The traditional "Longest Day" fixture against local rivals the Energy Exiles is fast becoming one of the highlights of the season. On Thursday there was some doubt whether the match could go ahead but eventually Exiles filled their final few places - and filled them with quality. The venue was the Del Ballard Recreation Ground in Dundonald Road, Wimbledon. I am starting to love this place; ok you get the occasional dead crow lying around and the pitches are too close together, meaning that you risk being decapitated by shots from Sri Lankan League players; but the wickets always seem to play well, it is easy to get to, it has the Ballard connection and, also, Kingston Lefthanders hate it - which means it must have some merit (only joking KL, if you are reading.)
Nomads were down to 10 men due, sadly, to a bereavement.
Skipper Emil Todorow won yet another toss and chose to bat. With his calm but authoritarian Capello-like air, Todorow is even starting to dominate coins and his call of "Heads" was an order rather than a guess.
Mark Bradshaw faced up to his old colleagues and there was a lively start from left-arm quickie and Exiles skipper Andy Wingfield who found the edge of Bradshaw's bat with movement off the pitch - four runs was the result. At the other end a new face to the Nomads, Jeremy Meyer, soon impressed. Ben Fewson was straight off the mark but Meyer bagged the vital wicket of Bradshaw, bowled in the second over with the help of a thick inside edge and a rather large slice of luck.
It was imperative to steady things straight away and No. 3 Prasanth Pattiyil did just that. It was useful to have an experienced opener coming in at this point and Prasanth provided excellent support to Fewson who began to accelerate cautiously. Prasanth scored mostly in ones and twos but played one particularly fine shot past point, making the ball spin away from the clutches of the diving fielder. The recovery was well under way when Fewson really took the attack to Exiles with two resounding boundaries off second change Will Bentall. Wicketkeeper Wil Scott speculated that Fewson had yet to find the middle of the bat. Well if he had timed these shots any better they would have cleared the boundary - the borough boundary.
The partnership cruised past the 50 mark. Simon Gundry as first change had opened with good speed but hadn't really found his accuracy until he appealed for a rather adjacent LBW shout against Prasanth. The rebuttal of this appeal seemed to galvanise the big paceman and he bowled as fiery a spell as I have seen him produce. With the help of a diving catch from Wingfield, he quickly dismissed Fewson for a useful 37 to make the score 69 for 2 and then he ripped out the stumps of Pattiyil and No. 5 Riaz Khan in successive balls. This spell completely changed the character of Nomads' innings and, on reflection, it would probably have been better if the LBW appeal had been granted, whether it was out or not.
This burst brought together Gopi Pala and Emil Todorow, two players who always seem to bat well together. Gopi produced some good leg-side hits to take Nomads past 100, while Todorow produced the shot we all wanted to see; the brutal forced blow through mid-off that is a cross between a cut and a drive. Gopi continued to find success with lofted shots but was unfortunate to send one straight to mid-wicket to end a useful stand of 29 which had put Nomads back in with some kind of a chance at 105 for 6 with plenty of overs to go. Gideon Reeve's first ball was a long-hop from spinner David Stiffell and he had the right idea in aiming to belt it away for 4 but unfortunately he appeared to find the bottom edge and was bowled.
This left Nomads founder-members Todorow, Crossland and Lefebve to attempt to force the score up to respectability and, no doubt, provide some Senior Moments. Crossland stuck around for a while but was bowled by Stiffell. Lefebve was last man as his injury would deprive him of his ability - such as it is - to take sharp singles. The returning Wingfield greeted him with an excellent bouncer which was gloved to safety but followed up with a long-hop on the batsman's favourite leg-side which went for 4. Todorow elbowed a ball from Meyer to the boundary but then fell to the same bowler leaving Nomads all out for 125. We had failed to use 10 of our 40 overs but, since the score was about the same as in last year's match, which Exiles won with 2 balls remaining, there was at least hope that it could be close.
Both Exiles' Patels had turned up to watch part of the match and we had hopes of poaching one of them to make up our 11 but sadly Amil had a broken thumb - we wish you a speedy recovery Amil - and Naren had to leave for family commitments
The familiar left-handed figure of Keith Roberts took guard and applied himself to the task of grinding down Nomads' openers Hassan Khan and Emil Todorow (so often Roberts' nemesis.) The Exiles man looked profoundly untroubled on this occasion but with the normally more aggressive Quentin Davies scoring even more slowly than Roberts, progress was cautious and after 10 overs the score was only 20. With an overall required rate of just above 3 an over, though, there was no need for the batsmen to rush. They saw off the openers but first change Gideon Reeve was into his stride straight away. There was little variable bounce to work with but accuracy soon did the trick as Reeve made the breakthrough in his second over, bowling Davies for 11.
On came Gopi Pala and he quickly produced some of his best bowling of the season. There was a bit of high bounce at his end and the Mystery Bowler exploited this and also bowled No. 3 Searle with a good one. Roberts was perhaps slightly unfortunate to be given LBW to Gopi despite getting in a reasonable stride. 30 for 3 and Nomads were beginning to buzz. A dangerous partnership between Sri Pathmanathan and James Watson was ended by a piece of typical Nomadic fielding brilliance - a bullet throw from Hassan Khan was well collected by Gideon Reeve who whipped off the bails to run out Watson who had been attempting a risky second run.
The required rate at this stage was fluctuating between 4 and 4.5 an over but we knew there were heavy scorers down the order and wickets were paramount. We soon had a vital one with Gopi yorking Pathmanathan to make it 58 for 5. Simon Gundry and Wil Scott dug in but soon began to score fairly freely and made their way up to 80 when Riaz Khan bowled Scott. 4 wickets remained and around 4 an over was needed. Gundry was beginning to look dangerous and we knew Andy Wingfield can disturb the scorers. We also had a suspicion that some of Exiles' new players were unlikely to be the worst batsmen in the world. So it proved as No. 8 Will Bentall, after picking his way gingerly through a tight 5 balls from Emil Todorow, took one step down the pitch and despatched the veteran seamer over long on for 6, dashing Todorow's hopes of yet another maiden and Nomads' hopes of victory.
Riaz Khan planted a short one into S. Gundry's midriff but, like the LBW incident, this proved to be counter-productive as the big all-rounder absolutely murdered the next ball clean out of the ground, narrowly missing a lucky motorist in Dundonald Road. The last rites were administered fairly perfunctorily to Nomads with these two batsmen sharing five sixes as Exiles swept to a 4-wicket victory with 7 overs to spare.
It was a great all-round performance from Simon Gundry without which we could have got a lot closer. Exiles probably had a little more depth in their batting, certainly in the lower order, but it was a good bowling display from Nomads with all 5 bowlers looking good. Fielding was fair from a side depleted by absence and injury; there were a few chances but they were mostly pretty tricky or came too late.
So honours are even between these great rivals over the two games and it would be a particularly cheap and sad individual who would claim an aggregate victory for the Nomads on faster run rate, especially if he added that it was by a margin of 4.98 to 3.81.
Man of the Match has to be Ben Fewson who produced the highest score by quite a margin and also some fine fielding - see below. The best individual piece of fielding was Hassan and Gideon's run out but Ben Fewson is Fielder of the Day for a performance which combined solidity - he stopped just about everything, mostly with one hand -and the type of flair and artistic interpretation which is rarely seen from Clapham Nomads players; well, on the field anyway.
CLAPHAM NOMADS - 125 all out from 29.5 overs
M. Bradshaw b Meyer 4
B. Fewson c Wingfield b Gundry 37
P. Pattiyil b Gundry 15
H. Khan c Searle b Bentall 9
R. Khan b Gundry 0
G. Pala c Gundry b Stiffell 14
E. Todorow (cpt) b Meyer 8
G. Reeve b Stiffell 0
J. Crossland (wkt) b Stiffell 0
N. Lefebve not out 4
F.O.W. - 5, 69, 82, 82, 86, 105, 105, 115, 125
Bowling;
Wingfield 6-0-29-0
Meyer 6.5-2-18-2
Gundry 6-1-15-3
Bentall 8-1-30-2
Stiffell 3-0-17-2
ENERGY EXILES - 127 for 6 from 33.3 overs
K. Roberts lbw Pala 14
Q. Davies b Reeve 11
J. Searle b Pala 0
S. Pathmanathan b Pala 15
Watson run out 7
W. Scott(wkt) b R. Khan 9
S. Gundry not out 37
W. Bentall not out 20
Did not bat; A. Wingfield (cpt), J. Meyer, D. Stiffell
F.O.W. - 24, 29, 30, 54, 58, 80
Bowling;
H. Khan 6.3-0-18-0
E. Todorow 8-1-26-0
G. Reeve 6-2-15-1
G. Pala 8-1-31-3
R. Khan 5-1-32-1
Clapham Nomads lost by 4 wickets
Wednesday, 23 June 2010
Tuesday, 15 June 2010
Kingston Lefthanders v Clapham Nomads - 13/6/10
There was a welcome return for two Nomads stalwarts - Chris Kennedy and Terry Bruce-Mills - for this trip, and it was a fairly elderly side that took the field, with 6 men admitting to various ages over 47. With two of our seniors carrying leg injuries, there was a sense that this might be an opportunity for an improving Lefthanders side to record their second victory over Nomads in 15 attempts. Emil Todorow won his 5th toss out of 6 and chose to bat.
