Trent Copeland - The Nomads to Australia - continued

As I mentioned in November; New South Wales, Northamptonshire and Australia paceman Trent Copeland is now the most famous former Nomads player, replacing Graeme Douglas (the Lead Guitarist with Eddie and the Hot Rods) - as holder of this dubious title.
Admittedly he only played one game for us.  What happened was that we used to hold an open net session at Clapham Common every April and, for a couple of years, we attracted some pretty decent Australian players.  Two of the best were Cameron Russell and Chris Macdonald who played 6 or 7 games for us. One Sunday in May 2008 we had arranged a Conference fixture in Southall and - surprise, surprise - we were short; most Nomads think that anywhere west of Fulham is Welsh.  Fortunately, Cameron and Chris had a mate called Trent who visiting London for the weekend and spending the summer as wicketkeeper-batsman for a top Irish club.
Anyway, Emil Todorow somehow put a full team out and, for the only time in Nomads' history, a near-majority were from the Land Down Under (either 5 or 6 - I genuinely cannot remember anything about No. 11 Nick Hall except that he was a nice bloke.)
Trent Copeland opened the batting with his University mate Cameron Russell and even I could quickly tell that he was a class above.  He just had that crucial bit of extra time to play his shots and he middled almost everything.  The pair soon saw off the openers and the home side put on a fairly unthreatening spinner.  Trent took him for 10 off his first 2 balls; the six was rather large.  "Easy, mate," Cameron called out (implying don't hit him out of the attack just yet.)
Trent was first out for 41 out of a partnership of 79 from around 12 overs which set Nomads up for a total of 225 for 8 off the full 35 in which most people chipped in. Not realising, he had a future Aussie Test opening bowler in the side, Emil put Copeland at slip, where he had a series of conversations with glovesman John Crossland (who recalls Trent as a really nice guy.)  We are not sure if this is what made Copeland give up wicketkeeping.
Nomads won by 131 runs and Emil generously drove out of his way to drop Cameron, Chris and Trent off at Marble Arch.  Sadly this wasn't enough to persuade Trent to become a regular Nomads player.  He returned to Ireland and then to Australia where he played in top Grade Cricket in Sydney and, at some point became a Fast-Medium opening bowler.  Excellent performances attracted State selectors and he was turning out for New South Wales within a year, taking 8 wickets in an innings on his Sheffield Shield debut.  Another 18 months on and he donned his Baggy Green.
The relevant scorecards are below;

18/5/08 at Warren Farm Sports Ground, Southall.

Clapham Nomads 225 for 8 from 35 overs

Cameron Russell  48
Trent Copeland  41
Chris Macdonald  5
Adrian Mercuri  36
Abdul Khan  30
Chris Kennedy  7
Nick Lefebve  11
Emil Todorow (capt)  0
Dave Selleck  not out 16
John Crossland (wkt)  not out 2
Did not bat; Nick Hall

F.O.W. - 79, 108, 108, 142, 181, 184, 184, 210



 Ealing Christian Centre 94 all out from 18.2 overs
Nomads' bowling;

Abdul Khan 4-1-31-2
Emil Todorow  6-0-27-2
Nick Hall  6-0-34-1
Dave Selleck  2.3-0-18-2

Catches; Crossland, Russell (2), Khan (2), Selleck

Clapham Nomads won by 131 runs

Fast forward just over 3 years to 31st August 2011 and, while Nomads were entertaining Old Leagonians at the John Ruskin Sports Ground in South Croydon, Trent Copeland was making his full test debut against Sri Lanka at the Galle International Stadium.  The scorecard;

Australia - 1st innings - 273

Shane Watson  22
Phil Hughes  12
Ricky Ponting  44
Michael Clarke (capt)  23
Mike Hussey  95
Usman Khawaja  21
Brad Haddin (wkt)  24
Mitchell Johnson  14
Ryan Harris  1
Trent Copeland  c Paranavitana b Randiv 12
Nathan Lyon  not out 0

