MATCH 01 Nomads CC v Birla Pilani ECITS Tuesday February 8th at Birla Pilani Engineering College of Technology & School Goa India - 40/40 overs, max 8 overs per bowler
Result: Birla Pilai won by 214 runs
Toss: Nomads CC
Scorer: Charles Fellow-Smith
Debut(s):Andrew Smith,G Azconkar,Vicky Bhanabhai,Hugo Morris,
12th Man:John Callo
BIRLA PILANI ECITS Innings
G Harsha+ c Wakefield b Stewart-Liberty 32
Dhruv Jain c Peerless b Azgonkar 63
Sujat Jain bowled Azconkar 81
Athul Ramkumar bowled Bhanabhai 2
Mourya Krishna c Alexander b Azconkar 38
Adityar Agarwal* lbw b Azconkar 36
Himansho Yadav st Alexander b Azconkar 28
Shiv Sharma c Azconkar b Smith 6
Divesh Agarwal c Smith b Wakefield 31
Pushkar Sivitsar run out 1
Satya Deepak not out 8
Extras (b10,lb21,w21,nb2) 36
TOTAL (All out,39 overs) 362
Fow:1-96,2-122,3-142,4-239,5-264,6-302,7-309,8-316,9-335,10-362.
Bowling- Callo 6 0 71 0,Smith 8 0 64 1,Stewart-Liberty 2 0 31 1,Azconkar 8 1 57 5,Bhanabhai 7 0 58 1,Wakefield 8 0 68 1.
NOMADS CC Innings
P Wakefield bowled A Agarwal 60
K Alexander+* bowled Yadav 12
G Aconkar c Krishna b Yadav 4
C Peerless c Harsha b Ramkumar 0
V Gavin lbw b Yadav 7
C Stewart-Liberty lbw b Yadav 1
M Callo c Jain b d Agarwal 24
H Morris lbw b A Agarwal 1
V Bhanabhai bowled D Agarwal 10
A Smith not out 10
ME Blumberg c Sharma b D Agarwal 0
Extras (b5,lb3,w9,nb2) 19
TOTAL (All out,35.5 overs) 148
Fow: 1-44,2-54,3-55,4-78,5-84,6-118,7-120,8-137,9-148,10-148.
Bowling- A Agarwal 8 1 39 2,Sivitsal 2 1 4 0,Ramkumar 8 0 41 1,Yadav 8 1 19 4,Deepak 2 0 6 0,Sharma 6 0 18 0,D Agarawl 2.5 0 13 3.
Nomads in the field at Birla Pilani
Slaughtered by Youth
T he bus booked to take us to the ground reported in disabled and so we took a number of minibuses. Perhaps an ill omen! There had been some discussion prior to our first game as to what we should do if we won the toss. Most suggested we should field first in the cooler morning rather than field in the full heat of the afternoon so when Keith did win the toss and elected to field there was a murmur of approval.
However Keith’s resources were not great as our bowling consisted of two players Wakers and Vicky who had hardly played in two years,Charlie Stewart-Liberty for whom excessive effort is seldom rewarded with accuracy and an opening seam pair veteran Andy and fifteen years old giant Micky.
Our first ploy was noticed by the umpires. 12 players on the field of play is not allowed. MCC Laws of Cricket! So John Callo left the field. Unfortunately neither Micky despite Keith’s coaching nor Andy with Jon Price curving run up and late Trevor Bailey leap could find a consistant decent length and so the succession of medium pace long hops was dispatched to the boundary at an alarming rate by a tall opener with a crude technique but excellent eye. The young man in question Druv Jain should have been caught several times but with an ancient fielding side he often mishit into gaps and was dropped when he found a fielder. He was cheered loudly by his team mates.
Then our guest young ‘pro’(for we had one such) suggested to Keith that he should bowl. He bowled a wicket maiden then the other opener mishit Stewart-Liberty to our safe catcher, Wakers, 122-2 off 11 overs!. Shortly after Vicky bowled number 4 and the innings stood at 142-3, a position which raised our hopes. However with the pro being held back the batsmen plundered our bowlers. Number 4 Sujat Jain as elegant a batsman as his brother was agricultural put on a hundred with Mourya Krishan but when two wickets fell at 264-5 our hopes were raised again of a quick coup de grace. Well Azconkar did take a fifer but at the other end the slaughter continued. We did have them all out for 364 one over short of 40 but this was a tall target to chase with a young fielding side. A somewhat shell shocked Nomads team attacked their lunch boxes while contemplating the task ahead.
All went along quite well until Skipper Keith played round a straight one and our young pro decided to try and hit every ball for six and followed quickly. We thought that if he had put his head down and scored a century we may well have neared their total. Peerless went for a duck and suddenly wickets were tumbling and amidst the chaos Wakers succumbed to Agarwal’s second spell. It may be mentioned in fairness that the opposition's official umpire had fallen unwell at the interval and a young student took over who proved very easily influenced by his pals' demonstative appealing. Well that is what three batsmen thought of their lbws and there was no referral.
