India Tour diary should have been updated while the tour progressed howver access to the internet was sporadic and very very slow in India wherever we were so the plan was abandoned. 

   What follows was written up on return to UK.

   
      'We won the Cup'. Dan O'Sullivan celebrated Nomads victory on Television by placing the Cup on the head of his unsuspecting Mum.  Nomads arrive in Delhi Japee Vassant Hotel. MEB addresses the throng and thanks his Royal Highness The Maharana of Udaipur Arvindh Singh for having us rabble to tea

Hotel Vasant International  
India Tour Day 1 and Marions is sans baggage

Arrive in Delhi and Upgraded

 The main body of Nomads duly arrived at Hethrow many hours before take off as advised. Tom Reader lost his wallet en route from Ealing to Heathrow but otherwise everybody turned up in good order only gulf air screwed up.

The Gulf Desk 'manager' advised Veronica to queue with the hoi polloi and when she reaches the front then he will book us all in as a group through the vacant business class check in area. Seemed like a good idea but when Veronica reached touch down  all hell broke loose as  a matronly check in lady countermanded the managers decision and so everybody checked in individually and late and had to hurry to the departure gate when other activities may have been planned.

The plane dropped us off in Bahrain well at the airport not before Lamb and Marions had cause to vociferous complaint about the quality of the seats and more. However at Bahrain airport much of the squad found the bar and England on TV in Australia. Not a pretty sight.

We then hop along to Abu Dhabbi before making the final cruise into Delhi and a meeting with Bharrat our most estimable tour guide from Holidays to Treasure.

All seemed well until Steve Marions discovered his suitcase was missing. We met our guide Bharrat who proved to be fantastic and of immense assistance to the tour. We motored in the dusk towards our airport and for many the extraordinary sights of India were to impound for the first time. In London you visit the zoo to see the animals, in India they walk the road like everybody else, why not?

Bharratji introduces himself ..everyone is a ji ji even Barbaraji.

At the Vasant Continental Hotel we were greeted by Darren Williams and Karren who had been galivanting about the desert in Oman. Everybody was garlanded with marigolds and drinks were served.Bharrat informed the leader that many of the party were being upgraded and so they were but not the lads. Some weeks later Andy Stokes was to quietely enquire why not? The first ripple of a subsequent rumble.

 

A telephone call to the Imperial hotel found Jeremy Lascelles watching Leeds United live..he was well but their trip was not.Ugh

During the night Russell Mann and Jo Ireland arrived by way of British Airways and out of the blue so did Moss and his sons.

Remarkably all seemed well.The party had arrived in freezing foggy Delhi....would Sunil and Unmish show up ?

 

 

 

Lakeside View	4 BR/3.5 BA
Master Suite	Great schools

 

Hotel Vasant International  
Centenary India Tour Day Two

Match v Delhi Blues Lose By 3 wickets

   Most of  those who had not been to India before  and/or couples were designated sightsee-ers on day one but nevertheless everybody except Catherine Lascelles came to the PKDP ground where we were greeted by  a volume of fans not common for the Nomads Cricket Club. Of course, the main source of interest was Ben Nealon  but camera men, interviewers and autograph hunters were keen to talk to everbody.

   Nomads have a long  association with Delhi Blues  and it was good to see Gurcharan Singh still so fit at 70. Vikram Kaul was playing for the opposition as was Kirti Azad who had played for Nomads a decade ago in UK. 

The skipper introduces the Nomads. Soni TV interviews Ben Nealon and Keith Alexander & the VVVIPs receive some flowers

 

   Nomads skipper of the day Michael Blumberg won the toss and elected to bat in what was to be a 35 over match with bowling restrictions and OD wides.    The innngs got off to a good start against some friendly bowling but failed to accelerate to a large total. A mean mid innings spell from former Test quickie Atul Wassan and some accurate spin from Kausik and Banadur restricted Nomads to a useful total nevertheless of 196-7.
   Keith Alexander in his first knock 'back home' hit 74 including a 6 off Kirti Azad who once took  a 6 wicket international haul.
   After a sumptuous lunch Nomads opened with Ben Nealon and Jo Ireland. Some years previously Ben had bowled for Nomads but a shoulder dislocation since had restricted his bowling and at once he was to be the victim of a merciless assault by Kirti Azad. However at the other end Joe trundled away with great effect finishing with 5 wickets. After Kirti's demise Vikram bombarded the boundary but when he fell there was the glimmer of hope still for Nomads. However the platform established was too substantial despite wickets for Blumberg and  Reader and the Dehli Blues ran out victors by 3 wickets.
   This was a very pleasant  ground with other facilities, though the toilets left a lot to be desired. The highlights and interviews on TV were to be shown on Sony's Cricket Masala and elsewhere for many weeks to come.

 

'No bare legs please in the Mosque'. Those not playing were taken on a conducted tour by Bharrat our guide and the lads were soon to gird themselves in unusual garb. Thus dressed are Russell Mann, Daryn Williams and Robert Wycherely.   To the right is Bharrat and just in picture is much of Barbara Stasser.

Match One Nomads v Delhi Blues Veterans at PDKP Ground December 24 2002 Limited Over Game -35 overs

Result:Delhi Blues won by 3 wickets
Toss: Nomads
Umpires:Brian Wilson & AN Otherji
Scorers: Bill Rodwell & AN Otherji
Man of the Match:Kirti Azad

NOMADS Only Innings
P Wakefield      bowled        Atul Wassan    19
K Alexander      st MP Singh b Pradeep Jain   74
U Parthasarathi  lbw         b Kaul           25
A Stokes         bowled        Sameer Banadur 27
J Lascelles      bowled        Kausik          8
D O'Sullivan     st MP Singh b Sandeep Joshi  15
R Moss           not out                       3
T Reader         st MP Singh b Sandeep Joshi   0
Extras          (6b,7lb,11w,1nb)              25
TOTAL           (8 Wickets, 35 overs)        196
DNB:B Nealon, J Ireland,M Blumberg

FOW:1-60,2-127,3-127,1-144,5-182,6-191.

