Richmond Flames' hopes of defending their British crown hang in the balance after losing both games against close rivals Croydon on Sunday.

The Flames, still struggling to find form this season, crashed 5-3 and 9-0 on home turf to a rampant Pirates outfit in a repeat of the 2006 National Final.

With the season barely a month old, Richmond already find themselves four wins behind Croydon in the Southern Division standings.

Game One was the tighter of the two, with the Pirates building a small lead through the first five innings.

Although the Flames rallied late on, it was not enough to claw their way back as they slipped to their first home defeat of the season.

This fact may well have played on Richmond minds as game two was totally one-sided with Croydon punishing poor Flames pitching.

Scoring consistently throughout the innings and holding the home batters in check, the visiting Pirates ensured their unbeaten start to the campaign remained intact.

Richmond will hope to get things back on track this Saturday when they hit the road to face Essex Arrows for two games, and coach Jesus Gandara will no doubt be targeting two victories in those match-ups.

On a more positive note, Flames catcher/pitcher Cody Cain has been selected as part of the Great Britain squad for the Eifel Cup in Germany this weekend.

The Cup is being used as a warm-up event for the European Championships which are held in Barcelona in September.