me this was considered a grudge match and they would be fielding a strong side.
Nomads chose an unchanged line-up with reasonable batting strength on a placid-looking pitch, but with the bowling appearing just a touch light as one Nomads fielder wasted absolutely no opportunity to point out repeatedly.  Thankfully Raynes Park 3 is one of the worst pitches in London for acoustics thanks to its proximity to the A3 so I had to resort to lip-reading to get the benefit of the fielder's "wisdom."
Unusually, Nomads' assertive skipper, Emil Todorow, was talked into a 40-over game by a Corinthians side who enjoy nothing better than a marathon fielding session in 80 degree heat.
Nomads batted first and Mark Bradshaw was soon away with a classy off-side 4 off Shaan, a bowler who sent down an equal mix of away swingers, erratic stuff and off-cutters.  One of the latter accounted for Mahesh Vyas, bowled round his legs in the 5th over.
No. 3 Prasanth Pattiyil came out and soon began to hit the ball hard and true.  He certainly seems to have added more power to his batting this year but denied rumours that he had been working out in the gym, by stating that he has been watching a lot of IPL.  2 resounding 4s off Shaan and a superb straight 6 off Shaan's otherwise tighter new ball partner Malik provided quality entertainment the equal of anything on ITV4.
Bradshaw had done a good job to see off the opening pair and help us to 44 for 1 off 10.  He got hold of the first ball from 1st change swing bowler Clifford, back over the bowler's head but uppishly and Deep Mid-Off took an excellent and important catch.
2nd change bowler Shoaib was a Medium Pace Spinner with an unusual action, possibly the pick of the away side's attack.  He ended Prasanth's breezy 30 but was smacked away for 4 next ball by Chris Kee; one of only 2 boundaries off Shoaib.
Clifford removed Kee, LBW as last week and Nomads were down to 87 for 4 with Hassan and Abdul, the last 2 recognized front-line batsmen at the square.  This stand seemed vital but only realised a still-useful 23 before the awkward Shoaib had Abdul lbw.  Chris Kennedy fell 3 balls later.  Hassan was starting to blossom in the 30s, and has had several useful stands with No. 8 Nick Lefebve, but when our star all-rounder skied a catch 9 runs later, Nomads were reduced to 121 for 7 and would gratefully have accepted a final total of 140.
Lefebve and Darwin dug in initially and their contrasting styles soon began to pay dividends.  Darwin, the more attacking player, produced one gorgeous Cover Drive - the Shot of the Day.  Lefebve set out to leave anything outside off stump and generally match Corinthians for time-wasting in an attempt to blunt their banter.  Having said that, the atmosphere was fine, a good laugh in the main.  Most of Corinthians chirping was directed at the 17-year-old Mohammed whom they dubbed "The Future."  "If he's the future then the past is standing at First Slip," one wag quipped, indicating the evergreen Steve O'Neill Ramsadeo.
A valuable and pugnacious 8th wicket stand of 42 ended with Darwin holing out off the deceptive pace of Victor.  O'Neill Ramsadeo trapped Todorow first ball - rather plumb.  The veteran then asked 3 successive loud questions as ball after ball rapped John Crossland's pads.  Lefebve instructed Crossland to use his bat but our keeper got his revenge in the final over as Lefebve produced a series of hoiks only vaguely in the vicinity of the ball.  "Look at the ball," the No. 11 suggested, but his advice went unheeded and an LBW from the 3rd-last delivery was the result. 
165 was a decent effort in the end but, with one very short boundary, a dry outfield and a good pitch with just the occasional low bounce, I can't say we were particularly confident.
Emil Todorow seemed to have added half of yard of pace to his bowling in this game and claimed an early scalp with the score on around 20.  No. 3 tried to fight fire with fire and lofted 2 enormous sixes off Emil.  There was no way our skipper was going to tolerate this sort of treatment and, fuelled by pride and fear of what would be said to him in the pub, he removed his tormentor next ball - admittedly caught at head height by Hassan on the boundary.  Corinthians' innings then followed the pattern of last year with a remorseless and fairly uneventful stand of around 100 between Rahman and Clifford virtually sealing victory.  Progress wasn't spectacular - the score after 16 overs was only 59 for 2, but acceleration after Drinks made the result a formality.  2 excellent catches in the deep by Abdul Khan gave the score some semblance of respectability but Corinthians clinched a 6-wicket victory, sealed with a 6, in the 34th over.
Man of the Match was Abdul who produce an excellent spell of bowling at less than 2 an over, 2 fine catches and his usual deadly throws, and 14 runs.  Abdul clinched Fielder of the Day with his second catch.  Prior to this the award was destined to go to Chris Kennedy who, despite being the oldest player on the park (sorry, Chris) and having apparently had a most enjoyable and liquid lunch, produced total commitment and a couple of spectacular full length dives to save a run or two.