Bowling-PS Sharda 4-0-28-0,Gurcharan Singh 4-1-24-0,Kirti Azad 4-0-27-0,Atul Wassan 4-0-9-1,Pradeep Jain 3-1-18-1,Vikram Kaul 5-0-37-1,Kausik 3-0-9-1,Sameer Banadur 4-0-17-0,Murau Kartik 3-0-9-0,Sandeep Joshi 1-0-6-2,

DELHI BLUES VETERANS ONLY INNINGS

This has never been found though some stats were recovered from the umpires match notes

Au Pair Unit	Fully Landscaped Pool & Patio Area
Four Car Garage	Gourmet Kitchen

 

Hotel Vasant International  
Day Three-Two Matches & sight seeing

Victory Off Penultimate Ball

The match at the ground outside the Nehru stadium was a grand occassion. The game itself was opened by the Ministry of Sport and Leisure and she was introduced to both teams. The match was broadcast live on Doordashan TV throughout India as well as via satellite to 35 other countries.Commentary was in Hindi and English and there was in depth summary contributions from G Charlton Lamb and Michael Blumberg.An estimated audience of 85 million watched the match

The Minister for Sport and Leisure meets Nomads. Ben Nealon holds the Cup aloft & Dan crowns Diane.

Later in the evening three hours of highlights were shown as well with interviews with Ben Nealon who acted Lt Smith in the Oscar nominated film Lagaan and Keith Alexander who had played soccer for India and whose father had played in the famous Bombay Pentagulars in the early 1940s.

Although there were banners around the ground wishing Nomads well on their Centenary tour Doordashan had billed Nomads as a Lagaan XI and had expected 5 or 6 of the cast not just Ben. This was their fault not Nomads as a volume of email and letters had gone to a great length to explain and the original confirmation of the fixture clearly states the Nomads Cricket Club

While the match progressed Charlton Lamb and Steve Marians pursued their singular quest to secure sponsorship for the flights of the Lagaan cricketers and in particular a film to be directed and produced by Steve Marian.This took them to many discussions at the ground and elsewhere in Delhi when they should have been playing against a Delhi Blues XI for Nomads 2nd XI.

Mark Surridge won the toss and invited Doordashan to bat. There were over 2000 spectators so quite a change from a regular Sunday or midweek match in UK.Inspired by the occasion Nomads performed with credit apart from a couple of hiccups behind the stumps and in the slips.Doordashan began with a flourish and were well set for a big score.Then then collapsed in the middle order. As a result Doordashan XI had posted a modest total by the time they were bowled out with 9 balls to go. Surridge, Fellow-Smith and Ireland each took three wicketsand after a hseitant start Wycherley held on to four good catches behind the wicket. Despite enjoying a huge lunch and with a seriously partisan crowd Nomads maintained the required rate and finally won with a ball to go with some wickets in hand. Keith Alexander hit 59 runs off 68 balls and Robert Wycherley 41 off 33 balls including four 6s. Like Doordashan Nomads were well placed to win at a canter but then self doubt crept in and a flurry of wickets fell. However Ben Nealon already a major favourite with the crowd, just below God like status, remained steady and saw the club home to a momentous victory. The match proved to be a great entertainment for the spectators and TV audience. A stupendous occasion as befits a club's Centenary Tour.

Second Tour Match December 30th 2002 at the J Nehru Stadium Ground Delhi between Nomads CC and Doordashan XI, 30 overs each innings.

Toss: Nomads CC
Result: Nomads won by 3 wickets
Umpires:A.Bharadwaj and Anil Chaudry
Scorers:M S Rawaj and B Wilson.
Man Of the Match:K.Alexander

DOORDASHAN XI Only Innings
VR Hari         c Wycherley b Surridge     40
Sanjay          c Wycherley b Ireland      32
Parveen         c & b         Ireland       0
Sushil Bansal   c Wycherley b Fellow-Smith 33
RK Khatri       bowled        Ireland       0
Satender        c Wycherley b Surridge      0
Mahidal         lbw         b Surridge      0
Gopal Gupta     c & b         Nealon        9
Gurbachan Singh c Wakefield b Fellow-Smith  8
BP Raju         c & b         Fellow-Smith 14
Sunil Ansal     not out                     6
Extras         (0b,3lb,11w,3nb)            17
TOTAL          (28.3 overs)               159

FOW: 1-61,2-69,3-99,4-100,5-110,6-110,7-125,8-135,9-146.10-159.

Bowling:Reader 5 0 30 0,Stokes 3 0 20 0,Ireland 6 0 31 3,Surridge 6 1 29 3, Nealon 4 0 28 1, Fellow-Smith 4.3 0 18 3.

NOMADS Only Innings
P Wakefield  lbw           b Gurbachan      2
K Alexander  c Gurbachan   b Sushil Bansal 59
A Stokes     c & b           Parveen       22
R Wycherley  c Gurbachan   b Parveen       41
T Reader     c Gopal Gupta b Parveen        4
M Surridge   bowled          Satender       2
B Nealon     not out                       16
J Ireland    bowled                         1
D O'Sullivan not out                        2
Extras       (2b,4lb,5w)                   11
TOTAL        (29.5 overs, 7 wickets)160
Dnb:C Fellow-Smith, M Blumberg.

FOW:1-9,2-75,3-105,4-111,5-137,6-141,7-156.

Bowling:Gurbachan 6 1 19 1,Sunil Bansal 2 0 14 0,VR Hari 3.5 0 22 0,Sushil Bansal6 0 42 1,Satender 5 0 23 2,Parveen 6 0 26 3,BP Raju 1 0 8 0.

