A late withdrawal meant Nomads were one short for the long and demanding trip to Burgh Heath.
Skipper Todorow inserted the home side and Nomads produced a pretty decent bowling and fielding performance to restrict Burgh to 139 all out - the lowest total they have made against us. Hassan and Abbas opened and kept it steady at just below 4 an over. There were 2 wickets apiece for our new ball pairing. It was good to have Zia back and he provided additional cutting edge and took a wicket. The pick of the bowlers were the previous week's star, Zeeshan, with a tight 1 for 19 off his 7, and the evergreen captain with an excellent 3 for 19. One of the home batsmen did get after Emil a bit but, inevitably, he tried it once too often and was beautifully caught by Abbas on the mid-wicket boundary. Todorow modestly denied that he had set the trap. There was a stumping for John Crossland who also combined well with Hassan to engineer a run out. Nomads munched their tea with at least a chance.
A fine opening stand of 43 between Mahesh Vyas and Abdul Khan appeared to put the visitors in the driving seat before 2 quick wickets pegged us back. Abdul and Riaz continued the good work before Abdul was bowled by the deadly Sharo for a top-scoring 38. Riaz, as is his custom, hit a big six and Hassan chipped in with a steady knock. At one stage we were 99 for 3 with Riaz and Hassan in the middle, just about up with the rate and with some batting to come. We were clear favourites at this point.
Unfortunately the Surrey side came back at us and reduced us to 119 for 8 but Zeeshan was looking useful, supported by stout defending from last man John Crossland. The pair took it up to 134 at the end of the penultimate over. 6 were needed to win with Zeeshan to face. Unfortunately, he tried to do it in one blow on the second ball and was bowled leaving Nomads just 5 short.
Still, a good performance. The scorebook comment by John Crossland speaks volumes - he is not normally generous to his own side in defeat. "Great game. We nearly won it. Might have done with 11 men."
Man of the Match was top-scorer Abdul. Fielder of the Day was Abbas.
Burgh Heath - 139 all out in 32.5 overs.
Nomads' bowling
H. Khan 7-0-24-2
Abbas Khan 7-0-28-2
Zeeshan 7-0-19-1
Zia 5-0-39-1
E. Todorow 4.5-0-19-3
R. Khan 2-0-5-0
Clapham Nomads - 134 all out in 34.2 overs
M. Vyas 14
Abdul Khan 38
D. Gunawardena 0
R. Khan 26
H. Khan 13
Zia 4
Zeeshan 17
Abbas Khan 3
E. Todorow (capt) 3
J. Crossland (wkt) not out 0
F.O.W. - 43, 43, 67, 99, 106, 114, 117, 119, 134
Clapham Nomads lost by 5 runs.
Monday, 23 May 2016
Monday, 9 May 2016
Recent games (May 2016)
In the last 2 games, Nomads lost narrowly to Burgh Heath (by 5 or 6 runs) on 1st May. Abdul top-scored with 38. Emil took 3 wickets.
Yesterday (8/5), Nomads carved out a brilliant victory over Palm Tree. 144 (Prasanth 63) beat 127 (2 direct hits from Abdul were the highlight. I will do reports soon. Palm Tree did a running commentary of the game on Twitter which can be found on their website (search for Palm Tree cc on google.)
Yesterday (8/5), Nomads carved out a brilliant victory over Palm Tree. 144 (Prasanth 63) beat 127 (2 direct hits from Abdul were the highlight. I will do reports soon. Palm Tree did a running commentary of the game on Twitter which can be found on their website (search for Palm Tree cc on google.)
Thursday, 28 April 2016
Clapham Nomads v Surbiton Imperials - 24/4/16
Snow had been forecast for the capital on Sunday, but in the end 9-man Nomads had nothing worse to contend with than a sub-Arctic wind whipping off the Thames, and rugby and football posts covering our last-resort home venue at Barn Elms.
For our £96, we had the choice of a very heavily used adult pitch or an under-prepared kids' pitch. We chose the latter, moved the stumps back, made the back-foot bowling crease the batting crease and prepared to enjoy our day.
Both teams had 6 available in midweek, but an extra ring-round by Nomads' skipper took us up to 9. Imperials had done even better, with a well-placed Gumtree advert bringing them up to 11. Surbiton's inspirational skipper Jonny Rosenthal was up in the Midlands, cheering on his beloved Leicester City as they closed in on the Premier League title. The away side kindly lent us a bowler/fielder and allowed us to nominate a batsman to bat twice.
Inserted after losing the toss, and missing most of his recognised openers, Todorow turned to Abdul Khan and Nick Lefebve to take guard. After a bright start, runs dried up on the slow pitch against the awkward Siddiq. Abdul was first to go on 13 and there was a rumour that the LBW decision was a trifle magnanimous.
The 2nd and 3rd wickets; Nick and Hassan, were both considered by the batsmen to be bump balls. Were Nomads' umpires actually being generous? Surely that is unthinkable; but maybe it was indicative of the excellent spirit in which this game was played. No such doubt over the 4th wicket, a fine catch at Deep Mid-On by Siddiq accounting for Riaz. Nomads 26 for 4 and an all-time low score of 38 or below far from out of the question.
Excellent running between the wickets between Abbas and the debutant Zeeshan, by far the youngest players in the Nomads side, lifted our spirits and, as the field came in, they found the gaps and hit the only 3 boundaries Nomads managed on the slow and grassy outfield. An excellent diving catch by Surbiton's star fielder Siddiq broke the partnership with Abbas departing for 6 and Nomads up to the riches of 44 for 5. Chris Kennedy fell shortly after but another nice stand between Zeeshan, looking increasingly confident through the leg side and Emil Todorow, who looked full of shots, took us into a position where at least we would have something to bowl at. 58 for 6 was our high water mark but the charismatic Mr Harris, who bowled for both sides, found a fatal edge of Zeeshan's bat. Emil and John put on a disappointingly uneventful 4. For the last wicket, Riaz returned and, with the capable blocker John at the other end, a total of 100 was not out of the question. Sadly, Riaz fell quickly to the slow-medium Jimmy and 65 all out was our lot.
On a terrible pitch and with the Away side missing Jonny and having a makeshift batting line-up, Clapham were by no means out of it. We also had in Abbas the fastest bowler on either side. It was great to have him back. I think both the Surbiton openers were Gumtree players and, having rather ridden their luck against Abbas and Hassan with a few edges, one of which flew just past the diving glovesman John Crossland, they began to play really nicely; peppering the boundary rope as the outfield dried. When Emil put down a caught and bowled chance (or stopped a certain 4 with his right nipple - whichever way you want to look at it), the dreaded possibility of our first ever 10-wicket defeat loomed.
At 51, both batsmen suddenly retired. I remarked to John that at least we could not lose by 10 wickets which, oddly, seemed to displease him. By this time, Zeeshan was bowling and he produced a series of pacy yorkers and 2 quick wickets. Our loaned player, Mr Harris, then came on and his crafty spin produced a 3rd wicket, the ubiquitous Zeeshan the catcher. Mr Harris was an interesting character, full of verbal encouragement and wry observation. He disclosed that he had looked for a game on Gumtree because he had been suspended for 1 match by his usual club. Definitely Nomads material. Another wicket for the excellent Zeeshan followed and there was a mildly interesting point where Imperials still needed about 8 and had only 3 wickets to fall. (Though I assume we would have allowed the retired men to come back.) In the event, they weren't needed and Surbiton strode over the winning line with ease to a victory by either 5 wickets or 3 wickets. I think I'll call it 3 wickets just to wind John up.
