Week Two Men’s Singles and Rinks and Ladies’ Pairs and Triples

While the final of the men’s Triples was being played at the Burnside Club, all the Spanish Team spent time at the host club Edgeware Bowling Club, for a last morning of practice, after having rested for two days.  Team talks had taken place and it was just a case of final preparations for the start on Sunday morning.  The men had an added incentive to finish as highly placed as possible as they were currently placed 11^th and the aim was to be in the first 12 and ensure qualification for 2012 in Australia.

The first day of week two started promptly at 8.15 as three games were scheduled for everyone.   These were at three clubs and on four different greens.  Because of his foresight into this problem, we were all grateful that Tony Cummings had accredited four of us so each game had a mentor/water boy.

The ladies’ triples played very well against Cook Islands, always being in control despite the gusty wind which, at times, made drawing very difficult.  Sheri Fletcher delivered some excellent bowls when the head was against her achieving a good result of 23-9.  They struggled in their next game spoiling a chanced of winning, the problem being the vast difference in weight and line on the two sides of the green.  A team talk was held in the interval and a change of strategy developed for the future.  It paid dividends against the fancied Philippines’ triple and the players left the club some 12 ½ hours after they had arrived with confidence for the days to follow.  Pam and Carol, in the ladies’ pairs, proved that you must never give up when they were 5 down against Jersey going into the last end and picked up a 6 to win.  They followed this with a resounding victory the next morning against Argentina.  New Zealand were next on their list, the game being of such a standard that it was reported in the local press.  The last three ends were the telling point where New Zealand pulled out all the stops and won 27-16.

In the men’s singles, we were represented by Nick Cole and were expecting a good performance.  He did not let us down in the first game winning 21-0 against the Israeli in under 35 minutes.  There now begs the question about a new law that has been introduced into the sport, namely the right to give the mat away, particularly in the singles.  There are an increasing number of players now who have developed a firing shot even at a bare jack where their accuracy is bordering on 100%.  On the other side of the coin you have Nick who can outdraw the majority of players and is a joy to watch particularly when he converts heads with the perfect draw.  But then his opponent has the last wood and strikes the jack clean.  It is not the case of a back wood being required when the jack lands 20 yards away from the rink (or even over a 5 foot wall as happened at Papanui).   It would be interesting to have readers’ comments on this aspect of giving the mat away.

The men’s rinks were having problems gaining only one draw and two losses when two wins were expected.  Keith Jones put it very well the next day when the four had two good wins with a 16-14 against Zimbabwe and 21-8 against South Africa with his remark “They say a double diamond works wonders, it just shows what a good ROLLICKING can do!”    They played as a team and won their games as a team. 

The ladies’ trips continued with their new game plan and scored two more wins against Canada 24-13 and Swaziland 20-13 putting them 5^th in their group.

Tuesday saw vastly different weather conditions from humid and warm in the morning to strong winds, rain and cold in the afternoon.  Nick won his first game 21-18 against Australia when Aron Sherriff fired his last two woods and missed leading to a comment “Who shot the sheriff?”  Unfortunately, in his next game against New Zealand, his woods were continuously fired off the rink and he lost the match.  Pam and Carol tried to emulate Nick in their pairs against Australia.  Although losing, they had a fantastic match with head after head within a yard stick.  The ladies’ triples also lost in the morning to Australia as their woods were dispatched in all directions on one end - four being taken out with one bowl.  In the afternoon they won against Jersey 16-11 and were all set for Scotland the next day.  The 4s lost to Malaysia in the morning when they got off to a slow start.  At this level, there is no mercy given and everyone has to be on top form from the first wood.  They addressed the position in the afternoon with an excellent win over the Cook Islands 26-7.

At the end of three days, we were 6^th in the men’s singles, 4^th in the men’s rinks, 4^th in the ladies’ triples and 7^th in the ladies’ pairs.

There was a lot to play for with Nick rising to the challenge first when he beat the Canadian, who had won all his matches, 21-12.  To a certain extend it made his score against him one all because the Canadian had beaten Nick in the semi-finals in Ayr in the Atlantic Championships 21-20 although, as Nick said, the most important thing was league table position.  The ladies’ trips also started in fine form with an excellent win over Scotland 12-11.  The ladies’ pairs unfortunately lost and the men’s rinks only managed another draw against Norfolk Islands making five draws in total which must be a record.   The afternoon for everyone did not go according to plan with losses all round.  It remained to see what could be achieved or even rescued on the last day of group play.  We were knocking on the door but could we open it or better still take it off its hinges?

Nick, as expected, rose to the occasion when playing his match against Norfolk Islands.  It contained high drama as he had to dig deeper and deeper to recover from match saving and match winning shots.  The crowds gathered by the minute and saw a final shoot out with Nick the victor 21-20.  The rinks suffered disappointment losing to Papua New Guinea and were faced with needing a win in the afternoon against Jersey.,  Every team is fighting for its position and one could almost say it is the survival of the fittest becoming almost gladiatorial as every player gave their all.  In the end we did not make it but it was not for the want of trying.  Turning to the ladies’ triples, they fought long and hard and, although they lost to Zambia in the morning, they beat the semi-professional team from Malaysia by one shot which was a terrific achievement.  They did not make the quarter finals although they had lost only 4 games in their 11, which just shows the very high standard.  They also beat three of the teams that qualified for the quarter finals from their section as well as getting the same points as qualifiers in the other section.  They tried their hardest but it was not to be.

Lessons to be learned and projections for the future will be the subject of discussions at the next training session for the squad being arranged by Pat Metcalf, the National Coach.  I have a long list of items to talk about, some good and some bad, but that is for the team to discuss and plan for 2012 in November in Adelaide.

First, though, we have all to qualify in 2009 in Johannesburg which, I believe, will be in the May.  It will, though, be in the same format as the World Championships namely set play with reduced numbers of woods in the pairs and triples.  It is going to be a cost to all selected which will make the next meeting of the squad even more interesting.

The way the results have been displayed and updated on the website has been good in enabling all of you to keep right up to date with what is happening here.    Wouldn’t it be nice to see the same service available during our Nationals?

I hope these jotting have helped in letting every one know how your team have performed. 

We are off, touring the South Island, to enjoy a well earned rest after the finals on Sunday so see you all back in Spain later next month.

Graham Marlow