Fow:1-4,2-234,3-266,4-279.

Bowling-Howden 7 0 46 1,Bellis 8 1 40 1,Kellington 8 0 60 0,Williams 6 0 43 0,K Packham 3 0 37 0,Davis 3 0 32 0,Rose 2 0 15 1.

SPORTING ALFAS (MWXI) Innings           R  B  M
+C Dovaston  bowled        Kattaboyana 34 23 55
P Davis      c & b         Kidgell     16 20 35
K Packham    c Ahmed     b Kidgell      9 12 15
G Parker     c alexander b Kattaboyana 23 26 25
*B Marriner  c Latchman  b Kattaboyana  0  4  5    
T Mullen     c Hoar      b Lamb         4 10  5
D Rose       c Lamb      b Kattaboyana  9  6 10
G Kellington bowled        Latchman    36 34 40 
A Williams   run out                    6 10 20
J Howden     not out                    2  3 15
J Bellis     bowled        Hoar         0  3  5
Extras       (b0,lb0,w9,nb0)            9
TOTAL        (All out,28.3 overs)     148

Fow:1-45,2-61,3-69,4-69,5-69,6-93,7-103,8-136,9-141,10-148.

Bowling-Kidgell 6 0 40 2,Ahmed 5 2 29 0,Kattaboyana 5 1 13 4,Lamb 4 1 21 1,Hoar 4.3 0 36 1,Latchman 4 0 9 1. 

The Alfas scribe wrote-
With the ground at La Manga becoming unavailable to the Nomads touring team, Sporting Alfas provided a Midweek XI to ensure that the tourists did not miss out on one of their matches. Although the Nomads were short of players, the team nevertheless managed to secure an easy victory over the hastily assembled Alfas side.

The Nomads batted first and after the loss of an early wicket to the bowling of Bellis, Hoar and Kattanoyana then featured in a second wicket stand of 239 to ensure that their team posted an impressive total. Both batsmen completed their centuries before Hoar fell for 120 and Kattanoyana for 124. The final total of 299 -4 was always likely to prove too much for the Alfas side.

The Alfas opening pair had added forty-four before Kidgell claimed the first of his two wickets, and the total had reached sixty-nine when Dovaston fell for thirty-four. After a useful contribution by Parker, only new member Kellington (36) was able to make any impression as the team was dismissed for 148. For the Nomads, Kattanoyana completed a fine afternoon's work by claiming 4-13. 

MATCH 02 Nomads CC v  Sporting Alfas CC   Saturday  March 11th at Columbus Oval Albir L'Alfas Del Pi Spain 12 noon  40 overs, bowlers limited to 8 overs

Result:   Sporting Alfas  won by 12 runs
Toss:     Sporting Alfas CC 
Umpires:  Don MacLeod & Brian Pitts
Scorer:   Gordon Leach
Debut(s): C McIviness & J Sunderland 

SPORTING ALFAS CC Innings                 R  B   M  
*D Climent  c Kattaboyana b Ahmed        30 30  45 
+JH Morgan  c Curness     b Kattaboyana 133 80 135 
G Howe      c Blumberg    b Ahmed         8 10  15 
W ul Rehman lbw           b Curness       1  7  10 
P Davis     c Hoar        b Lamb         14 25  40
C Munoz     c Lamb        b Curness       4  5  10
B Fletcher  not out                      30 16  30 
P Taylor    not out                      20 18  15
EXTRAS      (b2,lb6,w6,nb2)              10
TOTAL      (6 wickets,40 overs)         250
Bnb:S Lupson,A Bacon,D Myers

Fow:1-68,2-85,3-95,4-158,5-174,6-220.

Bowling- Kattaboyana 8 0 47 1,Ahmed 8 1 38 2,Hoar 8 0 59 0,Curness 8 0 36 2,Lamb 7 0 62 1,Sunderland 1 0 6 0

NOMADS CC Innings                   R   B   M
+K Alexander  c & b       Wasim   16  22  75
C Hoar        lbw       b Lupson  10  10  15
P Stanfield   lbw       b Wasim   16  10  20
S Ahmed       c Climent b Wasim    3  24  25
S Kattaboyana run out             90 105 165
W Curness     st Morgan b Wasim    9  10  15
R Latchman    lbw       b Bacon   48  46  55
GC Lamb       run out              9  10  10
J Sunderland  not out             10  13  20
C McIvinness  not out              6   6  10
Extras       (b4,lb9,nb1,w0)      14
TOTAL        (8 wickets,40 overs)299
DNB:*ME Blumberg.

