The area final of the new Top Club competition will be between Gilt Edge and Broadway. Broadway earned their placwe in the final with a victory over Ross-On-Wye, whilst Gilt Edge beat Worcester B.C. in a high quality match on Friday night. The competition consists of a two wood singles, four wood singles, pairs, triples and fours with the winning team being the one that wins the most formats. The winner of the area final will be through to the last 32, with the semi's and final being held at Worthing later in the year.
Despite the changes forced upon them (6 changes from the first Midland Counties victory over Nottinghamshire) Worcestershire continued their excellent start to the season by beating Leicestershire by 15 shots at New Lount on Saturday. Worcestershire knew they would be without Grant Burgess, Edric Vorsterman and Gary Harrisson but also lost Malcolm Oldnall, Marc Stones and Simon Jones from the team originally selected. Andy Pain, Norman Deeprose (making his first Midland counties appearance since 1984), Count President John Weston, Wayne White, Keith Weaver and Brian Borthwick all came into the side and contributed to Worcestershire continuing their winning run in competitive fixtures. Worcestershire managed to win on four of the six rinks in their 125-110 victory and so picked up 18 points to Leicestershire's 4. Winning rinks were recorded by Rob Stanley (26-17), Brian Borthwick (21-17), Dean Hemming (24-15) and Rob McCaughtrie (24-17), defeats were suffered by Ian Jenkins (15-21) and Phil Moule (15-24). Worcestershire return to Middleton Cup action next Saturday when they will play Wiltshire at Gilt Edge at 2pm. Full match details of the Leicestershire match can be found here.
The Worcestershire selectors have been forced to make a few changes for the Midland Counties match against Leicestershire at
New Lount on Saturday (14/06/2003). Grant Burgess, Edric Vorsterman and Gary Harrison are unavailable and are replaced by Andy Pain,
Brian Borthwick and Keith Weaver. Worcestershire will also be hoping that Malcolm Oldnall's bad back has recovered sufficiently to allow him
to play. Worcestershire beat Nottinghamshire in their first game in the competition (Francis Burton Trophy) which they are looking to retain
following their record breaking points tally last year.
The team is:
Simon Jones, Ian Crowe, John Weaver, Rob Stanley
Craig Hall, Andy Pain, Paul Speake, Ian Jenkins
Richard Hall, Mark Sandoz, Rob Dawson, Phil Moule
Dave Wilde, Colin Hemming, Brian Borthwick, Rob McCaughtrie
Steve Parker, Keith Weaver, Arthur Jackson, Malcolm Oldnall
Malcolm Baker, Dale Harrison, Marc Stones, Dean Hemming
Reserves: Pete Davis, Wayne White
Worcestershire gained revenge over Somerset for their defeat in last years competition. Whilst Worcestershire only one by one shot (23-22), they were well in control leading by five shots going into the last end, and whilst Somerset scored four there was no chance of them scoring the five that they needed. Worcestershire's team of Marc Stones, Steve Parker, Rob Stanley and Grant Burgess will now compete in the area finals at Clevedon on July 6th (date and venue to be confirmed). Full match details can be found here.
Worcestershire opened their Middleton Cup campaign with an 18 points to 4 victory against Herefordshire at Kington B.C. on Saturday (07/06/2003). Worcestershire were playing at Kington for the first time since their defeat there in 1998 (the last time Herefordshire beat Worcestershire in the Middleton cup) and were determined that there would be no repeat. Worcestershire, who were forced to make a late change with Brian Borthwick replacing the injured Malcolm Oldnall, ran out winners 123 - 111, winning on four rinks to secure their 18-4 points victory. Winning rinks were recorded by Dean Hemming (30-18), Brian Borthwick (19-18), Rob McCaughtrie (26-10) and Grant Burgess (21-17). Rob Stanley narrowly lost 16-15 and Phil Moule went down 32-12. Worcestershire's next Middleton cup game will be at Gilt Edge on Saturday 21st June at 2pm against Wiltshire. Wiltshire beat Warwickshire in their first game (18-4), so the winners of the match will put themselves top of the table with just one game remaining. Full match details can be found here.
Worcestershire's under 25's double rink progressed through to the last 16 with a hard fought 2 shot victory against Warwickshire at Gilt Edge on Sunday morning. Craig Hall's rink suffered a narrow defeat 19-20, but Worcestershire progressed with Marc Stones' rink recording a 20-17 win. Worcestershire will now go on to play the next round at a neutral venue (Bath B.C. on 22/06/03). Full match details can be found here.