In his scorebook comment, John wrote; "Zeeshan played well but that is the only bright spot." I disagree profoundly with this. From an unpromising set of circumstances, both sides put on a half-decent game. If you treat it as what it was, basically a pre-season practice match, it was fine. Enjoyable and played in a great spirit. Thank you to both sides.
Man of the Match was Zeeshan by some distance. In the field, the best moments were a catch by Zeeshan, a direct hit from Hassan and an unlikely diving stop by Nick. These 3 share Fielder of the Day.
Clapham Nomads 65 all out in 27 overs. (9 men - 1 batted twice)
Abdul Khan lbw b Siddiq 7
N. Lefebve c wkt b Jimmy 6
H. Khan c wkt b Rashid 6
R. Khan c Siddiq b Jimmy 1
Zeeshan c wkt b Harris 19
Abbas Khan c Siddiq b Sanka 6
C. Kennedy b Maruf 0
E. Todorow (capt) b Maruf 5
J. Crossland not out 1
R. Khan (2nd innings) b Jimmy 3
F.O.W. - 13, 22, 24, 26, 44, 44, 58, 62, 65
Surbiton Imperials 66 for 4 in 18.2 overs (10 men - 2 retired.)
Nomads' bowling
Abbas Khan 4-0-20-0
H. Khan 4-0-14-0
Abdul Khan 2-0-12-0
E. Todorow 1-0-5-0
Zeeshan 4-1-2-3
Harris 2-1-6-1
R. Khan 1.2-0-6-0
Nomads lost by either 3 wickets, 4 wickets or 6 wickets depending on your interpretation. Mine is 3 wickets.
For our £96, we had the choice of a very heavily used adult pitch or an under-prepared kids' pitch. We chose the latter, moved the stumps back, made the back-foot bowling crease the batting crease and prepared to enjoy our day.
Both teams had 6 available in midweek, but an extra ring-round by Nomads' skipper took us up to 9. Imperials had done even better, with a well-placed Gumtree advert bringing them up to 11. Surbiton's inspirational skipper Jonny Rosenthal was up in the Midlands, cheering on his beloved Leicester City as they closed in on the Premier League title. The away side kindly lent us a bowler/fielder and allowed us to nominate a batsman to bat twice.
Inserted after losing the toss, and missing most of his recognised openers, Todorow turned to Abdul Khan and Nick Lefebve to take guard. After a bright start, runs dried up on the slow pitch against the awkward Siddiq. Abdul was first to go on 13 and there was a rumour that the LBW decision was a trifle magnanimous.
The 2nd and 3rd wickets; Nick and Hassan, were both considered by the batsmen to be bump balls. Were Nomads' umpires actually being generous? Surely that is unthinkable; but maybe it was indicative of the excellent spirit in which this game was played. No such doubt over the 4th wicket, a fine catch at Deep Mid-On by Siddiq accounting for Riaz. Nomads 26 for 4 and an all-time low score of 38 or below far from out of the question.
Excellent running between the wickets between Abbas and the debutant Zeeshan, by far the youngest players in the Nomads side, lifted our spirits and, as the field came in, they found the gaps and hit the only 3 boundaries Nomads managed on the slow and grassy outfield. An excellent diving catch by Surbiton's star fielder Siddiq broke the partnership with Abbas departing for 6 and Nomads up to the riches of 44 for 5. Chris Kennedy fell shortly after but another nice stand between Zeeshan, looking increasingly confident through the leg side and Emil Todorow, who looked full of shots, took us into a position where at least we would have something to bowl at. 58 for 6 was our high water mark but the charismatic Mr Harris, who bowled for both sides, found a fatal edge of Zeeshan's bat. Emil and John put on a disappointingly uneventful 4. For the last wicket, Riaz returned and, with the capable blocker John at the other end, a total of 100 was not out of the question. Sadly, Riaz fell quickly to the slow-medium Jimmy and 65 all out was our lot.
On a terrible pitch and with the Away side missing Jonny and having a makeshift batting line-up, Clapham were by no means out of it. We also had in Abbas the fastest bowler on either side. It was great to have him back. I think both the Surbiton openers were Gumtree players and, having rather ridden their luck against Abbas and Hassan with a few edges, one of which flew just past the diving glovesman John Crossland, they began to play really nicely; peppering the boundary rope as the outfield dried. When Emil put down a caught and bowled chance (or stopped a certain 4 with his right nipple - whichever way you want to look at it), the dreaded possibility of our first ever 10-wicket defeat loomed.
At 51, both batsmen suddenly retired. I remarked to John that at least we could not lose by 10 wickets which, oddly, seemed to displease him. By this time, Zeeshan was bowling and he produced a series of pacy yorkers and 2 quick wickets. Our loaned player, Mr Harris, then came on and his crafty spin produced a 3rd wicket, the ubiquitous Zeeshan the catcher. Mr Harris was an interesting character, full of verbal encouragement and wry observation. He disclosed that he had looked for a game on Gumtree because he had been suspended for 1 match by his usual club. Definitely Nomads material. Another wicket for the excellent Zeeshan followed and there was a mildly interesting point where Imperials still needed about 8 and had only 3 wickets to fall. (Though I assume we would have allowed the retired men to come back.) In the event, they weren't needed and Surbiton strode over the winning line with ease to a victory by either 5 wickets or 3 wickets. I think I'll call it 3 wickets just to wind John up.
In his scorebook comment, John wrote; "Zeeshan played well but that is the only bright spot." I disagree profoundly with this. From an unpromising set of circumstances, both sides put on a half-decent game. If you treat it as what it was, basically a pre-season practice match, it was fine. Enjoyable and played in a great spirit. Thank you to both sides.
Man of the Match was Zeeshan by some distance. In the field, the best moments were a catch by Zeeshan, a direct hit from Hassan and an unlikely diving stop by Nick. These 3 share Fielder of the Day.
Clapham Nomads 65 all out in 27 overs. (9 men - 1 batted twice)
Abdul Khan lbw b Siddiq 7
N. Lefebve c wkt b Jimmy 6
H. Khan c wkt b Rashid 6
R. Khan c Siddiq b Jimmy 1
Zeeshan c wkt b Harris 19
Abbas Khan c Siddiq b Sanka 6
C. Kennedy b Maruf 0
E. Todorow (capt) b Maruf 5
J. Crossland not out 1
R. Khan (2nd innings) b Jimmy 3
F.O.W. - 13, 22, 24, 26, 44, 44, 58, 62, 65
Surbiton Imperials 66 for 4 in 18.2 overs (10 men - 2 retired.)
Nomads' bowling
Abbas Khan 4-0-20-0
H. Khan 4-0-14-0
Abdul Khan 2-0-12-0
E. Todorow 1-0-5-0
Zeeshan 4-1-2-3
Harris 2-1-6-1
R. Khan 1.2-0-6-0
Nomads lost by either 3 wickets, 4 wickets or 6 wickets depending on your interpretation. Mine is 3 wickets.
