Long Ditton v Clapham Nomads

Long Ditton 166 for 7 from 35 overs beat Clapham Nomads 141 all out from 27.5 overs by 25 runs.

This fixture had lapsed for some reason but a quick arrangement was made via "The Fixture List" on wednesday when both clubs were looking for a game.
It was an excellent game with some of Nomads' tightest bowling of the season restricting the hosts to what seemed like a gettable total.
We looked to be in the box seat for most of our innings (and several Long Ditton players confirmed that they had shared this feeling) but we kept picking out fielders just a little too often with aerial shots and a dramatic final over in which (?) Neely took our last 3 wickets ended our effort prematurely.
It was played in a very good spirit though with the Surrey side well captained by Tom Bennett, who was also one of their trio of impressive spinners; a useful asset which Nomads lacked on this slow pitch.
Nomads batted very entertainingly.
Just a note on Umpiring decisions; Several Nomads players felt that a shot given as 2 had crossed the line and had gone for 4. It is rare that these calls make a massive difference to the outcome and it did not do so yesterday.   Unless the white line is very bright and the umpire can see what has happened, you really have to take the fielder's word for it. This is something that almost all Sunday teams do and accept - not just the Nomads. Rather more significant in the context of the match result were a couple of diving catches that were claimed, and the batsmen were dismissed.  These both looked close calls and some of the Nomads felt they should have been challenged. I had a few doubts about the second one myself - KK's wicket.  However, it is extremely difficult for the umpires to query it when the fielder says he has caught it legitimately, without causing serious damage to the integrity and atmosphere of the match which again, particularly at Sunday friendly level, no-one wants.
These are two areas where it is accepted that the fielding side has the benefit of the doubt. The batsmen benefit from having the benefit of the doubt on LBW, Caught Behind, Run out and Stumped decisions and the major advantage (massive advantage many Nomads' opponents would claim) of having umpires from their own side.
The atmosphere in this fixture the last time I played in it (in 2015) was not great if I remember correctly and so it was important to have an improvement in this area yesterday, which we did.  NL

SCORES AND FULL REPORT TO FOLLOW - SCORES NOW ADDED

(I forgot to bring the scorebook but fortunately John had an old piece of paper in his back pocket - not the sort of paper Emil suggested he keep score on. John has taken this scoresheet on his walking holiday in Staffordshire so I don't have the scores. Mahesh, Javed, Faseeh, Zia and Hassan all made a few runs. I think Sami was the most economical bowler. (UPDATE .....Faseeh was the most economical) John took a full-length diving, one-handed catch.)

Long Ditton 166 for 7 from 35 overs

Nomads bowling;

Sami  6-0-22-1
Faseeh  5-1-12-0
Abbas  7-1-43-0
Emil  3-0-15-1
Zia  6-1-23-2
KK  5-0-18-0
Hassan  2-0-11-3
Riaz  1-0-13-0

Clapham Nomads  141 all out from 27/5 overs

Mahesh  25
Riaz  0
Javed  30
Hassan  5
Faseeh  23
Zia  31
KK  2
Sami  9
Abbas  0
Emil  not out 1
John  0

F.O.W. - 5, 56, 70, 86, 105, 117, 140, 140, 141, 141

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

Dulwich v Clapham Nomads - 9/7/17

Nomads beat Dulwich's talented development XI by 3 wickets on Sunday.  In each innings, Dulwich had the better of it early on before Nomads recovered; the home side reaching 120 for 1 before Clapham regrouped with the declaration coming on 186 for 5 off 37.  In our reply, we were 4 for 2 and 44 for 4 but brilliant batting from Hassan (65 not out) well supported by Sami and Abbas saw us home in the penultimate over.

Dulwich 186 for 7 from 37 overs

Nomads' bowling

Sami  7-0-32-0
Emil  6-0-34-0
Faseeh  6-0-36-0
Abbas  8-1-30-3
Hassan  6-1-24-3
KK  4-0-22-0

Clapham Nomads 187 for 7 from 30.3 overs

Mahesh 0
Javed  0
Darwin  30
KK  13
Faseeh  23
Zaman  5
Hassan  65 not out
Sami  11
Abbas  23 not out
Did not bat; Emil(capt), John (wkt)

F.O.W. - 0, 4, 30, 44, 58, 86, 156

Man of the match - Hassan
Fielder of the day - Sami

FULL REPORT TO FOLLOW SOON

I'll do this report soon but, in the meantime some further highlights before I forget.  Hassan's batting was absolutely excellent but I must also mention the very solid support Sami gave him in a vital partnership of 70 for the 7th wicket. Also, some great hitting from Abbas who blasted us home with 23 in next to no time out of an unbroken 8th wicket stand with Hassan at a time when another wicket could have put us in trouble.  Finally, some particularly impressive batting from one of Dulwich's youngsters, Shaw, who only made about 20 but scored this with excellent style and power.

