Regular readers of this blog - if there are any left - will be quite interested to hear that John Crossland has prepared an appraisal of the cricketing career of Nomads' controversial medium pacer. This will appear on these pages soon, and I will add my own Golden Moments of West (surprisingly, I could only think of about 14 of them, but I'm sure other Nomads' players will be able to think of some I have forgotten.)
It was sad recently when Brian Close passed away and they printed that bittersweet photo of a semi-naked Close smiling wrily and covered with bruises. It set me thinking about what a similar picture of Andrew would be like. Instead of the semi-smile there might be an angry snarl and he would be mouthing something like; "F***ing Bo***cks." Also, the bruises would not have been inflicted by lifters from Wes Hall, Charlie Griffith or Michael Holding, but by freak pre-match catching practice injuries from throws by Emil, Nick or Raj. The overall effect would be similar though - 2 charismatic cricketers who laughed in the face of pain and injury.
Sunday, 29 November 2015
Tuesday, 13 October 2015
Player of the year etc / John's report / Annual Meeting
We will probably have our Annual Meeting in early December at either Namak Mandi or Mirgh Masala, both in Tooting.
Batsman of the Year must be Mark - well ahead on both runs scored and average. Honourable mention to Riaz though, and Prasanth played the best individual innings with 87 against the Exiles. Hassan also had a good average.
Bowler of the Year is pretty interesting. Abbas had the best average and took a decent amount of wickets but quit the club in May. Sami was good as was Riaz, though Riaz didn't bowl that many overs. Hassan impressed but missed a large chunk of the season. Emil's average was not fantastic but was respectable in the context of our performances. He got through a hell of a lot of work, was the top wicket-taker and it was his best year as a bowler for a while.
Fielder of the Year could have a number of contenders. I'd have to go back through the reports before I stuck my neck out.
Main Player of the Year contenders would be, I would say, Mark and Riaz.
Sorry, I haven't posted John's report of the season here, for the valid reason that he hasn't written it yet - partly because he keeps going to Dartmoor on holiday and also because I still have the scorebook. It promises to be interesting though and, when he does write it, I will post it on here along with all the other seasonal reports he has done, if I can get my hands on them.
Batsman of the Year must be Mark - well ahead on both runs scored and average. Honourable mention to Riaz though, and Prasanth played the best individual innings with 87 against the Exiles. Hassan also had a good average.
Bowler of the Year is pretty interesting. Abbas had the best average and took a decent amount of wickets but quit the club in May. Sami was good as was Riaz, though Riaz didn't bowl that many overs. Hassan impressed but missed a large chunk of the season. Emil's average was not fantastic but was respectable in the context of our performances. He got through a hell of a lot of work, was the top wicket-taker and it was his best year as a bowler for a while.
Fielder of the Year could have a number of contenders. I'd have to go back through the reports before I stuck my neck out.
Main Player of the Year contenders would be, I would say, Mark and Riaz.
Sorry, I haven't posted John's report of the season here, for the valid reason that he hasn't written it yet - partly because he keeps going to Dartmoor on holiday and also because I still have the scorebook. It promises to be interesting though and, when he does write it, I will post it on here along with all the other seasonal reports he has done, if I can get my hands on them.
Clapham Nomads Averages 2015
Nomads averages 2015.
Batting; (Qualification - 3 innings on 3 separate days.)
Mark Bradshaw - 394 runs @ 39.40
Riaz Khan - 240 runs @ 34.29
Hassan Khan - 161 runs @ 32.20
Prasanth Pattiyil - 165 runs @ 23.57
Gul - 230 runs @ 19.17
Abdul Khan - 148 runs @ 14.80
Darwin Gunawardena - 101 runs @ 12.63
Imran - 46 runs @ 11.50
Mahesh Vyas - 99 runs @ 8.25
Nick Lefebve - 45 runs @ 7.50
Emil Todorow - 37 runs @ 7.40
Sami - 24 runs @ 6.00
Hamid - 16 runs @ 5.33
Abbas Khan - 8 runs @ 4.00
John Crossland - 4 runs @ 4.00
Qasim - 9 runs @ 3.00
Bowling; (Qualification - 4 wickets)
Abbas Khan - 9 wickets @ 13.44
Ollie Amos - 5 wickets @ 17.80
Riaz Khan - 9 wickets @ 18.67
Hassan Khan - 7 wickets @ 21.43
Sami - 11 wickets @ 23.91
Imran - 4 wickets @ 24.50
Qasim - 4 wickets @ 24.50
Emil Todorow - 14 wickets @ 28.93
Gul - 5 wickets @ 31.20
Abdul Khan - 8 wickets @ 48.25
Fielding; (Qualification - 3 catches)
5 - Abdul Khan
4 - John Crossland (all as wicketkeeper), Riaz Khan
3 - Hassan Khan, Mark Bradshaw, Mahesh Vyas, Ollie Amos.