In the absence of Mark Bradshaw, Mahesh Vyas accompanied Ben Fewson out to the wicket to face a very useful opening attack comprising the wily Chris Turner, an accurate League bowler, and the pace and hostility of former Kingston cc player Declan McArdle. There was plenty of extra bounce in the pitch and McArdle found Fewson's edge twice in the first over. Our man responded with the shot of the day in the third over, thumping McArdle imperiously back over the bowler's head for 4. Vyas also did well to cope with some good bowling and a feisty atmosphere enlivened by the presence of several additional "umpires."
Turner had Fewson caught behind with a riser in the 4th over and then clean bowled Prasanth Pattiyil for 4. Three further overs elapsed and Turner had Vyas adjudged caught behind down the leg side to leave the bowler with figures of 3 for 2 and Nomads in dire difficulty at 22 for 3.
At No. 5, Riaz Khan was the last of the recognised top-order strokemakers and an awful lot seemed to depend on his survival, together with that of No. 4 Hassan Khan.
The pair played themselves in admirably on this awkward pitch, seeing off the openers and beginning to increase the tempo against change bowlers Wilkinson and Geoff "Brains" Ashburn. The arc between mid-wicket and long-on was milked for a regular diet of 2s and the occasional 4. Riaz Khan put the success of the team before the entertainment of his fans and carved out a valuable 30 before falling to Wilkinson with the score on 97, ensuring that the second innings would at least be competitive.
Chris Kennedy was unfortunate that the first ball he had faced for a while was a corker. Gopi prevented the hat-trick and then provided company for Hassan Khan who was accelerating past 50. Nick Crouch came on to bowl his incredibly slow, but dangerously accurate, floaters. Nomads are well aware of the danger of Crouch as, for some reason, he always used to dismiss John Chance. Sure enough, the crafty Lefthander achieved success in his second over, having Gopi caught for a useful 11 at fine leg from one of his deceptive, dipping full-tosses.
Hassan Khan was in top form but just needed someone to stay with him. Emil Todorow lost sight of a good-length ball from the returning McArdle and was bowled, but at last Khan found a foil in John Crossland, who kept out everything Lefthanders could throw at him with guile, footwork and sheer force of personality. Although he scored few runs, Crossland imposed himself on the game and at one stage even threatened to become the senior partner in calling urgently for a quick single off the last ball of a McArdle over to keep the strike.
H. Khan was finally dismissed for a crucial 91 with 8 balls remaining. Terry Bruce-Mills and Crossland failed to add to the score of 168 but at least they batted right up to tea, thus avoiding giving any extra overs to Lefthanders for their run chase.
We were unsure whether Lefthanders would go full-tilt for the runs or whether they would see it out for the draw. The score of 12 for 1 from the first 10 overs indicated the latter. The only wicket came from a rank leg-side long-hop from Todorow - the worst ball he bowled. Nick Crouch edged it and wicketkeeper John Crossland very nearly dropped it. This could possibly have been the worst passage of play in cricket history, but thankfully Crossland just clung on to the chance.
The left-handed Uys hit one cracking 4 to show we could take nothing for granted and when "Brains" Ashburn, after a steady start, began to play with panache and chutzpah through the leg-side, the run chase appeared to be back on.
Todorow dragged Nomads back into it by trapping Ashburn LBW for a fine 15. Terry Bruce-Mills had not bowled for over a year and, had he been rusty, we could have been in difficulty. Thankfully he floated down 6 overs of accurate slow-medium at 4 an over which was a severe dent to Lefthanders' hopes of victory. As ever, Gopi produced variation from the very first ball and looked at his best at times, having Uys caught by Lefebve at slip and then producing sharp turn at above Medium pace to bowl Barry. He was a little unlucky to be taken off after 4 overs but skipper Todorow asked Hassan Khan to return in an effort to take the 5 wickets we needed to snatch victory.
No. 4 Wilkinson and captain Chris Wells looked as dangerous as anyone and scored at 7 or 8 an over for a while, which was just about the asking rate with around 15 overs to go. Riaz Khan was perhaps not bowling quite at his best but it was he who accounted for both these batsmen. Emil Todorow snapped up a very smart catch off his toes at mid-wicket; we never doubted you for a moment, Emil...honestly. Wells was then tricked by a high R. Khan full-toss into toe-ending it straight back to the bowler.
The innings then petered out somewhat. We had 6 overs to take the final 3 wickets but McArdle, Ian and Connor are all competent players, though Hassan Khan bowled Ian in the final over to make it look rather more of a winning draw than it really was.
Man of the Match has to be Hassan Khan for his excellent 91, without which defeat would have been a real possibility. Emil Todorow and Nick Lefebve (despite injury) took nice catches and Chris Kennedy made an absolutely brilliant one-handed diving stop but I would have to award Fielder of the Day to Gopi, who must have covered miles running around the boundary rope. By the end of the game, even Kingston Lefthanders were calling him "Speedy."
CLAPHAM NOMADS - 168 for 8 from 35 overs
B. Fewson - 10
M. Vyas - 5
P. Pattiyil - 4
H. Khan - 91
R. Khan - 30
C. Kennedy - 0
G. Pala - 11
E. Todorow - 0
J. Crossland - 3 not out
T. Bruce-Mills - 0 not out
F.O.W. - 11,17,22,97,97,127,136,168
KINGSTON LEFTHANDERS - 111 for 8 from 36 overs
H. Khan 11-2-31-1
E. Todorow 8-3-18-2
T. Bruce-Mills 6-0-24-0
G. Pala 4-0-12-2
R. Khan 7-1-16-3
Match drawn
In the absence of Mark Bradshaw, Mahesh Vyas accompanied Ben Fewson out to the wicket to face a very useful opening attack comprising the wily Chris Turner, an accurate League bowler, and the pace and hostility of former Kingston cc player Declan McArdle. There was plenty of extra bounce in the pitch and McArdle found Fewson's edge twice in the first over. Our man responded with the shot of the day in the third over, thumping McArdle imperiously back over the bowler's head for 4. Vyas also did well to cope with some good bowling and a feisty atmosphere enlivened by the presence of several additional "umpires."
Turner had Fewson caught behind with a riser in the 4th over and then clean bowled Prasanth Pattiyil for 4. Three further overs elapsed and Turner had Vyas adjudged caught behind down the leg side to leave the bowler with figures of 3 for 2 and Nomads in dire difficulty at 22 for 3.
At No. 5, Riaz Khan was the last of the recognised top-order strokemakers and an awful lot seemed to depend on his survival, together with that of No. 4 Hassan Khan.
The pair played themselves in admirably on this awkward pitch, seeing off the openers and beginning to increase the tempo against change bowlers Wilkinson and Geoff "Brains" Ashburn. The arc between mid-wicket and long-on was milked for a regular diet of 2s and the occasional 4. Riaz Khan put the success of the team before the entertainment of his fans and carved out a valuable 30 before falling to Wilkinson with the score on 97, ensuring that the second innings would at least be competitive.
Chris Kennedy was unfortunate that the first ball he had faced for a while was a corker. Gopi prevented the hat-trick and then provided company for Hassan Khan who was accelerating past 50. Nick Crouch came on to bowl his incredibly slow, but dangerously accurate, floaters. Nomads are well aware of the danger of Crouch as, for some reason, he always used to dismiss John Chance. Sure enough, the crafty Lefthander achieved success in his second over, having Gopi caught for a useful 11 at fine leg from one of his deceptive, dipping full-tosses.
Hassan Khan was in top form but just needed someone to stay with him. Emil Todorow lost sight of a good-length ball from the returning McArdle and was bowled, but at last Khan found a foil in John Crossland, who kept out everything Lefthanders could throw at him with guile, footwork and sheer force of personality. Although he scored few runs, Crossland imposed himself on the game and at one stage even threatened to become the senior partner in calling urgently for a quick single off the last ball of a McArdle over to keep the strike.
H. Khan was finally dismissed for a crucial 91 with 8 balls remaining. Terry Bruce-Mills and Crossland failed to add to the score of 168 but at least they batted right up to tea, thus avoiding giving any extra overs to Lefthanders for their run chase.