Bowling;
Welegedara 1-61
Lakmal  3-55
Herath  3-54
Randiv  2-76
Dilshan  2-27

Sri Lanka - 1st innings - 105

Paranavitana lbw b Watson  29
Dilshan (capt)  c Ponting b Copeland  4
Sangakkara  c Clarke b Lyon  10
D.Jayawardene  run out (Copeland/Haddin) 11
Samaraweera lbw b Watson  26
H.Jayawardene (wkt) lbw b Watson 0
Mathews b Lyon  5
Randiv c Ponting b Lyon  9
Herath  0
Lakmal  not out 2
Welegedara c & b Lyon  1

Bowling;
R. Harris  8-5-6-0
T. Copeland  12-3-24-1
M. Johnson  9-1-26-0
N. Lyon  15-3-34-5
S. Watson  6-1-11-3

Australia - 2nd innings - 210

Watson 0
Hughes 28
Ponting 4
Clarke 60
Hussey 15
Khawaja 26
Haddin 0
Johnson 8
Harris 23
Copeland not out 23
Lyon 13

Bowling;
Welegedara 6-3-13-2
Lakmal 8-3-23-1
Herath 23-3-79-5
Randiv 14-3-61-0
Dilshan 8.2-1-26-2

Sri Lanka - 2nd innings - 253

Paranavitana lbw b Harris 0
Dilshan b Harris 12
Sangakkara c Hussey b Watson 17
D.Jayawardene b Harris 105
Samaraweera c Haddin b Johnson 0
H.Jayawardene b Harris 0
Mathews b Watson 95
Randiv c Clarke b Johnson 0
Herath c Copeland b Harris 12
Lakmal c Johnson b Lyon 5
Welegedara not out 4

Bowling;
Harris 20-5-62-5
Copeland 16-6-20-0
Johnson 19-6-56-2
Lyon 19.5-2-73-1
Clarke 6-0-16-0
Watson 13-6-19-2
Ponting 2-0-5-0

Australia won by 125 runs

Our man certainly made his mark in this match, especially in the second half, supplying 23 runs late in Australia's second innings and participating in a 10th wicket stand of 42 in 41 balls to set up a tough target of 379 for the Home side, and then tying 1 end up - going for 1.2 an over - in the run chase.
Australia won that series and Copeland played his part in the 3 games, with an overall economy rate of only just over 2, but he has not turned out in a Test match since.  He came to my attention when I saw the county averages for 2013 and Trent had the best average of any regular bowler.  He also scored plenty of runs at around 35 and was the main reason Northants got promotion. I remembered the name and a bit of internet research confirmed it was the same man.  There was plenty of call for him to be recalled to boost a struggling Australia side in England last summer but this seems rather less likely to happen now.  Anyway, we wish Trent all the best and hope he has forgiven Emil for not giving him a bowl. 














 

Nomads Annual Meeting 2013

Clapham Nomads had our Annual Meeting in Mid-December at the Chatkhara in Clapham South where, as usual, we enjoyed the excellent range of curries, tandoori and biryani dishes and the Bring Your Own Bottle policy.  Chris Kennedy obliged us on the drinks front by supplying some cans of an excellent and flavoursome Polish lager.
For the first time, the turn-out would have have been almost enough for us to field a full team.  The line-up was;

Emil Todorow - Club Guru
Gul - Tooting's finest Barber and 2013 Batsman of the Year
Abbas Khan - 2013 Fielder of the Year and Bowler of the Year; Nomads' own Mitchell Johnson
Abdul Khan - Elder statesman and Carrom champion
Mahesh Vyas - 2013 Wicketkeeper of the Year
John Crossland - Scorer, resurgent wicketkeeper and general Mr Indestructible 
Nick Lefebve - Club Secretary, blogger and Statto
Chris Kennedy - (Very) Social Secretary
Gul's Friend

Unfortunately Hassan couldn't make it but he was voted 2013 Player of the Year (for about the 4th time.)

Trent Copeland - Clapham Nomads to Australia

Congratulations to Trent, who played a match for the Nomads in 2008 and went on to make three full Test appearances for Australia in 2011, on dismissing Kevin Pietersen LBW for Australia A in Hobart recently.  Apparently it was pretty plumb, but we wonder if it would have been given out in a Nomads match.  Hope you win your Test place back soon, Trent.

