BBC BROADCAST WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 23rd
Some info and reminders to start off with:
- Commencing next Wednesday 30th and running for four Wednesdays, will be the Gordon Lewis ‘Spirit of Bowling’ competition. Also known as the FOSS Trophy, this event is for bowlers who are on the green on the Wednesday, and there is nothing bowlers need to do but have names on the list in the usual way and the Match Committee will randomly create teams of triples. Points are allocated for wins, and it’s the bowlers who have accumulated the most points who fill the placings and take out the prizes. So, come on chaps, turn out on the next four Wednesdays and automatically take part in the ‘Spirit of Bowling’ Competition!!
- Also coming up, this time in November on Saturdays, is the annual RSL Shield competition. Mittagong RSL has again very generously agreed to sponsor this event with prize money, so rewards will go to 1st, 2nd and 3rd placed teams along with a weekly lucky prize draw of $100. Open to both men and women, the event will be teams of four, randomly formed by the Match Committee to spread the talent, and played over three consecutive Saturdays. The schedule is now posted on the notice board awaiting your name!!
- And there is more . . . another event for you to think about and hopefully get onto your calendar! On Sunday October 11th a group of travellers will be visiting Bowral to play bowls and local bowlers are invited to join them for a 10am game. Gail Fraser and the women are organising this for anyone wishing to join the group, and the schedule for you to nominate is now posted on the notice board. The plan is to bowl at 10, and then follow with sit-down lunch at 1pm, and the total cost will be $30. Should be a fun day!!
- The Major Singles Championship event will continue on Saturday with the completion of the round 2 matches. These include Dugald Braithwaite Vs Ash Lewis (marker Gordon Lewis); Mick Flynn Vs Robin Staples (marker Graham Hartnup); Bob Edwards Vs Mick Fisher (marker Noel Fraser); Ross Barber Vs Peter Hall (marker Chris Forrester). Bowl well gentlemen; there are some eager round 1 winners waiting in the wings raring to go!!
- Bowlers are reminded of the AGM of the Bowral Bowling Club Ltd which will be held at 9.30am on Sunday October 25th at the Club, so that’s a date for your diary.
- And check below for the latest coach’s corner advice from coach extraordinaire Robin Staples!
Wednesday Social Bowls
On rink 8, newcomer Steve Spence, Ian Duncan and the ebullient Chris Forrester opened with a single against Alex Christlo, Wal Markow and Mick ‘potters’ Flynn but dropped an eye-watering SIX on the second end to have the wind knocked out of them! However, with Chris barking the encouragement, they were soon stabilised and by the eighth had levelled at 9 all. The game then settled into a tight battle with few shots between the teams as they moved through the back half. Chris’ team then led by three with two ends to play, but a four to Mick’s trio, thanks to some fine draws from Wal, put them one up. And the final end was a cracker . . . with bowls around the jack a pumped-up Chris put his last in for shot and game!! What a beauty . . . 20 – 18 to Chris’ boys!
On the next rink, Barry Werfel, Neil ‘rowdy’ Puckeridge and Denis ‘also rowdy’ Lees were matched at the start by Peter Hall, Mark Holdsworth and Terry Norwood to be 4 all after four. With Peter leading well, team Norwood advanced to 8 – 4 on the seventh, but slipped behind by a shot when they gave up an embarrassing FIVE shotter on the eleventh! Aaaah!! Denis’ trio then pushed the lead out to 14 – 10 with all three putting some nice ones close to the jack. Under pressure, team Norwood then responded with all bowlers lifting and getting slightly the better of his opposite. Grinding the ends out successfully, they pushed to the lead, and when stumps were pulled, the score was 21 – 17. Another beauty!!