 

Nomads and Doordashan Cricketers and trophies after the match

Meanwhile at the Yamuna Sports Complex Nomads under the captaincy of Russell Mann were being slaughtered by Delhi Blues. The original match was billed as against TATA-AIG but they pulled out at the last moment and happily Delhi Blues stepped in.This time the DB youngsters not the veterans of yesterday's match but tomorrow's stars. Lamb and Marians were unavailable busy on the 'Lagaan/SM Film show and Sunil Amar had reported lame having pulled a muscle on the golf course. Therefore three DBS played for us  but not as well as their reputation suggested.Randeep Singh recorded a duck.Rather like a bad day in UK,three drop outs!

Match Three at Yamuna Sports Complex Delhi, December 30th 2001 Nomads 2nd XI v Delhi Blues/Tata, 30 overs per innings game

Result: Delhi Blues won by 211 runs
Toss:Delhi Blues
Umpires:'Dusty'Rhodes
Scorers:Various
Man of the Match:Nitin Goyal

DELHI BLUES/TATA Innings
Deepak Ajmes   bowled        Rohit   18
Amarnect Singh c Lascelles b Rodwell 15
Nitin Goyal    retired              128
Ankit Gayaska  retired              106
Ashish Buttani not out                9
Vijay Uppal    run out                0
Anuj Nayar     not out               14
Extras        (13b,1lb,5w,4nb)       23
TOTAL(5 wickets,30 overs)           315
Dnb:Manish,Madhukar,Himanshu Dhall, X Singh

FOW:1-25,2-62,3*-210,4*-240, 5-283.

Bowling:Williams 7 1 33 0,Rohit 6 0 55 1,Rodwell 3 0 34 1,Shahwat 5 0 57 0,R Singh 6 0 62 0,Mantha 2 0 37 0,M Moss 1 0 17 0.

NOMADS CC 2nd XI Innings
Randeep Singh    lbw       b Nayar    0
Jeremy Lascelles c Deepak  b Nayar    8
Ravi Mantha      bowled      Nayar    5
Russell Mann     bowled      Manish  14
James Moss       st Deepak b Madhukar 6
Rohit            c Deepak  b Madhukar 7
Shahwat          st Deepak b Manish   1
Darren Williams  bowled      Manish   3
Simon Moss       c & b       Ashish   1
Malcolm Moss     c & b       Ashish   8
Bill Rodwell     not out              0
Extras          (0b,6lb,9w,4nb)      19
TOTAL        (10 wickets 22.3 overs)104

Fow:1-0,2-10,3-22,4-52,5-74,6-78,7-92,8-94,9-94,10-104.

Bowling:Anuj Nayar 5 0 9 3, Himanshu Dhall 3 0 11 0,Vijay Uppal 2 0 13 0,Manish 5 0 21 3,Madhukar 6 1 34 2, Ashish 1.3 0 10 2.

That evening the entire tour party and friends were entertained to a grand dinner by Dehli Blues CC at Claridges Restaurant, presents were exchanged and warm words of welcome and thanks delivered.Vikram Kaul remarked during the dinner that it was a good job the Nomads cricketers had been playing against Doordashan rather than an eleven of actors as the match would not have been half as exciting! Absolutely.

Nomads Cricket Club had achieved a memorable first ever for an amateur grass roots club in enjoying ball by ball live TV coverage. It was also quite a feat to have put out two elevens on the same day on tour and in India.

 

 

Hotel Vasant International  
Centenary India Tour Day Four

No Matches v NSCC & TERI XI-RAIN

Pouring rain and deep fog hung over Delhi at breakfast time and calls were received cancelling the NSCC match but miraculously the TERI match was still on as they had extensive covers. this caused disbelief form our Delhi Blues players and this game was also cancelled by 10.30. We were all invited to lunch at the NSCC and duly set off only to receive a desperate call from Vikram Kaul demanding we also go th TERI where there was a much better lunch awaiting us.

In the end NSCC won and Vikram joined us there. More Presentations.Losing these two matches was a confounded nuisance as it seriously cut the amount of cricket played before we set off on out travels.

As to the Lagaan sideshow.Steve Marions and Charlton Lamb went into deep discussions with Vikram Kaul during which a flurry of pieces of paper appeared as well as the mobile 'phone.Later Harish was to appear and a friend of Vikram rang up who was a sports events promoter interested in sponsoring a Lagaan Match in Mumbai. Harish emphasised to Michael B and Charlton L that a synopsis should be sent asap outlining the advantages to a sponsor   promoting this match.

Haresh stated that he would drive down to Jaipur to meet us with the sports Promoter and bring the tour brochure for which he had found and recommended a printer. 

On the way back to the hotel most of us visited the former home of Mahatma Ghandi now a museum in memory of the great man and Bill Rodwell drove off with Sunil Amar visiting among other places the Delhi Golf Club. such had been the volume of rain that it had invaded the air extraction unit and whenever the bus jolted so water poured over some of the passengers. Particularly unlucky in this respect were Diane O'Sullivan and Liz Stokes as shown below.

Clever girls they brought an umbrella to India!

On our return to the Vasant Continental it was apparent that miracles had been achieved in relocated and rebuilding the 'New Year's Eve party.Most of the party duly booked into this extravaganza which turned out to be a very good party, endless drink, mountains of food and  a great Bhangra type band to which almost everybody danced.

The locals included innumerable stunning beauties  but none seem to fancy the Mature  single Nomads in the party.....nevertheless it was a most enjoyable New Year's Eve party.