We were unsure whether Lefthanders would go full-tilt for the runs or whether they would see it out for the draw. The score of 12 for 1 from the first 10 overs indicated the latter. The only wicket came from a rank leg-side long-hop from Todorow - the worst ball he bowled. Nick Crouch edged it and wicketkeeper John Crossland very nearly dropped it. This could possibly have been the worst passage of play in cricket history, but thankfully Crossland just clung on to the chance.
The left-handed Uys hit one cracking 4 to show we could take nothing for granted and when "Brains" Ashburn, after a steady start, began to play with panache and chutzpah through the leg-side, the run chase appeared to be back on.
Todorow dragged Nomads back into it by trapping Ashburn LBW for a fine 15. Terry Bruce-Mills had not bowled for over a year and, had he been rusty, we could have been in difficulty. Thankfully he floated down 6 overs of accurate slow-medium at 4 an over which was a severe dent to Lefthanders' hopes of victory. As ever, Gopi produced variation from the very first ball and looked at his best at times, having Uys caught by Lefebve at slip and then producing sharp turn at above Medium pace to bowl Barry. He was a little unlucky to be taken off after 4 overs but skipper Todorow asked Hassan Khan to return in an effort to take the 5 wickets we needed to snatch victory.
No. 4 Wilkinson and captain Chris Wells looked as dangerous as anyone and scored at 7 or 8 an over for a while, which was just about the asking rate with around 15 overs to go. Riaz Khan was perhaps not bowling quite at his best but it was he who accounted for both these batsmen. Emil Todorow snapped up a very smart catch off his toes at mid-wicket; we never doubted you for a moment, Emil...honestly. Wells was then tricked by a high R. Khan full-toss into toe-ending it straight back to the bowler.
The innings then petered out somewhat. We had 6 overs to take the final 3 wickets but McArdle, Ian and Connor are all competent players, though Hassan Khan bowled Ian in the final over to make it look rather more of a winning draw than it really was.
Man of the Match has to be Hassan Khan for his excellent 91, without which defeat would have been a real possibility. Emil Todorow and Nick Lefebve (despite injury) took nice catches and Chris Kennedy made an absolutely brilliant one-handed diving stop but I would have to award Fielder of the Day to Gopi, who must have covered miles running around the boundary rope. By the end of the game, even Kingston Lefthanders were calling him "Speedy."
CLAPHAM NOMADS - 168 for 8 from 35 overs
B. Fewson - 10
M. Vyas - 5
P. Pattiyil - 4
H. Khan - 91
R. Khan - 30
C. Kennedy - 0
G. Pala - 11
E. Todorow - 0
J. Crossland - 3 not out
T. Bruce-Mills - 0 not out
F.O.W. - 11,17,22,97,97,127,136,168
KINGSTON LEFTHANDERS - 111 for 8 from 36 overs
H. Khan 11-2-31-1
E. Todorow 8-3-18-2
T. Bruce-Mills 6-0-24-0
G. Pala 4-0-12-2
R. Khan 7-1-16-3
Match drawn
Tuesday, 8 June 2010
Bec Old Boys v Clapham Nomads - 6/6/10
It was a new venue and new opponents for the Nomads as we made our way to the Sutton Grammar School Ground in South Cheam, the excellent if slightly inaccessible home of the Bec Old Boys.
The Home side were, rather like Dulwich or Morden, a mixture of Saturday League players and Sunday men and were a bit similar to the Nomads in being a good blend of youth and experience, different nationalities and abilities. The sides shared another similarity as well, Bec being a former club of Nomads' record run-scorer John Chance.
It is hard to believe that the Nomads could possibly improve on the smart and professional appearance for which they are noted but, thanks to the fine Maroon caps acquired for the team by Mark Bradshaw, they did.
Bec skipper Khaled Mohammed, who once scored a half-century for Nomads against Morden, lost the toss to Emil Todorow and the Master of Coinmanship elected to bat in a 35 over contest.
Mark Bradshaw and Ben Fewson opened and faced a stiff test against Dipak, who slanted it in threateningly with good bounce, and the late movement of the pacy Nav. Neither of our openers looked in much trouble and Bradshaw found plenty of success against Nav with the firm leg glances which are becoming his trademark. Both batsman were as strong between cover and gully as ever but the good bowling and the outfield, slow after the overnight rain, kept a lid on the scoring rate.
Fewson was put down - a sharp chance - at mid-off but fell in the same area, also off the bowling of Dipak, a couple of overs later. The batsman was frustrated as, having done some hard work against the new ball, he could well have been on for a score on a very fair track.
Jim Joyce soon warmed up with some powerful strokes including an excellent clip to mid-wicket for 4 while Mark Bradshaw was untroubled except for one edge off a Nav lifter which was put down by the wicketkeeper Chez Brown. Nav bowled Joyce for 13 with a beauty but Bradshaw was beginning to dominate, especially against Nav's replacement who bowled several short-ish balls outside off stump - meat and drink to our opening batsman.
Hassan Khan came out No. 4 and continued his fine form of recent weeks. Old Boys' second change was Peter Seaden, who with his dapper, balding, moustachioed appearance and cunningly flighted slow medium bowling bore some resemblance to John's father, the late and much-revered Ron Crossland a.k.a The Guru. Nomads continued to be fairly untroubled, though Seaden had an excellent shout for LBW against Khan just before drinks.
Hassan fell for a useful 28 just after the interval and it was clear that Mark Bradshaw was holding things together, even more so when Mahesh Vyas departed early, leg before, with 4 down for not much more than a hundred. Prasanth came out to steady the ship and coped well with some tricky medium pace bowling from skipper Mohammed. Bradshaw passed another valuable 50 but his departure shortly afterwards left Bec on top with Nomads on 119 for 5 and the bowlers looking dangerous.
No. 7 Nick Lefebve had a slice of luck second ball when, surprised by the pace of Bec's first-change bowler, he snicked a four through the vacant first slip area (the fielder had moved to second slip in the previous over.) Prasanth was just starting to settle and play his shots when given LBW off the bowling of K. Mohammed for 5; still a useful contribution from Prasanth - he was out there for a while and helped to arrest the Nomads' slide.
Gopi joined Lefebve and, with five or six overs to go, the plan was clear. Lefebve startled the crowd with an emphatic hoik - more agricultural than Norfolk - over mid wicket for 4. Gopi helped to keep the rate up before falling to a skied catch just behind the bowler with the score on about 150 for 7. Gideon Reeve took guard and the new pair went up a gear. Lefebve troubling Air Traffic Control as much as the scorers with a series of lofted shots; Reeve finding the boundary with more orthodox blows. In the final over, Lefebve called for a suicidal single and, attempting to sprint and dive at the same time, "did a hamstring" - a pleasingly sporty-sounding injury for one of Nomads' less athletic players. Emil Todorow had to come out as a runner; a suitable climax to an innings described by Ben Fewson as "Very Nomads." The innings closed on 192 which sounded impressive, though the pitch was nice for batting and Nomads' bowling was slightly below full strength.
The old firm of economists Khan & Todorow began, and showed their usual reluctance to offer any freebies to the batsman. A wicket fell after about 6 overs and, when 10 overs were passed with score on only 29 for 1, Bec required almost 7 an over and Nomads appeared to be in control.
Sadly, a high-class second-wicket partnership starring Dipak wrested the initiative away from us. The scoring rate was steadily forced up, despite some good bowling from Gopi as Bec scored at more than 8 an over during this period. The stand was finally broken with the score well past 100. Most of the middle order batsmen began with a boundary or two but couldn't really get in. This had no adverse effect on the run rate though, and the home side closed in remorselessly on the total. Nomads dropped at least 5 catches which didn't help. A flurry of wickets from good, full deliveries from Gideon Reeve came too late to have much influence on the outcome and Old Boys reached their target with about 4 overs left. The No. 10 (who was only batting in that position due to arriving late) sealed the victory with a big six off the bowling of Hassan Khan. The victory was rather more comfortable than the margin of two wickets suggests.
A very enjoyable game but it showed that Nomads do have a problem with bowling at good batsmen on a sound surface - mind you, who doesn't? Let's hope it is the first of many games against this very pleasant opposition.
Man of the Match must be Mark Bradshaw, who held the top order together with a fine half-century against some very decent bowling. Nick Lefebve's 42 was his third-highest score in 17 Nomads' seasons but the purists may have been watching from behind the sofa. Fielder of the Day was Hassan Khan who took 3 catches.
