MATCH 65 NOMADS CC v GAIETIES CC at Beaconsfield CC Wilton Park Beaconsfield HP9 2HZ August 31st 1.00 pm
 

Result:  Gaieties won by 1 wicket
Toss:    Gaieties CC
Umpires: Michael Blumberg,Oliver Croom-Johnson and others
Scorer:  Various
Debut(s):Ben Butcher,James Johnston.
 
 
NOMADS CC Innings
V Kandampully bowled           Bowden  56
O Soames      run out(McFarland)        1
J Johnston    bowled           Fogden   0
T Brockton*   st T Schneider b Burton 108
R Ormiston    not out                  23
D Steele      not out                   7
Extras       (b2,lb0,w1,nb6)            9
TOTAL        (4 wkts dec,47 overs)    201
Dnb:A Smith,S Butt+,P Bell,B Smith,B Butcher.
 
Fow:1-5(2),2-5(3),3-104(1),4-189(4).
 
Bowling-McFarland 12 3 36 0,Fogden 9 1 32 1,Schneider 6 0 28 0,Cowley 5 2 26 0,bowland 6 1 12 1,Money 5 0 39 0,Burton 4 0 26 1.
 
GAIETIES CC Innings
T Schneider+st Butt   b Butcher  60
R Crowe     c Steele  b butcher  84
S Dutta     lbw       b Johnson  10
J Schneider run out()            13
J Fogden    lbw       b Butcher   9
W McFarland lbw       b Butcher   5
M Burton    run out(Kandampully)  0
M Thurston  c A Smith b Johnston  1
S Money     bowled      Johnston  0
N Cowley    not out               6
M Bowden    not out               2
Extras     (w0,nb1,b&lb12)       13
TOTAL      (9 wkts,42 overs)    201
 
Fow:1-137(1),2-162(2),3-178(4),4-184(3),5-190(5),6-191(7),8-194(9),9-19998).
 
Bowling-A Smith 10 2 45 0,B Smith 3 0 23 0,Johnston 9 0 45 3,Butcher 123 5 50 4,Steele 7 1 28 0. 
 
 

 Gaieties scrape over the line, but not after Ben Butcher inspired scare! 
  
 

Nomads almost took victory from the jaws of defeat at Beaconsfield CC on Sunday vs a strong Gaieties XI. Hugo Thurston of the Gaieties won the toss and elected to bowl on an overcast afternoon and a damp-ish looking pitch. Impressive opening spells from Aussie pro McFarland (who ran out Oli Soames with an bullet throw from deep long leg) and left arm speedster Fodgen reduced Nomads to 5-2. Hardly the ideal start with Essex and Western Province star James Johnston back in the hutch for a 3rd ball globe but Brockton and Kandampully battled away with determination to get Nomads to 58-2 from 20 overs.

Changes in the bowling resulted in a much needed increase in rate with James Schneider (whose action would certainly merit closer inspection from the ICC) and Cowley both going at not far off a run a ball. Brockton was now past 50, as was his partner Kandampully but the latter was soon dismissed driving over a full ball from Bowden who was wheeling away to good effect with his slow in-swingers. Kiwi Ross Ormiston joined Brockton who was now in full flow, dispatching 14 off a Matt Burton over as well as taking a liking to the erratic bowling of left armer Money. The Nomads skipper reached his century in the 43rd over but was stumped soon after when trying to give Burton the charge. Chirpy Tim Schneider, impressive behind the sticks, whipped off the bails to complete the dismissal. Ormiston and Steele got the Nomads over the 200 mark and the declaration came at 201-4 from 47 overs. An impressive score on a tricky enough wicket to bat on.

After a rustic tea the father and son combo of Andrew and Ben took the new ball for the Nomads but after impressive bowling displays vs The Wanderers and Reigate Ben was horribly off colour and this got Tim Schneider and Crowe off to an absolute flier. The 50 came up in the 8th over and Brockton turned to Wimbledon pro James Johnson. He was also flogged out of the attack in his first spell, going to 34 in 5 overs and at the start of the 20 overs the Gaieties were well and truly in the box seat at 134-0 with just 68 needed for victory. 

Suddenly the game began to change and with the introduction of Blackheath off-spinner Ben Butcher and some tidy overs from David Steele the Gaieties began to shed wickets. Butcher dismissed both openers, Johnston returned to trap the leg-side biased Dutta LBW and to coin a football phrase, "squeaky bum time" was certainly in the ranks of the Gaieties XI. 

Butcher was turning the ball prodigiously and accounted for Fogden and McFarland and then Kandampully ran out the dangerous Matt Burton with a direct hit from deep mid-wicket. Burton short of his ground as the powerful throw up-rooted the middle stump! The Gaieties were now 190-7 but Johnston was charging in, clearly looking to make ammends for his earlier failure with the bat. 

He knocked over Money for a first ball 0 and then Andrew Smith hung on (only just) to a flying edge at 2nd slip to dismiss the Gaieties Captain. Gaities had slumped from 134-0 to 199-9. 1 over to go 3 runs needed and Ben Butcher bowling. 

Cowley was happy to push the single off the 2nd ball and no11 Bowden played and missed at balls 3 and 4. He then snicked Butcher through the slips and past the diving figure of Ross Ormistion to give Gaieties a 1 wicket win with just 2 balls remaining. A super game of cricket, played in good spirits and at a high standard. Butcher and Johnston had taken 7 wickets between them but it was not enough as the Gaieties scraped a victory by the most narrow margin. 

As the bar at Beaconsfield CC was closed the sides retired to the pretty Swan Inn pub in Beaconsfield village for a few jars. Oliver Croom Johnson and Kie Farrell also arrived during the day to lend their support to the Nomads as well as former Harrow CC President Jeff Harris. John Gleasure also came to support Gaieties.

 
 Previous Matches
 2014 June Match Drawn
 2013 June Match Drawn
 2013 April Nomads won by 2 wickets
 2012 June Match Drawn
 2012 April Cancelled Deluge
 2011 May Nomads won by 6 wickets
 2010 Gaieties won by 9 wickets
 2009 Match Drawn,Ben Nealon hits ton for Gaieties
 2008 Gaieties thrash Nomads by 173 runs
 2007 Nomads won by 5 wickets
 2005 Match Cancelled Wet Pitch on brilliant sunny and breezy day
 2004 Nomads lost by 64 runs
 2003 Match Cancelled  

Virgin XI played a regular fixture with Gaieties including several at the Ampleforth Festival over August Bank Holiday eventually becoming a Nomads fixture though Match Managed by Jeremy Lascelles for many years.