A heady combination of colts, newcomers and hopeless cases, formed the nucleus of the Oakley side that were comfortably beaten by Waverley on a chilly afternoon yesterday.
The Oaks batted first and although Dan Sumner (19) and Jack Brundle (12) made a good start, the wickets soon started to tumble, with Deano James going for a classy golden duck that was soon followed by dismissals for Ben Allum and Brad Compton-Bearne.
Bob Lethaby tried to steady the ship and look relatively composed for two overs before inexplicably doing an impression of a one armed man trying to kill a snake in a phone box, going plumb LBW for just four.
Alex Brundle then holed out for a quack quack, leaving George Lethaby to try hold the innings together and at least get the score past 50. George was joined by Tom Barnes who threw caution to the wind, hitting five 4’s in in his 27 during a rare glimpse of entertainment.
Waverley were worthy winners on a chilly afternoon
When Tom went, it was down to the young King brothers, Perry and Brett, to help George see the total past 100 and credit must go to Perry for aiding the score to 112, thus avoiding a scorecard that read ‘P.King Duck’ to rival the one achieved by South Africa’s Alan Donald some years ago.
George, to his credit, remained unbeaten on 22.
Defending the target, the Oaks started with George and Alex leading the attack and they achieved early success, removing both openers, but after a few chances came and went, Waverley edged themselves to victory despite further wickets for Alex, Dan Summer and Perry King that at least kept the game interesting.
All in all, the game was lost because of a bit of dodgy batting by those who could do a little better, but friendly games are there to offer cricket to all club members, regardless of ability and everyone got a good go yesterday and Waverley are good guests who always spend well behind the bar, so not a bad day out really.
Up the Oaks!