CLAPHAM NOMADS - 191 for 7 from 35 overs
M. Bradshaw - 51
B. Fewson - 11
J. Joyce - 13
H. Khan - 28
M. Vyas - 0
P. Pattiyil - 5
N. Lefebve - 42 not out
G. Pala - 3
G. Reeve - 16 not out
F.O.W. - 29,47,105,108,119,141,155
BEC OLD BOYS - 194 for 8 from 30.2 overs
H. Khan 6.2-0-22-2
E. Todorow 7-0-21-1
G. Pala 7-0-58-1
G. Reeve 7-0-59-3
P. Pattiyil 3-0-24-1
Bec Old Boys won by 2 wickets
The Home side were, rather like Dulwich or Morden, a mixture of Saturday League players and Sunday men and were a bit similar to the Nomads in being a good blend of youth and experience, different nationalities and abilities. The sides shared another similarity as well, Bec being a former club of Nomads' record run-scorer John Chance.
It is hard to believe that the Nomads could possibly improve on the smart and professional appearance for which they are noted but, thanks to the fine Maroon caps acquired for the team by Mark Bradshaw, they did.
Bec skipper Khaled Mohammed, who once scored a half-century for Nomads against Morden, lost the toss to Emil Todorow and the Master of Coinmanship elected to bat in a 35 over contest.
Mark Bradshaw and Ben Fewson opened and faced a stiff test against Dipak, who slanted it in threateningly with good bounce, and the late movement of the pacy Nav. Neither of our openers looked in much trouble and Bradshaw found plenty of success against Nav with the firm leg glances which are becoming his trademark. Both batsman were as strong between cover and gully as ever but the good bowling and the outfield, slow after the overnight rain, kept a lid on the scoring rate.
Fewson was put down - a sharp chance - at mid-off but fell in the same area, also off the bowling of Dipak, a couple of overs later. The batsman was frustrated as, having done some hard work against the new ball, he could well have been on for a score on a very fair track.
Jim Joyce soon warmed up with some powerful strokes including an excellent clip to mid-wicket for 4 while Mark Bradshaw was untroubled except for one edge off a Nav lifter which was put down by the wicketkeeper Chez Brown. Nav bowled Joyce for 13 with a beauty but Bradshaw was beginning to dominate, especially against Nav's replacement who bowled several short-ish balls outside off stump - meat and drink to our opening batsman.
Hassan Khan came out No. 4 and continued his fine form of recent weeks. Old Boys' second change was Peter Seaden, who with his dapper, balding, moustachioed appearance and cunningly flighted slow medium bowling bore some resemblance to John's father, the late and much-revered Ron Crossland a.k.a The Guru. Nomads continued to be fairly untroubled, though Seaden had an excellent shout for LBW against Khan just before drinks.
Hassan fell for a useful 28 just after the interval and it was clear that Mark Bradshaw was holding things together, even more so when Mahesh Vyas departed early, leg before, with 4 down for not much more than a hundred. Prasanth came out to steady the ship and coped well with some tricky medium pace bowling from skipper Mohammed. Bradshaw passed another valuable 50 but his departure shortly afterwards left Bec on top with Nomads on 119 for 5 and the bowlers looking dangerous.
No. 7 Nick Lefebve had a slice of luck second ball when, surprised by the pace of Bec's first-change bowler, he snicked a four through the vacant first slip area (the fielder had moved to second slip in the previous over.) Prasanth was just starting to settle and play his shots when given LBW off the bowling of K. Mohammed for 5; still a useful contribution from Prasanth - he was out there for a while and helped to arrest the Nomads' slide.
Gopi joined Lefebve and, with five or six overs to go, the plan was clear. Lefebve startled the crowd with an emphatic hoik - more agricultural than Norfolk - over mid wicket for 4. Gopi helped to keep the rate up before falling to a skied catch just behind the bowler with the score on about 150 for 7. Gideon Reeve took guard and the new pair went up a gear. Lefebve troubling Air Traffic Control as much as the scorers with a series of lofted shots; Reeve finding the boundary with more orthodox blows. In the final over, Lefebve called for a suicidal single and, attempting to sprint and dive at the same time, "did a hamstring" - a pleasingly sporty-sounding injury for one of Nomads' less athletic players. Emil Todorow had to come out as a runner; a suitable climax to an innings described by Ben Fewson as "Very Nomads." The innings closed on 192 which sounded impressive, though the pitch was nice for batting and Nomads' bowling was slightly below full strength.
The old firm of economists Khan & Todorow began, and showed their usual reluctance to offer any freebies to the batsman. A wicket fell after about 6 overs and, when 10 overs were passed with score on only 29 for 1, Bec required almost 7 an over and Nomads appeared to be in control.
Sadly, a high-class second-wicket partnership starring Dipak wrested the initiative away from us. The scoring rate was steadily forced up, despite some good bowling from Gopi as Bec scored at more than 8 an over during this period. The stand was finally broken with the score well past 100. Most of the middle order batsmen began with a boundary or two but couldn't really get in. This had no adverse effect on the run rate though, and the home side closed in remorselessly on the total. Nomads dropped at least 5 catches which didn't help. A flurry of wickets from good, full deliveries from Gideon Reeve came too late to have much influence on the outcome and Old Boys reached their target with about 4 overs left. The No. 10 (who was only batting in that position due to arriving late) sealed the victory with a big six off the bowling of Hassan Khan. The victory was rather more comfortable than the margin of two wickets suggests.
A very enjoyable game but it showed that Nomads do have a problem with bowling at good batsmen on a sound surface - mind you, who doesn't? Let's hope it is the first of many games against this very pleasant opposition.
Man of the Match must be Mark Bradshaw, who held the top order together with a fine half-century against some very decent bowling. Nick Lefebve's 42 was his third-highest score in 17 Nomads' seasons but the purists may have been watching from behind the sofa. Fielder of the Day was Hassan Khan who took 3 catches.
CLAPHAM NOMADS - 191 for 7 from 35 overs
M. Bradshaw - 51
B. Fewson - 11
J. Joyce - 13
H. Khan - 28
M. Vyas - 0
P. Pattiyil - 5
N. Lefebve - 42 not out
G. Pala - 3
G. Reeve - 16 not out
F.O.W. - 29,47,105,108,119,141,155
BEC OLD BOYS - 194 for 8 from 30.2 overs
H. Khan 6.2-0-22-2
E. Todorow 7-0-21-1
G. Pala 7-0-58-1
G. Reeve 7-0-59-3
P. Pattiyil 3-0-24-1
Bec Old Boys won by 2 wickets
Monday, 31 May 2010
Touring Theatres v Clapham Nomads - 30/5/10
The curse of Dundonald Road re-asserted itself as we arrived to find that the home team's stumps were locked in a garage for which the owner had no key. Several solutions were tried including looking for a sports shop, trying to borrow stumps from the League teams on Pitch 2 who had lost their umpire (the curse of DR) and fashioning six stumps out of broom handles. One of the Theatres Team has been a Stage Manager and can make a prop out of just about anything; he had already produced two rather beautiful sticks by the time John arrived back with the Nomads' stumps and play began at 3.45.
Nomads were missing 3 openers in Mark Bradshaw, Ben Fewson and Peter Moth and so skipper John Crossland turned to the "experience" of Mahesh Vyas and Nick Lefebve. During the delay of well over an hour the padded-up pair paced the boundary, if not liked caged tigers, then certainly like mildly frustrated house-cats.
A reduced game of 30 overs a side was agreed on. The young Owen opened for Theatres but began too short and Vyas carted him away for two 4s in the first over. Lefebve faced Cal Robertson who was bowling for the first time since breaking his finger in the corresponding fixture last year and, in a rather comical first over, attempted to sweep the spinner three times but received only a bruise on the stomach and two close LBW shouts for his trouble.
Vyas began to play nicely and, strong on the leg side as ever, he dominated the strike for the next few overs. Lefebve finally got off the mark when Vyas was in the 20s. There was no great threat from the bowlers, though Robertson was quite accurate and Owen bowled the odd short one on off-stump which didn't suit these batsmen at all.
Veteran off-spinner, and star of The Bill and Ali G IndaHouse, John Warnaby was first change. He can tweak it but tends to overpitch and both openers managed to flick him away to leg regularly to take the partnership past 50. Vyas began to look assured as he raced into the 40s but then Warnaby made the breakthough as the Character Actor lured Lefebve forward once too often and the ball was spooned up to short square leg to end a decent stand of 71 in 13 overs, of which over 60 were scored on the leg side.
Prasanth was No.3 and provided stylish support to Vyas who soon reached his half-century. The opener took 13 off an over from the quickish Ian but then fell to the same bowler for a fine 60. Prasanth was caught for 17 in the same over and, with the score on 113 for 3 and only 11 overs remaining, a contest was on the cards. Hassan Khan reduced the likelihood of this by despatching the first two balls of Ian's next over straight back into the road in the manner of Gary Sobers, or even Rhys Adams - it was almost an anti-climax when only 19 came off the over. Jim Joyce "played himself in" by producing the shot of the day off his very first ball - a very classy straight drive out of the textbook of Sachin Tendulkar, or even Emil Todorow.
