Worcestershire have made four changes for this weeks Middleton Cup match against Warwickshire. With Dean Hemming unavailable, Paul Speake moves to skip, with Mark Sandoz coming in at three to Grant Burgess. The other two changes are both at lead with Gareth Burbridge and Wayne White replacing SimonJones and Edric Vorsterman respectively. Simon and Edric were unavailable for Saturdays match at Hewell. Worcestershire currently lead the group with 25 points but Gloucs and Wilts are only six points behind with a game in hand. Warwick have 19 points from their two games and Hereford 6.
Marc Stones of Gilt Edge has been selected to represent England in this years Junior International series. This is the third year that Marc has been selected, but unfortunately it will also be his last as he will be too old next year.The series will be played at Leamington Spa in September. The full team can be found on the EBA website.
Worcextershire went out of this seasons Top 4 competition losing 20 = 15 against Somerset. Worcestershire struggled to contain Somerset early on and trailed 12 = 0 after 5 ends. Despite a much improved display in the second half of the game Worcestershire never got closer than 4 shots. Worcestershire were represented by Simon Jones Arthur Jackson Rob McCaughtrie and Rob Stanley.
Worcestershire bounced back from their disappointing defeat against Gloucestershire with a 22 - 0 victory against Herefordshire. Worcestershire won on all six rinks to complete a 98 shot winning margin (166 - 68). Dean Hemmings rink showed the way with a 38-3 victory with Adrian Burbridge also having an easy win. Further comfortable rink wins were recorded by Marc Stones, Grant Burgess and Rob McCaughtrie. The clean sweep looked unlikely with three ends to go with Rob Stanley trailing by 6 shots, but a one and a five meant that they were all square going into the last end. But a draw with the last bowl secured Worcestershire the final two points and puts them in good spirits going into next weekends clash with Warwickshire at Hewell B.C.
With Worcestershire's England Internationals (Marc Stones ang Grant Burgess) unavailable Worcestershire have named a new look side for their Top 4 clash with Somerset at Bath on Sunday. Worcestershire will be represented by Simon Jones, Artur Jackson, Rob McCaughtrie and Rob Stanley. Whilst Rob Stanley has been an ever present since 1995, Simon and Rob McCaughtrie will be making their debuts in the Competition whilst Arthur played in the 1998 campaign. Grant and Marc will be unhappy to miss the game with Grant having played in every game since the competition was relaunched in 1993 and Marc having broken into the team in 2003.The new look team will hope to beat Somerset to give the selection committee a headache for the area qualifiers which are to be held at Clevedon on 26th June.
Worcestershire's Middleton Cup campaign got off to a bad start on Saturday with Worcestershire crahsing 19-3 against Gloucestershire at Frampton-On-Severn. Worcestershire lead for most of the match but let things slip badly over the last few ends. In fact on the last end (although not all played simultaneously Worcestershire conceded 21 shots (6,5,3,3,2,2) and scored none. This had a big difference in the match with Worcestershire only losing by 12 shots (133-121). The selection committee don't have long to consider the next team as Worcestershire's next match is on Saturday against Herefordshire at Chester Road. However many of the players need to consider what went wrong and work out how to maintain the performance right to the end. On a brighter note, there were good performances from Worcestershire's four Middleton Cup debutants (Andrew Walters, Paul Kitchen, Richard Payne and Richard Moule).
Congratulations are once again in order. Grant Burgess has again been selected to skip for England in this year's International Series in Belfast following successful trials last weekend. Marc Stones has also been selected for the final Junior International trial in a squad of 28. The Junior squad will play a final trial against the senior team next Sunday (12th June). This good news does have a down side however, as Worcestershire are due to play Somerset on the same day in the Top 4 competition and Grant and Marc had also been selected for that match. Details of the new Top 4 line up will be posted here as soon as it is known.
Last year's fantasy bowls competition was won by Marcus Smith with Rob McCaughtrie finishing second and Simon Bayliss third. The result was in doubt right down to the finals day, with Rob McCaughtrie ensuring that Marcus won the prize money by beating Rob Stanley in the singles final.
