I have gone through the scorebooks and found that Zia has scored 647 runs this season. The missing score was, surprisingly, 0 against Surbiton Imperials and the score I was guessing as 60 (against Gentlemen of Hampstead) was 61. The all-time record for runs scored by one player for Nomads in a season is held by Hasan with 692 runs in 2010.
John also made a report for last Sunday's win over Barnes Occasionals. Here it is;
"Nomads' game against Barnes Occasionals was, in some respects, similar to the previous game at Harrow. This time batting first, the Nomads lost 3 early wickets but then came another huge partnership between Hasan and Zia who is a run machine at the moment. Last week (against Harrow) the pair scored on an unbeaten 157, a club record for the 5th wicket. This time they put on 142 for the 4th wicket with Zia making 91 and Hasan 60. The Nomads finished on 228 for 7 off 35 overs, a score which Barnes Occasionals were unlikely to get. For a change, Nomads held all their catches and Barnes were all out for 145 in the final over of the game.
Strangely enough, 228 was the same score that Harrow made against the Nomads on 2nd September." JC
Saturday, 15 September 2018
Tuesday, 11 September 2018
Clapham Nomads v Barnes Occasionals - 9/9/18
For our last home match of the season, Nomads entertained our oldest cricketing friends Barnes Occasionals at a sunny but somehow still bleak Joseph Hood Rec.
Several of us (Emil, John and I) first met the Occasionals back in 1991 when we were all young (ish). I recently found a results list from the Open University cc who we used to play for and, to disprove that old cliche, "the good old days" found that we lost by 7 wickets to Barnes on our terrible pitch (a public park) Bishops Park - in the shadow of Fulham football ground. I can remember literally nothing about this match but it was the 4th defeat in a run of 12 successive losses for Open University and I am guessing that OU captain Dave Hunter may have had some choice words to say about our performance.
The line-ups would have been something like; OU - Graeme Douglas (wkt), Nick Lefebve, Peter Price, Alan Cotter, Dave Hunter (capt), Peter King, Clive Howard, Joe Chance, John Crossland, Emil Todorow, Nasser........ Barnes would probably have contained Hogg (A), Hogg (O), Seed, Flower, Williams, Webster, Mundy, Lichfield, Hanmer, Tagg..... give or take one or two of these.
Anyway, enough false nostalgia. A rather more robust Nomads line up took the field looking to make it 6 wins and 6 defeats this season. Emil called correctly and chose to bat but we started poorly again. After playing one of the shots of the day - a feather-light leg glance, Mahesh unfortunately picked out the only fielder in a wide arc on the leg side and departed. A slight recovery took us up to 28 but Darwin and Abdul departed in quick succession leaving us in peril at 30 for 3. This brought Hasan and Zia together - could they do it again? They needed to. They did not disappoint and brilliant and remorseless batting added 142 for the 4th wicket. Zia was finally prised out on 91, his 6th successive half-century and Hasan - who has been having a fine season himself - made 60.
170-odd for 5 and we still needed a few more to make it safe as Barnes appeared pretty strong, and good rapid scoring from Abbas, Safi, Sami and KK took us up to 228 for 7 off the full 35. The wickets were shared out and inevitably Keith Seed - who has rarely come away empty-handed against OU or Nomads over the years - pitched in with 2 late strikes.
A quick strike by Emil Todorow (with the help of a nice catch from Darwin) brought on scrutiny of Emil's classical bowling action. Some of the Occasionals speculated that our skipper might be delivering the ball with both his feet off the ground - a feat demanding great athleticism, which admittedly Todorow does possess - and there was even a hopeful and plaintive cry of "No ball" from one of the spectators. It seems clear though that, although Emil does perfom a little skip in his penultimate stride, at least one boot is firmly planted on the turf at the point of delivery. Thank Goodness. It must be hard enough facing Emil anyway; imagine how disconcerting an airborne Todorow would be. Anyway, Emil soared above it all and bowled pretty well, as did Sami at the other end, but Barnes made serene progress with Roger Price, as ever, looking dangerous. At 66, however, Price was adjudged LBW, possibly a little harshly. His 2nd wicket partner soon followed, nicely caught by Sami in the deep, and this just about made us safe. There was some good batting further down from Barnes, particularly from Nick Benz, but excellent catching from Nomads - a superb diving caught and bowled from Abbas and a juggling effort from Sami would have kept the wickets section of the scoreboard rolling (if only we owned a scoreboard.) There was a brilliant direct hit by Zia from 20 yards back and last man Keith Seed was bowled by Safi in the final over in near-darkness to wrap up a solid victory for Clapham. KK was the top wicket-taker with 3. I do think though that, had it been a time match - which is Barnes' preference - the Away side could probably have secured a draw. Anyway, this good win puts Nomads on 6 wins and 6 defeats with all to play for in our final match on Sunday against India Legends.