It was pure entertainment for everyone except the weary fielders as these two got going. A few spectators even lingered to watch the fun. 29 balls of mayhem, with not a single defensive shot played, produced 75 runs before Hassan Khan was LBW, perhaps slightly unluckily, to a short skidder from the splendidly-named Olivier Pigeon. This produced no respite for the Theatres, merely an encore as Riaz Khan, who appears to have been working out in both gym and nets and is in unstoppable form, took over from his namesake and just increased the tempo. Jim Joyce sprinted to possibly the fastest 50 in Nomads' history (off approximately 20 balls) with a murderous assault on Dirk Fieldhouse - 27 in on over including successive sixes to bring up the landmark before falling leg before to a yorker from the returning Owen.
Gopi provided good support to Riaz with two boundaries but Mr. Khan took centre stage, powering shot after shot straight and over mid-wicket. 20 came off Warnaby's last over, 18 off Owen's. Theatres were finally put out of their misery with the score on 264 for 5. A scoring error meant they bowled either 29 or 31 overs - nobody knows which - and Riaz was left stranded 9 runs short of a half-century which would probably have come up in fewer balls than Joyce's.
It was agreed that Theatres would face 30 overs with 265 to win at a rate of 8.83 per over.
After tea a stiff breeze had picked up to enliven a quite stunning afternoon and this caused both Emil Todorow's hair and his bowling to float and drift in a way that appeared to confuse the batsmen. Dangerman Ben Tranchell, who once scored 96 against us, chipped the first ball straight up to Jim Joyce at Cover Point and Todorow also bowled the No. 3 in the same over. Assad, fastish and straight, bowled numbers 4 and 5 in the second over to leave Theatres on 2 for 4 after 12 balls. Various tactical suggestions were made to captain John Crossland at this point, including that he bowl all 11 men for one over each or that he polish off Theatres quickly so that we would have time for a beer match. To be fair to Crossland, he took this mickey-taking in good part and, with a ruthless gleam in his eye, merely handed the ball back to Todorow.
Cal Robertson and Dirk Fieldhouse began to defend well in a manner that could have made the game interesting had the original plan to play a Time Game been possible. They survived 6 and a half overs before Todorow produced his quicker bouncing leg-cutter to find Robertson's thin outside edge. The hirsute Medium Pacer claimed another scalp in this over and had 6 balls to achieve his first five-fer in 14 years. Sadly, fans of the Bulgarian-born legend and fans of free beer were to be disappointed but Emil finished with the remarkable analysis of 6-2-5-4.
Assad claimed another wicket in his last over and Gideon Reeve and Gopi took over with Theatres on around 15 for 7. Reeve deployed his uncanny knack of finding variable bounce, producing a lifter and the only shooter of the match in successive balls in his second over. Reeve accounted for the No. 9 with some sharp lift to generate a caught and bowled. This brought John Warnaby to the crease and the talented thespian played some nice shots while keeping the excellent and impassable Dirk Fieldhouse company. The ball went in the air frequently and Nomads slip cordon had some fun at Riaz Khan's expense by blaming the Nomads Legend for every lost catching opportunity. Reeve eventually bowled the No. 10 to bring his sister, Kate Warnaby, to the crease. "Come in Riaz, she's not exactly Kevin Pietersen," shouted Crossland to the amusement of all. If only Kate had slog-swept her first ball for 6, the moment would have been complete, but she did see off the over with no alarms.
Gopi had used his full range of variations and had gone close a few times but finally found success in bowling Fieldhouse, last man out for an obdurate 10 off 90 balls, an excellent innings in the context of the game and ample repayment for having lost the stumps.
So Theatres were out for 38 in the scorebook, though if you add up the analyses and add on the smattering of byes and leg byes, it must have been around 43.
Obviously it was an easy win but what was satisfying was that we played some very entertaining cricket and everyone in the team either scored double figures or took a wicket or, in the case of John Crossland, took a catch and captained ruthlessly. This was not sufficient for the skipper though; he looked around at the pitch and at the scorebook at close of play and, shaking his head, muttered; "You know the only thing I enjoyed about that match - Assad's bowling."
I hope Theatres will continue to play us next season. they are great company and we don't just look on it as a chance to boost our averages.....honestly.
Man of the Match is a tough choice. Emil Todorow produced his best analysis of the Millennium, Mahesh Vyas top-scored with one of his highest scores for Nomads, Hassan and Riaz both batted brilliantly but I will vote for Jim Joyce, whose 51 was classy and may have been the fastest 50 in the club's history. Fielder of the Day is tough for the opposite reason; there was hardly any fielding to do. Jim would have got this as well for taking the best catch and one excellent throw but as he had to leave early I will give it to John Crossland. He did concede a couple of late byes but he didn't let the burdens of captaincy distract him from his main job of flinging himself around vigorously.
CLAPHAM NOMADS - 264 for 5 from 30 overs
M. Vyas - 60
N. Lefebve - 21
P. Pattiyil - 17
H. Khan - 46
J. Joyce - 51
R. Khan - 41 not out
G. Pala - 9 not out
F.O.W. - 71, 109, 113, 118, 221
TOURING THEATRE XI - 38 all out from 24 overs
Todorow - 6-2-5-4
Assad - 6-3-8-3
G. Reeve - 6-2-13-2
G. Pala - 6-1-13-1
Clapham Nomads won by 226 runs
Nomads were missing 3 openers in Mark Bradshaw, Ben Fewson and Peter Moth and so skipper John Crossland turned to the "experience" of Mahesh Vyas and Nick Lefebve. During the delay of well over an hour the padded-up pair paced the boundary, if not liked caged tigers, then certainly like mildly frustrated house-cats.
A reduced game of 30 overs a side was agreed on. The young Owen opened for Theatres but began too short and Vyas carted him away for two 4s in the first over. Lefebve faced Cal Robertson who was bowling for the first time since breaking his finger in the corresponding fixture last year and, in a rather comical first over, attempted to sweep the spinner three times but received only a bruise on the stomach and two close LBW shouts for his trouble.
Vyas began to play nicely and, strong on the leg side as ever, he dominated the strike for the next few overs. Lefebve finally got off the mark when Vyas was in the 20s. There was no great threat from the bowlers, though Robertson was quite accurate and Owen bowled the odd short one on off-stump which didn't suit these batsmen at all.
Veteran off-spinner, and star of The Bill and Ali G IndaHouse, John Warnaby was first change. He can tweak it but tends to overpitch and both openers managed to flick him away to leg regularly to take the partnership past 50. Vyas began to look assured as he raced into the 40s but then Warnaby made the breakthough as the Character Actor lured Lefebve forward once too often and the ball was spooned up to short square leg to end a decent stand of 71 in 13 overs, of which over 60 were scored on the leg side.
Prasanth was No.3 and provided stylish support to Vyas who soon reached his half-century. The opener took 13 off an over from the quickish Ian but then fell to the same bowler for a fine 60. Prasanth was caught for 17 in the same over and, with the score on 113 for 3 and only 11 overs remaining, a contest was on the cards. Hassan Khan reduced the likelihood of this by despatching the first two balls of Ian's next over straight back into the road in the manner of Gary Sobers, or even Rhys Adams - it was almost an anti-climax when only 19 came off the over. Jim Joyce "played himself in" by producing the shot of the day off his very first ball - a very classy straight drive out of the textbook of Sachin Tendulkar, or even Emil Todorow.
It was pure entertainment for everyone except the weary fielders as these two got going. A few spectators even lingered to watch the fun. 29 balls of mayhem, with not a single defensive shot played, produced 75 runs before Hassan Khan was LBW, perhaps slightly unluckily, to a short skidder from the splendidly-named Olivier Pigeon. This produced no respite for the Theatres, merely an encore as Riaz Khan, who appears to have been working out in both gym and nets and is in unstoppable form, took over from his namesake and just increased the tempo. Jim Joyce sprinted to possibly the fastest 50 in Nomads' history (off approximately 20 balls) with a murderous assault on Dirk Fieldhouse - 27 in on over including successive sixes to bring up the landmark before falling leg before to a yorker from the returning Owen.
Gopi provided good support to Riaz with two boundaries but Mr. Khan took centre stage, powering shot after shot straight and over mid-wicket. 20 came off Warnaby's last over, 18 off Owen's. Theatres were finally put out of their misery with the score on 264 for 5. A scoring error meant they bowled either 29 or 31 overs - nobody knows which - and Riaz was left stranded 9 runs short of a half-century which would probably have come up in fewer balls than Joyce's.