Fow:1-15,2-51,3-56,4-79,5-97,6-195,7-213,8-231.

Bowling-Fletcher 4 0 26 0,Lupson 7.2 1 43 1,Wasim 8 1 27 4,Climent 2.4 0 13 0,Taylor 8 0 36 0,Munoz 4 0 36 0,Myers 2 0 25 0,Bacon 2 0 7 1,,Howe 2 0 17 0.

The Alfas scribe wrote-
After electing to bat, having won the toss, Sporting Alfas was given an excellent start by Climent and J.H. Morgan as the pair took the score to sixty-eight by the twelfth over before Climent was dismissed for thirty. The rest of the innings was dominated by Morgan who reached his second century of the season before being dismissed for an excellent 133. A late flourish B. Fletcher (30) and P. Taylor ensured that the home side posted a challenging total.

The Nomads lost early wickets and had been reduced to 97-5 by the twenty-first over before Kattanoyana and R. Latchman threatened to take the game away from Alfas. The pair had added ninety-eight for the sixth wicket before Latchman was dismissed when two runs short of this half-century. Twenty-five runs were required fro the final two overs by the Nomads, which seemed a distinct possibility whilst Kattanoyana remained at the crease. When he was run out for a fine innings of ninety, with the score at 231, the home side was assured of claiming the game. The pick of the Alfas bowlers was W. Ul Rehman, who claimed 4-27 from his eight overs.

It was in March 1996 that the inaugural cricket match was played at the Columbus Oval, when Sporting Alfas played against a Cricket World XI. Following this year's match mementos were exchanged in recognition of the tenth anniversary of the inaugural game.

MATCH 03 Nomads CC v  Sporting Alfas CC   Sunday  March 12th at Columbus Oval Albir L'Alfas Del Pi Spain 1.30 pm  40 overs, bowlers limited to 8 overs  

Result:   Nomads won by 16 wickets
Toss:     Sporting Alfas CC 
Umpires:  D MacLeod & R Clark
Scorer:   C Sunderland
Debut(s): J Brook,B Fletcher 

SPORTING ALFAS CC                   R  B  M
C Dovaston  c Wasim       b Ahmed  37 34 25 
B Marriner  bowled          Ahmed  15 22 35 
J Matthews  c Shafiq      b  Wasim 11 27 35 
S ul Rehman c Alexander   b Ahmed   6  9 10 
N Wynn      c Ahmed       b Brook  43 30 50
L Garcia    c Kattaboyana b Brook   3  4  5 
D Rose      c Blumberg    b Brook   0  5  5
J Williams  bowled          Wasim   6  9 10 
A Williams  not out                 6 43 55
S Lewis     lbw Shafiq             25 36 35     
J Howden    run out                 4  3  5
Extras     (b10,lb5,w21,nb3)       39
TOTAL      (All out,34.3)         195

Fow:1-50,2-69,3-77,4-101,5-107,6-108,7-126,8-151,9-190.10-195.

Bowling-Hoar 4.3 1 26 1,S Ahmed 8 0 36 3,S Ali 5 0 39 1,W ul Rehman 8 2 22 2,Brook 4 0 34 3,Fletcher 5 0 23 0.

NOMADS CC                          R  B   M
K Alexander c Wynn     b Marriner 52 53  50
C Hoar      not out               97 97 125
S Ahmed     c Dovaston b Marriner  0  8   5
I Ahmed     c & b        Marriner  5 16  15
W ulRehman  c Marriner b Wynn     26 23  25
B Fletcher  not out                4 15  30
Extras     (b0,lb2,w10,nb0)       12
TOTAL      (4 wickets,35.1 overs)196
Dnb:A ali,S Kattaboyana,ME Blumberg,J Brook,GC Lamb.

Fow:1-82,2-88,3-98,4-147.

Bowling-Matthews 8 3 36 0,Howden 3 0 32 0,Lewis 8 0 44 0,Marriner 6 1 30 3,Wynn 8 1 40 1,Garcia 1.1 0 12 0.

The Alfas scribe wrote-
Alfas won the toss and decided to bat. The opening pair of Dovaston and Marriner took the score to fifty before Dovaston (37) became the first of Ahmed's three dismissals. Only Wynn (43) and Lewis were able to make significant contributions, as some fairly negligent batting resulted in the team being dismissed for 195 and that total achieved with a 39 run 9th wicket stand plus the assistance of 39 extras including 21 wides!!. For the Nomads, junior player Brook (La Manga C.C.) making his debut for Nomads, claimed 3-34 and Syed Ahmed 3-36.