John's back

It was great to see John Crossland take the gloves for Nomads following his 5-match spell with Energy Exiles. He enjoyed his time with our fierce but friendly rivals and there will be an account of his adventures on this blog soon.
He is an excellent cricketer - one of the best wicketkeepers at this level and an underestimated batsman.

Barnes Occasionals v Clapham Nomads - 2/7/17

Nomads made a decent return from our Ramadan and Eid break with a good performance to get slightly the better of a draw against our oldest cricketing friends the Barnes Occasionals.
It is good to see the Occasionals have returned to their traditional tribal home at Rocks Lane. The facilities have been upgraded. I didn't play in this one myself but John and Emil were impressed.
Barnes won the toss and skipper Tom Hooker inserted Clapham, knowing that this pretty much guaranteed the Home side a draw at least, given their experienced batting line-up.
Nomads made a slightly shaky start with Javed, happily recovered from his illness in the previous game, run out in the first over.  Mahesh continued his fine form with 24 but 3 early wickets had us in a little difficulty.  Happily, the middle order was consistent with just about everybody chipping in with runs, led by Zia who hit a magnificent 67.  It was good to see our popular swing bowler Sami make a return.  Nomads reached 221 for 7 at tea which made a defeat, at least, seem unlikely.
Led by classy strokemaker Roger Price, Barnes started impressively and were in the hunt for victory at one stage with Price making 71 and number 3 Solanke hitting 49.  Steady Nomads bowling and a few wickets tipped the balance back towards the Away side, Sami's cousin Faseeh, was possibly the pick of the bowlers. Barnes called off the chase and finished on 154 for 6 for a comfortable draw. There was some discussion as to whether skipper Emil Todorow should have declared but, with capable defensive players such as D.M Webster, Keith Seed and Ollie Hogg to come, we would have needed at the very least another 10 overs to have had any chance of dismissing Occasionals and declaring 10 overs earlier would have left us with only around 165 runs on the board which would not have been a safe total.
Anyway, apparently it was an enjoyable afternoon and we look forward to the return fixture in September.

Clapham Nomads -  221 for 7 from 32 overs

M.Vyas  b Edwards 24
J. Iqbal  run out 0
R. Khan b Hooker 12
H. Khan ct -------- b Hogg 12
Zia  ct Price b Chandra  67
D. Gunawardena  b Chandra
Faseeh  not out 41
KK Khusro  b Hogg 4
Sami  not out 11
Did not bat; E.Todorow (Capt), J. Crossland (Wkt)

F.O.W. - 0, 17, 35, 151, 152, 165, 186

Barnes Occasionals - 154 for 6 from 36 overs

R. Price c H.Khan b R.Khan 71
A. Metcalfe c Zia b Hassan 6
R. Solanke  c Vyas b KK Khusro  49
G. Chandra c Faseeh b Zia
JP Mauro  b Faseeh 0
P. Carey  b R.Khan  9
T. Edwards  not out 6
T. Hooker  not out 1
Did not bat; DM Webster, O. Hogg, K. Seed

F.O.W - 29, 118, 123, 124, 136, 148

Match Drawn

I will update this report when I get the scorebook back.

Man of the Match - Zia.
Fielder of the Day - I think we took 4 catches but I heard there were quite a few drops as well. I will ask John Crossland who he thought the best fielder was........and then stand well back.  UPDATE - Catches were taken by Zia, Mahesh, Faseeh and Hassan. Mahesh has just informed me that his was a diving catch so that automatically gives him Fielder of the Day.

FULL REPORT TO FOLLOW

Paul Murphy

Hi all,  I have been contacted by Paul Murphy who played for us last summer. He will be working in London later this summer at a University and needs accommodation for 2 to 3 weeks. He is a nice guy who loves his cricket and he did say that he is a quiet tenant.  If anyone has a room or knows anyone that has a room going that Paul can rent, please let me know (you can put a comment on here or text Emil and I will pass the message on to Paul.)
See you all on 2nd July.  Nick

Come on you Exiles!!

With Nomads not playing now until 2nd July. The club has transferred its allegiance to local rivals - and friends - the Energy Exiles.  Sensationally, Nomads' wicketkeeper, scorer and all-round legend John Crossland has gone one step further, crossed the sectarian divide, and made his debut for Exiles on Sunday 28/5.  He shone as well, stepping straight into the keeping position and claiming 2 catches. He was also the not out man in Energy's innings.  We can only hope they do not try to poach him.  Please, Johnny, don't go.  We will offer him a new contract on improved terms. I think I have some coins down the back of my sofa.
Come on you Exiles!!