It was agreed that Theatres would face 30 overs with 265 to win at a rate of 8.83 per over.
After tea a stiff breeze had picked up to enliven a quite stunning afternoon and this caused both Emil Todorow's hair and his bowling to float and drift in a way that appeared to confuse the batsmen. Dangerman Ben Tranchell, who once scored 96 against us, chipped the first ball straight up to Jim Joyce at Cover Point and Todorow also bowled the No. 3 in the same over. Assad, fastish and straight, bowled numbers 4 and 5 in the second over to leave Theatres on 2 for 4 after 12 balls. Various tactical suggestions were made to captain John Crossland at this point, including that he bowl all 11 men for one over each or that he polish off Theatres quickly so that we would have time for a beer match. To be fair to Crossland, he took this mickey-taking in good part and, with a ruthless gleam in his eye, merely handed the ball back to Todorow.
Cal Robertson and Dirk Fieldhouse began to defend well in a manner that could have made the game interesting had the original plan to play a Time Game been possible. They survived 6 and a half overs before Todorow produced his quicker bouncing leg-cutter to find Robertson's thin outside edge. The hirsute Medium Pacer claimed another scalp in this over and had 6 balls to achieve his first five-fer in 14 years. Sadly, fans of the Bulgarian-born legend and fans of free beer were to be disappointed but Emil finished with the remarkable analysis of 6-2-5-4.
Assad claimed another wicket in his last over and Gideon Reeve and Gopi took over with Theatres on around 15 for 7. Reeve deployed his uncanny knack of finding variable bounce, producing a lifter and the only shooter of the match in successive balls in his second over. Reeve accounted for the No. 9 with some sharp lift to generate a caught and bowled. This brought John Warnaby to the crease and the talented thespian played some nice shots while keeping the excellent and impassable Dirk Fieldhouse company. The ball went in the air frequently and Nomads slip cordon had some fun at Riaz Khan's expense by blaming the Nomads Legend for every lost catching opportunity. Reeve eventually bowled the No. 10 to bring his sister, Kate Warnaby, to the crease. "Come in Riaz, she's not exactly Kevin Pietersen," shouted Crossland to the amusement of all. If only Kate had slog-swept her first ball for 6, the moment would have been complete, but she did see off the over with no alarms.
Gopi had used his full range of variations and had gone close a few times but finally found success in bowling Fieldhouse, last man out for an obdurate 10 off 90 balls, an excellent innings in the context of the game and ample repayment for having lost the stumps.
So Theatres were out for 38 in the scorebook, though if you add up the analyses and add on the smattering of byes and leg byes, it must have been around 43.
Obviously it was an easy win but what was satisfying was that we played some very entertaining cricket and everyone in the team either scored double figures or took a wicket or, in the case of John Crossland, took a catch and captained ruthlessly. This was not sufficient for the skipper though; he looked around at the pitch and at the scorebook at close of play and, shaking his head, muttered; "You know the only thing I enjoyed about that match - Assad's bowling."
I hope Theatres will continue to play us next season. they are great company and we don't just look on it as a chance to boost our averages.....honestly.
Man of the Match is a tough choice. Emil Todorow produced his best analysis of the Millennium, Mahesh Vyas top-scored with one of his highest scores for Nomads, Hassan and Riaz both batted brilliantly but I will vote for Jim Joyce, whose 51 was classy and may have been the fastest 50 in the club's history. Fielder of the Day is tough for the opposite reason; there was hardly any fielding to do. Jim would have got this as well for taking the best catch and one excellent throw but as he had to leave early I will give it to John Crossland. He did concede a couple of late byes but he didn't let the burdens of captaincy distract him from his main job of flinging himself around vigorously.
CLAPHAM NOMADS - 264 for 5 from 30 overs
M. Vyas - 60
N. Lefebve - 21
P. Pattiyil - 17
H. Khan - 46
J. Joyce - 51
R. Khan - 41 not out
G. Pala - 9 not out
F.O.W. - 71, 109, 113, 118, 221
TOURING THEATRE XI - 38 all out from 24 overs
Todorow - 6-2-5-4
Assad - 6-3-8-3
G. Reeve - 6-2-13-2
G. Pala - 6-1-13-1
Clapham Nomads won by 226 runs
Wednesday, 26 May 2010
Energy Exiles v Clapham Nomads - 23/5/10
There was a lively build-up to this fixture as Nomads, desperate for their first win over the Exiles in 4 years, spread rumours via e-mail and text that John Chance had been drafted back into the line-up, along with several Australian ringers and the Open University legend Dave Hunter as captain. Sadly (or otherwise) none of this was true and it was a familiar Nomads XI that gathered at Chiswick on a baking-hot afternoon.
Emil Todorow won a vital toss and chose to bat. There was a story going round that, after winning the toss, Emil had insisted we play 40 overs a side rather than 35. This also proved untrue and rather far-fetched - the ruthless Todorow would surely have insisted on 50.
Last year's top batsmen Ben Fewson and Mark Bradshaw took strike. Bradshaw was looking to continue his excellent record against his former club and struck a vital early blow in thumping Andy Wingfield's first ball for 4 through square leg. Fewson faced the bulk of Naren Patel's bowling, mostly back of a length around off stump. Fewson can play this type of bowling all week but a skilfully-set field made scoring difficult. Sound batting on a decent surface made for an unexpected air of serenity in the early overs, broken only when a Patel delivery hit a feather, reared up at Mark Bradshaw and deflected narrowly over the top of the stumps. Normally this type of incident could be written off as a fluke, but N. Patel is quite crafty enough to have aimed for the feather.
Bradshaw continued to play Wingfield well, particularly on the leg-side, and eventually there was a plaintive cry of "bowl it on the off stump, Andy" (not an instruction you often hear when Bradshaw is batting.) The bowler obliged with a beauty which straightened and found the outside edge. Keeper Wil Scott snapped up the catch and the former Exiles man departed for 11, still averaging over 40 for Nomads against the Exiles and having contributed to a useful opening stand of 32.
Peter Moth stepped out at No. 3 and his arrival coincided with the first bowling change. On came paceman Simon Gundry, looking fired-up, but Moth coped admirably with the mixture of raw pace, slower balls and yorkers served up by the big speedster and cracked 3 nice boundaries. Fewson also cranked it up a gear as Exiles captain Martin Thomas joined the attack. Moth saw off Gundry but was then slightly unfortunate to flick Thomas straight out of the springs to square leg and had to leave for 14, with the partnership one short of the 50 it deserved.
Hassan Khan was put down at mid-off (a sharp chance) early on but maintained the momentum against the deceptive swing bowler Phil Ling, and Nomads sped from 38 after 10 overs to 103 for 2 at the 20-over drinks break. Ben Fewson had been treating the appreciative audience to a virtuoso display of crisp hitting and had advanced from 24 to 60 scoring nothing but boundaries. Sadly, with another ton in his sights, last season's Player of the Year fell to a smart catch by Keith Roberts off the deceptive flight of off-spinner John Parker-Jones. Abdul Khan avenged this by hitting Parker-Jones out of the attack with three 4s in an over but was then comprehensively bowled by Simon Gundry, who had been brought back for a crack at Nomads' big-hitting middle order. Amin, in perhaps his final innings for the club, survived Gundry but then mishit a David Thomas delivery up into the covers, depriving us of the farewell 6 we craved. Hassan Khan also departed in the same over, caught at the 5th or 6th attempt in an extraordinary piece of juggling from 1st slip Quentin Davies, who never actually looked like dropping the ball.
At 162 for 6 Nomads were approaching the type of total that Exiles have rarely achieved against us, but on a benign track there was a bit more work to do. Riaz Khan dispelled any fears that his expansive batting style would present an easy target for Gundry's yorkers by smacking some big shots, especially over mid-wicket. A promising partnership with Gopi ended sadly when the Mystery Bowler just failed to make it back to his crease on a disputed run. Emil Todorow sauntered out, looking every inch the Senior Professional in his baggy red cap, and went eyeball to eyeball with Naren Patel, his counterpart in age and cunning. Todorow survived and then went on to produce the champagne moment of the season so far; with elbow high and feet in line, he positively caressed a quick one from S. Gundry to the mid-off boundary. A murmur of admiration spread amongst the watching Nomads who were struck by our skipper's uncanny resemblance to David Gower in his prime, in all respects except his age, hairstyle and right-handedness. Riaz Khan was not to be outdone and proved once again that he is almost impossible to bowl at once he reaches double figures. Again and again he bypassed the weary and sun-baked fielders with a brutal display of power hitting which sadly ended on 42 with 5 balls remaining, within touching distance of his second Nomads half-century. Gideon Reeve played out the final over and Nomads ended on the more than satisfactory 222 for 8, our highest total against Exiles since the era of Benny and Rafi, and a score that Exiles have never achieved against us. Given the recent history of these fixtures though, there was certainly no room for complacency.
