A good start to the season ground to a shuddering halt for Oakley yesterday in a calamitous defeat where not much went right as they struggled to cope with the spongy pitch at Over Wallop.
Batting first, Oakley scored just 74 as they struggled to get the ball away and despite a couple of minor cameos, no one really performed and the cardinal sin of not batting the 42 overs was comfortably achieved.
Tommy Holbrook and Captain, Clive Welsman, tried to turn things around with the ball, both bowling vey well, taking three wickets between them to offer hope that miracles can happen.
However, Wallop knew with such a low target that all they had to do was wait for the bad balls and a couple of poor overs from the out of sorts youngsters George Lethaby and Jack Green allowed them the opportunity to coast home.
What was frustrating about this match was that it was not won by a better team, it was won by players who knew the pitch and knew how to play it.
Of course this in an advantage in the home sides favour but if Oakley had batted out their overs for roughly 125 and bowled with a bit more thought for the conditions, the outcome may have been different.
Onwards and upwards.