Following their England trials, all three Worcestershire players have had good news. Grant Burgess has been selected to play in the
British Isles Series to be held at Ayr on Wednesday 2nd and Thursday 3rd July. Grant will again be playing three to Danny Denison and
will be hoping to pick up his 50th appearance in his fourteenth series. Marc Stones and Craig Hall have both been chosen in a reduced squad
of 32 players who have been invited to a squad training session and final trial for the Junior series. This trial will be held at
Royal Leamington Spa on Sunday 13th July.
The Senior team for the British Isles Series is:
John Rednall (Suffolk), Adrian Holden (Suffolk), John McGuinness (Bucks), Kirk Smith (Bucks)
Dean Morgan (Hants), Greg Moon (Oxon), Grant Burgess (Worcs), Danny Denison (Devon)
Alan Prew (Oxon), Stuart Airey (Cumbria), Graham Ashby (Warks), Ian Bond (Devon)
John Ottaway (Norfolk), Mervyn King (Norfolk), Graham Shadwell (Wilts), Stephen Farish (Cumbria)
Mark Bantock (Bucks), Neil McKee (Northants), Robert Newman (Berks), Steve Warren (Wilts)
Nick Cammack (Notts), Simon Skelton (Derby), Brett Morley (Notts), Andy Thomson (Kent)
Reserves: Michael Arnold (Kent) & Duncan Robinson (Notts)
The team for the final junior trial is:
David Roe (Cornwall), Craig Shepard (Dorset), Ian Gallagher (Cumbria), Paul May (Hants)
Craig Docherty (Cumbria), Roger Teague (Cornwall), Robert Paxton (Devon), David Bolt (Durham)
Chris Young (Surrey), Ben Sherwan (Cumbria), Steve Knight (Gloucs), Craig Cooper (Northumb)
Luke Nunn (Beds), Craig Hall (Worcs), Aaron Lockhart (Notts), Marc Stones (Worcs)
Simon Jones (Beds), Neil Hope (Wilts), Chris Gale (Lancs), Paul Ging (Northumb)
Simon Gilbert (Warks), Lee Haywood (Devon), James Webber (Devon), Darren Woolner (Cornwall)
Nick Welsh (Oxon), Craig Northam (Durham), Craig Doughty (Somerset), Shaun McCaughan (Kent)
Paul Coleman (Surrey), Richard Chandler (Cumbria), Tim Stone (Norfolk), Gavin Taylor (Cumbria)
The Worcestershire selectors have decided to stick with the same team for the Middleton Cup team to play against Herefordshire
at Kington B.C. next Saturday (7th June @ 2pm). In their first game of the season Worcestershire beat Nottinghamshire (winning on four rinks)
and everybody obviously did enough to convince the selectors that they should stick with the same team. The other teams in
Worcestershire's group are Warwickshire and Wiltshire.
The team is:
Simon Jones, Ian Crowe, John Weaver, Rob Stanley
Craig Hall, Paul Speake, Ian Jenkins, Grant Burgess
Richard Hall, Mark Sandoz, Rob Dawson, Phil Moule
Dave Wilde, Colin Hemming, Edric Vorsterman, Rob McCaughtrie
Gary Harrison, Steve Parker, Arthur Jackson, Malcolm Oldnall
Malcolm Baker, Dale Harrison, Marc Stones, Dean Hemming
Reserves: Pete Davis, Mark Bywater, Keith Weaver, Andy Pain,
Wayne White, Hughie Lammas, Simon Allen & Brian Borthwick
Following many strong performances in the under 25 friendly win over Gloucestershire (details can be found
here), the county selectors have chosen the following team to play Warwickshire in the
first round of the Under 25 Double Rink to be played at Gilt Edge (10am Sunday 1st June).
The team to play Warwickshire is:
Chris Garfield, Richard Moule, Simon Allen, Marc Stones
Gareth Roberts, Rob Logan, Simon Thursfield, Craig Hall
Reserves: Andrew Walters and Allan Griffiths
Assuming that Worcestershire player's played in the rinks in which they were originally selected (and I have heard nothing to the
contrary), Grant Burgess (playing three to Danny Denison) won both his games (beating Gordon Charlton 11-7 and Martin Sekyer 18-5).
In the Junior trials Marc Stones (skipping) beat Adrian Finnie (with Craig Hall at number three) 19-10 and then went on to draw against Shaun McCaughan
15-15. Craig Hall recovered in the second match to beat David Bolt 17-10. Following these good results all three will be hopeful of
making the England teams later in the year.