Nomads took the field with temperatures thankfully cooling towards about 75 degrees. John Crossland was missing his first game for over 2 years, due to a charity cycle ride, but the ever-keen wicketkeeper turned up at 3 o'clock and kept our morale high by pacing the boundary rope while we were fielding, encouraging us and making the occasional astute tactical suggestion. Fortunately we had a very capable replacement behind the stumps in the shape of former Yorkshire Under-17s wicketkeeper Ben Fewson, a man who shares Crossland's willingness to hurl himself full-length for the cause, as well as his connections to the county of Geoffrey Boycott.
The old firm of Hassan Khan and Emil Todorow opened the bowling and, with good pace and accuracy, Khan soon frustrated the dangerous Quentin Davies into skying a chance which Fewson collected comfortably. No. 2 Sri Pathmanathan and No. 3 John Parker-Jones had made a match-winning partnership in the corresponding fixture last year. Sri hits the ball in the air quite a lot and does give hope to the fielders, but has the uncanny ability to just clear their heads. He was dropped off H. Khan but soon began to give the innings some much-needed momentum. Emil Todorow always bowls well against the Exiles however and a well-disguised lifter found Pathmanathan's top edge; the ball appeared to have cleared Amin at slip but Mister Six turned nimbly and pouched a vital wicket. Parker-Jones was looking untroubled but on 9 he flicked first-changer Gideon Reeve hard and low to Mark Bradshaw at square leg, a fine catch from Mark, given the added pressure of the stick he would have got from his former team-mates had he dropped it.
Reeve took another wicket straight away to have Exiles reeling at 46 for 4. Keith Roberts rarely misses out completely against Nomads but he had little time on this occasion to play himself in. He received a bonus, though, when his usual nemesis Emil Todorow mysteriously took himself off. Roberts played nicely, especially between point and gully and his correctness and left-handedness made it awkward for Nomads. Amin and Reeve kept a lid on things though and the required rate rose steadily until drinks were taken at 80 for 4; 143 to win off 20 overs. With Roberts and Wil Scott looking settled and some big-hitters to come this was by no means impossible but a direct hit to savour from Amin disposed of Scott on 90. Nomads' final bowling pairing was Riaz Khan and Gopi and Riaz struck early, bowling Roberts for a useful 25.
Exiles' biggest hitters, Simon Gundry and Andy Wingfield, were now at the middle. 8 an over was required and, if any Exiles pair could achieve that, it would be these two. Wingfield told me later that they had every intention of going for it but Riaz bowled so accurately that he proved almost impossible to get away. Gopi did go for a few more runs but his endless string of variations means that few batsmen can really get into a scoring groove against him. Standing almost behind the wicketkeeper, I realised that he does get remarkable sideways movement through the air at times.
Both of Exiles all-rounders struck a few lusty blows but Riaz bowled Gundry and then Fewson claimed Wingfield off Gopi's bowling to just about secure victory. It was nostalgia time as former Battersea Spinners team-mates, and former members of the legendary Renato Philip's Cricket Circus, Martin Thomas and Riaz Khan faced each other, Riaz triumphing by bowling his friend for 2. Phil Ling showed he is one to watch in future with a couple of big shots but Hassan returned to trap him LBW and leave Exiles all out for 130.
This was not perhaps the most eventful Exiles/Nomads match but from our point of view it was the most satisfying; a great all-round performance and a fine victory against a pretty-much full-strength Exiles line-up. The only thing that could slightly sour the taste of victory is that we have only 4 weeks to savour it. Exiles are sure to come back very hard for revenge in the return fixture at Dundonald Road on 20th June. I was inclining towards Ben Fewson for Man of the Match as his devastating play in the second half of his innings really set up our total, but the consensus in the pub was that Riaz Khan should get it; 42 runs of pure punishment and an analysis of 7-2-12-3, made even better by Exiles' confirmation that they were trying to accelerate against him, but just couldn't. Mark Bradshaw, Gideon Reeve, Abdul Khan and Ben Fewson all fielded well but Amin shades it for Fielder of the Day. A vital catch and a direct hit were a great way to say goodbye - but we've said goodbye to him before, haven't we?
CLAPHAM NOMADS - 222 for 8 from 40 overs
M. Bradshaw -c Scott b Wingfield- 11
B. Fewson(wkt) - c Roberts b Parker-Jones - 64
P. Moth - c Gundry b M. Thomas - 14
H. Khan - c Davies b D. Thomas - 39
A. Khan - b Gundry - 16
Amin - c Wingfield b D. Thomas - 1
R. Khan - b Patel - 42
G. Pala - Run Out - 5
E. Todorow(capt) - Not Out - 15
G. Reeve - Not Out - 0
N. Lefebve - Did not bat
F.O.W. 32, 81, 108, 138, 141, 162, 174, 220
ENERGY EXILES - 130 All Out from 34.3 overs
Q. Davies - c Fewson b H. Khan - 6
S. Pathmanathan - c Amin b Todorow - 20
J. Parker-Jones - c Bradshaw b Reeve - 9
K, Roberts - b R. Khan - 25
D. Thomas - c A. Khan b Reeve - 0
W. Scott (wkt) - Run Out - 13
S. Gundry - b R. Khan - 14
A. Wingfield - c Fewson b G. Pala - 12
M. Thomas (capt) - b R. Khan - 2
P. Ling - lbw H. Khan - 7
N. Patel - Not Out 1
Nomads bowling;
H. Khan 5.3-0-14-2
E. Todorow 5-1-18-1
Amin 5-0-13-0
G. Reeve 5-0-31-2
R. Khan 7-2-12-3
G. Pala 7-0-38-1
Clapham Nomads won by 92 runs
Emil Todorow won a vital toss and chose to bat. There was a story going round that, after winning the toss, Emil had insisted we play 40 overs a side rather than 35. This also proved untrue and rather far-fetched - the ruthless Todorow would surely have insisted on 50.
Last year's top batsmen Ben Fewson and Mark Bradshaw took strike. Bradshaw was looking to continue his excellent record against his former club and struck a vital early blow in thumping Andy Wingfield's first ball for 4 through square leg. Fewson faced the bulk of Naren Patel's bowling, mostly back of a length around off stump. Fewson can play this type of bowling all week but a skilfully-set field made scoring difficult. Sound batting on a decent surface made for an unexpected air of serenity in the early overs, broken only when a Patel delivery hit a feather, reared up at Mark Bradshaw and deflected narrowly over the top of the stumps. Normally this type of incident could be written off as a fluke, but N. Patel is quite crafty enough to have aimed for the feather.
Bradshaw continued to play Wingfield well, particularly on the leg-side, and eventually there was a plaintive cry of "bowl it on the off stump, Andy" (not an instruction you often hear when Bradshaw is batting.) The bowler obliged with a beauty which straightened and found the outside edge. Keeper Wil Scott snapped up the catch and the former Exiles man departed for 11, still averaging over 40 for Nomads against the Exiles and having contributed to a useful opening stand of 32.
Peter Moth stepped out at No. 3 and his arrival coincided with the first bowling change. On came paceman Simon Gundry, looking fired-up, but Moth coped admirably with the mixture of raw pace, slower balls and yorkers served up by the big speedster and cracked 3 nice boundaries. Fewson also cranked it up a gear as Exiles captain Martin Thomas joined the attack. Moth saw off Gundry but was then slightly unfortunate to flick Thomas straight out of the springs to square leg and had to leave for 14, with the partnership one short of the 50 it deserved.
Hassan Khan was put down at mid-off (a sharp chance) early on but maintained the momentum against the deceptive swing bowler Phil Ling, and Nomads sped from 38 after 10 overs to 103 for 2 at the 20-over drinks break. Ben Fewson had been treating the appreciative audience to a virtuoso display of crisp hitting and had advanced from 24 to 60 scoring nothing but boundaries. Sadly, with another ton in his sights, last season's Player of the Year fell to a smart catch by Keith Roberts off the deceptive flight of off-spinner John Parker-Jones. Abdul Khan avenged this by hitting Parker-Jones out of the attack with three 4s in an over but was then comprehensively bowled by Simon Gundry, who had been brought back for a crack at Nomads' big-hitting middle order. Amin, in perhaps his final innings for the club, survived Gundry but then mishit a David Thomas delivery up into the covers, depriving us of the farewell 6 we craved. Hassan Khan also departed in the same over, caught at the 5th or 6th attempt in an extraordinary piece of juggling from 1st slip Quentin Davies, who never actually looked like dropping the ball.
