A RICHMOND Cricket Club side's astonishing defeat has brought them global attention.

Richmond CC are based in Old Deer Park and have a proud history dating back to 1862 – and Australian legend Adam Gilchrist is among players who have worn the badge – but it is fair to say that Saturday (24 May) was not their finest hour when the club's fourth XI took part in one of the sport's most one-sided matches ever.

And yet it all started optimistically

Captain Sam Skoulding, whose side had just ten men, won the toss and invited North London Cricket Club's third XI to bat first in the Middlesex County Cricket League clash.

Richmond CC are based in Old Deer Park (credit: Cesar Medina).

That proved to be a bad choice and North London racked up a formidable 426 for six in their 45 overs, led by opener Dan Simmonds who hit 140.

Richmond played the first part in their own downfall by conceding 92 extras!

When it came to responding with the bat, further calamity struck as they were bowled out for two, in just 5.4 overs to record a 424-run defeat.

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The only batsman to get off the mark was Tom Petrides, who made one, while No 9 Rafiqul Haque was left hanging on nought not out. The other run was a wide bowled by North London's Tom Spawton, who took figures of three for two. His opening partner Matt Rosson took five wickets without conceding a run.

Wisden weighed in with a report on the 'mismatch'.

The astonishing match even got both clubs a mention on the BBC Radio's acclaimed Test Match Special programme while the cricketing oracle Wisden also included the match outcome on its website, describing it as a 'glorious mismatch'.

The outcome, despite Richmond only having ten men, couldn't have been predicted from their league status. North London are placed third with 21 points, while Richmond are sixth with 11 in a nine-team table.

Richmond later wrote on X: "A lot of context but still not a result that we are proud of! Our 2s, 3s and 5s all won though!"

Richmond's score is reported to be the lowest in league cricket recorded history.