Sunday, 17 April 2016
1st match
Hi all,
The season starts next Sunday 24th April with a match against Surbiton Imperials. Emil will be in touch with you this week. Nick
The season starts next Sunday 24th April with a match against Surbiton Imperials. Emil will be in touch with you this week. Nick
Monday, 7 March 2016
Clapham Nomads Annual Meeting for 2015 season
Nomads finally held their 2015 meeting in the Mirch Masala in Upper Tooting Road on Sunday February 28th.
A total of 14 people who have turned out for Nomads attended for all or part of the meeting and a 15th person rang Emil while it was going on. This is the highest number we have ever had. Since the food was as good as ever (Emil ended up with a giant bone on his plate as usual, and there was delicious complimentary spicy battered fish supplied by the management - thanks very much) this must rate as our most successful meeting ever.
The 15 were (in alphabetical order);
Abbas, Abdul, Chris, Darwin, Emil, Gul, Hassan, Ish, John, Mahesh, Mark, Nick, Prasanth, Riaz and Terry.
8 people were still around to vote at the end of the meeting. The results were;
Batsman of the Year - A share between Mark (4 votes) and Riaz (4 votes)
Bowler of the Year - A share between Emil (3 votes) and Riaz (3 votes) - Hassan and Sami also got 1 vote each.
Fielder of the Year - Abdul (6 votes) - John also got 2 votes
2015 PLAYER OF THE YEAR - Riaz (6 votes) - Mark also got 2 votes.
So congratulations to all the above, especially to Riaz who had a great season. I feel a tribute coming on.
A total of 14 people who have turned out for Nomads attended for all or part of the meeting and a 15th person rang Emil while it was going on. This is the highest number we have ever had. Since the food was as good as ever (Emil ended up with a giant bone on his plate as usual, and there was delicious complimentary spicy battered fish supplied by the management - thanks very much) this must rate as our most successful meeting ever.
The 15 were (in alphabetical order);
Abbas, Abdul, Chris, Darwin, Emil, Gul, Hassan, Ish, John, Mahesh, Mark, Nick, Prasanth, Riaz and Terry.
8 people were still around to vote at the end of the meeting. The results were;
Batsman of the Year - A share between Mark (4 votes) and Riaz (4 votes)
Bowler of the Year - A share between Emil (3 votes) and Riaz (3 votes) - Hassan and Sami also got 1 vote each.
Fielder of the Year - Abdul (6 votes) - John also got 2 votes
2015 PLAYER OF THE YEAR - Riaz (6 votes) - Mark also got 2 votes.
So congratulations to all the above, especially to Riaz who had a great season. I feel a tribute coming on.
Monday, 22 February 2016
Upeka Perera
Many of you will remember Upeka, who played regularly for Nomads around 1999-2000 and again in 2005. He was probably the first really high-class regular player we had (good enough to play for a strong club's first or second XI, say.) He was an extremely hard-hitting middle order batsman. I think he still holds the Nomads record for runs off 1 over (28 plundered from John Warnaby of Touring Theatres at Wandsworth Common in 1999.) This was achieved on a terrible pitch, but I suppose that doesn't really matter if you come forward and hit the ball on the full toss for 6. He was also a very rapid bowler who didn't actually take a massive number of wickets (due to being too fast for many opponents to get an edge to) but helped Nomads to several victories by demoralising opposing sides who were "up with the rate" in run chases.
I have promised Upeka I will list all the matches he played in on this blog, so I will do that this week. There are about 25 to 30 of them.
Upeka recently sent me a couple of photos of the Nomads from 10 to 15 years ago. I will try and post them on here. One of them features Upeka himself, John Chance, Nick Lefebve and Andrew West but, on Facebook, Upeka listed the players with him as being John (Benny), Nick and Emil. In other words he thought the photo of Andrew West was Emil. An easy mistake to make and I must say I found this quite funny; funnier than Emil found it, anyway. I don't know what Andrew will think of it.
Upeka made his debut on 16/5/99 against Caribbean cc, a North London-based side that we played for a couple of years before the travelling got too much (many Nomads probably think Wood Green is in Scotland.)
16/5/1999 v Caribbean at Wood Green, N22 (Away) - 35 overs a side
Clapham Nomads - 125 for 6 from 35 overs
Emil Todorow (capt) c wkt b Thomas 4
John Chance b McIntyre 16
Eddie Phillips c wkt b McIntyre 40
Upeka Perera c wkt b McIntyre 0
Gaurang Vyas c wkt b McIntyre 8
Joe Chance run out 27
Nick Lefebve not out 2
Steve Tjasink not out 2
Did not bat; Andrew West, Raj Vyas, John Crossland (wkt)
Fall of wickets; 24, 34, 34, 56, 118, 120
Caribbean - 126 for 8 from 31.1 overs
Nomads bowling;
Upeka Perera 7-2-23-1
Andrew West 7-0-22-1
Gaurang Vyas 7-1-22-2
Joe Chance 4-0-21-0
Emil Todorow 4-1-25-3
Eddie Phillips 2.1-1-5-1
Upeka took 1 catch
Nomads lost by 2 wickets
Man of the Match - Eddie Phillips
So, a reasonable debut, after coming across a very dangerous bowler in McIntyre, Upeka did well with the ball to make Caribbean's run chase tricky (he had the honour of opening the bowling with Andrew West) and he took a catch
I will list Upeka's other games of the 1999 season in shorter form;
23/5/99 v Battersea Ironside at Dundonald Road, SW19 (Away).
Clapham Nomads - 223 for 8 (Upeka Perera 95, John Chance 43) beat Battersea Ironside - 111 by 112 runs (Upeka's bowling 5-0-18-0, he took 1 catch).
This was Upeka's best score for the Nomads and, at the time, was the highest score any Nomads batsman had made. Sadly, we copied the scorebook from the opposition, so I don't know how many 4s and 6s it included but I estimate it was off about 85 balls. Devastating batting.
4/7/99 v Woodside at Duppas Hill, Croydon (Home)
Woodside - 174 for 7 from 35 overs (Upeka's bowling - 10-0-33-1) beat Clapham Nomads - 39 all out (Upeka Perera 7) by 165 runs.
11/7/99 v Battersea Ironside at Duppas Hill, Croydon (Home) - 40 overs a side
Clapham Nomads - 144 for 9 (Upeka Perera 2) tied with Battersea Ironside - 144 for 9 (Upeka Perera 9-1-17-0)
25/7/99 v Tower Ravens at South Park, SW6 (Away) - time match
Clapham Nomads - 201 for 7 from 39 overs (Ahmed 62, Gaurang Vyas 58, Upeka Perera 18 not out) beat Tower Ravens - 97 all out (Upeka Perera 7-5-3-2, Ben Cobley 7-2-17-4) by 104 runs.
Upeka's bowling set, I believe, 2 Nomads records. Although this was a time match, Upeka bowled 7 overs which is the usual allocation for our bowlers and I think the 3 he conceded is the lowest ever from a 7-over stint. Also, incredibly, there was not a single scoring shot off Upeka's bowling; the 3 he conceded were wides.
1/8/99 v Caribbean at South Park, SW6 (Home)
Caribbean - 95 all out (Upeka Perera 5-2-19-1) lost to Clapham Nomads - 96 for 3 (Glen Kerr 28 - Upeka did not bat) by 7 wickets.
Upeka shared the new ball with Jamaican parishes paceman Patrick Blair- probably the fastest opening bowling combination Nomads have ever deployed.
