MATCH   NOMADS v THE SARGENT MEN at Bank of England Sports Club Bank Lane, Priory Lane, Roehampton London SW15  on Sunday August 31st 

Result:Sargent Men won by 23 runs
Toss:Sargent Men
Umpire(s):Paul Smithies & AN Others
Nomad Man Of The Match:Keith Alexander  

THE SARGENT MEN Innings
C Blake   c F-Smith    b Williams  1 
P Hodson  bowled         Rana      5
P Goodwin st Alexander b F-Smith  74
P Mason   bowled         Wakefield 8
G Keeble  lbw          b F-Smith   6
J Coy     run out                 38
G Seed    c Alexander b Williams   0
J Garland lbw         b Blumberg  16
S Skelton bowled        F-Smith    7
J Yelland run out                  8
E Goodwin not out                  1
Extras   (b7,lb6,w0,nb0)          13
TOTAL    (all out, 53 overs)     177
 
FoW:1-0,2-11,3-37,4-55,5-123,6-128,7-141,8-153,9-170,10-177.
 
Bowling-Rana 8 5 23 1,Williams 11 2 35 2,Fellows-Smith 13 4 26 3,Wakefield 11 3 36 1,Blumberg 10 0 44 1.  

NOMADS CC Innings              
P Wakefield c Hodson  b Skelton  0 
K Alexander c Blake   b Yelland 96 
A Hill      run out              1 
F Rana      bowled              12 
R Mann      bowled     Leachman 23 
V Gavin     c Seed   b Skelton   2 
A Abramson  c Blake  b Keeble    0 
C F-Smith   c Keeble b Skelton   3   
D Williams  lbw b Keeble         0 
M Blumberg  not out              0 
Extras     (b4,lb3,w4,nb6)      17
TOTAL       (all out,31 overs) 154
DNB:J While(no show)    

FoW:1-0,2-1,3-26,4-57,5-135,6-151,7-154,8-154,9-154. 

Bowling-Skelton 11 3 49 4,Garland 4 0 29 0,Keeble 11 1 36 3,E Goodwin 4 0 24 0,Yelland 1 0 9 1. 

                        Nomads Contrive Defeat in Dramatic Style 

Nomads' last three wickets put on zero while Sargent Men's tail put on 24 and therein lays the substance of Nomads' extraordinary defeat  at the hands of a strong Sargent Men batting line up but a weak bowling side.

The absence of our number 3 batsmen James While didn't help in terms of runs scored and conceded-apparently he forgot!. However after an excellent performance in the field in which we bowled 53 overs including 14 maidens victory should not have been a problem. The Sargent Men's total was essentially compiled around a 70 run partnership between Paul Goodwin 74 who wears a Nomads sleeveless sweater and Jonathan Coy 38. 

The loss of Wakers to a firmly hit full toss was a bad start but just as bad was Andy Hills' run out which was completely 'bonkers'.Three weeks ago these two scored 170 runs at Hurlingham against a useful Hurlingham attack! Another 10 minutes of Faisal Rana's assault and the Sargent Men may have sued for surrender there and then. Yet his ambition was his undoing as he was bowled attempting to hit Skelton into the River Thames at Richmond. Nevertheless Keith Alexander and Russell Mann's stand of 78 seemed to have us moving swiftly to victory but then Russell played a wildly extravagant shot and Keith on 96 hit a half volley head high at mid on who accepted the catch.

Depite the grey hair the combined might of Abramson,Fellows-Smith, Williams and Blumberg would normally be expected to score 24 runs under no pressure. In the event they scored 3 runs and Nomads had constructed a dramatic and most unlikely defeat out of impending victory. Nomads were all out in 31 overs.

The Sargent Men were mighty pleased and the euphoric emails that followed matched anything subsequently seen at the Oval after England's defeat of South Africa.