Bowls By David Taylor

Published at 11:51, Thursday, 25 September 2008

AFTER the success of the Professional Bowls Association Qualifiers last week, there is another treat in store for bowls spectators when the World Singles and Pairs Qualifiers take place at Cumbria Indoor Bowls Club in Carlisle.

Pairs hopes: Ben Sherwen

Though not as strong numerically there should once again be some great bowling and there is a very good representation of local bowlers to give the home supporters every chance of something to cheer.

The singles commences at 9am on Saturday and no less than four Cumbrians will be taking part in the first session of play.

Ben Sherwen meets Lancashire’s David Lockhart while Stuart Airey will face Ian McIntosh. Craig Docherty plays Chris Gale and Stephen Farish is set to face Alex Bryden.

In the second session Mark Nanson plays Jason Taylor, Danny May meets Steven Roberts and Trevor Taylor plays club mate Ian Gallagher.

The second round is scheduled for 1pm, the quarter finals 2.45pm, the semi-finals 4.45pm and the final is due to commence at 6.45pm.

On Sunday, the World Pairs qualifiers commence at 10am and again is there is good local interest.

Ian Gallagher and Trevor Taylor team up and will meet Ian McIntosh and Eddie henry while Danny May and Stuart Airey face Martin and Chris Gale.

Ben Sherwen and John Baird pair up against J Taylor and P Stoker and Craig Docherty and Stephen Farish play D Booth and Phil Rimmer.

Round two is due to commence at 11.45am, the semi-finals at 2.15pm and the final at 4pm.

The winner of the singles qualifier will go through to the World Professional Singles while the winner of the pairs qualifier will go to Lincoln on October 19 to contest the playoff for a place in the World Pairs finals.

County Indoor Bowls

On the County Indoor scene another poor turnout for the AGM mean that a number of decisions regarding county administration have yet to be resolved but the first County fixture will take place on October 9, when the new Over 60s Liberty style competition will commence.

Three rinks will play against Yorkshire at Cumbria Indoor Bowls Club in Carlisle while the three away rinks will travel to Selby in Yorkshire.

The new competition has a new scoring format with 26 points available for each game.

Each winning rink scores two points, there are four points for each winning venue plus six points for an overall win.

It does seem to me to be somewhat overly complicated and of course in a league situation it is very much biased in favour of a winning team to the extent that a county which has six single shot winning rinks will take all 26 points, hardly a reflection of the game as a whole.

The first full Liberty Trophy game is also against Yorkshire and that match commences at noon on Saturday October 25.

The second Over 60 game sees Durham providing the opposition and this game is to be played on Tuesday October 28, again the home rinks will play in Carlisle, the away venue has yet to be confirmed.

The final Over 60 game against Lancashire looks likely to be in December but the date and venues have yet to be confirmed.

Any players wishing to take part in the new Over-60 County League should place their names on the lists within their own club and particularly for the first game on October 9 should do so as soon as possible as selections will be made in the very near future.

Outdoor Bowls

The outdoor season is only just ending but preparations for next year are already in hand and provisional programmes will be circulated to clubs in the near future.

News from the Northern Counties AGM is that the new catering arrangements of pre match buffet have been successful and will continue for all Northern Counties matches next year though arrangements for games against Midland Counties have yet to be finalised.

There is also the possibility that the format of the Muras Cup is to be changed with effect from 2010 though whether the new regime will allow Cumbria to enter has not yet been decided.

Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk