Village cricket team hailed for ‘spirited’ batting despite failing to reach double figures
A VILLAGE cricket team has recorded one of the lowest scores in history – bowled out for nine.
Elvaston Cricket Club’s fourth XI’S opening batsman Will Hobbs earned their “top score” of two runs and the rest of his team were dismissed without a contribution.
Their remaining points at their local Derbyshire County league fixture against Risley’s Second XI on Saturday were extras – five leg byes and two from wide balls.
The losing side was praised for having the “right spirit” after managing to stay on the field for 10 overs (roughly 60 balls) before they were finally bowled out.
Risley Cricket Club then made short work of the fielding team within two overs.
Their captain Dane Harper, 30, said: “We definitely expected a tougher game to be honest.
“We were still talking about it late last night, and we couldn’t believe what happened.
“It was very good to get a wicket within the first three overs of the game, but as they started to flow, we celebrated less and less.
“To be fair to them, they had brought along a very junior team. Most of the lads were between 12 and 15. Ours were older and we only had two juniors in our team.
“We’ve got two very sensible openers, and they did what was needed to be done. They played their shots as if we were chasing 200.
He added: “It was really good, though, and it was played in the right spirit. And at the end, a couple of the lads said they wanted to have a knock around as we had some time.”
Elvaston’s fourth XI were lucky not to make the lowest tally in history, which is believed to have been recorded by Huish and Langport in 1913, who scored zero when they played Glastonbury.
The side was commended for carrying on despite their batting collapse.
James Holland, a historian and broadcaster, wrote on Twitter: “How utterly brilliant…” Another user added online: “I’m so glad the internet wasn’t a thing when I played. We had scorecards like this several times a season.”