In a pairs game, Graham ‘Pisa’ Hunt and Steve Day bounced from the blocks against Richard ‘gazelle’ Denman and Clive ‘dasher’ Neutze to lead 5 – 0 after three ends and then 10 – 5 after nine. Both were in fine touch with Graham all over the jack and Steve putting the final touches. Richard and Clive were not bowling badly, but were being shaded in anything they could offer. By the twelfth, the score was out to 15 – 6, but then, like the weather, a change came . . . Clive and Richard lifted, scored consecutively a four and FIVE, hit the lead and were smiling! The two teams then slugged out the ends and with one to play Clive and Richard were one up. In a final face-saver, Graham and Steve grabbed a double and the match at 21 – 20. No names, but there was more than one wobbler onto the next rink from this quartet!!!!!
In another pairs encounter, Mike ‘fish’ Hook and Viv ‘first’ Gear dropped the first couple of ends against Shane Harvey and pairs champ Bob Edwards, but by the fifth led 6 – 3. It was then that Bob and Shane really hit their straps, hounded the jack, and by the tenth had moved out to 14 – 6. A three shotter on the next end looked as though Mike and Viv had kick started a revival, but Bob and Shane had other ideas. A pair of threes ended that thought, and they then continued to outpoint Mike and Viv down the back straight on anything they could offer up. The final score and bragging rights went to Shane and Bob at 27 – 12.
On rink 12, Grahame ‘dragon’ Denman, gentleman Don Chapman and coach extraordinaire Robin Staples were clearly outplayed early by Terry ‘pep’ Salter, Paul ‘ricochet’ Rubie and the evergreen Gordon Lewis to be 0 – 6 after four ends and then 2 – 13 on the ninth! One team had shots in the head and the other didn’t!! However, a juicy four shotter on the tenth served as a heart starter for team Staples and by the thirteenth they were back in the contest at 8 – 14. Getting closer to the jack, Robin’s trio won four of the next six ends so that, with two ends to play, they were holding on at 14 – 19. Gordon’s team was not about to fold though; they grabbed a double to snuff out the challenge and take the game 21 – 15.
In the final game, Mark ‘wheel’ Barrow, Peter Marshall and Joe O’Donnell took the first two ends against Joel ‘AC/DC’ Hunt, Charles ‘morse’ Coode and the wily Owen Williams but were then all square at 4s on the sixth. It was then that this match slipped into a one-sided encounter with team O’Donnell unable to do anything wrong and the opposition unable to get anything going at all. Joe’s trio won nine ends on the trot, including a mouth-watering SIX shotter, and then ground out the ends with multiple shot counts. Maybe it was just one of those days! 37 – 5 was the final score.
Coach’s Corner No 12 by Robin Staples
Final word on jack delivery. Well not quite, one more comment on the value of a lead who can deliver the jack to the length requested by the skip.
Think of this scenario as I am sure we have all encountered a situation like this or at least not dissimilar.
The game starts and scores are even for a few ends. Then one team, say bowling to short ends, has a run of winning the ends and builds a lead. Eventually the other team wins an end and the skip knowing that they are not doing well on short ends calls his lead for a jack delivered for a long end.
Unfortunately, his lead either puts the jack into the ditch, or out of play or well short of the desired length. Result, the leading team are back to short ends and the game will be very hard to recover from this situation.
Leave aside the phycological effects for the whole team, which can be considerable. Note that in this situation the other lead has been doing his job very nicely by delivering the jack for those short ends as requested.
Being able to deliver the jack accurately is an asset for every bowler.
Coach’s Corner No 13
Our lead’s next requirement is to play draw shots close to the jack to lay a good foundation for the development of the head.
The “nitty gritty” of being a lead. Set your team up with bowls close to the jack. We have already discussed just how valuable these bowls are for a team, in fact, game winning.
Leads, new bowlers, have probably been told at some stage by a skip, “I don’t care where your bowls end up, but don’t be short” .
From the skip’s view point he is trying to avoid the dreaded “wall of bowls” that have to be navigated to reach the jack.
If you are trying to place your bowl close to the jack it is inevitable that some bowls will be short. However, if all your bowls fall short then it is time to take stock of the situation .
It is commonly said that the art of getting the length correct is correction.
Therefore, if your first bowl is short, make a determined effort not to be short with the next bowl, even to the extent of being a couple of yards long.