Adam Gilchrist's former club side concedes 426 and is bowled out for two
London: When the captain of Richmond's fourth XI won the toss and invited North London Cricket Club's third XI to bat first on Saturday, he was not envisioning a 424-run defeat that would end with his team bowled out for just two in one of the most one-sided games of cricket ever.
For North London's captain Tom Spawton, it proved a great toss to lose. Playing in Division One of the Third Tier of the Middlesex League, his side, racked up a formidable 426 for six in their 45 overs, then promptly bowled Richmond out for just two in the space of 34 balls.
Spawton, though, was left wondering if it could have been even better. 'One of the two runs was a wide, the other was a dropped catch at slip,' he told Talksport radio station. 'We came away from the game thinking that we could have realistically bowled them out for zero.'
It was, according to Steve Deakin, Richmond's deputy chairman and head of cricket, the 'perfect storm'. The London club has a rich and proud history, dating back to 1862, and counts the great Australian wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist among its former players.
But over the bank holiday weekend, they faced an unprecedented availability crisis, leading to fielding weakened sides containing players who do not usually play cricket, let alone for the club, including inexperienced teenagers.
'Our availability this week was really bad,' he said. '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. The captains were calling friends of friends of friends just to get our teams on the pitch.'
Spawton realised before the game had even started that a win could be on the cards for his team, based on the opposition's introductions and attire.
'They struggled to get a team together, what with it being a bank holiday,' he said. 'There were a few lads saying 'nice to meet you' [to each other] before the game. There were a couple of lads wearing black trainers, which is a good sign [that they do not play often].'
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