In the pub afterwards, we found out that Barnes have at least 4 or 5 professional players of the French Horn (and that is not a euphemism.) Nomads cannot match that, although we are quite harmonious on the pitch these days; but in our early days we did have a classical cellist, a jazz composer and a man who had made several appearances on Top of the Pops all in the same line-up.
Clapham Nomads 228 for 7 beat Barnes Occasionals 145 by 83 runs.
Man of the Match - Zia (he has had the most incredible season. I will try to work back through the reports and calculate how many runs he has scored - it must be near a club record.).... Update.... I have been pretty useless at updating this blog this year and I don't have scores for a couple of the matches but Zia's scores have been; 31 not out, 40 not out, 53, ??, 26 not out, 0, 51, 105 not out, approximately 60, 85, 104 not out, 91. This is a total of 646 runs at an average of 92.29. I will get the missing scores from John and the true figure is likely to be about 655 at an average in the mid to high 80s. I think the club record for runs scored in a seaon is 668 (Hasan last year.) .... I HAVE UPDATED THIS IN A NEW POST... Nick.
Fielder of the Day - Sami
Full scores to follow
Clapham Nomads 228 for 7 from 35 overs
Mahesh 2
Abdul 20
Darwin 7
Hasan 60
Zia 91
Safi 5
Abbas 9
KK 9 not out
Sami 10 not out
Did not bat; Emil (capt), John (wkt)
F.O.W. - 3, 28, 30, 172, 179, 195, 215
Barnes Occasionals 145 from 34.4 overs (Benz 33, Prasad 35, Price 23)
Nomads' bowling;
Sami 7-2-20-0
Emil 5-0-28-1
KK 7-2-18-3
Abbas 7-0-26-2
Zia 3-0-12-0
Hasan 3-0-19-1
Safi 2.4-0-16-1
F.O.W. - 3, 66, 69, 70, 73, 82, 93, 117, 145, 145
Clapham Nomads won by 83 runs.
Last game of the season this Sunday so after that I will update all the other matches on this blog and do the averages etc. NL
Several of us (Emil, John and I) first met the Occasionals back in 1991 when we were all young (ish). I recently found a results list from the Open University cc who we used to play for and, to disprove that old cliche, "the good old days" found that we lost by 7 wickets to Barnes on our terrible pitch (a public park) Bishops Park - in the shadow of Fulham football ground. I can remember literally nothing about this match but it was the 4th defeat in a run of 12 successive losses for Open University and I am guessing that OU captain Dave Hunter may have had some choice words to say about our performance.
The line-ups would have been something like; OU - Graeme Douglas (wkt), Nick Lefebve, Peter Price, Alan Cotter, Dave Hunter (capt), Peter King, Clive Howard, Joe Chance, John Crossland, Emil Todorow, Nasser........ Barnes would probably have contained Hogg (A), Hogg (O), Seed, Flower, Williams, Webster, Mundy, Lichfield, Hanmer, Tagg..... give or take one or two of these.