Clapham Nomads lost by 6 wickets

Nomads 165 from 39.4 overs

Bradshaw  11
Vyas  1
Pattiyil  30
H. Khan  37
Kee  5
A. Khan  14
Kennedy  0
Lefebve  12
Darwin  18
Todorow  0
Crossland  2 not out

F. O.W. - 18, 44, 78, 87, 112, 112, 121, 163, 163 , 165

Wimbledon Corinthians 171 for 4 from 33.3 overs

H. Khan  8-1-28-0
Todorow  8-2-32-2
A. Khan  8-1-14-0
Darwin  4-0-46-0
Pattiyil  5.3-0-48-2

R.I.P. Peter Saberton

It was very sad to hear that a former Nomads player and captain, Peter Saberton, died last month at the age of 61.  He only played a dozen or so games for the Nomads but captained the side admirably to victory in a potentially explosive needle match against The Hunter Family.  We knew that he was a jazz pianist and, in fact, he gave up cricket after a dozen or so Nomads matches as he was worried about damaging his fingers (a distinct possibility remembering some of the pitches we used to play on.)  I only found out that he was also a well-known and prolific jazz Composer when I read his obituary.  He was a nice guy, a keen chess player and quite a close friend of Emil Todorow.  We pass our condolences to Emil and to any of his other friends or relatives that may happen to read this.  I will expand this, and perhaps include a report on the Nomads v Hunters match, soon

Nomads' Nicknames

If anyone is puzzled by a mention of "Mr Profundus" in the Caribbean Mix match report, I can tell them that this is the pet name given by Nomads captain Emil Todorow to our popular medium pace bowler Andrew West.  Todorow claims that it is the Latin word for "profound" and that is used with mild irony, but I am not 100% sure on either of these points.  I have checked on Google and there are a dozen or so "Mr Profundusses" (or Mr Profundi) but I detect only admiration for them.  Several other current and recent Nomads players have nicknames;

Emil Todorow - The Buller, The Bear, Mushy
John Crossland - The Creature,  Crozland
Nick Lefebve - The Ancient One,  The Wall (? the Walrus),
Mark Bradshaw - Marky, (has been referred to on E.Exiles' website as Bradders)
Gopi Pala - Speedy
Hassan Khan - Gopi used to call him "Hasimbhai"
Jim Joyce - Mister St Tropez
John Chance - Benny
Joe Chance - The Kipper
Amin - Mr Six
Shailesh Bhatia - Baha

I will reveal some other, older ones in due course and also attempt to explain some of these bizarre titles.  Also, if anyone can think of any others, please let me know.