Clapham Nomads v Wimbledon United - 21/5/17

Clapham Nomads lost to Wimbledon United at Cottenham Park last Sunday. It was reasonably close.  United were 79 for 0 after 10 overs so we did well to keep them to 207 for 8 off the full 35.  Nomads started cautiously against the usual accurate and disciplined bowling - a sprinkling of beamers notwithstanding. We were 66 for 2 at the halfway mark and needed 8 an over at that point.  I had to leave early to go to work but Emil told me that Zia was batting really well, bearing down on the total, when he was unfortunately run out. Nomads tailed off a little after that but still finished on a respectable 180 for 6 for a 27 run defeat.
It was Emil Todorow's 250th successive appearance for the club. He hasn't missed a Nomads match since September 2002. The verdict of most people is that this is a fantastic achievement. John's verdict; "Doesn't he have a life?"  Mind you, John hardly ever misses a match himself.
Tributes to Emil and to Hassan - who is now on about 5,150 runs for the club - will follow soon.

Wimbledon United 207 for 8 from 35 overs.

Nomads' bowling

Hassan  5-1-38-1
Emil  2-0-22-0
Zia  7-2-32-0
Abbas  7-1-43-3
KK  7-0-37-3
Riaz  7-0-37-1



Clapham Nomads 180 for 6 from 35 overs.

Mahesh  36
Nick  6
Farhan  7
Hassan  25
Darwin  37 not out
Riaz  9
Zia  43
KK  0 not out
Did not bat; Abbas, Emil (captain), John (wkt)
F.O.W. - 15, 28, 78, 83, 99, 166


Nomads lost by 27 runs.

FULL REPORT TO FOLLOW WHEN I GET THE SCOREBOOK BACK

UPDATE......Nomads skipper Emil Todorow, playing his 250th successive game for the club, controversially inserted Wimbledon after winning the toss and our fielders stood apprehensively in the hot sun, watching Dons' prolific opening batsman Dave Hitchman taking guard. After plentiful rain in recent days, the pitch looked quite green and maybe gave hope that we could restrict Hitchman to 80 or so instead of his usual century.
This hope soon looked forlorn as United raced to 79 off 10 overs with Hitchman being outscored by his partner. Emil only bowled 2 overs as he had heavy summer flu (this was never going to prevent him, trouper that he is, from reaching his 250 game landmark.) Around this time, there was a disturbing incident as Javed, our match-winner in the corresponding fixture last year, doubled up with severe stomach pains. An ambulance was called and Javed was rushed to St George's hospital with suspected kidney stones. I hope you are feeling better, Javed.
Excellent bowling by Abbas and, particularly, Zia kept Dons to about 45 for the loss of 3 off the next 12 overs, including the vital wicket of Hitchman for 30.  The pace increased again after that but the 6 wickets that were shared equally by Abbas and KK (who was unlucky not to get more) prevented the away side from racing away and our eventual target of 208 off 35 did not seem totally impossible for an in-form Nomads line-up, albeit one that was missing Javed, one of our hardest-hitting players.
Javed's place was taken by Nick Lefebve who had to open as he needed to leave early for work. Not expecting to play, Lefebve was decked out in a sort of Primark Spring/Summer Collection outfit with a loose-fitting helmet and a borrowed box, but he managed a streaky 6 before dabbing one tamely to gully off the bowling of Peter Brown "The Southfields Express."
At the other end, Mahesh Vyas continued his great form and he played out a consolidating stand of 13 from 5 overs with debutant Farhan. Cripps had Farhan caught behind but this brought Hassan out to join Mahesh and this pair have been batting brilliantly together so far this summer. The fiery Greg Dean replaced Brown downhill and had our men in some trouble with some rapid deliveries.  We did pretty well to hold on, play a few shots and the score of 66 for 2 at the halfway drinks break looked OK but we now needed to score at around 8 an over.
Sadly, we lost Hassan not long after drinks and then Mahesh and Darwin, who normally have a great understanding, were involved in a run out incident and the opener departed for a fine 36.  Riaz played a nice, cameo 9 but his departure put us on 99 for 5 and up against it.
It is a luxury to have a player as fine as Zia coming in at 7 and he has been in great form.  Well supported by Darwin, Zia struck 6 boundaries and was on 43 with Nomads back in the hunt when we unfortunately lost him to another run out.  That just about ended our chance though we flicked another 14 to bring us to 180 and a respectable defeat by only 27 runs against a fine side.

Man of the Match was Zia. Fielder of the Day is tricky for me as I did not see much of our fielding but Mahesh took a catch and made at least one fine stop at slip so he gets the nod.

No games now until 2nd July.  To all those who observe Ramadan, best wishes for the month and for Eid as well.  Nick