Anyway, enough false nostalgia. A rather more robust Nomads line up took the field looking to make it 6 wins and 6 defeats this season. Emil called correctly and chose to bat but we started poorly again. After playing one of the shots of the day - a feather-light leg glance, Mahesh unfortunately picked out the only fielder in a wide arc on the leg side and departed. A slight recovery took us up to 28 but Darwin and Abdul departed in quick succession leaving us in peril at 30 for 3. This brought Hasan and Zia together - could they do it again? They needed to. They did not disappoint and brilliant and remorseless batting added 142 for the 4th wicket. Zia was finally prised out on 91, his 6th successive half-century and Hasan - who has been having a fine season himself - made 60.
170-odd for 5 and we still needed a few more to make it safe as Barnes appeared pretty strong, and good rapid scoring from Abbas, Safi, Sami and KK took us up to 228 for 7 off the full 35. The wickets were shared out and inevitably Keith Seed - who has rarely come away empty-handed against OU or Nomads over the years - pitched in with 2 late strikes.
A quick strike by Emil Todorow (with the help of a nice catch from Darwin) brought on scrutiny of Emil's classical bowling action. Some of the Occasionals speculated that our skipper might be delivering the ball with both his feet off the ground - a feat demanding great athleticism, which admittedly Todorow does possess - and there was even a hopeful and plaintive cry of "No ball" from one of the spectators. It seems clear though that, although Emil does perfom a little skip in his penultimate stride, at least one boot is firmly planted on the turf at the point of delivery. Thank Goodness. It must be hard enough facing Emil anyway; imagine how disconcerting an airborne Todorow would be. Anyway, Emil soared above it all and bowled pretty well, as did Sami at the other end, but Barnes made serene progress with Roger Price, as ever, looking dangerous. At 66, however, Price was adjudged LBW, possibly a little harshly. His 2nd wicket partner soon followed, nicely caught by Sami in the deep, and this just about made us safe. There was some good batting further down from Barnes, particularly from Nick Benz, but excellent catching from Nomads - a superb diving caught and bowled from Abbas and a juggling effort from Sami would have kept the wickets section of the scoreboard rolling (if only we owned a scoreboard.) There was a brilliant direct hit by Zia from 20 yards back and last man Keith Seed was bowled by Safi in the final over in near-darkness to wrap up a solid victory for Clapham. KK was the top wicket-taker with 3. I do think though that, had it been a time match - which is Barnes' preference - the Away side could probably have secured a draw. Anyway, this good win puts Nomads on 6 wins and 6 defeats with all to play for in our final match on Sunday against India Legends.
In the pub afterwards, we found out that Barnes have at least 4 or 5 professional players of the French Horn (and that is not a euphemism.) Nomads cannot match that, although we are quite harmonious on the pitch these days; but in our early days we did have a classical cellist, a jazz composer and a man who had made several appearances on Top of the Pops all in the same line-up.
Clapham Nomads 228 for 7 beat Barnes Occasionals 145 by 83 runs.
Man of the Match - Zia (he has had the most incredible season. I will try to work back through the reports and calculate how many runs he has scored - it must be near a club record.).... Update.... I have been pretty useless at updating this blog this year and I don't have scores for a couple of the matches but Zia's scores have been; 31 not out, 40 not out, 53, ??, 26 not out, 0, 51, 105 not out, approximately 60, 85, 104 not out, 91. This is a total of 646 runs at an average of 92.29. I will get the missing scores from John and the true figure is likely to be about 655 at an average in the mid to high 80s. I think the club record for runs scored in a seaon is 668 (Hasan last year.) .... I HAVE UPDATED THIS IN A NEW POST... Nick.
Fielder of the Day - Sami
Full scores to follow
Clapham Nomads 228 for 7 from 35 overs
Mahesh 2
Abdul 20
Darwin 7
Hasan 60
Zia 91
Safi 5
Abbas 9
KK 9 not out
Sami 10 not out
Did not bat; Emil (capt), John (wkt)
F.O.W. - 3, 28, 30, 172, 179, 195, 215
Barnes Occasionals 145 from 34.4 overs (Benz 33, Prasad 35, Price 23)
Nomads' bowling;
Sami 7-2-20-0
Emil 5-0-28-1
KK 7-2-18-3
Abbas 7-0-26-2
Zia 3-0-12-0
Hasan 3-0-19-1
Safi 2.4-0-16-1
F.O.W. - 3, 66, 69, 70, 73, 82, 93, 117, 145, 145
Clapham Nomads won by 83 runs.