The Alfas total was always unlikely to be sufficient against the strong Nomads batting line-up and this proved to be the case. The opening stand by Alexander and Hoare had reached eighty-two off 84 balls before the introduction of Marriner into the bowling attack immediately accounted for Alexander (52). Although Marriner quickly claimed two further wickets and took an excellent outfield catch to dismiss Wasim, Hoar remained resolute and saw his team to a six wicket victory. He was unfortunate not to complete his century but remained undefeated with ninety-seven to his credit. Marriner was the most successful of the Alfas bowlers, claiming 3-30.Ben Fletcher amking his debut for Nomads  showed manly restraint scoring but 4 runs off 15 balls in a stand of 49  as he tried to assist Carl Hoar to his second ton of the tour.he needed to win the match with a six but  finished content with a 2 and 97 not out.

MATCH 04 Nomads CC v  Forty Club Of Spain Monday  March 13th at Columbus Oval Albir L'Alfas Del Pi Spain 1200   'Time/Declaration' game  

Result:   Match Drawn 
Toss:     Nomads CC 
Umpires:  D MacLeod & B Pitts
Scorer:   Various
Debut(s): A Fisher 

NOMADS CC Innings                         R
D Climent     bowled          Curness    59
C Hoar        c & b           Braithwaite17
S Kattaboyana c & b           Copeland  102
+K Alexander  c Braithwaite b Curness    67
S Ahmed       not out                    21
A Fisher      st Nix        b Curness    14
R Latchman    not out                     3
Extras        (b0,lb6,w4,nb0)            10
TOTAL         (5 wickets dec,41 overs)  293
Dnb:GC Lamb,*ME Blumberg & W ul Rehman(lost in Madrid)

Fow:1-25,2-139,3-246,4-266,5-289.

Bowling-Braithwaite 10-2-13-1,Evans 8 0 39 0,Myers 5 1 49 0,Curness 10 0 77 3,Howe 5 0 50 0,Copeland 3 0 22 1.

FORTY CLUB OF SPAIN CC                   R
A Copeland    lbw         b Kattaboyana 48
W Curness     bowled        Kattaboyana 38
* P Stanfield c Alexander b Ahmed       32
G Howe        lbw         b Ahmed       33
P Adams       not out                   10
R Ward        lbw         b Kattaboyana  2
D Myers       c Latchman  b Kattaboyana 15
J Braithwaite bowled        Hoar         5
+B Nix        not out                    0
Extras        (b19,lb2,w5,nb5)          31
TOTAL        ( 8 wickets,52 overs)     220

Fow:1-89,2-,3-,4-,5-,6-,7-192,8-212

Bowling-Hoar 9 1 23 1,Ahmed 19 1 90 2,R Latchman 1 0 4 0,Kattaboyana 19 3 68 5,Fisher 4 1 7 0.

Bold Declaration not enough as Forty Club hang on for draw

Nomads had arranged for two extra players on Monday but one went walkabout and the other got stuck taking a delivery in Madrid.As Forty Club had 11 and as  their skipper is a Nomad we agreed to play 10 against 9 with Alan Fisher joining us for the day.Nomads won the toss and elected to bat.After the loss of Hoar either the bowling was fantastic or Kattaboyana was asleep at the wicket as we crawled to 67 at the 20 over drinks break mostly scored by David Climent starved of the strike. The skipper suggested that 300 runs on the board was what we needed to declare and win the match with sufficient overs left!

This message had a dramatic effect on young Srikanth who partnered with Alexander proceeded to thrash the bowling to all ends of the ground. As a result Nomads were able to declare well before half time with 293 on the board.

With Stansfield and Howe both capable of scoring centuries and the Columbus Oval now a fast scoring ground this was a very generous declaration.However with no restrictions on bowlers it was felt our all spin attack save a few seamers from Carl Hoar would be a match and they were.Despite building a good platform from which to attact their target Forty club lost crucial mid order wickets to ahmed and then it was amatter of whether nomads could prize out the rest.

Despite the failing light and bowling 11 more overs than the opposition did Nomads could not take that vital last wicket.so once again the forty club Of Spain had foiled Nomads and secured a draw.