Sunday August 4th v Chesham CC

MATCH 52 NOMADS CC v CHESHAM CC Sunday August 4^th 1.00pm at Meadow Amey Lane Chesham HP51NE-Time Game, 20 overs from 6.00pm Result: Chesham won by 3 wickets Toss: Nomads CC Umpires:Anton Severimuttu & Others Scorer: LA Wiles Debut: Vikas Patel, Nikhii Hindocha NOMADS CC Innings R B M 4s 6s R Style c Clifford b Weatherall 9 15 13 1 0 K Farrell c Shepstone b Anderson 1 16 18 0 0 N Patel bowled Clifford 46 77 64 6 0 R Hindocha c Clifford b Shepstone 84 88 96 12 1 S Shawl bowled Clifford 6 12 7 1 0 N Hindocha c Chandrasekar b Royals 30 39 46 6 0 A Akram c Weatherall b Harris 20 12 8 4 0 R Collins bowled Anderson 16 28 28 2 0 P Jeswani c K Patel b Weatherall 9 9 8 2 0 S Bhal not out 11 17 19 1 0 V Patel bowled Anderson 2 6 5 0 0 Extras (b3,lb4,w10,nb5) 22 TOTAL (All out,52.2 overs) 256 Fow: 1-20(1),2-24(2),3-122(3),4-130(5),5-181(4),6-208(7),7-223(6),8-238(9),9-252(8),10-256(11) Bowling – Weatherall 8 0 50 2(w2,nb2), Anderson 5.2 2 6 3, Chandrasekar 7 0 39 0(mn1), Shepstone 15 1 66 1, Clifford 5 1 7 2, Misseldine 4 0 25 1, Haines 3 0 26 0,Harris 1 0 19 1(nb1), Royals 4 1 11 1, CHESHAM CC Innings R B M 4s 6s Sam Harris c Farrell b Akram 32 21 27 6 1 Alfie Clifford c R Hindocha b Bhal 63 72 76 9 0 Alex Holloway bowled Akram 1 5 11 0 0 Kieran Patel c Jeswani b Bhall 18 21 22 2 0 James Misseldine bowled V Patel 0 7 4 0 0 Ollie Haines lbw b V Patel 14 28 29 2 0 Oliver Anderson c & b Shawl 57 48 53 9 0 Christopher Royals not out 26 48 47 2 0 Theodore Weatherall not out 23 14 12 3 1 Extras (b8,lb10,w5) 23 TOTAL (7 wickets,44 overs) 257 Dnb: Benjamin Shepstone, Keshav Chandrasekar. Fow:1-58(1),2-82(3),3-121(4),4-122(5),5-136(2),6-170(6),7-225(7). Bowling –Shawl 12 0 61 1,Parth Jeswani 3 0 33 0(w1),Akram 7 0 39 2,BhaL 7 1 38 2, V Patel 11 2 52 2, R Hindocha 3 0 10 0, N Patel 1 0 6 0.

