Spawton’s own side was strong. With neither of their first or second teams playing, players who float between the seconds and thirds turned out for the thirds.

“It was the perfect storm, with a few lads who don’t play much cricket playing for us, and at the other end, a perfect storm with North London, who were able to put out a very strong third XI,” said Deakin.

“There’s no complaints from us. It’s a freakish thing. It was a perfect storm with a mismatch. We have all played mismatched games but they don’t often turn out like that.

“We are a strong club. We have five sides out on a Saturday and all five are in the top division we could possibly play in. We are the only club in the league that has that. We have a young side, with kids at school and uni and tend to get stronger in the latter half of the season. So we look forward to the return fixture!”

In North London’s innings, opener Dan Simmons smashed 140, but 92 made extras the next heaviest contributor, including 63 wides. In response, eight Richmond batsmen were out for a duck. Only the No.4 batsman got off the mark and made one while the No.9 was left hanging on nought not out. Spawton took 3-2, while his new-ball partner Matt Rosson took five wickets without conceding a run, and there was also a comedy run out – a key component of any great cricketing collapse.

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“I felt for their lads after,” said Spawton. “It was a mixture of being embarrassed for them and also finding it quite funny.

“It’s not good for cricket. I did overhear a few of their lads saying, ‘Oh I’m not playing cricket again’.”

To make matters even worse, three of their players suffered injuries.

“Someone broke a finger, another got hit in the face, and a guy did his hamstring,” said Deakin. “It really wasn’t the day we were planning.