Clapham Nomads Averages for 2013 season

Batting (Qualification - 3 Matches played, 2 innings)

Zia    202 runs @ 40.40
Gul    256 runs @ 28.44
Hassan Khan  329 runs @ 27.42
Prasanth Pattiyil  189 runs @ 18.90
Riaz Khan   184 runs @ 18.40
Darwin Gunawardena  201 runs @ 18.27
Adnan Khan  54 runs @ 18.00
Jonnie Randall  34 runs @ 17.00
Abbas Khan   66 runs @ 9.43
Mahesh Vyas  122 runs @ 8.13
Abdul Khan  66 runs @ 7.33
Nick Lefebve  43 runs @ 7.17
Sami  10 runs @ 5.00
Emil Todorow  26 runs @ 4.33
Chris Kennedy  14 runs @ 2.80
John Crossland  1 run @ 1.00
Andrew West  0 runs @ 0.00

Bowling (Qualification - 3 Matches played, 2 wickets, 2 bowling spells)

Hassan Khan  22 wickets @ 16.23
Riaz Khan  12 wickets @ 19.08
Zia   9 wickets @ 20.00
Abbas Khan  20 wickets @ 21.95
Emil Todorow  14 wickets @ 25.21
Andrew West  3 wickets @ 26.00
Sami  2 wickets @ 33.50
Abdul Khan  7 wickets @ 37.14

Fielding

The highest number of dismissals was 10 by Mahesh Vyas (all as wicketkeeper - 7 catches, 3 stumpings.)
The highest number of catches by an outfielder was 8 by Abbas Khan.   

2013 Season Summary

Nomads played 15 matches in 2013 (up from 12 last year) with only one affected by the weather right at the very end of the game.  Our final record was;

Won 5
Drew 2
Lost 8.

When you consider we lost our first 5 games, and 6 of our first 7, it wasn't a bad year despite losing key players to resignation and injury.  It was certainly a more enjoyable season than 2012.  We will have our annual meeting in Clapham South in late November or early December.  I have put the averages in the next post.  Nominations for Players of the Year etc are;

Batsman of the Year;  Gul, Hassan, Zia

Bowler of the Year;  Hassan, Abbas

Fielder of the Year;  Mahesh, Hassan, Abbas, Abdul, Darwin

Player of the Year; Hassan, Riaz, Zia, Gul, Abbas

If anyone wants to nominate anybody else, let me know.  We will vote at the Meeting.

Dulwich v Clapham Nomads - 8/9/13

Nomads lost by 7 wickets to a talented Dulwich Development XI on Sunday.  Nomads made 198 for 9 and were felt to be in such a reasonable position that skipper Todorow declared.  Excellent batting from Dulwich, however, saw them home with 10 balls to spare.  Riaz was the batting star for Clapham with his second half-century in successive games. A fine second wicket partnership of 72 between Gul and Darwin had given us a good platform   Bowling and especially fielding weren't so great with every bowler going for at least 4 an over - several for considerably more - and a string of dropped catches. Z.Rostami was Dulwich's matchwinner with a punishing 98 not out.  There was a big shout for caught behind when he was on about 50.  John Crossland held on to the chance well in his first match back  The general Nomads consensus was that this was rather close and would have gone to the Decision Review System, but who knows; Dulwich may have had even more destructive batsmen further down the order.  They had certainly already done enough to pretty much guarantee a draw at least.
Man of the Match was Riaz Khan.  It is a shame the season is over just as he is providing great entertainment.  Abbas fielded well with a run out and the only catch but Fielder of the Day was John who did well on his return from a 15-week injury lay-off.  He held on to what could conceivably have been given as a catch and he only conceded 1 bye.