 

Jaypee Agra De Lux  
Centenary India Tour Day Five

Travel to Agra

Taj Mahal..always better than the photographs and the red fort

 

Two thousand watch Nomads  
Centenary tour to India Day Five

Match v Agra XI Lost by 5 wickets off Penultimate Ball

    The party rose early and visited the red Fort in the morning. It was foggy and the Taj Mahal was invisible to the eye.when we arrived at the Agra Stadium we were greeted with garlands and there were huge banners welcoming the Nomads.

Nomads wait for the VVVIP who was the Commissioner for Income Tax in the state of Uttar Pradesh

Match Six Nomads CC v Agra Veterans CC at Agra Stadium January 2^nd 2003 30 overs per Innings Match

 

Result: Agra Veterans won by 5 wickets

Toss: Agra Veterans

Umpires:Surendra Sharma & David Rhodes         

Scorers:Sunil Dutt Bhatia & Bill Rodwell                                  Man Of The Match: SK Dwivedi                                         

 

NOMADS Only Innings

A Stokes     bowled     Raman Dixit     57

J Lascelles  lbw     b  Harendra Sharma  7

R Wycherley  lbw     b  Atul Chaturvedi 40

D O’Sullivan not out                    28

K Alexander  bowled     AK Banaudha      5

T Reader     run out                     7

J Ireland    bowled     Atul Chaturvedi  4

P Wakefield  not out                     8

Extras      (6b,4lb,15w,1nb)            26

TOTAL       (6 wickets,30 overs)       182

Dnb: C Fellow-Smith, M Surridge, D Williams.

 

FOW:1-18,2-112,3-141,4-146,5-157,6-162.

 

Bowling: Harendra Sharma 5 0 20 1,Pradeep Mishra 4 0 25 0,BM Mehra 3 0 20 0,Raman Dixit 6 0 32 1,AK Banaudha 4 0 21 1,Atul Chaturvedi 6 0 35 2,Anoop Malik 2 0 19 0.

 

 

AGRA VETERANS Only Innings

Peter Paul      st Alexander  b Wakefield 61

Apan Dey        c Sub(Nealon) b Williams   8

SK Dwivedi      not out                   75

Anoop Malik     c Surridge    b Ireland    1

Harendra Sharma run out                    5

BM Mehra        st Alexander  b Wakefield  6

AK Banaudha     not out                   12

Extras         (2b,3lb,8w,0nb)            13

TOTAL          (5 wickets,29.5 overs)    183

Dnb: Rajeev Srivastara, Raman Dixit, Pradeep Mishra, Atul Chaturvedi.

 

Fow:1-58,2-117,3-118,4-154,5-161.

Bowling:Surridge 6 0 45 0,Stokes 3 0 30 0, Williams 6 0 25 1,Fellow-Smith 6 0 27 0,Ireland 3 0 17 1,Wakefield 5.5 0 34,2.

 

Press and TV were also there to interview in particular Ben Nealon who was 12th man .The ground was very wet and the start was delayed.The stadium manager asked Michael Blumberg for the match balls as Gurcharan singh had indicated the nomads would provide them.However this was news to nomads and unfortunately since blumberg was not playing he had not brought his cricket bag and hence did not have any new cricket balls.This further delayed the start of the match as lackeys were sent into town to procure some new balls...or so it seemed for we were actually to wait for the arrival of the VVVIP-the Commission for Income Tax in Uttar Pradesh.
   The teams were duly introduced to the commissioner who apologised for the weather but said it was not as bad as Glasgow where he spent a year as a student! the gentlemen who introduced the commissioner made reference to Income Tax, Lagaan , and more and so hoped that whatever the result of the match taxes would be reduced.
   Because of the late start the match was reduced to 30 overs and a matt was laid for the pitch.Much of the outfield on the stadium stand side was very damp. Mark Surridge lost the toss and Nomads were inserted.The game began at 12.30.
   Jeremy Lascelles fell early with the score at 18 but then Wycherly and Stokes put on 94 in 14 overs before Wycherly was adjudged lbw.29 runs later Stokes was bowled by Raman Dixit for 57 off 63 balls.
   This was unfortunate as the rush to score quick runs over the last 6 overs then brought a flurry of wickets and Nomads closed on 182 probably some 20 runs short of target.Dan O'Sullivan was not out 28 off 29 balls.Agra had taken nearly 2hours 40 minutes to bowl their 30 overs so lunch was restricted.
   Agra began their innings at 3.25 pm as Mark Surridge opened the bowling .He and Andy Stokes struggled to find direction and length and Stokes in particular conceded a spate of boundaries to Peter Paul. The introduction of Darren Williams and then charles Fellow-Smith curbed the run rate and Williams secured the wicket of Sapan Dev at 58 in only the 9 over.Peter Paul and SK Dwivedi now put on 59 runs before Paul was appropriately stumped by Alexander off Paul Wakefield bowling wrist spin.
   It became increasingly apparent as the tour progressed that the Indian batsmen loved nothing better than fast medium seam bowling,slow seam and spin presented more problems on the slow Indian wickets.
   Agra were 118 in the 22nd over compared with Nomads 135 at the same point. However they had lost only 2 wickets.The introduction of Jo Ireland produced the next wicket caught Surridge,127-3.
   With 6 overs left Agra needed 56 runs to win. Ireland was removed from the attack and Mark trusted himself to finish the task with Wakers at the other end.A run out and another stumping gave Nomads a chance but two dropped catches in the deep were crucial.
   With mounting excitement and deepening gloom the Agra captain ran on the field to request an early end to the match.It was too dark to play sir with a shake of the head.However the umpires persauded the Agra to persist ,after all Dwivedi was still batting and the light was much worse for the fielders.at about the same time Dan O'Sullillivan was was patrolling the stand side boundaries pestered by hundreds of autopgraph hunters put his foot in a hole and badly sprained his ankle  which also gave Agra exra runs. Dan was to leave for hospital and was out of action until Bombay.
   Surridge went for 10 runs in the penultimate over leaving Agra 8 runs to win in the last over to be bowled by Wakers. It was a wide long on slap that decided matters beating the diving fielder to break the boundary.Two to win two balls to go and Dwivedi hit the winning two with a ball to spare thousands of Agra cricket fans ran on the pitch to celebrate victory.
   It had been a thrilling match with the Nomads  in constant demand for interviews photographs and autographs. At the match end appreiciative speeches were made in Hindi and English. Keith Alexander made all the locals laugh but it remains a secret to his team mates just what he said.all the players received model Taj Mahals and the club acquired a huge trophy for coming second.  