The full trial results were:
Senior Session 1
N Smith 19, P Downs 12;S Farish 12, I Bond 8;D Denison 11, G Charlton 7;R Newman 11, S Warren 22;P Broderick 16, K Smith 14; I Mayne 14, A Thomson 7
Senior Session 2
M Sekyer 5, D Denison 18;K Smith 18, P Downs 6;S Warren 19, S Farish 16;A Thomson 16, N Smith 13;I Bond 13, I Mayne 12;G Charlton 22, P Broderick 9
Junior Session 1
J Webber 7, D Bolt 12;P May 13; G Taylor 12;P Ging 17 S McCaughan 9;N Worley 11, D Woolmer 18;M Stones 19, A Finnie 10;C Cooper 16, S Knight 9
Junior Session 2
P May 11, A Knapper 10;A Finnie 17, D Bolt 10;G Taylor 19, D Woolmer 8;P Ging 9, C Cooper 22;G Nash 24, N Hope 9;M Stones 15, S McCaughan 15
Worcestershire opened their defence of the Francis Burton Midland Counties League Championship with a 24 (124-100) shot victory over Nottinghamshire at Gilt Edge on Saturday 17th May. Worcestershire recorded victories on 4 of the 5 rinks and in doing so earned 18 points with Notts getting 4. Despite the margin of the victory, Worcestershire only pulled away over the last three ends, hsving only lead by 4 shots (98-94) at the 18 end mark. They were helped by a six from Malcolm Oldnall's rink on the twentieth end. Winning rinks were recorded by Dean Hemming (24-11), Grant Burgess (20-12), Rob Stanley (28-15) and Rob McCaughtrie (22-17). Rob McCaughtrie's win was particularly impressive as his opponents included England internationals Nick Cammack and Brett Morley. The losing rinks were Malcolm Oldnall (14-28) and Phil Moule (16-17). Details of the match can be found here. Worcestershire's next competitive match is a Middleton Cup match against Herefordshire at Kington B.C. on Saturday 7th June.
Dave Wilde has been called into the team to play against Nottinghamshire in the Midland Counties competition next Saturday (17th May). He will play in place of Derek Wallcroft at lead in Rob McCaughtrie's rink. This change has come about due to an unfortunate injury (achiles tendon) which will keep Derek out for most of the season.
Worcestershire have organised an Under 25 Friendly fixture against Gloucestershire at Suffolk Square (Cheltenham)
on Sunday 18th May at 10.00 AM. This match will be used to fine tune the team for the Double Rink competition in which Worcestershire
have been drawn at home against Warwickshire (Sunday 1st June at Gilt Edge starting at 10am). There will be at least two
positions up for grabs in the double rink side as Paul Speake (too old) and Richard Hall (work commitments) are unavailable this year
having played in last year's competition.
The team to play Gloucestershire is:
Chris Garfield, Andrew Walters, Richard Moule, Marc Stones
Michael Exon, Matt Gibbon, Simon Thursfield, Craig Hall
Gareth Roberts, Shane Lyons, Rob Logan, Simon Allen
Martin Hall, Andy Hall, Allan Griffiths, Dan Wilde
Worcestershire begin their defence of the Francis Burton Midland Counties League trophy with a
home game against Nottinghamshire. The game will be played at Gilt Edge on Saturday 17th May with a 2.00 start.
The selectors have opted to take a look at two new combinations at three/skip, as this is their one chance to try
out new combinations before the start of the Middleton Cup campaign. Edric Vorsterman will play three to Rob McCaughtrie, with
his number three from the last few years (Dean Hemming) being given the chance to prove his worth as skip. Dean has Marc Stones at
number three. Also returning to the team this year is Dale Harrison who will be adding his vast experience to Dean's rink.
The team is:
Simon Jones, Ian Crowe, John Weaver, Rob Stanley
Craig Hall, Paul Speake, Ian Jenkins, Grant Burgess
Richard Hall, Mark Sandoz, Rob Dawson, Phil Moule
Derek Wallcroft, Colin Hemming, Edric Vorsterman, Rob McCaughtrie
Gary Harrison, Steve Parker, Arthur Jackson, Malcolm Oldnall
Malcolm Baker, Dale Harrison, Marc Stones, Dean Hemming
Reserves: Pete Davis, Mark Bywater, Keith Weaver, Andy Pain,
Wayne White, Dave Wilde, Hughie Lammas, Simon Allen & Brian Borthwick
The team for this years Top Four competition has been selected and shows one change from last years team with Marc Stones replacing Dave Wilde following his success last year and the teams failure to qualify for the semi-finals for the first time in four years. Dave can consider himself unlucky to miss out having contributed so much to the recent successes. The team is Marc Stones (Gilt Edge), Steve Parker (Gilt Edge), Rob Stanley (Worcester) and Grant Burgess (Gilt Edge). Dave Wilde (Gilt Edge) and Dean Hemming (Worcester) have been selected as the reserves. The first round match will be against Somerset and will be played on 8th June at Winscombe B.C. with a 10.30 start.
