An undated photo of Richmond Cricket Club team. — RichmondCC
Richmond Cricket Club’s fourth XI registered an unwanted record after being bowled out for just two runs in a Middlesex League Division One match against North London Cricket Club’s third XI.
The incident occurred in the third tier of the league, where Richmond opted to bowl first. North London capitalised on the opportunity, posting a massive total of 426 runs in 45 overs.
The innings was led by Dan Simmons, who scored a brilliant 140, while Richmond conceded a shocking 92 extras — including 63 wides.
Chasing a daunting target of 427, Richmond’s batting lineup collapsed spectacularly. The team was dismissed for just two runs in 5.4 overs, with eight batters getting out for ducks. One of the two runs was a wide, while the only batter to get off the mark was Tom Petrides. Rafiqul Haque remained not out on zero.
North London’s third XI captain, Tom Spawton, reflected on how close they came to dismissing the opposition without a single legitimate run.
“One of the two runs was a wide, the other was a dropped catch at slip. We came away from the game thinking we could have realistically bowled them out for zero,” Spawton told local media.
Reacting to the record defeat, Richmond’s deputy chairman and head of cricket, Steve Deakin, attributed the result to a severe shortage of available players.
“Our availability this week was really bad. We had about 40 players unavailable across our five men’s teams. We were struggling already, then had seven dropouts over Thursday and Friday. That trickles down and affects the fourths,” he said.
“The captains were calling friends of friends of friends just to get our teams on the pitch,” he added.