There were no stumpings.
Batting; (Qualification - 3 innings on 3 separate days.)
Mark Bradshaw - 394 runs @ 39.40
Riaz Khan - 240 runs @ 34.29
Hassan Khan - 161 runs @ 32.20
Prasanth Pattiyil - 165 runs @ 23.57
Gul - 230 runs @ 19.17
Abdul Khan - 148 runs @ 14.80
Darwin Gunawardena - 101 runs @ 12.63
Imran - 46 runs @ 11.50
Mahesh Vyas - 99 runs @ 8.25
Nick Lefebve - 45 runs @ 7.50
Emil Todorow - 37 runs @ 7.40
Sami - 24 runs @ 6.00
Hamid - 16 runs @ 5.33
Abbas Khan - 8 runs @ 4.00
John Crossland - 4 runs @ 4.00
Qasim - 9 runs @ 3.00
Bowling; (Qualification - 4 wickets)
Abbas Khan - 9 wickets @ 13.44
Ollie Amos - 5 wickets @ 17.80
Riaz Khan - 9 wickets @ 18.67
Hassan Khan - 7 wickets @ 21.43
Sami - 11 wickets @ 23.91
Imran - 4 wickets @ 24.50
Qasim - 4 wickets @ 24.50
Emil Todorow - 14 wickets @ 28.93
Gul - 5 wickets @ 31.20
Abdul Khan - 8 wickets @ 48.25
Fielding; (Qualification - 3 catches)
5 - Abdul Khan
4 - John Crossland (all as wicketkeeper), Riaz Khan
3 - Hassan Khan, Mark Bradshaw, Mahesh Vyas, Ollie Amos.
There were no stumpings.
Energy Exiles etc.
Belated congratulations to Chris Plume and his all-conquering Energy Exiles side on recording their highest-ever number of victories - 15 - in a season. I think Nomads' best is about twelve. 2015 was not Nomads' best season but at least we played our part in the Exiles achieving this feat. Having looked through their list of wins, I would say that they had 4 victories more convincing than their triumph over Nomads in August, whereas our game in September was probably their 6th-most difficult win. A bit of a sad stat, I know, but it shows that they are crushing some other teams even more resoundingly than us.
They have re-built incredibly well from a point a couple of years ago when things seemed fairly even between the sides, and a period of several years before that when Exiles had an edge but would tend to grind out incredibly gruelling and tense wins over us; usually in the final over.
Getting back to our match in September, I mentioned that there was incident and anecdote but there was nothing major really. We had a very polite discussion in the pub about an LBW appeal that one of our umpires had turned down (You're shocked, I can tell) but apart from that the only strange moment came at the end of our innings when 2 wickets fell on the 4th and 5th balls of the final over, leaving No. 11 John Crossland to drop his scorebook hurriedly and scramble for his pads. Some of the Exiles fielders and - oddly - one of our umpires felt that it wasn't worth John coming in or that he should be timed out (In fact I think John did just about make it to the middle within the required time - 2 or 3 minutes or whatever....who's counting in Sunday cricket?) One Exile who certainly wasn't joining in the calls for John not to come out was Andy Wingfield - he was on a hat-trick.
I knew John would charge down the pitch and notch a "potentially crucial" run or leg bye and that is what happened. In John's own words; "I came down the pitch and squirted it to leg.....and the ball as well."