Daniel O'Sulliavan was taken to an army hospital and at once made friends with the doctors treating him and because of his brothers army credentials became a VVVip patient.  As a result the doctors came to dinner with the Nomads at the Jaypee Hotel.One of the doctors proposed marrying a westerner advancing the theory that there was a better gene pool in Western Europe.

There were power cuts periodically at Agra and the hotel switched to its own generator. However this did not apply to the internet server which remained down for most of our stay.

In the evening a telephone call was made to Gurcharan Singh to thank him for arranging the Agra match but also to ask him about Jaipur where there was a potential problem with Dr Surana.Gurcharan said he was on the case but had so far failed to reach Dr Surana.

As to Lagaan sideshow.Charlton Lamb had been on the mobile phone most of the day fighting against the voluminous Hindi commentator who shouted for nearly 6 hours at an astonishing pitch of perpetual excitement. CCI was contacted but what they said about our booking there was either not heard by charlton or not thought woth passing on.

whatever was achieved or not Steve Marions and Charlton spent the whole day on and off the phone and eep in their endeavour much to the quizzicl interest of other members of the party.

During the match Bharrat took the ladies and some non players on further trips to  a centre of enbossed embriodery and also jewelry.Lis 'modelled' the priceless museum pieces and Brian wilson photographed this fantasy.

After the match the bus made an unsheduled stop at the hotel before taking the party to see  a marble factory with beautiful inlaid work but  most were glad on their return  to hear the tour leader had made it to the lobby 'loo' in time. He was by now not the only tour member to be the victim of persisting tummy trouble

 

Hotel Halevi  
Centenary tour to India Day Six

Agra to Jaipur via

          The Pink city with its extraordinary astronomical gardens

We arrived in the evening at the rather quaint heritage Halevi Hotel which was rather elegant in a minature and intimate manner, very different from the large international Jaypee rectangles in Agra & Delhi. 

 

Hotel Halevi  
Day Seven

Match v Jaipur v XI Cancelled

  We were originally scheduled to play the Surana Cricket Academy but Dr Surana had come up with the staggering fee of £440.00 to play the game.As a result Gurcharan Singh and Sukumar Pathak had been put on the case.However the combined efforts of Gurcharan, the hotel owner(via Sukumar) and Keith Alexander  with the Jaipur Eaglets proved to no avail and so our match was posponed until our return to Jaipur from Ranthanbore.

   As a result the party went on an interesting conducted tour of Japiur's city palace and other places of interest.Tom Reader led a posse elsewhere to ride camels and returned to tell the tale.

Three Leonine Leos..who would have guessed?    Internet access outside the Halevi Hotel     Andy found a very special pal

 

Hotel HRH Hunting Lodge  
Centenary tour to India Day Eight

Travel to Ranthambore Tiger Reserve via Amber Fort

So we all had an Elephant ride at the Amber Fort in the morning

 

While en route to the Amber Fort who do we bump into but some members of Calthorpe CC..see you in April and we did.Nomads rode the elephants and inspected the Amber Fort

  

More pics and info on Amber Fort

                                        

 

Hotel HRH Hunting Lodge Ranthanbore  
Day Nine-TIGER

Trot twice round wild life reserve

   Will you see a Tiger burning bright or not that is the question.Some did!

   Half the party saw this Tigress and then her two large cubs.They then walked across the road in front of the vehicle and each turned and looked at the Nomads as if for a photo cue. robert Wycherly captured this on video which was shown later on the hotel TV.

    
My goodness it was cold when we set off to see the tigers at 7.00 am! the girls enjoyed their lunch!

More Information about Ranthanbore Tiger Reserve 

 

Back to Hotel Halevi  
Day Ten-Long journey then Game

Lose To Modi CA by 5 wickets

  The party rose mighty early at Ranthanbore  in order to reach Jaipur in reasonable time for the cricket match.

Match Seven Nomads v Neerja Modi Cricket Academy at Neerja Modi Cricket Ground January 7th 2003, 40 overs per Innings match

Result: Neerja Modi CA won by 5 wickets
Toss: NMCA
Umpires:B Wilson & ANOji
Scorers:Bill Rodwell & Numbersji
Man of the Match:Abhinar Chaturvedi

NOMADS CC Only Innings
P Wakefield    run out          23
K Alexander    st Bhatt b Khan  23
B Nealon       bowled     Gupta 27
R Mann         c Meena  b Gupta  0
R Wycherley    lbw      b Khan  16
J Lascelles    st Bhatt b Khan   5
A Stokes       st Bhatt b Khan   0
M Surridge     not out          22
C Fellow-Smith not out           1
Extras        (0b,9lb,23w,2nb)  34
TOTAL      (7wickets,40 overs) 151
Dnb:D Wlliams, M Blumberg

Fow:1-59,2-98,3-103,4-106,5-124,6-126,7-131

Bowling:Manoj Meera 2 0 13 0,Prabakhar Srivastava 4 0 16 0,Aman Deep Singh 4 1 18 0, J akir Khan 8 0 40 4,Mukeh Meena 7 3 11 0,Puspendra 2 0 15 0,Dinesh Najar 7 0 22 0,Mohit Gupta 6 1 5 2.

