Match 24   Nomads v Eton Ramblers  Agars Plough Eton College Bucks,  Sunday June 29th 2003. 
 
Result:Match Drawn
Umpire(s):Brian Wilson & Bert 
Nomad Man Of The Match:Mark Olivier  

ETON RAMBLERS Innings
H Steel      st Blake    b Lamb    79
D Kaye-Smith lbw         b Olivier 97
A England    c Ireland   b Olivier 35
A Leschalia  lbw         b Olivier 15
J Harper     bowled        Olivier  0
R Daniels    c &  b        Olivier  6
W Wilks      not out                2
E Inkin      not out                0
Extras       (61b,5lb,12w,2nb)     25
TOTAL    (6 wickets, 48.3 overs)  260
DNB:S Scobie,B Blake,R Richards.
 
FoW:1-189,2-205,3-245,4-249,5-254,6-260.
 
Bowling***-Olivier 14.3 1 60 5,Rana 4 0 20 0, Surridge 6 1 32 0,Ireland 10 1 39 0,Williams 5 0 25 0, Lamb 5 0 36 1,Rezko 4 0 35 0.

NOMADS Innings
M Marshall  c Steel   b Scobie   38
S Blake     c Scobie  b Blake    16
Faisal Rana c Harper  b Daniels  72
M Olivier   c England b Richards 55
M Surridge  bowled      Daniels   7
J Rezko     bowled      Richards  0
J Ireland   bowled      Daniels   6
C Lamb      not out              18
D Williams  not out               5
Extras       (61b,5lb,12w,2nb)   26
TOTAL      (7 wickets, 46 overs 245
DNB:M Blumberg,A Stokes(Absent)*.
 
FoW:1-33,2-83,3-180,4-204,5-208,6-216,7-224.
 
Bowling-Richards 14 0 75 2,Blake 11 3 45 1, Scobie 5 0 28 1,Leschalia 3 0 30 0,England 6 0 18 0, Daniels 7 1 33 3.   

 Nomads Chase Falls short  

   The original selection changed somewhat-M Blumberg, K Alexander(Subject to medical report), Daryn Williams,A Stokes,M Olivier, Faisal Rana, S Blake, C Lamb,J Ireland,Mark Surridge, still to confirm Dan O'Sullivan....reserve(s)J Rezko, R Mann. Alexander failed the medical, Dan prefered to play at Burton Court for the Free Forresters and Mrs Elaine Stokes decided to give birth to a son a week earlier than expected. As a result Matt Marshall came in for Keith and John Rezko for Dan O'S and we were expecting a Christian to stand in for Andy but he never came, thus we took the field on a very hot morning with 10 players and a debutant wicket keeper in Sam Blake.
     We were playing on Agars Plough as Ramblers were also playing Old Wellingtonians on the same day in The Cricketer Cup on the rather more intimate 1st XI ground. Although there was a boundary rope encompassing a reasonable playing area the vast expanse of Agars Plough on a such a hot day seemed to take its psychological toll on Nomads fielding expertise and enthusiasm.
     A lively opening spell from Mark Olivier produced no reward nor did the introduction Of Mark Surridge for the somewhat wayward Faisal do the trick. Ramblers' openers were sound of technique and as the innings progressed displayed a fine range of shots.
     A long time after lunch and the President's wine it was the crafty floaters of crusty veteran Charlton Lamb  who produced two errors. The first was dropped but the second was snapped up by Sam Blake, Steel st Blake b Lamb 79. The first wicket had fallen at 189.
     The skipper used slow left armers, Ireland and Williams, at the far end but to no avail. The re-introduction of Mark Olivier who claimed to be intent on containing the Ramblers batsmen  finally produced a flurry of wickets, five in all including opener Kaye-Smith for an excellent 97 as he attempted a wild pull for his century that kept low and had the merit of being straight.
     While wickets fell to Olivier runs continued to flow at the other particularly off John Rezko who had probably waited too long to bowl with his normal control and sharp spin. Faisal Rana was brought back and as Nomads scented a rapid end to the Ramblers innings so Edmund Inkin declared at 260-6. Nomads had bowled 48.3 overs which with 24 being seam was a reasonable rate. The declaration would give 46 overs to Nomads.
     From the start Nomads batsmen were playing  plenty of fine boundary shots. A couple of misjudgements accounted for Blake at 33 and Marshall at 83 both caught  when seemingly well set for a big innings.
     This brought Olivier in to join Rana. He hit his first ball for a huge six and these two  added 97 at a brisk rate with a good number of handsome boundary shots. However  a couple of fleet footed Ramblers well located in the deep were to stop  many a well struck shot turning 4 into 1. Olivier then mishit an extravagant wide off side drive and was caught for 55. Faisal rather lost his cool at Olivier's departure attempting a number of huge hits when regular singles and twos weres sufficient. At 204 he was caught in the deep for a magnificent 72. Rezko followed almost at once for a duck and the innings lost momentum despite the introduction of the veteran spinner Daniels who prospered  3-33  including Rana. Charlton Lamb and Daryn Williams added 21 for the 8th wicket  but the task was beyond them as the innings ended on 245-7 just 16 short.
     This was a good achievement especially as Ramblers maintained very defensive fields for long periods. The Ramblers period in the field was a straight three hours interupted first for ice lollipops and secondly for the traditional orange squash. Lollipops were served by the two Presidents..Kershaw and Alexander.
     A beautiful day's cricket played in splendid good spirit. The inconvenience of the meal break timings and the trek to the main pavilion was of little consequence amidst the excellence of the day's activity.
     Eton Ramblers beat Old Wellingtonians in The Cricketer Cup match and Nomads were invited to return next year to Eton which means the flighted filfth of Centenary skipper Blumberg may yet enhance the playing fields of Eton.   

* Nomads had played with 10 but missing Andy Stokes did visit us in late afternoon to inform us that he was now the proud father of a new born son. Congratulations Elaine and Andy.

 *** this bowling analysis taken from the Eton Ramblers card is wrong Olivier, Ireland and Williams bowled at one end 29.3 overs, Rana, Surridge,Lamb and Rekzo bowled at the other 19 overs...any suggestions on what actually happened will be welcome..also the ratio between Ireland and Williams 10:5 is wrong!!!!