As I am feeling masochistic, here is the overall record between Nomads and Exiles. (Cheekily, I am including the Exiles' 1 wicket win v Open University in July 1998, not just because I took 5 wickets believe it or not, but also because it was virtually a Nomads line-up with few or no Hunters - though bizarrely a Nomads regular was wearing Dave's trousers.)
Played 26
Nomads wins 8
Draws 2
Exiles wins 16
They have re-built incredibly well from a point a couple of years ago when things seemed fairly even between the sides, and a period of several years before that when Exiles had an edge but would tend to grind out incredibly gruelling and tense wins over us; usually in the final over.
Getting back to our match in September, I mentioned that there was incident and anecdote but there was nothing major really. We had a very polite discussion in the pub about an LBW appeal that one of our umpires had turned down (You're shocked, I can tell) but apart from that the only strange moment came at the end of our innings when 2 wickets fell on the 4th and 5th balls of the final over, leaving No. 11 John Crossland to drop his scorebook hurriedly and scramble for his pads. Some of the Exiles fielders and - oddly - one of our umpires felt that it wasn't worth John coming in or that he should be timed out (In fact I think John did just about make it to the middle within the required time - 2 or 3 minutes or whatever....who's counting in Sunday cricket?) One Exile who certainly wasn't joining in the calls for John not to come out was Andy Wingfield - he was on a hat-trick.
I knew John would charge down the pitch and notch a "potentially crucial" run or leg bye and that is what happened. In John's own words; "I came down the pitch and squirted it to leg.....and the ball as well."
As I am feeling masochistic, here is the overall record between Nomads and Exiles. (Cheekily, I am including the Exiles' 1 wicket win v Open University in July 1998, not just because I took 5 wickets believe it or not, but also because it was virtually a Nomads line-up with few or no Hunters - though bizarrely a Nomads regular was wearing Dave's trousers.)
Played 26
Nomads wins 8
Draws 2
Exiles wins 16
Wednesday, 16 September 2015
Still to come on this blog
Please don't give up reading this blog just because the season is over. Still to come is more detail on some of the matches played, especially the Exiles v Nomads match last Sunday (13/9), the averages and nominations for Player of the Year, details of the Annual Meeting (hopefully at the Namak Mandi in December), John Crossland's report on the 2015 season - it might not be for the faint-hearted; and various other bits of self-indulgent waffle. I bet you can't wait.
But anyway, thanks to everyone that has turned out for the Nomads (or read this blog) this season.
Nick
But anyway, thanks to everyone that has turned out for the Nomads (or read this blog) this season.
Nick
Energy Exiles v Clapham Nomads - 13/9/15
A reasonable performance again from Nomads - a vast improvement on the previous match against Exiles 4 weeks ago. After a shaky start, the foundation (and most of the bricks and mortar) of our knock was a fantastic 87 (his best score for Nomads) from Prasanth Pattiyil who succeeded in dominating the bowling, picking out On-Side shots at will, rattling the bowling side slightly and - most stunningly - hitting Simon Gundry out of the attack with 14 off an over. I don't think this has ever happened to Gundry - a fine and formidable opponent - before in a Nomads match.
Prasanth received decent support from Riaz (a restrained, lengthy 5), Abdul (19) and Imran (20). With 3 overs to go, Nomads were on 152 for 5 and Prasanth was in the mid 80s - just about in reach of his Maiden Century for the club. Sadly Prasanth fell for 87 and, despite the luxury of having Hassan come in at No. 8, Nomads subsided to 157 for 9 at the close.
To be honest, this was never likely to be quite enough against an Exiles side who bat just about all the way down. Openers Chris Plume and Steve Parkinson survived a slightly sketchy start and soon looked in controlled command. Ominously so, and it was something of a surprise when Riaz bowled Plume with the score on around 40. Exiles were in control throughout, however. Probably the best batting came when John Tither joined Parkinson (who ended up with a classy half-century) and the pair picked out 1s and 2s at will against the deep-ish field.