Micky Callo hit an enormous six to make second top score, Vicky(now with injured groin) and Andy had a brief whirl and the President hit a wide full toss off the toe of the bat to point giving Divesh Agarwal the unlikely figures of 3-13.
Trounced for over 200 runs Nomads warmly congratulated their young opponents, thanked them for their hospitality, presented them with shirts and caps and nearly left Charles Fellows-Smith behind who was busy making the scorebook all add up correctly. We duly arrived back at the hotel and informed those that asked that we had been savaged! However once showered this did nothing to spoil yet another evening’s great enjoyment.
Wakers(60) left and our three Minbuses which nearly left the scorer behind
MATCH 02 Nomads CC v Margao CC Friday February 11th at Margao Goa India - 40/40 overs, max 8 overs per bowler
The Ladies roll the pitch while Nomads inspect the square
Toss: Margao CC
Umpires: Bob Tunicliffe,Brian Phillips & ANOther
Scorer: Charles Fellow-Smith
Debut(s):Atul Phade
12th Man:Michael Blumberg
MARGAO CC Innings
D Dawood+ bowled Phadte 5
G Godghe st Bhanabhai b Wakefield 102
B Bagchi* c Smith b Callo 1
M Manish retired out 100
K Krishna retired out 50
A Anand bowled Phadte 17
J Jude+ not out 5
G Govind not out 1
Extras (b6,lb6,w7,nb1) 20
TOTAL (6 wickets,40 overs) 301
Dnb:H Hemant,S Shushant,J James,(Feerlex),(Yagesh),(Subchi)
+Dawood & Jude swapped gloves
Fow:1-18,2-15,3-169,4-150,5-295,6-296.
Bowling-Phadte 8 0 58 2,Callo 7 0 62 1,Peerless 4 0 43 0,Smith 7 0 35 0,Azconkar 7.5 0 42 0,Wakefield 5 0 46 1,Alexander 1.1 0 3 0.
NOMADS CC Innings
G Azconkar c Bagchi b Anand 71
P Wakefield c Godgie b Anand 32
C Peerless bowled Govind 10
A Phadte c Anand b Govind 6
H Morris bowled Dawood 10
M Callo c Shushant b Anand 2
KG Alexander* c Bagchi b Hemant 20
C Stewart-Liberty run out 24
V Bhanabhai+ not out 20
V Gavin st Dawood b Yogesh 1
A Smith st Dawood b Jude 8
Extras (b17,lb9,w13,nb1) 40
TOTAL (All out,37.5 overs)244
F ow:1-117,2-123,3-133,4-144,5-149,6-155,7-180,8-230,9-233,10-244 .
Bowling-Godghe 6 1 38 0,Bagchi 4 0 26 0,Manish 4 0 27 0,Krishna 3 0 15 0,Anand 7 0 38 3,Ferrlex 1 0 10 0,Govind 4 0 11 2,Dawood 3 0 19 1,Hemant 2 0 9 1,Jude 1.5 0 8 1,Subchi 1 0 9 0,Yogesh 1 0 8 1
Margao too good despite generosity with extras
The Margao Club is the oldest cricket club in Goa and the venue for the first first class matches in Goa. It is rather past its glory days now though a good new coat of paint would smarten it up no end. The ground was fine and the pitch attended to by a cluster of mature ladies under the supervision of the groundsmen. In addition the club had a some good practise nets under cover from the sun. The bar which was open at lunchtime was perversely closed after the game
This time our bus arrived fit and the party proceeded without a hitch to Margao. We past the new cricket stadium which holds 40,000 spectators and where England have played a one day international.
The President declared himself 12th man and Vicky with a groin strain said he would play as a stopper so Keith added to the mobility of the fielding. We picked up two youngsters Azconkar as before and A Phadte.
Margao won the toss and elected to bat. Two wickets fell quickly to Phadte and Mickey Callo but after theses successes Godghe and Manish put on 144 before Wakers had the former stumped by Vicky or did he give his wicket away?.Manish then retired on completing his ton. These two had cruelly exposed our bowling weaknesses after a tidy start. Krishna hit a quick 50 before retiring and Phadte took a second wicket at the death so that Margao had amassed 301-6 off their 40 overs. Our fielding was poor and this effected the normally exemplary and swift Vince Gavin.He had a nightmare dropping three, breaking a finger and splitting the webbing on the other hand which required a stitch and yet in true Nomad spirit he batted at the death.