15/8/99 v Touring Theatres at Wandsworth Common, SW18 (Home) - 35 overs a side
Touring Theatres - 126 for 7 (Patrick Blair 3-14, Upeka Perera 7-0-33-1) lost to Clapham Nomads - 127 for 5 from 21 overs (Upeka Perera 69) - by 5 wickets.
Upeka's 50 came off 24 balls, so it is not the fastest 50 a Nomads player has scored (that was Jim Joyce off 20 balls against the same opposition a decade later) but there was 1 record-breaking over in which John Warnaby was hit for 28 by Upeka. The over went - 466444 - surely the only time a Nomad has hit boundaries off all 6 balls of an over. Later in his innings Upeka hit 3 successive 6s.
4/9/99 v Battersea Spinners at Duppas Hill, Croydon (Home) - 40 overs a side
Clapham Nomads - 215 for 7 (John Chance 94 not out, Upeka Perera b Feroz Baluch 86) beat Battersea Spinners - 128 (Patrick Blair 4-16, Emil Todorow 3-24, Upeka Perera 8-0-38-0) by 87 runs. Upeka took 2 catches.
Upeka shared in a 3rd-wicket stand of 146 with John Chance whose 94 not out was his highest for the club. They faced some decent bowling, Feroz Baluch took 5 wickets for the Renato Philip's Spinners side.
18/9/99 v Battersea Spinners at Wandsworth Common, SW18 - 30 overs a side.
Clapham Nomads - 150 for 9 (Upeka Perera c wicketkeeper b Feroz Baluch 70) beat Battersea Spinners 71 (Andrew West 4-29, Upeka Perera 2-0-8-1) by 79 runs. Upeka took 2 catches.
Upeka hit 3 sixes and 9 fours in his innings of 70.
So a fine first season, especially with the bat. Upeka's other main seasons were 2000 and 2005, so I'll add these and other games and print the stats soon.
2000 SEASON
7/5/00 v Pavilion at Duppas Hill, Croydon (Home) - All London League - 40 overs a side
Clapham Nomads - 74 all out (Upeka Perera 4) beat Pavilion - 72 all out (M. Ali 4-12; Upeka Perera 5.3-2-8-3) by 2 runs.
A memorable game. Nomads' first league match and we beat one of the pre-season favourites by our closest-ever winning margin. Nomads were skittled on a decent pitch. Top scorer made 6 (apart from Extras which scored 38). Nomads skipper Emil Todorow opened the bowling with Andrew West and Mubasher Ali, a slight but pacey seamer from Lahore. Mubasher took probably the longest-ever run-up by a Nomads bowler - well over half way back to the boundary. At the start of each run-up, the imposing Qumber Tremasi bellowed 20 seconds worth of instructions in Urdu which reverberated and echoed around the natural bowl of Duppas Hill. This proved devastating (Emil said he could hear the batsmen's knees knocking) and Ali removed almost the entire top order with Pavilion being about 20 for 5 at one stage. The talented, mainly Caribbean, away side staged a comeback but fortunately we had Upeka at first change and, with 3 quick wickets, he removed the late order just in time to secure an exciting victory.
28/5/00 v Battersea Spinners at Wandsworth Common (Home) - All London League.
Battersea Spinners- 85 all out (Paul Martin 4-3, Upeka Perera 7-2-19-0) lost to Clapham Nomads - 91 for 6 (G. Vyas 42 not out; Upeka Perera 27) by 4 wickets.
Nomads were dead in the water on 14 for 5 (bowling by Des Peters and Feroz Baluch, humorous sledging by Jim Ferguson) when Upeka came in at No. 7 but he shared in a partnership of 62 with Gaurang Vyas to take us close to victory. Upeka was dismissed (caught behind) off the bowling of Renato Philip, but Renato was a half-decent swing bowler in those days.
16/7/00 v London Nigerians at Joseph Hood Rec, SW20 (Away) - All London League
London Nigerians - 165 for 9 (Raja Kabir 5-14; Upeka Perera 8-1-38-1) beat Clapham Nomads - 141 all out (Upeka Perera 71) by 24 runs.
Another memorable game. The talented and unorthodox Nigerians - at least one of whom had represented their country in an international match against Gambia - started imposingly before being pegged back by the bowling of Kabir. In reply, it looked all over at 37 for 3 but Upeka, ably supported by the young Cambridge student Ben Cobley, took the fight to the League Leaders. When Upeka passed 50 we were 5 down but with a strong tail and up with the rate. LNCC became decidedly twitchy. A close-ish LBW shout was turned down and the massive row that ensued saw Nomads' hard-bitten umpire (? Emil) replaced with the younger, more pliable Cobley. Upeka smacked another massive straight 6 (I can still see it sailing back over my head) and the mood was turning ugly. Eventually, Upeka fell for 71, probably his finest innings for the Nomads. I had remembered this as LBW but in fact he was bowled. Anyway, it was a close-run thing for the Nigerians.
6/8/00 v Syndicate at Dulwich Common, SE21 (Away) - All London League
Clapham Nomads - 110 all out (Upeka Perera 7) lost to Syndicate - 111 for 7 (Upeka Perera 1.2-0-16-1) by 3 wickets. Upeka took 1 catch.
13/8/00 v Sporting Caribs in Acton W3 (Away) - All London League
Clapham Nomads 40 all out (Upeka Perera 4 - joint top-scorer) lost to Sporting Caribs - 41 for 4 (Upeka Perera 5-0-27-1) by 6 wickets.
Nomads' lowest-ever total with a full team. It was never going to be enough but a very strong 4-man Nomads bowling line-up (Rafi, Upeka, Emil and Riaz) at least took 4 consolation wickets. These 4 were so strong that Andrew West didn't get a bowl.
20/8/00 v Viscount at Old Deer Park, Richmond (Home) - Friendly, 35 overs a side.
Viscount - 144 for 3 (Upeka Perera 3-0-18-1) beat Clapham Nomads - 76 (Rafi 23, Upeka Perera 15) by 68 runs.
10/9/00 v London Nigerians at Raynes Park Sports Ground, SW20 (Home) - All London League
London Nigerians - 234 for 5 (Todorow 3-21; Upeka Perera 5-0-46-0) beat Clapham Nomads - 174 for 9 (Mahesh Vyas 63; Upeka Perera 0) by 60 runs
Nomads' bowlers were put to the sword by the all-conquering All London League champions-elect. My main memory is of Joe Chance - who was an excellent bowler for the Nomads - on this occasion getting an attack of the yips and bowling 4 successive long hops, all of which were pulled behind square leg by the grateful batsman, each one right into the middle of the most badly situated picnic in history on the pavilion steps. All I remember is smashing crockery, scattering children and squawking mothers, but fortunately no injury. There was another serious umpiring dispute which caused Glen Kerr to leave. Nomads made a decent fist of the reply, with Mahesh notching probably his best innings for the club. Not enough though to prevent us finishing a rather unlucky last in the League Table.
A poor but memorable season for Nomads and an up-and-down season for Upeka, though his bowling against Pavilion and his batting in the first London Nigerians match were moments of pure class.
2001 SEASON
Upeka only played 1 game for Nomads in 2001.