NEERJA MODI Cricket Academy Only Innings
A Chaturvedi bowled        Fellow-Smith 53
A Kishore    c Alexander b Stokes        0
M Meena      bowled        Surridge      4
AD Singh     c Wycherley b Fellow-Smith 25
M Gupta      run out                     9
R Bhatt      not out                    29
P Srivastava not out                     6
Extras      (0b,2lb,23w,0nb)            25
TOTAL       (5 wickets,34.2 overs)     152
DBN: D Nayar,P Pendra, J Khan, M Meera.

Fow:1-8,2-39,3-104,4-109,5-129.

Bowling-Stokes 7 1 29 1,Surridge 8 0 37 1,Nealon 3 0 22 0,Williams 6 1 20 0,Blumberg 5 0 18 0,Fellow-Smith 5.2 0 24 2.

The Neerja Modi School turned out to be  very new and very grand and half way through  its construction. There were two full size cricket grounds one complete the second still be worked on. the Modi Cricket Acamy was the dream fulfilled of Mr Modi the father of proprieter of the school and he was determined to create cricket grounds as he had seen them in england surrounded by trees and shrubs.There were plans to build a pavilion/clubhouse and were greeted again by a posse of local press and Tv reporters with cameras.

Nomads failed to acceleartate at the approperiate time and despite some fine shots by skipper Surridge the total was always 20 runs short.

When we bowled although Stokes intimidated one opener who was soon out for a duck and Surridge dismissed number3 with a beauty there were alot of wides bowled.Stokes,Surridge and Nealon gave away 23 wides while Williams,Blumberg and Fellows-Smith bowled none.With a low total to defend wides are a luxury no team can afford. True the opposition gave away 23 wides as well but that is no reason to follow suit.

 

Much more to follow

The brochure arrives..Ugh

Harish and sponsor come to see Charlton and Steve???

 

 

HRH Shikiathur Hunting lodge  
Centenary tour to India Day Eleven

Fly to Uadaipur & Look Around

Arrive in India's Venice .

we were delayed by fog  and arrived in Udaipur in two posse-s.Some by jetair second some by Air India. Only one bus was sent for us and the driver informed the first group."You may wait for your colleagues or we can go now and return for them but they must pay for the second journey"

As the bus was quite obviously incapable of taking the whole party and its luggage Tom announced " Drive On" and so the driver did.There had been much revolution and maoning and grumbling at Jaipur airport..'Vee Voz Robbed' and its Anglo Saxon equivalent rose and fell amidst a plethora of false data, bad arithmatic and silly  innuendo so the tour leadership decided to have get together when were at Sikarbhadi.

However when everybody arrived at this beautiful place and settled down to drinks by the pool we discovered John Behar was now with us and his laid back relaxed manner obviously invaded the wild emotions of the revolutionaries and all seemed happy .So the 'get together' was abndoned..or postponed

The pool at Sikarbhadi which had such a calming effect on the hot head faction in our party...for a while!

 

Hotel Shikarbadhi Hunting Ldge  
Day Eleven Lots Of Runs

Match v HRH Udaipur XI- Dramatic Victory

Tom Reader on strike at Sikabhadi

Match Eight Nomads v HRH Udaipur XI at Shikarbhadi Cricket Ground on 9th January 2003,40 overs match

Result: Nomads won by 3 runs
Toss: Nomads
Umpires:AJAT Shatru & D.Rhodes
Scorers:K Raju & B Wilson
Man of the Match:Andy Stokes

NOMADS CC Only Innings
J Lascelles  bowled     KK        4 
A Stokes    lbw       b Ranveer 126
R Wycherely c Ranveer b Amit     36
J Behar     lbw       b Hemant    1
M Surridge  c Hamant  b Rupesh   52
T Reader    bowled      Rupesh   25
S Marions   not out               8
D Williams  not out               7
Extras     (3b,7lb,12w,3nb)      25
TOTAL      (6 wickets)          284
Dnb:C Fellows-Smith,M Blumberg,W Rodwell.

FOW: 1-32,2-119,3-152,4-180,5-241,5-265.

Bowling:Ranveer 8 1 40 1,Atul 6 0 60 1,KK 8 0 60 1,Hemant 8 0 36 1,Amit 4 0 29 0,Puneet 3 0 31 0,Rupesh 3 0 18 2.

HRH UDAIPUR XI Only Innings
Arub          st Wycherely b Fellows-Smith 35
CV Singh      bowled         Williams      33
Amit Bhatt    bowled         Surridge       8
Hemant Mali   not out                      88
Ranveer       c Reader     b Williams      11
KK            c Lascelles    Williams      34
RKShaki-Singh c Marions    b Blumberg       9
Atul Bhatt    bowled         Blumberg      36
Rupesh        run out                       0
Extras       (8b,5lb,14w,0nb)              29
TOTAL        (8 wickets)                  281
Dnb:Puneet,Satish

FOW:1-51,2-62,3-106,4-118,5-180,6-211,7-278,8-281.

Bowling:Surridge 8 0 47 1,Fellows-Smith 8 1 52 1,Behar 8 0 30 0,Williams 8 0 40 3,Blumberg 6 0 71 2,Stokes 2 0 28 0.

 

Skipper 'Blumers' celebrates victory with a swim..the rest have a cocktail and the animals just carry on as usuall

 

 

 

Hotel Shikabadi Hunting Lodge  
Day Twelve- Wakers hits 145

Match v Udaipur XI Lost by 23 runs

   This was a match of great scoring with an extraordinary number of sixes hit.Tariq hit 177 for the opposition and Wakers despite his hobble struck an heroic 145. There was some indifferent fielding by Nomads in the match including one youngster who sat on a wall over the boundary for much of the Udaipur innings with the result that he failed to stop a string of square hit boundaries!