After the break for lunch Nomads made a spirited response. Azconkar and Wakefield hitting over a hundred for twenty overs before the drinks break. Whatever was in the water at the break it proved disastrous for Nomads. Azconkar hit another boundary and then miss hit Anand down the throat of deep fielder Bagchi. Wakers then edged the same bowler to the keeper whereupon Nomads suffered amid order collapse, 5 wickets for 38 runs.
There followed some robust blows from the lower middle order,Keith,Charlie and Vicky all making twenties but after Charlie was run out the end came swiftly leaving Nomads some 55 runs short with 13 balls to go.We should done better than this given the promising start.
Our hosts were very welcoming if surprised at our inadequacies on the field of play and we duly presented caps and shirts to the opposition centurions. We made our weary way back to the hotel where we answered enquiries from interested parties “We woz whipped again” and so to shower, bar and dinner
Charles F-S makes sure the scorebook is correct The President presents a shirt Why me? -broken finger & a stitch
MATCH 03 Nomads CC v Mormugao Education Society Saturday February 12th at Chicalim Goa India-40/40
Result: Mormugao won by 141 runs
Toss: Mormugao
Umpires: Bob Tunicliffe & Brian Phillips
Scorer: Charles Fellow-Smith
Debut(s):M Malik,A Akash & A Amey
MORMUGAO ES Innings
Y Yogend bowled Amey 0
Y Yeshwant bowled Callo 5
C Chetan bowled Callo 2
R Rudhra lbw b Amey 0
S Santosh lbw b Smith 34
S Shabas c Malik b Amey 64
K Kalesh bowled Wakefield 24
V Vishnu* st Alexander b Akash 30
A Amit+ not out 47
M Maden bowled Malik 3
S Satesh bowled Callo 8
Extras (b16,lb3,w38,nb0) 57
TOTAL (All out,37.3 overs) 274
Fow:1-6,2-13,3-14,4-19,5-113,6-170,7-173,8-242,9-251,10-274.
Bowling-Amey 6 0 36 3,Callo 4.3 0 26 3,Malik 8 0 57 1,Stewart-Liberty 2 0 20 0,Wakefield 8 0 60 1,Smith 5 1 23 1,Akash 4 0 33 1.
NOMADS CC Innings
PG Wakefield run out 10
M Callo bowled Kalesh 7
M Malik c Vishnu b Kalesh 1
A Akash bowled Yeshwant 27
KG Alexander bowled Yogend 14
C Stewart-Liberty c Shabas b Santosh 48
H Morris st Amit b Yeshwant 2
A Amey bowled Santosh 1
A Smith lbw b Santosh 4
C Peerless not out 0
ME Blumberg bowled Santosh 0
Extras (b2,lb3,w14,nb0) 19
TOTAL (All out,30 overs) 133
Fow:1-20,2-21,3-27,4-61,5-85,6-113,7-118,8-133,9-133,10-133.
Bowling-Maden 5 1 16 0,Kalesh 5 1 9 2,Satesh 2 0 4 0,Shabas 4 0 10 0,Yogend 6 0 46 1,Yeshwant 5 0 23 2,Santosh 2 0 15 4,Chetan 1 0 5 0
Mormugao recover to win comfortably
Nomads should have won this match.At 19-4 the young opposition were reeling.A good spell by Micky Callo matched by that of guest seamer Kalesh(albeit with a suspect action) had Nomads in command. It was not then a matter of employing the Ian Crombie strategy but sheer incompetence by three fielders. Another young guest dropped the simplest of dolly catches at short square leg, a run out mix up with both batsmen mid pich provoked a mighty high throw from Charlie Stewart-Liberty which Keith Alexander just caught at full stretch over his head resulting in the batsman just scrambling home. Then a gentle top edge curled over Keith's head to land in the President's left hand which he let go. Had two of these chances been taken the oppostion would have been 25-6 and toppling .
In fact both batsmen made the most of their good fortune and put on nearly 100 runs.Shabas went on to score 64 and the momentum of his late innings was taken up by the lower middle order and despite the return of the opening bowlers and an inexpensive spell from Andy Frank Smith the youngsters posted a solid 274 all out 13 balls short of their allocated 40 overs. Nomads had bowled 38 wides, perhaps a recovered.
Nomads should have made a decent fist of chasing this target. True despite the success of the opposition late order the pitch had detiorated. An early run out of Wakers did not help,Micky Callo and guest number 3, Malik were all out for a mere 27.The middle order did plas some cameos.Akash 24,Keith 14 and a robust 48 from Charlie gave the scoreboard some substance.
In fact both batsmen made the most of their good fortune and put on nearly 100 runs.Shabas went on to score 64 and the momentum of his late innings was taken up by the lower middle order and despite the return of the opening bowlers and an inexpensive spell from Andy Frank Smith the youngsters posted a solid 274 all out 13 balls short of their allocated 40 overs. Nomads had bowled 38 wides,perhaps a record!