9/9/01 v Energy Exiles at Nursery Road, SW19 (Away)
Clapham Nomads 152 for 9 (innings closed) from 28.5 overs
Jamie Wood b T. Cox 0
Emil Todorow (capt) run out 18
Tabish b Devlin 18
Gaurang Vyas caught -------- b G. Thomas 33
Upeka Perera caught -------- b G. Thomas 19
Rafi c N. Patel b G. Thomas 24
Eddie Phillips run out 12
Riaz Khan lbw G. Thomas 2
Ben Cobley caught --------- b G.Thomas 0
John Crossland (wkt) not out 0
Ali retired (the scorebook entry reads "retired sulking") 0
F.O.W. - 4, 46, 62, 111, 111, 147, 152, 152, 152
Exiles bowling
T. Cox 6-0-13-1
N. Patel 6-1-36-0
S. Devlin 6-0-35-1
W. Scott 5-0-39-0
G. Thomas 5.5-0-24-5
Energy Exiles 121 all out from 27.1 overs
(Batting scores not recorded - ? Top-scorer T.Cox with 60-plus)
Nomads bowling
Ali 6-2-9-3
B. Cobley 5-0-25-1
Riaz Khan 3-0-18-1
Rafi 6-0-21-3
J. Wood 1-0-6-1
E. Phillips 1-0-11-0
G. Vyas 1-0-13-0
E. Todorow 2.1-0-9-0
Upeka Perera 2-0-8-0
Clapham Nomads won by 31 runs.
Man of the Match - Rafi.
I wondered why I didn't play in this match and I have realised that on this day I was in Memphis, Tennessee; specifically at Graceland, by the grave of Elvis Presley. No offence to Elvis if he is reading this, or his many fans, ditto, but on balance I wish I had been at Nursery Road. I didn't realise back in 2001 how rare and precious Nomads wins over the Exiles would prove to be. After this game, the tally between the 2 clubs was Played 2, Nomads wins 2. Joyous days indeed.
2002 SEASON
19/5/02 v Carshalton Athletic in Wallington (Away) - 35 overs a side
Clapham Nomads 306 for 5 (Tabish 66, Adam Tegg 93, Upeka Perera 52) beat Carshalton Athletic 89 (Rafi 7-2-6-8) by 217 runs. Upeka did not bowl.
Nomads' highest total at that time and still our 2nd highest-ever. It is little wonder that a Carshalton Athletic player said to skipper Todorow; "Weak-Medium, my arse!" referring to the rating we had given the Conference when we arranged the fixture. All of Nomads top 7 had or went on to make 50s for the club at some point, and 4 of them recorded scores of 90-plus. Top-scorer Adam Tegg was an uncanny Graeme Hick lookalike from Perth, Western Australia. Rafi's incredible bowling figures are the best-ever by a Nomads player.
2/6/02 v Unpredictables at Battersea Park, SW11 (Away)
Unpredictables - 148 for 9 (Upeka Perera 1-1-0-0) lost to Clapham Nomads - 152 for 9 (Upeka Perera 30) by 1 wicket. Upeka top-scored as Nomads scraped home in a thriller with last-wicket pair Elroy Singroy and Ben Cobley putting on 11 to see us home.
I think this was Upeka's last game for 2 or 3 years, so it was a good way to go out. I'll put on his remaining games in the next few days.
Upeka returned in 2005 which was one of the most enjoyable Nomads seasons and one of the best-balanced teams we have had, featuring a high-class left-handed batsman in Gaurang Vyas and Nomads' best-ever spinner, Shailesh Bhatia.
22/5/05 v Kingston Lefthanders at South Park SW6 (Home) - 35 overs per side
Kingston Lefthanders 166 for 5 (Upeka Perera 4-0-20-2) lost to Clapham Nomads 170 for 6 (G. Vyas 73, Upeka Perera 20) by 4 wickets. Upeka took 1 catch.
29/5/05 v North Croydon at Battersea Park, SW11 (Home) - 40 overs per side.
North Croydon 224 for 3 (Upeka Perera 8-0-49-1) lost to Clapham Nomads 228 for 6 (Sumith Prasanna 60, Upeka Perera 68 not out) by 4 wickets.
A brilliant Nomads run chase and a match full of incident. Controversial uncle and nephew Dean Thomas and Dwight Williams walked off the pitch in the middle of their 5th Nomads game, never to be seen again. I was absent and the (nameless) person in charge of putting the tea out left about 75% of it in his car so Croydon's fielders were starving, but the main feature was a fantastic match-winning stand of 89 (still Nomads' best for the 7th wicket) between Upeka and Emil Todorow (18 not out.) One of Upeka's best innings for the club and probably Emil's best, though not his biggest.
5/6/05 v Touring Theatres at King George's Field, Tolworth (Home) - 35 overs per side
Clapham Nomads 109 (Jean-Claude 22, Upeka Perera 8) lost to Touring Theatres 111 for 5 (Upeka Perera 7-2-13-0) by 5 wickets. One of only 3 Theatres victories over us in around 30 meetings. They were inspired with bat, ball and in the field. When a guy of around 60 took a diving, one-handed catch, we guessed it was not our day.
10/7/05 v Burgh Heath at Tattenham Way, Burgh Heath, Surrey (Away) - 40 overs per side.
Burgh Heath 154 for 8 (Upeka Perera 8-0-32-2) beat Clapham Nomads 48 (Upeka Perera 7) by 106 runs.
This was a very different Burgh Heath side to the one we currently play. They had a lot of South Africans and were seriously strong. It is fair to see we possibly underperformed slightly or, as John put it in the scorebook, "Shit from the Nomads". Upeka did OK though, along with Dave Hunter and Emil, he was one of the better bowlers and he was 3rd-top scorer.
21/8/05 v Morden at Morden Park, SM4 (Away) - 40 overs per side.
Morden 233 for 7 (Upeka Perera 8-1-44-0) lost to Clapham Nomads 234 for 7 (G. Vyas 50, Upeka Perera 85 not out) by 3 wickets.
Possibly Nomads' best-ever run chase against Morden's Sunday Firsts. A brilliant 4th-wicket stand of 98 between Upeka and Jean-Claude took us to 203 for 4 and then Upeka protected a shaky late-middle-order to see us home. Controversy struck though as John related in his scorebook comment; "Dispute over run out. Upeka given not out by Benny. Morden angry." Morden angry? I'm deeply shocked. This was the start of the deterioration in relations between the 2 teams which culminated in them accusing us of buying our match balls from Woolworth's.
28/8/05 v Chiswick and Latymer at King George's Field, Tolworth (Home) - 35 overs per side
Clapham Nomads 163 for 9 (Jean-Claude 34, Shailesh Bhatia 26, John Chance 28, Upeka Perera 17) beat Chiswick and Latymer 135 all out off 34.1 overs (Sumith Prasanna 4-3, Upeka Perera 7-0-14-1) by 28 runs.
Upeka was by far the most economical bowler and this was vital. I remember very little about this game except that Chiswick's skipper was gutted and we went to a bizarre pub in a converted cricket pavilion by the A3 afterwards.
4/9/05 v CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) - SW London at Nursery Road, SW19 (Away) - 30 overs per side
CAMRA 169 for 8 (Abdul Khan 4-0-22-4, Upeka Perera 6-0-47-1) beat Clapham Nomads 157 for 9 (G. Vyas 52, Upeka Perera 1) by 8 runs.
A very close game but all I really remember is going to the Sultan pub (with its notoriously strong beer) together with a load of Real Ale enthusiasts, and waking up with a nasty headache.
