EXTREME WEATHER AT OAKLEY

On Tuesday afternoon, Surrey arrived at Oakley to play Bowls Hampshire and after lunch and a few drinks Oakley President, Jim Fitzgerald, was soon welcoming the two teams onto the green. By now the temperature was around 30C and it was sticky and very humid and the decision was taken to dispense with "threes up". It was Surrey that coped best with the oppressive conditions and eventually they ran out comfortable 120 shots to 93 winners. The consolation for the Hampshire team was that they were then able to retire to the Malshanger Clubhouse where John Wilson served them drinks and Margaret Lee and her team provided their usual excellent meal. Both teams, before departure, also had the opportunity to purchase our local delicacy - the famous Summerdown mints.

The evening was to see a dramatic change in conditions. A few club singles games were scheduled but, given the Met Office yellow warning of thunderstorms around 8 pm, there was concern about whether the Basingstoke and District Pairs game between Ric Newson and Spencer Kerley and the Kingsclere pair of Bob French and Martin Cooper would be played to completion. In the event as the 11th end commenced there had been no rain, even though thunder had been rumbling around and there had been lightning in the distance. How quickly things changed. By the time the end was finished torrential rain was lashing down and the players had to take shelter. The green was soon flooded and it was some 45 minutes before Ric was brave enough to recover the bowls. Abandonment meant that Kingsclere had the option to come back at a later date to complete the match but they declined the option as they were well down and conceded the game. The Oakley Pair will now meet another Kingsclere team in the District semi-final on the 8th August.