At 162 for 6 Nomads were approaching the type of total that Exiles have rarely achieved against us, but on a benign track there was a bit more work to do. Riaz Khan dispelled any fears that his expansive batting style would present an easy target for Gundry's yorkers by smacking some big shots, especially over mid-wicket. A promising partnership with Gopi ended sadly when the Mystery Bowler just failed to make it back to his crease on a disputed run. Emil Todorow sauntered out, looking every inch the Senior Professional in his baggy red cap, and went eyeball to eyeball with Naren Patel, his counterpart in age and cunning. Todorow survived and then went on to produce the champagne moment of the season so far; with elbow high and feet in line, he positively caressed a quick one from S. Gundry to the mid-off boundary. A murmur of admiration spread amongst the watching Nomads who were struck by our skipper's uncanny resemblance to David Gower in his prime, in all respects except his age, hairstyle and right-handedness. Riaz Khan was not to be outdone and proved once again that he is almost impossible to bowl at once he reaches double figures. Again and again he bypassed the weary and sun-baked fielders with a brutal display of power hitting which sadly ended on 42 with 5 balls remaining, within touching distance of his second Nomads half-century. Gideon Reeve played out the final over and Nomads ended on the more than satisfactory 222 for 8, our highest total against Exiles since the era of Benny and Rafi, and a score that Exiles have never achieved against us. Given the recent history of these fixtures though, there was certainly no room for complacency.
Nomads took the field with temperatures thankfully cooling towards about 75 degrees. John Crossland was missing his first game for over 2 years, due to a charity cycle ride, but the ever-keen wicketkeeper turned up at 3 o'clock and kept our morale high by pacing the boundary rope while we were fielding, encouraging us and making the occasional astute tactical suggestion. Fortunately we had a very capable replacement behind the stumps in the shape of former Yorkshire Under-17s wicketkeeper Ben Fewson, a man who shares Crossland's willingness to hurl himself full-length for the cause, as well as his connections to the county of Geoffrey Boycott.
The old firm of Hassan Khan and Emil Todorow opened the bowling and, with good pace and accuracy, Khan soon frustrated the dangerous Quentin Davies into skying a chance which Fewson collected comfortably. No. 2 Sri Pathmanathan and No. 3 John Parker-Jones had made a match-winning partnership in the corresponding fixture last year. Sri hits the ball in the air quite a lot and does give hope to the fielders, but has the uncanny ability to just clear their heads. He was dropped off H. Khan but soon began to give the innings some much-needed momentum. Emil Todorow always bowls well against the Exiles however and a well-disguised lifter found Pathmanathan's top edge; the ball appeared to have cleared Amin at slip but Mister Six turned nimbly and pouched a vital wicket. Parker-Jones was looking untroubled but on 9 he flicked first-changer Gideon Reeve hard and low to Mark Bradshaw at square leg, a fine catch from Mark, given the added pressure of the stick he would have got from his former team-mates had he dropped it.
Reeve took another wicket straight away to have Exiles reeling at 46 for 4. Keith Roberts rarely misses out completely against Nomads but he had little time on this occasion to play himself in. He received a bonus, though, when his usual nemesis Emil Todorow mysteriously took himself off. Roberts played nicely, especially between point and gully and his correctness and left-handedness made it awkward for Nomads. Amin and Reeve kept a lid on things though and the required rate rose steadily until drinks were taken at 80 for 4; 143 to win off 20 overs. With Roberts and Wil Scott looking settled and some big-hitters to come this was by no means impossible but a direct hit to savour from Amin disposed of Scott on 90. Nomads' final bowling pairing was Riaz Khan and Gopi and Riaz struck early, bowling Roberts for a useful 25.
Exiles' biggest hitters, Simon Gundry and Andy Wingfield, were now at the middle. 8 an over was required and, if any Exiles pair could achieve that, it would be these two. Wingfield told me later that they had every intention of going for it but Riaz bowled so accurately that he proved almost impossible to get away. Gopi did go for a few more runs but his endless string of variations means that few batsmen can really get into a scoring groove against him. Standing almost behind the wicketkeeper, I realised that he does get remarkable sideways movement through the air at times.
Both of Exiles all-rounders struck a few lusty blows but Riaz bowled Gundry and then Fewson claimed Wingfield off Gopi's bowling to just about secure victory. It was nostalgia time as former Battersea Spinners team-mates, and former members of the legendary Renato Philip's Cricket Circus, Martin Thomas and Riaz Khan faced each other, Riaz triumphing by bowling his friend for 2. Phil Ling showed he is one to watch in future with a couple of big shots but Hassan returned to trap him LBW and leave Exiles all out for 130.
This was not perhaps the most eventful Exiles/Nomads match but from our point of view it was the most satisfying; a great all-round performance and a fine victory against a pretty-much full-strength Exiles line-up. The only thing that could slightly sour the taste of victory is that we have only 4 weeks to savour it. Exiles are sure to come back very hard for revenge in the return fixture at Dundonald Road on 20th June. I was inclining towards Ben Fewson for Man of the Match as his devastating play in the second half of his innings really set up our total, but the consensus in the pub was that Riaz Khan should get it; 42 runs of pure punishment and an analysis of 7-2-12-3, made even better by Exiles' confirmation that they were trying to accelerate against him, but just couldn't. Mark Bradshaw, Gideon Reeve, Abdul Khan and Ben Fewson all fielded well but Amin shades it for Fielder of the Day. A vital catch and a direct hit were a great way to say goodbye - but we've said goodbye to him before, haven't we?
CLAPHAM NOMADS - 222 for 8 from 40 overs
M. Bradshaw -c Scott b Wingfield- 11
B. Fewson(wkt) - c Roberts b Parker-Jones - 64
P. Moth - c Gundry b M. Thomas - 14
H. Khan - c Davies b D. Thomas - 39
A. Khan - b Gundry - 16
Amin - c Wingfield b D. Thomas - 1
R. Khan - b Patel - 42
G. Pala - Run Out - 5
E. Todorow(capt) - Not Out - 15
G. Reeve - Not Out - 0
N. Lefebve - Did not bat
F.O.W. 32, 81, 108, 138, 141, 162, 174, 220
ENERGY EXILES - 130 All Out from 34.3 overs
Q. Davies - c Fewson b H. Khan - 6
S. Pathmanathan - c Amin b Todorow - 20
J. Parker-Jones - c Bradshaw b Reeve - 9
K, Roberts - b R. Khan - 25
D. Thomas - c A. Khan b Reeve - 0
W. Scott (wkt) - Run Out - 13
S. Gundry - b R. Khan - 14
A. Wingfield - c Fewson b G. Pala - 12
M. Thomas (capt) - b R. Khan - 2
P. Ling - lbw H. Khan - 7
N. Patel - Not Out 1
Nomads bowling;
H. Khan 5.3-0-14-2
E. Todorow 5-1-18-1
Amin 5-0-13-0
G. Reeve 5-0-31-2
R. Khan 7-2-12-3
G. Pala 7-0-38-1
Clapham Nomads won by 92 runs
Thursday, 20 May 2010
Victory for the Nomads
The rain-affected game against Kempton last Sunday didn't feel like a victory, even after John's splendid catch off Gopi's bowling to take the 4th wicket. The balance of the match felt quite even and we guessed Kempton had plenty of batting to come. However, you cannot have a draw in a limited-overs game; only a win, a tie or an abandoned match where either side has not had more than a stated percentage of its allotted overs (usually between 25% and 40%.) This was not the case in Sunday's match as Kempton faced 47.6% of their overs before the heavens opened.
Until the mid 1990s, most matches were decided on faster run rate - which would produce a Nomads win by 5.14 per over to 4.32.
More recently, Messrs Duckworth and Lewis have cast their barely comprehensible mathematical cloud over one-day cricket and, after wrestling with their website for several hours, I have reached the following conclusion about the Kempton game;
Nomads won by 4 runs.
Not that we are desperate for a victory of course, or that I have a sad life. NL
Until the mid 1990s, most matches were decided on faster run rate - which would produce a Nomads win by 5.14 per over to 4.32.
More recently, Messrs Duckworth and Lewis have cast their barely comprehensible mathematical cloud over one-day cricket and, after wrestling with their website for several hours, I have reached the following conclusion about the Kempton game;
Nomads won by 4 runs.
Not that we are desperate for a victory of course, or that I have a sad life. NL
Tuesday, 18 May 2010
Welcome back Mr Six
It turned out that the attractions of playing for Nomads at Fishponds Road were too strong and Amin didn't leave the country after all. We hope he will be around for a while yet.
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