Very decent Nomads bowling and fielding, featuring a speedy spell from Qasim (who also took a brilliant Caught and Bowled), ensured that the home side had to work just a little and, with a few late wickets, there was just a point with Exiles needing 3.5 to 4 an over from 5 or 6 overs and the light alternating between gloomy murk and blinding horizontal sunshine, when we might have thought "hang on." At No. 7, though, Exiles had in Simon Gundry a batsman who I'm told has scored around 250 runs this season without being out. He wasted little time in wrapping up the victory with 2.4 overs to spare.
Still, Nomads by no means disgraced themselves and it was not the worst end to a disappointing season. I WILL FLESH OUT THIS REPORT WITH INCIDENT AND ANECDOTE SOON. Of course there was some; it was an Exiles/Nomads match.
Clapham Nomads 157 for 9 from 35 overs
Mahesh Vyas 4
Prasanth Pattiyil 87
Gul 0
Riaz Khan 5
Abdul Khan 19
Qasim 1
Imran 20
Hassan Khan 4
Nick Lefebve 1 not out
Emil Todorow 0
John Crossland 1 not out
F.O.W. - 14, 14, 40, 72, 83, 152, 153, 156, 156
Energy Exiles 159 for 5 from 32.2 overs
Nomads' bowling;
Abdul Khan 7-0-38-0
Emil Todorow 4-0-21-0
Hassan Khan 7-0-35-1
Riaz Khan 7-0-31-2
Qasim 7-1-27-2
Gul 0.2-0-7-0
Nomads lost by 5 wickets
Man of the Match - Prasanth Pattiyil
Fielder of the Day - Qasim
Prasanth received decent support from Riaz (a restrained, lengthy 5), Abdul (19) and Imran (20). With 3 overs to go, Nomads were on 152 for 5 and Prasanth was in the mid 80s - just about in reach of his Maiden Century for the club. Sadly Prasanth fell for 87 and, despite the luxury of having Hassan come in at No. 8, Nomads subsided to 157 for 9 at the close.
To be honest, this was never likely to be quite enough against an Exiles side who bat just about all the way down. Openers Chris Plume and Steve Parkinson survived a slightly sketchy start and soon looked in controlled command. Ominously so, and it was something of a surprise when Riaz bowled Plume with the score on around 40. Exiles were in control throughout, however. Probably the best batting came when John Tither joined Parkinson (who ended up with a classy half-century) and the pair picked out 1s and 2s at will against the deep-ish field.
Very decent Nomads bowling and fielding, featuring a speedy spell from Qasim (who also took a brilliant Caught and Bowled), ensured that the home side had to work just a little and, with a few late wickets, there was just a point with Exiles needing 3.5 to 4 an over from 5 or 6 overs and the light alternating between gloomy murk and blinding horizontal sunshine, when we might have thought "hang on." At No. 7, though, Exiles had in Simon Gundry a batsman who I'm told has scored around 250 runs this season without being out. He wasted little time in wrapping up the victory with 2.4 overs to spare.
Still, Nomads by no means disgraced themselves and it was not the worst end to a disappointing season. I WILL FLESH OUT THIS REPORT WITH INCIDENT AND ANECDOTE SOON. Of course there was some; it was an Exiles/Nomads match.
Clapham Nomads 157 for 9 from 35 overs
Mahesh Vyas 4
Prasanth Pattiyil 87
Gul 0
Riaz Khan 5
Abdul Khan 19
Qasim 1
Imran 20
Hassan Khan 4
Nick Lefebve 1 not out
Emil Todorow 0
John Crossland 1 not out
F.O.W. - 14, 14, 40, 72, 83, 152, 153, 156, 156
Energy Exiles 159 for 5 from 32.2 overs
Nomads' bowling;
Abdul Khan 7-0-38-0
Emil Todorow 4-0-21-0
Hassan Khan 7-0-35-1
Riaz Khan 7-0-31-2
Qasim 7-1-27-2
Gul 0.2-0-7-0
Nomads lost by 5 wickets
Man of the Match - Prasanth Pattiyil
Fielder of the Day - Qasim
Thursday, 10 September 2015
Long Ditton v Clapham Nomads - 6/9/15
Nomads' bowlers avoided the battering they have been receiving in recent weeks with a very decent performance to restrict a young Long Ditton side to 141 for 9 from 35 overs.