Last game of the season this Sunday so after that I will update all the other matches on this blog and do the averages etc. NL
Monday, 10 September 2018
Harrow v Clapham Nomads - 2/9/18
Nomads continued our tour of the more picturesque grounds of Middlesex with a trip to the Sudbury Hill home of Harrow cc. The facilities were great, including a bar and a sloping pitch and we had a chance to play with a remote-controlled electronic scoreboard.
The home side were Harrow 4th eleven, basically the fathers of players in their youth team. As expected they were pretty sound and played mainly good orthodox cricket shots after they won the toss and chose to bat in the searing heat.
There was an early wicket for Nomads with an acrobatic diving catch from slip specialist Mahesh Vyas.
Harrow then pushed on and, for most of the innings, the scoring rate fluctuated between 5 and 5.5 per over. Nomads' fielding was a little ragged before drinks and a few chances went down but we gradually improved and some of the ground-fielding towards the end was excellent; Abbas, Safi and Darwin spring to mind for some great stops and commitment and there was a direct hit from Hasan with just one stump to aim at. Abdul also hit the stumps from three quarters of the way back to the boundary but the batsman had just made his ground.
After around 27 overs (with 8 to go) Harrow were on about 155 for 4 but they had wickets in hand and some of Nomads premier bowling options had been used up. I will hand over to John for his report....
........" On a good batting wicket, Harrow's innings had contributions of 70, 66 and a quickfire 24 not out near the end to bring their total up to 228 for 5 off 35 overs. It looked a pretty formidable score.
In reply, Nomads lost 2 wickets in the first over without a run on the board and then another wicket on 25. Abdul and Hasan added 50 before Abdul was bowled off his arm for 26. This brought in Zia and, together with Hasan, he changed the course of the game as they added 157 - a Nomads record for the 5th wicket. Hasan and Zia were both unbeaten, with 74 and 104 respectively, at the finish as Nomads wrapped it up with nearly 3 overs to spare. Zia's form with the bat in recent weeks has been amazing. He hit 3 sixes and 15 fours in his century but Hasan was a bit more restrained in his innings and was happy to let Zia have more of the strike. This, by the way, was Nomads' first win for several weeks although we could and should have won a couple of the recent games if catches had been taken and other things had gone our way." JC.
So, an excellent victory and some of the best batting ever seen from Nomads on a pitch that did have a little help for the bowlers at times. When either the second or third wicket fell, I heard one of the Harrow fielders remark; "Oh well, at least they turned up." We certainly did, and several club records were broken. The 5-wicket stand record which broke my treasured record, shared with Hasan, for the 5th wicket of about 138 (when the fifty partnership came up on that day in 2007, I was still on 0); also probably the fastest century scored for Nomads. Additionally, it was Zia's 5th successive half-century (2 of them were converted into tons) which is quite a rare feat in any form of cricket.
Clapham Nomads won by 6 wickets.
Scores to follow.
Man of the Match - Zia
Fielder of the Day - Mahesh.
The home side were Harrow 4th eleven, basically the fathers of players in their youth team. As expected they were pretty sound and played mainly good orthodox cricket shots after they won the toss and chose to bat in the searing heat.
There was an early wicket for Nomads with an acrobatic diving catch from slip specialist Mahesh Vyas.
Harrow then pushed on and, for most of the innings, the scoring rate fluctuated between 5 and 5.5 per over. Nomads' fielding was a little ragged before drinks and a few chances went down but we gradually improved and some of the ground-fielding towards the end was excellent; Abbas, Safi and Darwin spring to mind for some great stops and commitment and there was a direct hit from Hasan with just one stump to aim at. Abdul also hit the stumps from three quarters of the way back to the boundary but the batsman had just made his ground.
After around 27 overs (with 8 to go) Harrow were on about 155 for 4 but they had wickets in hand and some of Nomads premier bowling options had been used up. I will hand over to John for his report....