Clapham Nomads  198 for 8 declared (43 overs)

M. Vyas  3
Gul  44
D. Gunawardena  38
H. Khan  10
R. Khan  57
Abdul Khan  3
C. Kennedy  3
Sami  6
E. Todorow  4
Abbas Khan  not out 14
J. Crossland  not out 0

F.O.W. - 11, 83, 94, 145, 160, 163, 169, 175, 194

Dulwich  203 for 3 (32.2 overs)

Sami  8-0-35-0
H. Khan  10-1-44-1
Abbas Khan  6.2-0-49-0
E. Todorow  3-0-22-0
Abdul Khan  2-0-21-0
Riaz Khan  3-0-27-1

Clapham Nomads lost by 7 wickets  

Clapham Nomads v Barnes Occasionals - 1/9/13

Nomads won a tight game at Joseph Hood by 14 runs on Sunday.
Inserted by Barnes on a slow pitch, we struggled to score freely against their new man Bunyan and the experienced trickery and control of Ollie Hogg and Keith Seed.  Hardly anyone missed out completely with the bat.  Mahesh and Darwin carved out a gritty opening partnership of 20 in 8 and a half overs.  The pick of the top order was the consistent Prasanth Pattiyil with a useful 21.  It was felt that 120 could be enough but a steady flow of wickets - caused by frustration with the slow progress as well as the tight bowling - and some silly run outs in the late-middle order found us on 86 for 8 as last man Emil Todorow walked to the crease.  Fortunately, exciting strokemaker Riaz Khan was just beginning to find his eye; he just needed someone to stay with him.  Cometh the hour, cometh Todorow..  He blocked everything Occasionals could throw at him while Riaz blasted his way to a flamboyant 52, his highest score for the club.  Riaz took a particularly heavy toll on Tom Hooker as he peppered the mid-wicket and straight boundaries. The stand realised an excellent and vital 44 before Riaz fell in the penultimate over.
Nomads appeared slight favourites and this feeling increased when Prasanth took a vital catch to dismiss Price with 12 on the board.  Sami, Hassan and Emil imposed a stranglehold for a while after this as Barnes struggled to exceed 2 an over off this awkward trio.  As last week though, the pick of the bowlers was Abbas who has been on fire since the mid-summer break. Fast, straight and with the vague threat of bounce, he ran through the Occasionals middle-order and achieved his first 5-wicket haul for Nomads.  I had to leave for work with around 12 overs to go and Barnes were something like 50 for 6, needing to score at almost 7 an over.  It appeared all over and I was surprised when Emil told me the next day we were possibly quite fortunate to win.  The expected dangerman Rohit Benjamin skied one to wicketkeeper Mahesh Vyas but this brought J. Bunyan to the crease and his excellent attacking knock made Barnes favourites for a period. It took a pressure catch by Abbas at Mid-Off to remove Bunyan for 37 and turn the tide.  Barnes bat right down the order though and Nomads were slightly fortunate that the light was fading markedly as last man Ollie Hogg was bowled by Abdul on the last ball of the penultimate over with the Away side 14 short.  Had he survived, it would have been Hogg and Keith Seed requiring 15 off the final over which one assumes would have been bowled by Todorow.  This would have been a mouth-watering prospect.  Three of the great characters of South London Sunday Cricket going head to head.  2 of the least hairy players against one of the hairiest.  I would love to have seen this but it was not to be.  Actually, sincere apologies to Barnes that several of us were late.  There was a large fire somewhere near Morden and traffic was atrocious but that it is not really a valid excuse.  We probably should have played 30-overs-a-side though.
Man of the Match was Riaz for his match-winning innings.  Particular praise also to Emil for his vital stonewalling and to Abbas for his 5-wicket spell.  Abbas was Fielder of the Day for taking what was probably the match-winning catch.

Clapham Nomads 130 all out in 33.4 overs

M. Vyas  6
D. Gunawardena  7
P. Pattiyil  21
H. Khan  7
Abdul Khan  5
R. Khan  52
N. Lefebve 4
Sami  4
Abbas Khan  1
E. Todorow  0 not out

F.O.W. - 20, 20, 33, 53, 58, 69, 78, 86, 130

Barnes Occasionals 116 all out in 34 overs (J. Bunyan 37)

Sami  7-2-19-1
H. Khan  7-2-9-1
E. Todorow  6-2-14-1
Abbas Khan  7-2-26-5
R. Khan  2-0-13-0
Abdul Khan  5-0-27-2

Clapham Nomads won by 14 runs