The Team of 2005 was a fine Nomads side of which Upeka was a big part. A typical line-up would have been;
Sumith Prasanna, Chris Kennedy, John Chance, Gaurang Vyas, Jean-Claude, Abdul Khan, Nick Lefebve, Shailesh Bhatia, Emil Todorow, John Crossland and either Andrew West, Terry Bruce-Mills or Dave Hunter (though Dave would not be batting at No. 11.)
2006 SEASON
28/5/06 v Energy Exiles at Civil Service Sports Ground, W4 (Away) - 40 overs per side
Clapham Nomads 122 (Upeka Perera 40) lost to Energy Exiles 123 for 7 (Upeka Perera 5-0-24-1) by 3 wickets.
An archetypal Exiles v Nomads match of this era. Nomads scored faster but only lasted 36.1 overs (Scott - ?Wil - did the main damage with 4-37) Nomads had only 10 men but no excuses as the highly-disciplined Exiles ground out a last over victory despite scoring at only 3.15 per over.
2/7/06 v Morden at Morden Park, SM4 (Away) - 40 overs per side.
Clapham Nomads 259 for 5 (Hassan Khan 117 not out, John Chance 36, Upeka Perera 31) beat Morden 181 for 7 (Upeka Perera 1-0-1-0) by 78 runs.
Brilliant batting from the Nomads. Hassan was well and truly back in the side. This continued the usual pattern of Morden v Nomads fixtures
This appears to have been Upeka's final appearance for the club, so it was a good way to finish. I'll double check the later scorebooks but I think that was that. I'll do a statistical summary soon.
I have promised Upeka I will list all the matches he played in on this blog, so I will do that this week. There are about 25 to 30 of them.
Upeka recently sent me a couple of photos of the Nomads from 10 to 15 years ago. I will try and post them on here. One of them features Upeka himself, John Chance, Nick Lefebve and Andrew West but, on Facebook, Upeka listed the players with him as being John (Benny), Nick and Emil. In other words he thought the photo of Andrew West was Emil. An easy mistake to make and I must say I found this quite funny; funnier than Emil found it, anyway. I don't know what Andrew will think of it.
Upeka made his debut on 16/5/99 against Caribbean cc, a North London-based side that we played for a couple of years before the travelling got too much (many Nomads probably think Wood Green is in Scotland.)
16/5/1999 v Caribbean at Wood Green, N22 (Away) - 35 overs a side
Clapham Nomads - 125 for 6 from 35 overs
Emil Todorow (capt) c wkt b Thomas 4
John Chance b McIntyre 16
Eddie Phillips c wkt b McIntyre 40
Upeka Perera c wkt b McIntyre 0
Gaurang Vyas c wkt b McIntyre 8
Joe Chance run out 27
Nick Lefebve not out 2
Steve Tjasink not out 2
Did not bat; Andrew West, Raj Vyas, John Crossland (wkt)
Fall of wickets; 24, 34, 34, 56, 118, 120
Caribbean - 126 for 8 from 31.1 overs
Nomads bowling;
Upeka Perera 7-2-23-1
Andrew West 7-0-22-1
Gaurang Vyas 7-1-22-2
Joe Chance 4-0-21-0
Emil Todorow 4-1-25-3
Eddie Phillips 2.1-1-5-1
Upeka took 1 catch
Nomads lost by 2 wickets
Man of the Match - Eddie Phillips
So, a reasonable debut, after coming across a very dangerous bowler in McIntyre, Upeka did well with the ball to make Caribbean's run chase tricky (he had the honour of opening the bowling with Andrew West) and he took a catch
I will list Upeka's other games of the 1999 season in shorter form;
23/5/99 v Battersea Ironside at Dundonald Road, SW19 (Away).
Clapham Nomads - 223 for 8 (Upeka Perera 95, John Chance 43) beat Battersea Ironside - 111 by 112 runs (Upeka's bowling 5-0-18-0, he took 1 catch).
This was Upeka's best score for the Nomads and, at the time, was the highest score any Nomads batsman had made. Sadly, we copied the scorebook from the opposition, so I don't know how many 4s and 6s it included but I estimate it was off about 85 balls. Devastating batting.
4/7/99 v Woodside at Duppas Hill, Croydon (Home)
Woodside - 174 for 7 from 35 overs (Upeka's bowling - 10-0-33-1) beat Clapham Nomads - 39 all out (Upeka Perera 7) by 165 runs.
11/7/99 v Battersea Ironside at Duppas Hill, Croydon (Home) - 40 overs a side
Clapham Nomads - 144 for 9 (Upeka Perera 2) tied with Battersea Ironside - 144 for 9 (Upeka Perera 9-1-17-0)
25/7/99 v Tower Ravens at South Park, SW6 (Away) - time match
Clapham Nomads - 201 for 7 from 39 overs (Ahmed 62, Gaurang Vyas 58, Upeka Perera 18 not out) beat Tower Ravens - 97 all out (Upeka Perera 7-5-3-2, Ben Cobley 7-2-17-4) by 104 runs.
Upeka's bowling set, I believe, 2 Nomads records. Although this was a time match, Upeka bowled 7 overs which is the usual allocation for our bowlers and I think the 3 he conceded is the lowest ever from a 7-over stint. Also, incredibly, there was not a single scoring shot off Upeka's bowling; the 3 he conceded were wides.
1/8/99 v Caribbean at South Park, SW6 (Home)
Caribbean - 95 all out (Upeka Perera 5-2-19-1) lost to Clapham Nomads - 96 for 3 (Glen Kerr 28 - Upeka did not bat) by 7 wickets.
Upeka shared the new ball with Jamaican parishes paceman Patrick Blair- probably the fastest opening bowling combination Nomads have ever deployed.
15/8/99 v Touring Theatres at Wandsworth Common, SW18 (Home) - 35 overs a side
Touring Theatres - 126 for 7 (Patrick Blair 3-14, Upeka Perera 7-0-33-1) lost to Clapham Nomads - 127 for 5 from 21 overs (Upeka Perera 69) - by 5 wickets.
Upeka's 50 came off 24 balls, so it is not the fastest 50 a Nomads player has scored (that was Jim Joyce off 20 balls against the same opposition a decade later) but there was 1 record-breaking over in which John Warnaby was hit for 28 by Upeka. The over went - 466444 - surely the only time a Nomad has hit boundaries off all 6 balls of an over. Later in his innings Upeka hit 3 successive 6s.
4/9/99 v Battersea Spinners at Duppas Hill, Croydon (Home) - 40 overs a side
Clapham Nomads - 215 for 7 (John Chance 94 not out, Upeka Perera b Feroz Baluch 86) beat Battersea Spinners - 128 (Patrick Blair 4-16, Emil Todorow 3-24, Upeka Perera 8-0-38-0) by 87 runs. Upeka took 2 catches.
Upeka shared in a 3rd-wicket stand of 146 with John Chance whose 94 not out was his highest for the club. They faced some decent bowling, Feroz Baluch took 5 wickets for the Renato Philip's Spinners side.
18/9/99 v Battersea Spinners at Wandsworth Common, SW18 - 30 overs a side.
Clapham Nomads - 150 for 9 (Upeka Perera c wicketkeeper b Feroz Baluch 70) beat Battersea Spinners 71 (Andrew West 4-29, Upeka Perera 2-0-8-1) by 79 runs. Upeka took 2 catches.
Upeka hit 3 sixes and 9 fours in his innings of 70.