Clapham Nomads v Caribbean Mix - 20/5/12

After 3 successive blank Sundays, the weather - and Merton Council - relented sufficiently to allow our season finally to get under way with this fixture against old friends the Caribbean Mix.
The venue was Joseph Hood Rec in SW20 and, once we had removed the poles and ropes surrounding the square and confirmed that some of the facilities (the Ladies' Lavatory) were open, we took the field shivering, having been asked to field by Mix skipper Jim Ferguson.
Hassan Khan took the new ball, producing his usual excellent probing Medium-Fast straight away, and bowling the dangerous Surrey Over-50s player Ferguson in the 3rd Over.  Khan followed this with a fine piece of fielding in his next over; recovering from a misfield off his own bowling to throw the stumps down from 8 yards and run out No. 3 Devon. 6 for 2 but our opponents have recovered from this position before to post 250-plus.
The 3rd wicket partnership stopped the rot and a few shots began to flow.  The scoring rate never really exceeded 3 an over for the first 12 or so, thanks to the exceptionally slow outfield and long boundaries and some fine bowling from Hassan supported by his able sidekick Emil Todorow.  Todorow wasn't really happy with his bowling and at one point muttered "how can I bowl this shit?"  He was going for less than 3 an over against dangerous batsmen at the time.  Todorow has always had the knack of being pretty economical even when he is not bowling at his best.
First and second change were Abdul and Darwin with Abdul appearing to match Hassan for pace at times, if not quite for accuracy.  Caribbean's score was creeping up but Wayne was becoming frustrated as lusty blows either missed the ball completely or connected but were denied boundaries by the long grass.  One four resulted in the ball being lost for several minutes before it was located just outside the boundary in grass that was long, but actually shorter than some of the grass inside the rope.  Darwin bowled plenty of good stuff and was unlucky several times with aerial shots dropping short of fielders or, with Wayne on around 40, into Emil's hands and out again.  The skipper said that he had been distracted "by the arrival of Mr Profundus."  What made Darwin the most expensive bowler was a tendency to throw in the odd Full Toss - seized on eagerly by Wayne. 
A wicket for Abdul - a crafty Off Cutter which bowled the bemused batsman - and a well-deserved Caught and Bowled for Darwin ensured that Caribbean's customary 200-plus total was never likely.  3rd-changer Prasanth bowled nicely and, although he went for 5 an over, the batsmen never really dominated him - most of the runs came in 1s and 2s stroked out to the exceptionally deep fielders.  The prize wicket of Wayne, LBW for 77, was Prasanth's reward.
With about 5 overs to go, Mark Bradshaw calculated that a 6th bowler would need to deliver the final over.  In all probability this would be Nick Lefebve but when the situation became clear after Over 34, skipper Todorow insisted that there must have been a scoring error and Caribbean sportingly allowed Abdul to bowl the final over - officially his 7th but probably his 8th.  Lefebve was more than relieved as the 35th and final over of a Caribbean Mix innings is not an ideal time to bowl your first deliveries for 9 months.
A final total of 177 was one that Nomads have passed twice to beat these opponents, but only on outfields with recent acquaintance of a lawnmower.
Tea was supplied by Caribbean Mix and was excellent as always; chicken and rice with Mr Ferguson's Mystery Sauce and cakes which were rated by Andrew West (whose opinion on cake is to be respected) as some of the best he had tasted.
It was only when we commenced our innings that we realised Mix had only 8 players.  (They had seemed a bit thin on the ground but we assumed they were sheltering in the Team Bus.) With opening bowlers of the quality of Jono and Wayne (who took 6 for not many last year) though, 178 was still a big ask.  Jono's Left Arm Round is awkward early on as he slants the ball in at above Medium and often cuts it away.  He found the inside edge of both openers' bats in the first over but Mark Bradshaw and Mahesh Vyas settled quickly and looked comfortable, even against the marked variations of pace and length from Wayne.  The gaps were there in the field but finding the boundary was going to be hard.  Bradshaw began to stroke it through the Off Side for regular 2s, some of which would have been 4s in normal circumstances.  In the 8th Over, Wayne rapped one into Bradshaw's pads and the ball squirted out on the leg side.  A lacklustre half-appeal from the bowler was not matched by any noise from the keeper or close-up fielders and it was a distinct surprise to see the Umpire's finger go up. Further disaster followed 9 balls later when an ambitious single was denied by a direct hit from 15 yards to run out Mahesh Vyas.  The next ball was clipped for 4 by Prasanth (the only boundary on the ground from a Nomads player.)  At 31 for 2 there was some hope of a recovery but yet another direct hit, this one from over halfway to the fence, accounted for Prasanth as a 3rd run was being attempted.  It appeared Wayne was just returning the ball to the keeper rather than aiming for the stumps, so it was a trifle unlucky.
Hassan was joined by No. 5 Chris Kee who showed promise with a firm leg-side smack for 2 before falling leg before.  Abdul and Hassan were possibly our last real chance of getting close and their partnership was classy batting but never quite at a rate to worry the Away side.  Yet another run out terminated this stand with Abdul just out of his ground, but with some debate as to whether the keeper had control over the ball (I think the keeper patted the ball onto the stumps - I wish there was a replay.)
Despite 2 late sixes, Hassan fell 1 short of a deserved half-century but respectable batting for 1s and 2s by the late-middle-order of Chris Kennedy, Darwin and Lefebve took Nomads up to 127 for 7 at the close.  I can't say we looked like winning at any stage of our innings but the batting was steady and showed promise for the rest of the summer.  Nomads didn't really have the rub of the green with run outs and umpiring decisions.  If there is such a thing as a 50-run Defeat with Honour against 8 men then this was it.
Man of the Match is Hassan Khan who produced  the best figures with bat and ball.  He also takes Fielder of the Day with the one moment of real excellence on a day when everyone fielded pretty well and worked damned hard.

Nomads lost by 50 runs

Caribbean Mix - 177 for 5 from 35 overs (Wayne 77)

H. Khan  7-1-10-1
Todorow  7-0-29-0
A. Khan  7-0-33-1
Darwin  7-0-55-1
P. Pattiyil  7-0-37-1

Clapham Nomads - 127 for 7 from 35 overs

M. Bradshaw  lbw Wayne, 14
M. Vyas  run out, 6
P. Pattiyil  run out, 8
H. Khan  c     b Nigel, 49
C. Kee  lbw Nigel, 3
A. Khan  run out, 19
C. Kennedy  not out, 10
Darwin  stumped  Devon b Nigel, 7
N. Lefebve  not out, 4

Did not bat; E. Todorow, J. Crossland

12th Man - A. West

F.O.W. - 19, 20, 31, 40, 78, 107, 123

2012 Season - First fixture 29/4/12

The first fixture of the 2012 season will be on Sunday 29th April v Surbiton Imperials at Raynes Park Sports Ground. 2 pm start.  Emil will ring early in the week, or phone him if you have any queries.  Nick

Annual meeting - 11/12/11

Nomads had our annual meeting last Sunday. As usual, it was at the Chatkara restaurant opposite Clapham South station. Incidentally, if you live in Clapham or Balham, you should go there; their food is really nice. Are their curries getting hotter or am I getting older?
We had a good chat and then club captain Emil Todorow turned up near the end, fresh from his latest chess tournament, to add some gravitas to proceedings.
Awards were as follows;
Fielder of the Year - Abdul Khan
Bowler of the Year - Hassan Khan
Batsman of the Year - Mark Bradshaw
Player of the Year 2011 - (they were just too good to be separated) - A share between Mark Bradshaw and Hassan Khan.