........" On a good batting wicket, Harrow's innings had contributions of 70, 66 and a quickfire 24 not out near the end to bring their total up to 228 for 5 off 35 overs. It looked a pretty formidable score.
In reply, Nomads lost 2 wickets in the first over without a run on the board and then another wicket on 25. Abdul and Hasan added 50 before Abdul was bowled off his arm for 26. This brought in Zia and, together with Hasan, he changed the course of the game as they added 157 - a Nomads record for the 5th wicket. Hasan and Zia were both unbeaten, with 74 and 104 respectively, at the finish as Nomads wrapped it up with nearly 3 overs to spare. Zia's form with the bat in recent weeks has been amazing. He hit 3 sixes and 15 fours in his century but Hasan was a bit more restrained in his innings and was happy to let Zia have more of the strike. This, by the way, was Nomads' first win for several weeks although we could and should have won a couple of the recent games if catches had been taken and other things had gone our way." JC.
So, an excellent victory and some of the best batting ever seen from Nomads on a pitch that did have a little help for the bowlers at times. When either the second or third wicket fell, I heard one of the Harrow fielders remark; "Oh well, at least they turned up." We certainly did, and several club records were broken. The 5-wicket stand record which broke my treasured record, shared with Hasan, for the 5th wicket of about 138 (when the fifty partnership came up on that day in 2007, I was still on 0); also probably the fastest century scored for Nomads. Additionally, it was Zia's 5th successive half-century (2 of them were converted into tons) which is quite a rare feat in any form of cricket.
Clapham Nomads won by 6 wickets.
Scores to follow.
Man of the Match - Zia
Fielder of the Day - Mahesh.
Thursday, 23 August 2018
Hayes v Clapham Nomads - 19/8/18
Nomads made the long trip to Hayes, in the farthest reaches of West London, last Sunday. They are a long-established club and Nomads' captain Emil Todorow was impressed with their set-up, if not the 45-mile round trip to get there.
We lost again and, to mark this, Nomads' wicketkeeper and Founder Member John Crossland has written a report of the game. Here it is;
"After having the opposition 8 wickets down for about 130, we let them off the hook with 4 dropped catches. The Hayes No. 9 scored 70 which was a great effort but he should have been out earlier. None of the missed catches were difficult chances. Hayes rode their luck and made 220 for 9 off 40 overs.
In reply, Nomads were once again indebted to Zia who made 85 with 4 sixes and 11 fours. Unfortunately no-one else could really get going and Nomads were all out for 200. Hasan did not play.
At the moment, Nomads are a one-man team with Zia's batting. His bowling is also very effective of late. He took 3 for 22 in this game." JC.
Emil also added that Zia was brilliantly caught right on the boundary so, if that had gone for 6, he would have been 2 shots away from his second century of the season and Nomads would have been only 15 short of the required total.
Zia has been brilliant over the last month but I (Nick) must point out that there have been plenty of other decent perfomances as well. Although we have lost our last 5 games, there were periods in 4, if not all, of them when we looked to be in a decent position. In fact, all our games this season, with the exception of the 160-run win over Plastics XI, have been reasonably competitive.
No game on 26th August due to the Bank Holiday weekend but we will arrange an away game for 2nd September.
Hayes 220 for 9 from 40 overs
Clapham Nomads 200 all out from ??? overs (Zia 85)
Clapham Nomads lost by 20 runs.
Man of the Match - Zia
Fielder of the Day - to be awarded.
Full scores to follow soon.
We lost again and, to mark this, Nomads' wicketkeeper and Founder Member John Crossland has written a report of the game. Here it is;
"After having the opposition 8 wickets down for about 130, we let them off the hook with 4 dropped catches. The Hayes No. 9 scored 70 which was a great effort but he should have been out earlier. None of the missed catches were difficult chances. Hayes rode their luck and made 220 for 9 off 40 overs.
In reply, Nomads were once again indebted to Zia who made 85 with 4 sixes and 11 fours. Unfortunately no-one else could really get going and Nomads were all out for 200. Hasan did not play.
At the moment, Nomads are a one-man team with Zia's batting. His bowling is also very effective of late. He took 3 for 22 in this game." JC.