So a fine first season, especially with the bat. Upeka's other main seasons were 2000 and 2005, so I'll add these and other games and print the stats soon.
2000 SEASON
7/5/00 v Pavilion at Duppas Hill, Croydon (Home) - All London League - 40 overs a side
Clapham Nomads - 74 all out (Upeka Perera 4) beat Pavilion - 72 all out (M. Ali 4-12; Upeka Perera 5.3-2-8-3) by 2 runs.
A memorable game. Nomads' first league match and we beat one of the pre-season favourites by our closest-ever winning margin. Nomads were skittled on a decent pitch. Top scorer made 6 (apart from Extras which scored 38). Nomads skipper Emil Todorow opened the bowling with Andrew West and Mubasher Ali, a slight but pacey seamer from Lahore. Mubasher took probably the longest-ever run-up by a Nomads bowler - well over half way back to the boundary. At the start of each run-up, the imposing Qumber Tremasi bellowed 20 seconds worth of instructions in Urdu which reverberated and echoed around the natural bowl of Duppas Hill. This proved devastating (Emil said he could hear the batsmen's knees knocking) and Ali removed almost the entire top order with Pavilion being about 20 for 5 at one stage. The talented, mainly Caribbean, away side staged a comeback but fortunately we had Upeka at first change and, with 3 quick wickets, he removed the late order just in time to secure an exciting victory.
28/5/00 v Battersea Spinners at Wandsworth Common (Home) - All London League.
Battersea Spinners- 85 all out (Paul Martin 4-3, Upeka Perera 7-2-19-0) lost to Clapham Nomads - 91 for 6 (G. Vyas 42 not out; Upeka Perera 27) by 4 wickets.
Nomads were dead in the water on 14 for 5 (bowling by Des Peters and Feroz Baluch, humorous sledging by Jim Ferguson) when Upeka came in at No. 7 but he shared in a partnership of 62 with Gaurang Vyas to take us close to victory. Upeka was dismissed (caught behind) off the bowling of Renato Philip, but Renato was a half-decent swing bowler in those days.
16/7/00 v London Nigerians at Joseph Hood Rec, SW20 (Away) - All London League
London Nigerians - 165 for 9 (Raja Kabir 5-14; Upeka Perera 8-1-38-1) beat Clapham Nomads - 141 all out (Upeka Perera 71) by 24 runs.
Another memorable game. The talented and unorthodox Nigerians - at least one of whom had represented their country in an international match against Gambia - started imposingly before being pegged back by the bowling of Kabir. In reply, it looked all over at 37 for 3 but Upeka, ably supported by the young Cambridge student Ben Cobley, took the fight to the League Leaders. When Upeka passed 50 we were 5 down but with a strong tail and up with the rate. LNCC became decidedly twitchy. A close-ish LBW shout was turned down and the massive row that ensued saw Nomads' hard-bitten umpire (? Emil) replaced with the younger, more pliable Cobley. Upeka smacked another massive straight 6 (I can still see it sailing back over my head) and the mood was turning ugly. Eventually, Upeka fell for 71, probably his finest innings for the Nomads. I had remembered this as LBW but in fact he was bowled. Anyway, it was a close-run thing for the Nigerians.
6/8/00 v Syndicate at Dulwich Common, SE21 (Away) - All London League
Clapham Nomads - 110 all out (Upeka Perera 7) lost to Syndicate - 111 for 7 (Upeka Perera 1.2-0-16-1) by 3 wickets. Upeka took 1 catch.
13/8/00 v Sporting Caribs in Acton W3 (Away) - All London League
Clapham Nomads 40 all out (Upeka Perera 4 - joint top-scorer) lost to Sporting Caribs - 41 for 4 (Upeka Perera 5-0-27-1) by 6 wickets.
Nomads' lowest-ever total with a full team. It was never going to be enough but a very strong 4-man Nomads bowling line-up (Rafi, Upeka, Emil and Riaz) at least took 4 consolation wickets. These 4 were so strong that Andrew West didn't get a bowl.
20/8/00 v Viscount at Old Deer Park, Richmond (Home) - Friendly, 35 overs a side.
Viscount - 144 for 3 (Upeka Perera 3-0-18-1) beat Clapham Nomads - 76 (Rafi 23, Upeka Perera 15) by 68 runs.
10/9/00 v London Nigerians at Raynes Park Sports Ground, SW20 (Home) - All London League
London Nigerians - 234 for 5 (Todorow 3-21; Upeka Perera 5-0-46-0) beat Clapham Nomads - 174 for 9 (Mahesh Vyas 63; Upeka Perera 0) by 60 runs
Nomads' bowlers were put to the sword by the all-conquering All London League champions-elect. My main memory is of Joe Chance - who was an excellent bowler for the Nomads - on this occasion getting an attack of the yips and bowling 4 successive long hops, all of which were pulled behind square leg by the grateful batsman, each one right into the middle of the most badly situated picnic in history on the pavilion steps. All I remember is smashing crockery, scattering children and squawking mothers, but fortunately no injury. There was another serious umpiring dispute which caused Glen Kerr to leave. Nomads made a decent fist of the reply, with Mahesh notching probably his best innings for the club. Not enough though to prevent us finishing a rather unlucky last in the League Table.
A poor but memorable season for Nomads and an up-and-down season for Upeka, though his bowling against Pavilion and his batting in the first London Nigerians match were moments of pure class.
2001 SEASON
Upeka only played 1 game for Nomads in 2001.
9/9/01 v Energy Exiles at Nursery Road, SW19 (Away)
Clapham Nomads 152 for 9 (innings closed) from 28.5 overs
Jamie Wood b T. Cox 0
Emil Todorow (capt) run out 18
Tabish b Devlin 18
Gaurang Vyas caught -------- b G. Thomas 33
Upeka Perera caught -------- b G. Thomas 19
Rafi c N. Patel b G. Thomas 24
Eddie Phillips run out 12
Riaz Khan lbw G. Thomas 2
Ben Cobley caught --------- b G.Thomas 0
John Crossland (wkt) not out 0
Ali retired (the scorebook entry reads "retired sulking") 0
F.O.W. - 4, 46, 62, 111, 111, 147, 152, 152, 152
Exiles bowling
T. Cox 6-0-13-1
N. Patel 6-1-36-0
S. Devlin 6-0-35-1
W. Scott 5-0-39-0
G. Thomas 5.5-0-24-5
Energy Exiles 121 all out from 27.1 overs
(Batting scores not recorded - ? Top-scorer T.Cox with 60-plus)
Nomads bowling
Ali 6-2-9-3
B. Cobley 5-0-25-1
Riaz Khan 3-0-18-1
Rafi 6-0-21-3
J. Wood 1-0-6-1
E. Phillips 1-0-11-0
G. Vyas 1-0-13-0
E. Todorow 2.1-0-9-0
Upeka Perera 2-0-8-0
Clapham Nomads won by 31 runs.
Man of the Match - Rafi.
I wondered why I didn't play in this match and I have realised that on this day I was in Memphis, Tennessee; specifically at Graceland, by the grave of Elvis Presley. No offence to Elvis if he is reading this, or his many fans, ditto, but on balance I wish I had been at Nursery Road. I didn't realise back in 2001 how rare and precious Nomads wins over the Exiles would prove to be. After this game, the tally between the 2 clubs was Played 2, Nomads wins 2. Joyous days indeed.