Skipper Chris Royals sees Chesham to victory

The mighty Nomads ventured out to south Buckinghamshire under the leadership of Sajjad Shawl. Lying in wait were hosts Chesham CC, captained by Nomads member Chris Royals. The two sides presented something of a contrast. Shawl’s men were of unknown quality, with the skipper having to rely on the notes of the President to get a view on a side that had been cobbled together with some difficulty. In the Chesham side, Royals stood as the senior pro and the second oldest player at the ripe old age of 30. By contrast to the visitors, his side were very much known to each other, having renewed each other’s acquaintances as recently as 2:30am the night before. This left both sides fielding players aptly described as ‘immobile’, albeit for dramatically different reasons. Shawl had little hesitation in electing to bat first upon winning the toss on a sunny day. This left the home skipper to face his now mutinous side, and the duo of Style and Farrell to face the new ball. Despite Style starting quickly and aided by two sets of five wides, his misjudged cover drive saw him become the first to depart. Farrell, a tormentor of Chesham bowlers in fixtures past, followed suit after mistiming a pull to short mid-wicket off the bowling of Anderson. At 24-2 the mighty Nomads were therefore in some bother. Nilesh Patel and Ravi Hindocha rescued the situation, however, with a steady partnership of 98, aided by Nikhii Hindocha’s 30. Chesham resorted to a battery of leg-spinners, five used in all, with Ben Shepstone the pick of the bowlers and desperately unlucky to only pick up one wicket in an accurate 15 over spell. Other highlights of the innings included Sajjad giving Chesham’s Weatherall so much stick for his laissez faire attitude to boundary fielding that he promptly pulled off a spectacular diving catch after a 15 yard sprint, Sumat Bhai’s mercurial batting style in the lower order, and of course no visit to The Meadow is complete without at least a few overs of Royals’ vigorously turning leg breaks. Nomads were on the cusp of a declaration when they were bowled out for 256 in the 53^rd over, Anderson returning to the attack for that purpose under his skipper’s instructions of ‘bowl them out, I’m hungry’. Chesham’s hungover youngsters had bowled their overs at a fair lick, allowing plenty of time for the game to develop. Chris Royals’ mother Rachel had been tasked with tea, and delivered an excellent offering that included home-made Victoria Sponge, flapjacks and chocolate cake. Rupert Style at this point asked if this was a regular occurrence, and in the same breath for a membership form. To the chase then, and in the event Chesham would have 47 overs to chase what looked to be an achievable but challenging target. Opener Sam Harris took a liking to the unfortunate Parth Jeswani, whose trip to TFL’s Zone 9 yielded him a single figure score and 3 overs for 33. Harris looked set to take the game away from Nomads, the score standing at 58 in the 7^th over before he creamed a sweep off Aftab Akram to Kie Farrell, who held on to a good catch. Akram then promptly took a second. An effective partnership between opener Alfie Clifford and Kieran Patel brought the score to 120 within 13 overs before Patel was dismissed by Patel. Nomads scented an opening and took it, and a side that looked chastened earlier in the innings now had their hosts 136-5. The run rate slowed to a crawl and as the game entered the last hour Chesham required 91 to win, with 5 wickets in hand. Vikash Patel then removed Ollie Haines lbw to claim his second victim. 170-6 with the overs counting down, and Shawl’s men perhaps were the favourites for the first time in a few hours. Chris Royals joined Ollie Anderson in the middle and the pair set to work against accurate bowling from the assembled Nomads. Anderson looked the more fluent, and eventually got on top of Shawl for a few overs. Shawl rotated his bowlers intelligently, and it was a change of ends for the man himself that broke the partnership, with a sharp caught and bowled removing Anderson for a well-made 57 with the score on 225. Nomads once again came to life, and Shawl very nearly removed new man Weatherall in the same over, a faint edge saving him from an lbw appeal. In the event, Nomads had left their comeback a little too late, and Chesham had timed their chase well. Weatherall’s agricultural style paired nicely with Royals’ more dogged approach, and the pair saw the hosts home by three wickets with three overs to spare. With over 500 runs scored, 17 wickets taken and friendly banter exchanged between the teams throughout, it was unsurprising to see 21 of the 22 players enjoying a post-match drink on Chesham’s veranda at the end of the day. A reunion was arranged between Bobby Collins, who kept well and had played for Chesham in the 80s, and his former skipper now aged 90. Aftab Akram, in a stunning example of diplomatic research, judged his audience to perception with some favourable comparisons of Chesham compared to other Buckinghamshire clubs, the story also somehow incorporating his own 20 ball 50 seven seasons before. Umpire Anton Severimuttu, a popular figure on the Home Counties circuit, had chosen this fixture in full knowledge of Chesham’s standing rule that umpires drink for free. Rupert Style, looking out at Chesham’s cadre of teenagers who so clearly enjoyed their day, bemoaned the fact that his own kids would not take up bat and ball, preferring instead the company of the fairer sex. It was promptly pointed out to him that in the case of the particular individuals in question at Chesham, such pleasures are far from mutually exclusive. A good day’s cricket in which both sides batted and bowled well, decided that fielding was surplus to requirements and played with a smile on their face. Chesham’s teenagers even grudgingly accepted that their first experience of a timed game had been a good one. All in all, a success.
Witten by Chris Royals

Previous Matches
2023 Cancelled Rain
2022 Nomads won by 120 runs
2021 Nomads won by 87runs
2020 Chesham won by 5 wickets
2019 Nomads won by 35 runs
2016 Chesham won by 4 wickets  
2012 Match abandoned as a draw
2011 Nomads won by 4 wickets

Matches Scorecards 2024

July 25, 2024 4:09 pm