A matter of weeks after setting a new Gnome record run total in a 40-over match (325 against Jesus College), Gnome have established the obverse record, conceding 331 runs against Washington at North Middlesex and losing by 158.

Pain over the scale of the defeat was to some extent softened by the fact that our already multiply depleted outfit became a wholly scratch side, three of whom were recruited on the morning of the match (two from Washington), after a number of late dropouts. In the event, many of the Gnome team spent more time introducing themselves to each other than they did at the crease.

Skipper-for-the day, Anton Finneran won the toss and inserted the hosts, in the hope of benefiting from any residual damp from an otherwise rather neutral-looking track.

Even allowing for the unusually close boundaries on this ground, which certainly benefited the scoring rate, it soon became apparent that the relatively toothless Gnome attack was going to struggle as the Washington openers, Demetri and Cragoe, racked up 92, at six an over, for the first wicket.

Demetri was the first of just three Washington wickets to fall, caught at mid-wicket off the bowling of Tom Clargo, brother of Barney. His replacement, the Ozzie left-hander, Dale Bracegirdle immediately upped the scoring rate even further, eventually thrashing his way to his first Washington 100 and finishing unbeaten on 103.

In the context of the game it’s also worth mentioning that, although at a cost of 63 runs (off seven overs), Ollie’s off-spin took the wicket of Washington’s number 4, McDonald (25), clean bowled.

When Cragoe was run out for 45 (as the result of some very smart work fieldwork; keeper Barney Clargo returning the ball for Ollie, at the bowler’ s end, to break the wicket), Bracegirdle was joined by Paul Irons, who set about breaking Gnome’s spirit with an unbeaten 74 off just 28 balls, including seven towering sixes.

Improbably enough, the early Gnome batting kept the outcome theoretically in the balance with a scoring rate of around seven an over until the halfway mark, for the loss of Alistair Anderson (13), Ollie (32), Barney (40) and Anton (47), who was superbly caught at short mid-wicket by his opposite number, Washington skipper Demetri, who scooped the ball, left-handed, an inch or so above the ground.

Batting with Ben Ralphs (18), Chris Gill had a single scoring shot (4), before being joined by Lew Chester. At this point the Gnome score was on 167 and it remained so throughout the fall of the next four wickets.

After a few arguably more viable opportunities to run, all spurned, Lew patiently weighed up the pros and cons of taking a single off his own elegant cover drive.

As the ball entered the cover fielder’s hands, Lew eventually concluded that a run was in fact probably on. Chris is still unsure whether he didn’t have the heart or didn’t have the presence of mind to decline the run once the call was made and Lew had established some forward momentum – which, indeed, it would have been a pity to waste.

In any case the resulting direct hit at the keeper’s end meant that Chris was run out by approximately the length of Matt Cannon’s pick up truck (the previous, slightly longer one).

Just six more runs were added as the tenth Gnome wicket fell for 173 on the second ball of the 31st over.

With two run-outs, eight Gnome wickets fell to the Washington bowling, of which the unusual left-arm round, medium pace of Alex Quin accounted for five.

Washington, whose Dave Gluckman can recall only one previous victory over Gnomes, were exultant.