2002 SEASON
19/5/02 v Carshalton Athletic in Wallington (Away) - 35 overs a side
Clapham Nomads 306 for 5 (Tabish 66, Adam Tegg 93, Upeka Perera 52) beat Carshalton Athletic 89 (Rafi 7-2-6-8) by 217 runs. Upeka did not bowl.
Nomads' highest total at that time and still our 2nd highest-ever. It is little wonder that a Carshalton Athletic player said to skipper Todorow; "Weak-Medium, my arse!" referring to the rating we had given the Conference when we arranged the fixture. All of Nomads top 7 had or went on to make 50s for the club at some point, and 4 of them recorded scores of 90-plus. Top-scorer Adam Tegg was an uncanny Graeme Hick lookalike from Perth, Western Australia. Rafi's incredible bowling figures are the best-ever by a Nomads player.
2/6/02 v Unpredictables at Battersea Park, SW11 (Away)
Unpredictables - 148 for 9 (Upeka Perera 1-1-0-0) lost to Clapham Nomads - 152 for 9 (Upeka Perera 30) by 1 wicket. Upeka top-scored as Nomads scraped home in a thriller with last-wicket pair Elroy Singroy and Ben Cobley putting on 11 to see us home.
I think this was Upeka's last game for 2 or 3 years, so it was a good way to go out. I'll put on his remaining games in the next few days.
Upeka returned in 2005 which was one of the most enjoyable Nomads seasons and one of the best-balanced teams we have had, featuring a high-class left-handed batsman in Gaurang Vyas and Nomads' best-ever spinner, Shailesh Bhatia.
22/5/05 v Kingston Lefthanders at South Park SW6 (Home) - 35 overs per side
Kingston Lefthanders 166 for 5 (Upeka Perera 4-0-20-2) lost to Clapham Nomads 170 for 6 (G. Vyas 73, Upeka Perera 20) by 4 wickets. Upeka took 1 catch.
29/5/05 v North Croydon at Battersea Park, SW11 (Home) - 40 overs per side.
North Croydon 224 for 3 (Upeka Perera 8-0-49-1) lost to Clapham Nomads 228 for 6 (Sumith Prasanna 60, Upeka Perera 68 not out) by 4 wickets.
A brilliant Nomads run chase and a match full of incident. Controversial uncle and nephew Dean Thomas and Dwight Williams walked off the pitch in the middle of their 5th Nomads game, never to be seen again. I was absent and the (nameless) person in charge of putting the tea out left about 75% of it in his car so Croydon's fielders were starving, but the main feature was a fantastic match-winning stand of 89 (still Nomads' best for the 7th wicket) between Upeka and Emil Todorow (18 not out.) One of Upeka's best innings for the club and probably Emil's best, though not his biggest.
5/6/05 v Touring Theatres at King George's Field, Tolworth (Home) - 35 overs per side
Clapham Nomads 109 (Jean-Claude 22, Upeka Perera 8) lost to Touring Theatres 111 for 5 (Upeka Perera 7-2-13-0) by 5 wickets. One of only 3 Theatres victories over us in around 30 meetings. They were inspired with bat, ball and in the field. When a guy of around 60 took a diving, one-handed catch, we guessed it was not our day.
10/7/05 v Burgh Heath at Tattenham Way, Burgh Heath, Surrey (Away) - 40 overs per side.
Burgh Heath 154 for 8 (Upeka Perera 8-0-32-2) beat Clapham Nomads 48 (Upeka Perera 7) by 106 runs.
This was a very different Burgh Heath side to the one we currently play. They had a lot of South Africans and were seriously strong. It is fair to see we possibly underperformed slightly or, as John put it in the scorebook, "Shit from the Nomads". Upeka did OK though, along with Dave Hunter and Emil, he was one of the better bowlers and he was 3rd-top scorer.
21/8/05 v Morden at Morden Park, SM4 (Away) - 40 overs per side.
Morden 233 for 7 (Upeka Perera 8-1-44-0) lost to Clapham Nomads 234 for 7 (G. Vyas 50, Upeka Perera 85 not out) by 3 wickets.
Possibly Nomads' best-ever run chase against Morden's Sunday Firsts. A brilliant 4th-wicket stand of 98 between Upeka and Jean-Claude took us to 203 for 4 and then Upeka protected a shaky late-middle-order to see us home. Controversy struck though as John related in his scorebook comment; "Dispute over run out. Upeka given not out by Benny. Morden angry." Morden angry? I'm deeply shocked. This was the start of the deterioration in relations between the 2 teams which culminated in them accusing us of buying our match balls from Woolworth's.
28/8/05 v Chiswick and Latymer at King George's Field, Tolworth (Home) - 35 overs per side
Clapham Nomads 163 for 9 (Jean-Claude 34, Shailesh Bhatia 26, John Chance 28, Upeka Perera 17) beat Chiswick and Latymer 135 all out off 34.1 overs (Sumith Prasanna 4-3, Upeka Perera 7-0-14-1) by 28 runs.
Upeka was by far the most economical bowler and this was vital. I remember very little about this game except that Chiswick's skipper was gutted and we went to a bizarre pub in a converted cricket pavilion by the A3 afterwards.
4/9/05 v CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) - SW London at Nursery Road, SW19 (Away) - 30 overs per side
CAMRA 169 for 8 (Abdul Khan 4-0-22-4, Upeka Perera 6-0-47-1) beat Clapham Nomads 157 for 9 (G. Vyas 52, Upeka Perera 1) by 8 runs.
A very close game but all I really remember is going to the Sultan pub (with its notoriously strong beer) together with a load of Real Ale enthusiasts, and waking up with a nasty headache.
The Team of 2005 was a fine Nomads side of which Upeka was a big part. A typical line-up would have been;
Sumith Prasanna, Chris Kennedy, John Chance, Gaurang Vyas, Jean-Claude, Abdul Khan, Nick Lefebve, Shailesh Bhatia, Emil Todorow, John Crossland and either Andrew West, Terry Bruce-Mills or Dave Hunter (though Dave would not be batting at No. 11.)
2006 SEASON
28/5/06 v Energy Exiles at Civil Service Sports Ground, W4 (Away) - 40 overs per side
Clapham Nomads 122 (Upeka Perera 40) lost to Energy Exiles 123 for 7 (Upeka Perera 5-0-24-1) by 3 wickets.
An archetypal Exiles v Nomads match of this era. Nomads scored faster but only lasted 36.1 overs (Scott - ?Wil - did the main damage with 4-37) Nomads had only 10 men but no excuses as the highly-disciplined Exiles ground out a last over victory despite scoring at only 3.15 per over.
2/7/06 v Morden at Morden Park, SM4 (Away) - 40 overs per side.
Clapham Nomads 259 for 5 (Hassan Khan 117 not out, John Chance 36, Upeka Perera 31) beat Morden 181 for 7 (Upeka Perera 1-0-1-0) by 78 runs.
Brilliant batting from the Nomads. Hassan was well and truly back in the side. This continued the usual pattern of Morden v Nomads fixtures
This appears to have been Upeka's final appearance for the club, so it was a good way to finish. I'll double check the later scorebooks but I think that was that. I'll do a statistical summary soon.
Clapham Nomads annual meeting
Clapham Nomads will have our annual meeting in the Mirch Masala in Tooting at 7.30 pm on Sunday 27th Feb. All are welcome. Emil will contact everyone with full details this week.
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