Unfortunately Charles Peerless was stiff as a board and requested a late order position.As a result he watched from the bowlers end the hat trick that finished off the innings making young Santosh a mighty pleased young cricketer in contrast to the President who was mightily dis-chuffed to be bowled leg stump by a ball that turned, did not bounced and was deflected onto the stumps by his back foot!
MATCH 04 Nomads CC v Margao Veterans Monday February 14th at Margao Goa India- 40/40
Match Cancelled Too many Nomads injured
MATCH 05 Nomads CC v Margao CC Monday February 16th at Margao Goa India - 40/40
Result: Margao won by 89 runs
Toss: Nomads
Umpires: Bob Tunnicliffe & Michael Blumberg
Scorer: John Callo
Debut(s):Vikram Bhania Bhaj,Arvin Singh Chuhan
MARGAO CC Innings
D Redka bowled Callo 19
D Redka bowled Smith 12
V Solanki c Smith b Callo 0
S Rane c S-Liberty b Smith 14
R Kalangitkar bowled Chuhan 79
J Cadoz not out 22
A P Gaewkar lbw b Chuhan 31
K Matra c & b Chuhan 0
H Naik c & b Chuhan 18
R Fernandez bowled Chuhan 7
A Naik bowled Chuhan 8
Extras (b14,lb5,w 24,nb0) 44
TOTAL (All out,38.5 overs) 256
Fow:1-34,2-34,3-57,4-67,5-193,6-193,7-227,8-241,9-255,10-256.
Bowling-Smith 8 1 29 2,Callo 8 0 69 2,Peerless 5 0 27 0,Alimo 4 0 30 0,Wakefield 4 0 33 0,Chuhan 7.5 0 43 6,Stewart-Liberty 2 0 16 0.
NOMADS CC Innings
PG Wakefield run out 48
C Peerless c H Naik b Hrishikesh 48
K Alexander+* c Cardos b Solanki 13
H Morris lbw b Rane 10
C Stewart-Liberty lbw b Rane 5
M Callo bowled Hrishikesh 1
A Smith bowled D Redka 4
VB Bhaj run out 6
V Gavin c H Naik b Faizam 0
AS Chuhan c? Solanki 10
F Alimo not out 4
Extras (b7,lb9,w2,nb2) 20
TOTAL (All out,36 overs) 167
Fow;1-80,2-104,3-111,4-132,5-134,6-138,7-138,8-144,9-152,10-167.
Bowling-S Naik 6 1 42 0,Fernandez 2 0 15 0,Gaekwar 4 0 20 0,Rane 8 0 24 2,Solanki 6 0 18 2,H Naik 4 1 9 2,Redkar 3 1 3 1,Faizam 2 0 13 1,Kalol 1 0 2 0.
If only Wakers had not run himself out & Chuhan had bowled earlier
We bowled so much better in this match, well in patches and in between the wides. Andy Frank Smith had a wonderful spell of teasing away floaters taking two wickets for little and Micky Callo produced two good balls to take two as well with the result that the opposition were in trouble at 67-4. Had we known more about our young guest Arvin Singh Chuhan maybe we would have won this match. In the event by the time he was brought on and took a sixfer a very good stand between Kalangikar Cadoz(who retired hurt for a while) and Gaekwar added 126. Chuhan finished with 6-43 and Margao reached 256 a commendable recovery from 67-4.
For a blissful period at the start of Nomads innings Wakers batted superbly and looked set for a ton and he was well supported by Peerless rejuvenated by a serious beach massage the day before. 80 had been added when Wakers stroked the ball to short third man and set off for a run. Peerless sent him back but it was hopeless,run out 48. Keith and then Hugo joined Charles were soon gone,111-4. With the score at 132 and a win still possible Peerless hit such a mighty drive that most spectators and fielders were looking to where the six hit had landed. Unfortunately short extra cover (semi silly) had taken the most amazing of catches and Charles was out for a well crafted 48. After that it was the familiar tour collapse with only guest Chuhan at the end reaching double figures. All out 167 courtesy of a last wicket stand of 15 including a six hit by Chuhan with 4.1 overs to go.
We duly handed over shirts and caps and thanked our hosts for a great day even if our own performance was dissappointing. The President reminded the young man who received a cap that we Nomads may not have played that well on this day but the likes of Prince Duleepsinghji and Kirti Azad had played for Nomads."Honour the cap" advised the Margao captain!
Once again the Margao bar was shut so we repaired to our familar coach and motored home to Prazares. "We lost again" we had to inform our enquiring fellow guests. Back to the bar and a few drinks later it was still a magical tour even if we had lost four out of four. Did not the locals speak with admiration of Wakers' batting?
Our character coach in the Margoa CC car park loading up, covered nets as background