The trial teams have been selected for the Senior and Junior British Isles
home international series for 2003. Grant Burgess (Gilt Edge B.C.) has once
again been selected in the senior trial where he will be hoping to be selected
for his fourteenth consecutive series. He has been selected as number 3 to Danny
Denison (Devon), a position he has occupied for the last six series. There are
also junior trials for Marc Stones and Craig Hall of Gilt Edge. Marc has again
been selected at skip (as he was in last years unsuccessful trial) and will be
hoping that last year's achievements will not be forgotten (Grant and Marc were
finalists in last years National Pairs competition). Craig is out to retain the
place he earned in last years Junior team. Last year Craig earned his place in
the team despite originally being selected as a non-travelling reserve for the
trial. The junior trial will be held at New Lount B.C. in Leicestershire on
Saturday 24th May, with the senior trial at the same venue the following day.
Senior Trial Teams
Red
Michael Bowley (Notts), Steven Wade (Leics), Duncan Robinson (Notts), Nigel
Smith (Essex)
John Ottaway (Norfolk), Mervyn King (Norfolk), Martin Sekjerl (Hants), Stephen
Farish (Cumbria)
Dean Morgan (Hants), Greg Moon (Oxon), Grant Burgess (Worcs), Danny Denison
(Devon)
Mark Bantock (Bucks), Neil McKee (Northants), Graham Shadwell (Wilts), Robert
Newman (Berks)
Neil Rees (Northants), Mark Clarke (Warwicks), Andrew Baxter (Cumbria), Paul
Broderick (Northants)
Alan Prew (Oxon), Mark Royal (Suffolk), Stephen Birdsey (Northumberland), Ian
Mayne (Lancs)
White
Clive Benham (Somerset), Andrew Briden (Herts), Mark Dyer (Wilts), Phil Downs
(Devon)
Andy Wills (Gloucs), Stuart Airey (Cumbria), Graham Ashby (Warwicks), Ian Bond
(Devon)
Paul Barnicott (Kent), Nicky Brett (Hunts), Trevor Taylor (Cumbria), Gordon
Charlton (Kent)
Michael Arnold (Kent), Neil Corbyn (Northants), Billy Jackson (Lincs), Steve
Warren (Wilts)
John Rednall (Suffolk), Adrian Holden (Suffolk), John McGuinness (Bucks), Kirk
Smith (Bucks)
Nick Cammack (Notts), Simon Skelton (Derbys), Brett Morley (Notts), Andy Thomson
(Kent)
Reserves: Mark Walton (Yorks), Ryan O'Flanagan (Herts)
Junior Trial Teams
Red
Robert Chisholm (Northumberland), Paul Bailey (Devon), Neil Hope (Wilts), James
Webber (Devon)
David Roe (Cornwall), Craig Shepard (Dorset), Russell Francis (Wilts), Paul May
(Hants)
Simon Jones (Berks), Neil Davies (Bucks), Chris Gale (Lancs), Paul Ging
(Northumberland)
Alan Seth (Essex), David Hubbard (Sussex), Paul Field (Kent), Norman Worley
(Middlesex)
James Branfield (Somerset), Neil Moulton (Norfolk), Aaron Lockhart (Notts), Marc
Stones (Worcs)
James Howlett (Norfolk), Daniel Cleverley (Leics), Andrew Knapper (Berks), Craig
Cooper (Northumberland)
White
Craig Docherty (Cumbria), Roger Teague (Cornwall), Robert Paxton (Devon), David
Bolt (Durham)
Paul Coleman (Surrey), Richard Chandler (Cumbria), Tim Stone (Norfolk), Gavin
Taylor (Cumbria)
Greg Fardell (Leics), Daniel Box (Warwicks), Craig Doughty (Somerset), Shaun
McCaughan (Kent)
Simon Gilbert (Warwicks), Craig Northam (Durham), Greg Nash (Suffolk), Darren
Woolmer (Cornwall)
Nick Holiday (Gloucs), Luke Nunn (Beds), Craig Hall (Worcs), Adrian Finnie
(Sussex)
Nick Welsh (Devon), Ben Sherwen (Cumbria), Lee Haywood (Devon), Steve Knight (Gloucs)
Reserves: Toby Cowling (Bucks), Paul Humphries (Yorks)