   Had the designated opening batsmen been ready to start the Nomads innings we may well have won as then Keith and Ben would have been coming in at numbers 5 & 6...but on tour it was ever thus...... 

Match Nine Nomads v Udaipur XI at Shikarbadi Cricket Ground January 10th 2003 40 overs each match.

Result:Udaipur won by 23 runs
Toss: Won by Nomads
Umpires:Brian Wilson & AN Otherji
Scorers: Bill Rodwell & AN Otherji
Man of the Match :Tariq

UDAIPUR XI Only Innings
BK              c Alexander  b Behar     43
Amit            lbw          b Stokes    16
Tariq           lbw            Williams 177
Ranjit Singh    st Alexander b Behar     61
Nazmul Singh    c Blumberg   b Surridge   5
MK Lakshyaraj   bowled         Williams  47
RK Shakti Singh not out                   4
Anil Mathur     not out                   2
Extras          (0b,8lb,24w,0nb)         32
TOTAL           (6 wickets)             382
Dnb:Rupesh,Manoj,Munawar

FOW:1-41,2-100,3-216,4-227,5-357.

Bowling-Stokes 7-0-73-1,Fellows-Smith 8-0-43-0,Behar 8 0 63-2,Wakefield 3-0-33-0,Williams 5 1 41 2,Surridge 6 0 82 1,Blumberg 1-0-18-0,Nealon 2-0 21-0.

NOMADS Only Innings
B Nealon        c Munawar  b Tariq       5
K Alexander     c Manoj    b Tariq       5
A Stokes        st Munawar b Mathur     65
P Wakefield     bowled       Mathur    145
R Wycherley     c Ranjit   b Manoj      62
M Surridge      st Munawar b Lahshyaraj 25
J Behar         run out                  0
R.Mann          not out                  9
D Williams      c Munawar  b Tariq       1
C Fellows-Smith not out                 10
Extras          (10b,6lb,11w,4nb)       31
TOTAL           (8 wickets)            358
Dnb:M Blumberg

FOW:1-10,2-10,3-165,4-256,5-329,6-336,7-344,8-347.

Bowling-BK 8-0-66-0,Ranjit Singh 3-0-25-0,Tariq 7-0-61-3,Manoj 4-0-47-1,Mathur 8-0-53-2,Lakshyaraj 7-0-49-1,Rupesh 2-0-24-0,Hasan 1-0-17-0. 

The two teams line up before the match

 

Shikarbadi Hotel Hunting Lodge  
Centenary tour to India Day Thirteen

Excursion and Sight Seeing @ Gala Dinner

A depleted party set off for the  Kumbhalgarh  Fort which was much recommended by the locals.Others used their time for more time in and around Udaipur itself . 

.

 

This lunch was by general acclaim the best of the tour, unfortunately the tour leader had to sit this one out having suffered a serious indisposition while visiting the fort. However from hereon in he was to feel much better...

Thirty miles of walls and we walked to the top and down.Dan as usuall attracted his own train of local followers and Charles shook his head and mumbled 'most impressive'.

For futher information about this redoubt of the Mewars..just click here

   A reception at the Palace with HRH the Maharana was scheduled for the evening followed by dinner at the adjacent Shiv Niwas Palace Hotel. Unfortunately the Maharana was held up in Delhi and so a message was sent to the Hunting Lodge that the reception was postponed until after the cricket match the next day.Doubly unfortunate was the fact that this message came to Tom Reader who rushed round telling everybody that both the reception and the dinner were off.
   Luckily a phone call to Sabina Bailey clarified the situation but nevertheles a breakaway body did their own thing which apparently was very nice although Russell Mann was moved to unusuall wrath by the habitual moans of one Nomad tourist. The rest of us were entertained by members of the Mewar family in a stunning courtyard with fountains of the Shiv Niwas Palace...drinks, canapes and a sumptuous dinner to the accompaniment of local musicians. Everybody received their official royal invitation to the reception the next day including members of  'the missing party'.

  

 

 

Hotel CCI Brabourne Stadium  
Centenary tour to India Day Fourteen

Tea wih His Royal Highness

 Our flight turned out to be in the evening so a third match was arranged  and everybody including HRH ,his son and brother and Sabina Bailey thought the match was on .However the guy delegated to raise the team did not and so we had a rest day. Ugh! G charlton Lamb was due to make his debut in this match and so ended up not playing at all all tour!

Before we left Udaipur we visited the Palace for tea with HRH Maharana Arvind Singhji Mewar 77th in line and at great time was enjoyed by all and even the ladies received an HRH tie.

Tom Reader was of special interest to HRH as his daughter had been at school in the Isle Of Man   which he had visited often.

HRH Arvindh Singji greets Nomads..also in picture Michael Blumberg,The Prince, Veronica and Keith Alexander(their backs),Mark Surridge, Paul Wakefield and others..

 

After this glittering affair the nomads departed to the airport and so to Mumbai.On arrival after some searching we discovered our coach and set off for the CCI. Keith alexander gave a detailed commentary about everything we were passing although most of those at the back of the bus could not care less and almost drowned his interesting observations about his home town.Disaster was yet to take place ..indeed near outright revolution and a great deal of condemnatory language was used but perhaps people were tired.anyway Keith pulled off a mircle and most of the party ended up at the Taj President...5Star double deluxe for a pittance. Some people thanked Keith....more to follow.

 

 

Hotel CCI & Taj President  
Day Fifteen

Match v CCI Cancelled

 We were due to play the CCI on this day.then they took a booking from the World Cricket Academy and so the ground was not available.They said they would play us at the Bombay Gymkhana but that never materialised and although they had promised to arrange three matches they did nothing  which was a pity. Had we known earlier Keith alexander could most likely have arranged another game.