Emil also added that Zia was brilliantly caught right on the boundary so, if that had gone for 6, he would have been 2 shots away from his second century of the season and Nomads would have been only 15 short of the required total.
Zia has been brilliant over the last month but I (Nick) must point out that there have been plenty of other decent perfomances as well. Although we have lost our last 5 games, there were periods in 4, if not all, of them when we looked to be in a decent position. In fact, all our games this season, with the exception of the 160-run win over Plastics XI, have been reasonably competitive.
No game on 26th August due to the Bank Holiday weekend but we will arrange an away game for 2nd September.
Hayes 220 for 9 from 40 overs
Clapham Nomads 200 all out from ??? overs (Zia 85)
Clapham Nomads lost by 20 runs.
Man of the Match - Zia
Fielder of the Day - to be awarded.
Full scores to follow soon.
Saturday, 18 August 2018
Clapham Nomads v Gentlemen of Hampstead
The Gents took their revenge for our victory over them last September by recording a victory over Nomads by about 40 runs at Joseph Hood on Sunday the 12th. We did pretty well to restrict them to 160 or so after they looked on course for a big score at one stage. In the second innings Nomads started poorly again and didn't bat too well in truth, but we retained some chance until Zia was given out unluckily LBW for 60-odd. Yes, I was the guilty umpire, and that is something that has been said quite a few times over the years, but almost always by the opposition. We finished on around 125 for 8. The Gents had one particularly good South African bowler who only went for 10 runs off his 7 overs. Next up is Hayes tomorrow, in the shadow of Heathrow Airport...?? our tour match?
Clapham Nomads lost by about 40 runs.
Man of the Match - Zia.
Scores and proper report to follow.
Clapham Nomads lost by about 40 runs.
Man of the Match - Zia.
Scores and proper report to follow.
Saturday, 11 August 2018
Clapham Nomads v SW United - 5/8/18
More new opponents for this match at Joseph Hood and it was rather similar to the previous week. Nomads batted first and started poorly but recovered to make a decent total. Our performance was dominated by a superb display with bat, ball and in the field from Zia who made his first century for the club with a blockbusting 105 not out including 17 fours and a six. He dominated good partnerships of 43 for the 7th wicket with Sami (9) and of 76 for the 8th wicket with Abbas (12 not out). Hasan also played well for 37. SW United had an interesting medium pacer, Nafees, who was all angle and subtle variation and ripped the heart out of Clapham's middle order with 3 wickets in 5 balls starting with the crucial wicket of Hasan. Nonetheless it was a decent effort from the home side.
There was a bit of an inquest afterwards in which some of Nomads' more vocal critics said that we started badly with the ball and got worse. However a look at the scorebook shows that SW were 5 for 0 off 2 and then 19 for 2 off 4. After this though, they did get off the leash somewhat and Amit and Malik pretty much did as they pleased during a 3rd wicket stand of 118. Zia dragged us back into some sort of contention with 2 catches including a brilliant caught and bowled. SW always had a bit in hand and, apart from 4 overs from the end when 12 were still needed with only 4 wickets left, the result was never in much doubt from 6 or 7 overs onwards.
A fuller report will follow soon.
Clapham Nomads 198 for 7 from 35 overs
Mahesh 1
Darwin 0
Riaz 11
Hasan 37
Zia 105 not out
KK 0
Javed 0
Sami 9
Abbas 12 not out
Did not bat: Emil (capt), John (wkt) - Substitute fielder (yet again) - Nick
F.o.w. - 3, 15, 45, 71, 79, 79, 122
SW United 199 for 6 from 33 overs (Amit 47; Malik 69)
Nomads' bowling;
Sami 5-0-38-1
Emil 5-1-40-1
Riaz 3-0-25-0
Abbas 7-1-51-1
Zia 7-0-26-0
KK 6-0-18-2
Clapham Nomads lost by 4 wickets
Man of the Match - Zia
Fielder of the Day - Zia.
