The 1's welcomed defending champions Crouch End to Old Deer Park and when skipper Will Phillips won the toss, he had no hesitation but to bat first. However, with regular opener, Greg King, feeling distinctly under the weather, a replacement opener was needed. Up stepped Julius Sumerauer, who despite batting at 11 for Finchley in their relegation campaign in 2021, has occasionally been pushed up the order by Jersey in T20 matches. What followed however was remarkable. When your correspondent logged on to see the scores, we were 63 for 0 off 6 overs. Will Phillips had faced 5 balls and scored 1. Jules had 61! He had been dropped on 2 and how Crouch End must have regretted that. He reached his 100 off just 47 balls and was dismissed shortly afterwards for 103 off 50 - 11 fours and 6 sixes. It was an amazing display of power hitting, with much going straight down the ground. Crouch End's bowling was decimated in the first power play and Richmond were set for a big total. That they achieved it was, in the end, down to the experience and skill of Adam London whose 66 guided us to 319 for 8 off 50. At one stage - as batters got in and got out - it seemed as though a total in excess of 300 might be beyond us - but some excellent hitting from the ailing King gave us final momentum.
It should be said that the pitch was excellent and the outfield fast. Crouch End are a good side. Richmond needed quick wickets and we got them. An excellent home debut for Will Robertson resulted in figures of 7 overs 3 for 14 whilst the veteran Steve Stacey, despite not being at his very best, also picked up an early one to leave the champions reeling at 33 for 4. Slowly they rebuilt but with the run rate rising, they were always up against it. Immediately after drinks, Matt Dickinson came on to take two quick wickets and from there, there was never really any doubt that Richmond would win handsomely. Some excellent hitting from Viren Patel took the visitors over 200 but the late introduction of Adam London's off-spin finished them off, the Director of Cricket finishing with 3 for 7. Jake Dunford picked up 4 catches. So, all in all, an excellent win for Richmond as they prepare for next week's clash with local rivals Teddington who appear to have been impressive in their first two outings.
Finally a mention for the excellence of the pitch at ODP. In two League matches, and 181 overs, 1141 runs have been scored for the loss of 30 wickets.
The pitch at Crouch End was less batsman friendly offering some excessive turn at times and the 2's, having lost the toss, allowed the home side to score more than they should have done. Despite 3 wickets a piece for Sami Shori and Jack Charters, the home side scored 245/7 off their 45. Once again Richmond's fielding was average. In reply Richmond struggled, hampered somewhat by a knee injury to Stephen Bail, which saw him forced off the field during our innings. He was to return but by then the match was lost as we were dismissed for 158.
At the Newman, at one stage Richmond 3's were struggling in their chase of Osterley's 175 but an excellent 50 from Olly Leedham saw us home with 3 wickets in hand. The 4's however did not fare so well. Shepherds Bush 3's racked up 253 for 2 and all we could muster in reply was 102.
Rashid Mushtaq, not for the first time, led the way for the 5's with a blistering 162, as Richmond posted a massive 413 for 8. South Hampstead 3's response was 176 all out.