Starting a little late (week 3), every Sunday we are going to publish the weekly reports from Richmond 1st XI's double winning year in 2018. Here are the links to the previous two weeks:

Richmond's fine form to the start of the 2018 season continued with 4 wins and a tie from our 5 League matches. The 1's made the short trip to Twickenham Green where the hosts won the toss and chose to bat on a placid pitch. They made good progress at more than 5 an over on the fast-scoring ground and, with 10 overs remaining seemed set to top 300. However Dave Burton and Will Jenkins took late wickets which stemmed the flow of runs and a target of 279 was set. Greg King went in the first over but what followed was a masterclass of batting from Adam London and Ben Compton who went about the run-chase in a most exceptional way. Running hard, putting bad balls away when they could, the pair shared a partnership of 277 for the 2nd wickets, certainly a Richmond record, before Compton holed out with 1 run needed for both the win and his ton! Adam finished on a magnificent 164 not out to add to his undefeated 70 in the Cup last weekend on the same ground. So, another excellent win for the 1's who, along with Finchley and Hampstead, sit at the top of the League. At Old Deer Park, Twickenham 2's also chose to bat and soon must have regretted their decision as they were dismissed for just 78. Sam Goodwill with 4/15 was the pick of the bowlers with Michael Wood, Kshitij Desai and Neil Hemstalk each picking up 2. Oli Tame and Cormac McLoughlin scored the bulk of the runs in reply before skipper Tame was dismissed trying to hit the winning runs. The 3's played Uxbridge on a very ordinary pitch at the Newman recording 247 for 3. Debutant Will Phillips recorded a ton and Sean Ennis 71 not out. In reply, Uxbridge were dismissed for 91 with Andy Hancock's 5 for 18 and Steven Deakin 3 for 3 leading the way. The 4's also played on a difficult pitch against Stanmore 3's and were dismissed for 134. However, Richmond's Ian John Moore and Christian Laws were the stars with the ball as Stanmore were dismissed for 113. The 5's, faced Twickenham 5's and were set a target for 236 victory. With 2 balls to go, 1 wicket remaining and 2 needed,the game was finely poised. The ball was struck, the first run taken only for the batsmen to attempt the winning run and fail. So, a tie sees both sides share 5 points. All in all, another hugely successful day which sees Richmond's unbeaten start to the season maintained.