Emil and Abdul bowled very tidily to set the tone. The score was only 65 at the 20 over drinks break. The later highlight was a "Ball of the Century" wicket from a Hassan leg spinner. The other bowlers; Qasim, Gul and Imran turned in useful performances as well. Fielding was good - it felt like a respite for fielders still shell-shocked after the previous 3 games. Mahesh took the best catch with Hamid chipping in with a juggling effort. Hamid also engineered a run out. Ditton closed on 141 for 9 after some late acceleration.
Prasanth took 10 off the second over with some powerful leg side shots but a quiet spell followed, as did a few wickets. We were very pleased to welcome Hassan back to our line-up and he obliged with a fine 49. At one stage we were 91 for 3 and ahead of the rate but, of the middle order, only Imran delivered and a rash of sloppy shots reduced us to around 105 for 9 with Nick Lefebve and John Crossland at the crease. Both men managed to hit it past the absurdly close field but a misjudged pull from Lefebve ended our innings on 111 with about 5 overs unused.
A disappointing defeat in a game in which we had the edge for long periods but still an improvement on recent weeks.
There were a couple of things about this match that left a slightly sour taste in the mouth. I will flesh out the report in the next week or so.
Long Ditton 141 for 9 from 35 overs
Nomads' bowling;
A. Khan 5-0-16-1
Todorow 7-1-22-1
Qasim 7-0-23-2
Gul 5-0-26-2
H. Khan 6-0-25-2
Imran 5-0-28-1
Clapham Nomads 111 from 30.2 overs
M. Vyas 16
Pattiyil 11
Hamid 1
H. Khan 49
Imran 15
Gul 0
Qasim 0
A. Khan 0
Lefebve 4
Todorow 2
Crossland 2 not out
F.O.W. - 23, 25, 62, 91, 100, 100, 100, 101, 108, 111
Man of the Match was Hassan
Fielder of the Day - Mahesh and Hamid come under consideration but a clean sheet (no byes) from keeper John Crossland wins him the award.
Clapham Nomads lost by 30 runs.
Emil and Abdul bowled very tidily to set the tone. The score was only 65 at the 20 over drinks break. The later highlight was a "Ball of the Century" wicket from a Hassan leg spinner. The other bowlers; Qasim, Gul and Imran turned in useful performances as well. Fielding was good - it felt like a respite for fielders still shell-shocked after the previous 3 games. Mahesh took the best catch with Hamid chipping in with a juggling effort. Hamid also engineered a run out. Ditton closed on 141 for 9 after some late acceleration.
Prasanth took 10 off the second over with some powerful leg side shots but a quiet spell followed, as did a few wickets. We were very pleased to welcome Hassan back to our line-up and he obliged with a fine 49. At one stage we were 91 for 3 and ahead of the rate but, of the middle order, only Imran delivered and a rash of sloppy shots reduced us to around 105 for 9 with Nick Lefebve and John Crossland at the crease. Both men managed to hit it past the absurdly close field but a misjudged pull from Lefebve ended our innings on 111 with about 5 overs unused.
A disappointing defeat in a game in which we had the edge for long periods but still an improvement on recent weeks.
There were a couple of things about this match that left a slightly sour taste in the mouth. I will flesh out the report in the next week or so.
Long Ditton 141 for 9 from 35 overs
Nomads' bowling;
A. Khan 5-0-16-1
Todorow 7-1-22-1
Qasim 7-0-23-2
Gul 5-0-26-2
H. Khan 6-0-25-2
Imran 5-0-28-1
Clapham Nomads 111 from 30.2 overs
M. Vyas 16
Pattiyil 11
Hamid 1
H. Khan 49
Imran 15
Gul 0
Qasim 0
A. Khan 0
Lefebve 4
Todorow 2
Crossland 2 not out
F.O.W. - 23, 25, 62, 91, 100, 100, 100, 101, 108, 111
Man of the Match was Hassan
Fielder of the Day - Mahesh and Hamid come under consideration but a clean sheet (no byes) from keeper John Crossland wins him the award.
Clapham Nomads lost by 30 runs.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)