There was a bit of an inquest afterwards in which some of Nomads' more vocal critics said that we started badly with the ball and got worse. However a look at the scorebook shows that SW were 5 for 0 off 2 and then 19 for 2 off 4. After this though, they did get off the leash somewhat and Amit and Malik pretty much did as they pleased during a 3rd wicket stand of 118. Zia dragged us back into some sort of contention with 2 catches including a brilliant caught and bowled. SW always had a bit in hand and, apart from 4 overs from the end when 12 were still needed with only 4 wickets left, the result was never in much doubt from 6 or 7 overs onwards.
A fuller report will follow soon.
Clapham Nomads 198 for 7 from 35 overs
Mahesh 1
Darwin 0
Riaz 11
Hasan 37
Zia 105 not out
KK 0
Javed 0
Sami 9
Abbas 12 not out
Did not bat: Emil (capt), John (wkt) - Substitute fielder (yet again) - Nick
F.o.w. - 3, 15, 45, 71, 79, 79, 122
SW United 199 for 6 from 33 overs (Amit 47; Malik 69)
Nomads' bowling;
Sami 5-0-38-1
Emil 5-1-40-1
Riaz 3-0-25-0
Abbas 7-1-51-1
Zia 7-0-26-0
KK 6-0-18-2
Clapham Nomads lost by 4 wickets
Man of the Match - Zia
Fielder of the Day - Zia.
Saturday, 4 August 2018
Clapham Nomads v Monty cc
Nomads were due to play new opponents Friends XI but 7 days before the match, the Friends announced that all 11 of them would be attending a wedding. It must have been the Social event of the summer to justify missing a trip to play Clapham Nomads at a deserted Raynes Park Rec in steady drizzle - and a chance to meet Andrew West, but I hope it was a nice day and best wishes to the happy couple.
Anyway, Nomads had the bonus of meeting very pleasant new opponents in Monty CC who had some familiar faces with a smattering of Burgh Heath players and also the Sunday cricket legend Khalid who has turned out for most south-west London teams including the Nomads and Surbiton Imperials.
Nomads did brilliantly well to recover from 19 for 3 to the heights of 224 for 8 off the full 30. The pitch was a bit erratic and bouncy but it can't have helped Monty bowling with a soggy ball. Great knocks from Riaz (45), Zia (51), KK (36) and Abbas (36 not out) saw us to a very businesslike total.
The imposing figure of Andrew West arrived in time for tea and it will not surprise readers to hear that all the food that was not blown by the harsh breeze to all parts of the ground was eaten.
Monty started quite sedately against the accuracy and guile of Sami and Emil. 43 for 0 off 8 overs but, led by their former Burgh Heath opener they then began to flay anything too short or over-pitched - of which there was plenty when the change bowlers came on - all over the park. It must have been difficult bowling in the wet conditions, I must add. At one point over 40 runs were taken off 2 overs. It took a good straight one from Abbas to dismiss what we thought was the main danger man but Monty kept up the pace. A good spell from Zia with 2 wickets kept us in the game but I always felt Monty had just enough in hand. Nomads' catching was poor - at least 5 catches went down, notably when Emil ran to get under a skyer but, due to wearing a Mexican-inspired broad-brimmed hat rather than a cap, the chance was spilled and actually caught our skipper a nasty blow on the eye. Emil said the ball had briefly disappeared behind the brim of his sombrero when he was shaping to catch it.
Emil said he briefly lost his vision and had to come off. Fortunately Nomads had a very athletic substitute's bench featuring Nick Lefebve and Andrew West and Nick came out to replace the skipper. Riaz took over the captain's armband with the match finely balanced. Khalid started cautiously but soon found his range with some slogs over mid-wicket before Zia bowled him. 27 were needed off 4 but there was plenty of batting to come. A tight penultimate over from Riaz left the visitors needing 5 off the last over and the first ball of over 30 from Abbas was a dot leaving a run a ball needed. Unfortunately an edge went high over the slips for 4 next ball and Nomads were passed with 3 balls to spare.
It was a pleasant - if damp - match against sporting opponents. As he reached the pub, John began to say his usual "that was rubbish etc...." but then he stopped and realised it had actually been rather a good, close game.
