Roadrunners vs London Saints at Houghton Regis, June 14, 2026
Roadrunners 176-8 (Thomas 1-13, R Griffiths 1-17, Cushion 1-18) beat
London Saints 54 (Jones 17, Cushion 15) by 122 runs
There are many examples of the common phrase “good things come in threes” – London buses; Best, Law and Charlton; the Three Musketeers; and Rod, Hull and Emu, to name just a few.
According to AI, psychologists say this is because the human brain finds groupings of three inherently more satisfying and memorable. All of which is bad news for the three members of the Griffiths family, who will no doubt be hoping their collective feat of three golden ducks on their first game of the season together will be quickly forgotten.
By rights, this thrashing by our old rivals is best forgotten too. Instead, the lively post-match analysis in Roadrunners’ dodgy local pub was dominated by talk of the Griffiths family and their achievement which, I hesitate to predict, will never be repeated (ref: P Pearce, a year after his golden duck at Coldharbour: “ Well, at least it can’t be as bad as last year.” 🤪 Never say never when the London Saints are involved!).
other details of the game hardly got a mention.
This included the tight and accurate opening ten overs by David Nanton and Griffiths O (that’s his initial, not a zero!) which had the home side on 30-2. It included two maidens and a wicket maiden, which surely set off alarm bells in the Mayhew Prediction Competition HQ. The second wicket was a particularly excellent run out from the covers by Ben Collis.
Griffiths R then impressed with a maiden followed by three economical overs including a wicket..
The skipper even brought on Griffiths J for a rare outing, which, incredibly, coincided with the appearance of a spectator in an electric wheelchair (ref: previous match reports). Thankfully, the spectator escaped without a scratch, blissfully unaware of the danger he was in.
Things had definitely started well, but the ever-optimistic Pearcey this time was warned not to say anything, like “we’ve got this, lads”. Other notable moments included DT recreating his own Specsavers ad by chasing after a ball in completely the wrong direction. As the game progressed, Roadrunners upped the run rate and finished on 176-8 – decent total on a bumpy, unpredictable pitch. It included one Roadrunners batter hitting his first six after more than 30 years of trying.
After a break for tea and sandwiches, Griffiths J and Andy Jones strode out to begin the run chase. But the charge was halted on the third ball of the innings when the first of the Griffiths clan was bowled first ball. This brought Dr Ben to the crease, but despite some healthy hits, he departed for 2. Dickie Cushion joined Jonesy and the score rose to 32 until the latter played on to his stumps in the ninth over. That was the start of a spectacular collapse, with the London Saints’ score going from 30-2 to 54 all out in the next 85 balls.
Griffiths R was next to go, on the ball after Jonesy’s dismissal. Richard had been elevated up the order by request as he had to leave at 5.30pm to go to work. As it was, he could have batted at number 11 and still been early! Oneliner Nanton followed with a duck, and skipper Dave Thomas for three, sandwiching the last of the trilogy of Griffiths golden ducks – this time by Griffiths O.
Ollie had gone to the middle with the captain’s words ringing in his ears: “You only have to survive one ball and you’ll be the best batsman in your family.” (An example of DT’s inspiring captaincy if ever there was one!). Seconds later, Ollie’s stumps went flying to complete the Griffiths family’s historic achievement – with each bowled out on their first ball of the season.
A scurrilous teammate (not me this time!) recorded the moment on the That’s So Village’ channel and it had more than 980 views in the first 24 hours. The London Saints innings was completed by Pearcey, who hit an undefeated 7, and the Speedtwin father and daughter combo. Surely, there wouldn’t be another family of golden ducks. While Lana obliged with a duck (but celebrated loudly that it wasn’t a golden), her dad showed some old form before he was out lbw for 4 – a decision by, you guessed it, Trigger Finger Griffiths J. It was a fitting way to end a difficult day for London Saints.
The bumpy pitch did not help matters (13 of the 16 dismissals in the match were bowled) but, as the saying goes, it was the same for both sides and on the day Roadrunners were far better than us.
We then repaired to Roadrunners’ iffy pub, with its familiar aroma of sewage. Griffiths J even made his mark there – telling the barman, a fearsome looking bloke with tattoos over his face, that the pint he’d just poured was “shit and tasted like vinegar”. It seems the barman retaliated by charging Johnners more than £13 for a pint of lager and a J20. But it wasn’t all bad for John, on his way to the game he had spotted his old car broken down at the side of the M25 – although it does make you wonder who buy a used car from this man. The day ended with DT poring over the fixture list wondering which games we had a remote chance of winning.
Terrence Collis Champagne moment (serious):
In a game with few individual highlights and no catches, the clear winner was Ben Collis for some fine fielding at cover. Having stopped a strong cover drive, he fired in a throw to run out Roadrunners’ number three batter.
Player of the match:
For his performance behind the stumps (duties he shared with Dr Ben), his wicket-taking with the ball and valiant attempts to steady the batting with a creditable 15, it has to be Dickie Cushion.
The other Champagne moment (to eclipse all other champagne moments?):
It can only be the Griffiths family – Messers J, R and O – for their golden ducks on their first games of the season. It left many wondering whether the Duck Trophy should be split this year into Griffiths and non-Griffiths to give everyone a chance of winning.
Roadrunners
Ahmed b Nanton 0
Andrew retired 37
Lawrence run out (Collis) 7
Callum b R Griffiths 16
Brown b Thomas 22
Christian’s retired 52
Neil b Cushion 15
James b O Griffiths 2
Cook not out 4
Catlin not out 5
Josh did not bat
Extras 16
Total 176 – 8
Nanton 7-1-21-1
O Griffiths 7-1-34-1
B Collis 4-0-23-0
R Griffiths 4-1-17-1
Pearce 4-0-30-0
Thomas 4-0-13-1
Cushion 3-0-18-1
J Griffiths 2-0-12-0
London Saints
Jones b Josh 17
J Griffiths b James 0*
B Collis b James 2
Cushion c Josh b Catlin 15
R Griffiths b Josh 0*
Nanton b Cook 0
Thomas b Cook 3
O Griffiths b Cook 0*
Pearce not out 7
L Speedtwin b Catlin 0
G Speedtwin lbw (JG) b Brown 4
Extras 7
Total 54 (23.5 overs)
James 4-0-18-2
Josh 5-0-13-2
Cook 3-2-3-3
Catlin 3-0-7-2
Brown 3.5-3-1-1
Lawrence 2-0-11-0
Roadrunners 176-8 (Thomas 1-13, R Griffiths 1-17, Cushion 1-18) beat London Saints 54 (Jones 17, Cushion 15) by 122 runs
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