So those at the CCI met the WCA chaps including Prasanna, Bedi and Raplh Middlebrrok amongst others and one of the young players learning to bowl spin and play spin better turned out to be Master Terence Howe -a Nomad .  

For those who stayed at the CCI there was the great pleasure of evening drinks on the ground..here are 'Bloomers', Charles and Annette enjoying the whicker chairs and the Brabourne ambiance.

Others ventured into town and did a lot of shopping.

Charlton Lamb remained mysteriously in Delhi although Steve Marians steadfastly refused to join Ben Nealon in the plush bedroom he had all to his own in the Club house-equally very intriguing!

 

Hotel CCI & Taj President  
Day Sixteen

Match v Bombay Gymkhana Lost by 32 runs

Despite a taxi driver who did not know where the Bombay Gymkhana was and took the CCI party to the Police Gymkhana instead in the end we made it there.Whew!

Someway through Bombay Gym's innings along came Wakers dragging his cricket bag behind him so as they had 12 we batted Wakers instead of Bill Rodwell.

The four lbws did not enamour umpire PS Patang to the Nomads. It was a pity that Stokes did not bat higher as he played brilliantly to give us an outside chance of reaching our target being caught on the boundary on 105 off 79 balls. It was a pity we conceded 30 wides!

Match Twelve Nomads v Bombay Gymkhana at Bombay Gykhana January14th 2003 Limited Overs Match 40 overs 12 a-side 11 field.

Result: Bombay Gymkhana won by 32 runs

Toss:   Bombay Gymkhana
Umpires:David Rhodes & PS Patange
Scorers:Brian Wilson & Asilata Patil
MAN of the Match:Andy Stokes


BOMBAY GYMKHANA Only Innings
Sunil Tamwani      run out (Marions)            26
Vikrant Rambia     c Nealon      b Surridge     34
Varun Nayadu       retired                      68
Shishir Hattangadi retired                      56
Sameer Patkar      c Blumberg    b Stokes       18
Rakesh Khanna      bowled          Fellows-Smith 4
Navin Kewalramani  c O'Sulliavan b Blumberg     16
Murtuza Ayaz       bowled          Stokes        5
Deepak             c Surridge    b Wycherley    14
Nikhil             not out                      10
Javed Khan         not out                       2
Extras            (0b,1b,30w,0nb)               31
TOTAL             (9 wickets*)                 284

FOW:1-61,2-84,3-183,4-224,5-230,6-252,7-252,8-263,9-280.

Bowling-Reader 2-0-25-0,Surridge 10-0-50-1,Fellow-Smith 10-75-1,Blumberg 7-0-55-1,Stokes 7-0-40-2,Nealon 1-0-13-0,Rodwell 2-0-18-0,Wycherley 1-0-7-0.

 

 

Hotel CCI & Taj President  
Day Seventeen

Match Cancelled

   Well had Chris England and the Lagaan lads joined us  in Mumbai this was a match scheduled to include all of them whether or not it was for charity and if they did not make it then another match for Nomads pure and simple.

    In the event CCI had not arranged another match and although Bloomers and Keith made serious attempts to arrange one it did not come off so another day was spent shopping in Mumbai or lounging round the swimming pool at Taj and CCI.

     Wakers finally did depart and so did Ben Nealon.

      

Wakers was due to leave on Monday evening but missed his flight so he turned up next day at the Bombay Gymkhana and stayed on frightening charles when he returned to a supposed empty room.."halo said Wakers" in the dark and charles jumped out of his trouser!

Here is Wakers enjoying the CCI and gosh don't those mouldy buildings behind look in need of Charlton's wonder sterilising product. Gateway Of India nearbye.

                 

 

Hotels CCI & Goa Jaypee De Luxe  
Centenary tour to India Day Eighteen

Travel For some tp GOa

The tour splits with some going on to Goa while others lounge around the CCI pool or go shopping before leaving for Londres

 

Hotel CCI & Jaypee Goa de Luxe  
Centenary tour to India Day Nineteen

Some leave Mumbai for London others lounge around in Goa

 

Hotel Bogmalo Beach  
Day Twenty

Match v Goa XI Cancelled

In the original plan it had been hoped that Steve Marians and charlton Lamb would be with us in goa as well as tom Reader and Andrew Stokes plus were there a match we hoped that both Mark Surridge and John Behar whatever the romantic tranquility of their south Goaa bamboo hut on the beach they would travel north for the day for a match. that would have made us 10...and of course had the Lagaan plan come off some of them may have been around.Well it did not work out like that.

Bill Rodwell, Keith Alexander,Robert Wycherley,Bloomers and three umpires made the trip to Goa plus three ladies and that's no cricket XI. This much dismayed our Sita guide who greeted us at the airport He turned out to be playing in the Goa club KO final which Mike Palowker went along to watch.

Robert played some beach cricket to add to his experience at Ranthanbore.But many of us did see, once again, Nomads in Delhi on TV-Sony Cricket Masala.

 

Hotel Bogmalo Goa  
Day Twenty Two

Relax,Feed, Sunbathe, Swim & vist a Spice Farm

Eating in Goa was very good and a serious matter.Here on the beach at Bogmalo are Hazel, Brian, Bill and Nompere Hulot alis 'Dusty'.The famous three at a spice Farm and a sight to remember on the beach.

 

Hotel Jaypee Goa  
Centenary tour to India Day Twenty Two

Recovery Time

 

En Route  
Centenary tour to India Day Twenty Three

Travel pm to Mumbai & London

Back to blighty..a rich and wonderful report ..or a trip to hell..watch this space

 

As compiled from the scorebooks  
Top or bottom-all good tourists

Tour Averages and Stats

We are waiting for the Delhi first match scoreheet of the opposition innings.

 

 

Tour Brochure

The tour brochure is on Acrobat in a pdf file.When I crack this it will appear in full somehow on the website