Nomads lost by 6 wickets with 3 balls to spare. Scores to follow.
Man of the Match - Zia
Fielder of the Day - Zia (a run out)
Clapham Nomads 224 for 8 from 30 overs
Mahesh 4
Darwin 8
Riaz 45
Javed 0
Zia 51
KK 36
Abbas 36
Sami 0
Yahyah 0
Emil(capt) 2 not out
Did not bat - John (wkt)
F.O.W. - 14, 14, 19, 107, 128, 198, 198, 208
Monty cc 225 for 4 from 29.3 overs
Nomads' bowling;
Sami 6-1-36-0
Emil 5-0-27-0
Yahyah 2-0-29-0
Abbas 4.3-0-50-1
Zia 6-0-27-2
KK 4-0-34-0
Javed 1-0-11-0
Riaz 1-0-5-0
Anyway, Nomads had the bonus of meeting very pleasant new opponents in Monty CC who had some familiar faces with a smattering of Burgh Heath players and also the Sunday cricket legend Khalid who has turned out for most south-west London teams including the Nomads and Surbiton Imperials.
Nomads did brilliantly well to recover from 19 for 3 to the heights of 224 for 8 off the full 30. The pitch was a bit erratic and bouncy but it can't have helped Monty bowling with a soggy ball. Great knocks from Riaz (45), Zia (51), KK (36) and Abbas (36 not out) saw us to a very businesslike total.
The imposing figure of Andrew West arrived in time for tea and it will not surprise readers to hear that all the food that was not blown by the harsh breeze to all parts of the ground was eaten.
Monty started quite sedately against the accuracy and guile of Sami and Emil. 43 for 0 off 8 overs but, led by their former Burgh Heath opener they then began to flay anything too short or over-pitched - of which there was plenty when the change bowlers came on - all over the park. It must have been difficult bowling in the wet conditions, I must add. At one point over 40 runs were taken off 2 overs. It took a good straight one from Abbas to dismiss what we thought was the main danger man but Monty kept up the pace. A good spell from Zia with 2 wickets kept us in the game but I always felt Monty had just enough in hand. Nomads' catching was poor - at least 5 catches went down, notably when Emil ran to get under a skyer but, due to wearing a Mexican-inspired broad-brimmed hat rather than a cap, the chance was spilled and actually caught our skipper a nasty blow on the eye. Emil said the ball had briefly disappeared behind the brim of his sombrero when he was shaping to catch it.
Emil said he briefly lost his vision and had to come off. Fortunately Nomads had a very athletic substitute's bench featuring Nick Lefebve and Andrew West and Nick came out to replace the skipper. Riaz took over the captain's armband with the match finely balanced. Khalid started cautiously but soon found his range with some slogs over mid-wicket before Zia bowled him. 27 were needed off 4 but there was plenty of batting to come. A tight penultimate over from Riaz left the visitors needing 5 off the last over and the first ball of over 30 from Abbas was a dot leaving a run a ball needed. Unfortunately an edge went high over the slips for 4 next ball and Nomads were passed with 3 balls to spare.
It was a pleasant - if damp - match against sporting opponents. As he reached the pub, John began to say his usual "that was rubbish etc...." but then he stopped and realised it had actually been rather a good, close game.
Nomads lost by 6 wickets with 3 balls to spare. Scores to follow.
Man of the Match - Zia
Fielder of the Day - Zia (a run out)
Clapham Nomads 224 for 8 from 30 overs
Mahesh 4
Darwin 8
Riaz 45
Javed 0
Zia 51
KK 36
Abbas 36
Sami 0
Yahyah 0
Emil(capt) 2 not out
Did not bat - John (wkt)
F.O.W. - 14, 14, 19, 107, 128, 198, 198, 208
Monty cc 225 for 4 from 29.3 overs
Nomads' bowling;
Sami 6-1-36-0
Emil 5-0-27-0
Yahyah 2-0-29-0
Abbas 4.3-0-50-1
Zia 6-0-27-2
KK 4-0-34-0
Javed 1-0-11-0
Riaz 1-0-5-0
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