A vomit inducing batting display by the Sunday Oaks was the catalyst for a disastrous and thumping defeat at the hands of local rivals, Farleigh, on a scorching Sunday where temperatures hit 25 centigrade.
Batting first, the Oaks looked pretty safe with Michael Wood and Alex Brundle getting off to a steady start. However, when AB holed out and was followed by the daft run-out of Woody, it was only Matt Vickers steadying the ship.
Bob Lethaby came in at four, impersonated an epileptic cat break dancing on a hot tin roof before departing for a calamitous one, and was soon followed by Brett King and George Lethaby, who chopped on as he attempted to cut Andy Woodgate.
When Matt Vickers went for an excellent 43, wickets tumbled with Brad Compton-Bearne getting cleaned up going for an obligatory haymaker at thin air and Dan Sumner being a tad unfortunate to go to a flying catch.
When Perry King went for a duck it left Mark Potter abandoned without scoring and Oakley with an awful total 117 off 26 allocated Overs.
The Oaks were well beaten at a scorching Oakley Park
Defending the score, the Oaks bowled well enough with wickets for Mark Potter and Perry King early on, but Darrel Dimond arrived at he crease and began to dig in with grit and determination.
Darrel, the Oaks first team captain, thrives on pressure and the stick he was taking in the field was meat and drink as he dead batted everything that was thrown at him.
Watching the early part of a Darrel Dimond innings is about as appealing as an afternoon in a hot tub with Anne Widdicombe, but he gets the job done and he was an immovable rock in an innings where few chances were created against him.
Darrel’s eventual 50 came with some unique flamboyance and when he hit Dan Sumner for a six, Alex Brundle nearly started the walk home he had promised in the event of this rare occurrence.
Fair play to Darrel, it was an inning some of the Oaks players could learn from, as just by batting out their allocated Overs they could have made a game of it courtesy of an additional 50 or so runs on the board.
Well done to Farleigh, they were deserved winners against an Oakley side that, on paper, should do far better than the batting omnishambles that they displayed yesterday.
Up the Oaks!