The Worcestershire Top Four of Marc Stones, Steve Parker, Rob Stanley and Grant Burgess completed a good weekend for Worcestershire when they beat Dorset in the first round of the Top Four competition 27-14. This means Worcestershire have qualified for the Area Finals for a 6th successive season. Worcestershire started off slowly but lead 8-3 after six ends (having been 3-1 down after three ends), but then lost four consecutive ends to trail 12-8 after 10 ends. Worcestershire then upped the level of their performance and went on to dominate the match winning 27-14 after 19 ends. Full match details can be found here.
Worcestershire seemed to have all the odds stacked against them when they travelled to take on Wiltshire at Wooten Bassett on Saturday. Wiltshire were last year's group winners and also went on to reach the semi finals. Worcestershire were without a number of their more experienced players for a number of reasons (Grant Burgess, Ian Jenkins, Phil Moule and Ian Crowe) and were giving first Middleton cup games to four players (Wayne White, Gareth Burbridge, Chris Garfield and Simon Thursfield). But despite all this Worcestershire turned in one of their best performances in many years when winning by 5 shots. Rink victories were shared 3-3, so Worcestershire gained 16 points to Wiltshires 6. Worcestershires winning rinks were recorded by Rob McCaughtrie, Dean Hemming and Rob Stanley (in his 75th Middleton Cup match), whilst defeats were suffered by Adrian Burbridge, Paul Speake and Edric Vorsterman. Full match details can be found here. Worcestershires next match will be against Leicestershire next Saturday in the Midland Counties at Worcester B.C., with their next Middleton Cup match being at Gilt Edge on Saturday 19/06 against Warwickshire. Both matches start at 2 p.m.
There were mixed emotions when the results of the England trials were announced. Grant Burgess has again been selected to play in the International Series at Llandrindod Wells from 28th to 30th June. Grant will be playing skip for the first time in the International series and will be supported by Mark Bantock, Nicky Brett and Rob Newman. Unfortunately, despite having decent trials there was no place in the team for either Simon Jones or Mark Atkins. Rob Stanley managed to get a game in the first trial game, having originally been named as a reserve. But it was always going to take a brilliant performance to get in the team and Rob only had an OK game. In the under 25 trials both Craig Hall and Marc Stones have been named in the 32 for the second Trial to be held during July. Full details of the trial results and selected teams can be found on the E.B.A. Official Website under News.
The County U25 Double Rink crashed out of this year's competition going down by 18 shots agaist Somerset. Worcestershire lost on both rinks Marc Stones losing 18-12 and Craig Hall going down 22-10. Full match details can be found here.
Worcestershire's hopes of winning the Francis Burton Trophy for the third consecutive season suffered an early set back when they went down by 18 shots against Nottinghamshire on Saturday. Worcestershire went behind at the start of the match and trailed throughout the match. Worcestershire did manage to win on two rinks to earn 4 points (Nottinghamshire getting 18 points). The winning rinks were secured by Rob Stanley (24-13) and Grant Burgess (19-15). Defeats were suffered by Marc Stones (10-22), Edric Vorsterman (20-25), Dean Hemming (23-26) and Rob McCaughtrie (10-23). This was a disappointing result and whilst there were a number of encouraging signs, the selectors will need to look carefully at the team before their next competitive match in the Middleton Cup against Wiltshire on June 5th. Full match details can be found here.
The team has been selected for this years Under 25 Double Rink competition. With some of last years team unavailable for this match
there are three new faces in the team. These are Martin Hall of Droitwich Spa, Matt Wilson of Manor Park and Andrew Walters of Broadway.
With Worcestershire's two junior trialists skipping the rinks, the team are hoping to progress through to the regional finals. The
first round match is against Somerset and will be played next Saturday (22nd May) at Keynsham B.C., Memorial Park, Bristol starting at 10 a.m.
The team is:
Gareth Roberts, Rob Logan, Andrew Walters, Craig Hall
Martin Hall, Matt Wilson, Richard Moule, Marc Stones
Reserves: Jamie Curtis, Rob Callaghan and Richard Hall
Worcestershire begin their quest for a third successive Francis Burton Midland Counties League trophy with a
visit to Nottinghamshire. As with all Notts home games, it will be held at their headquarters in Tattershall Road in Nottingham, on Saturday 15th May
with a 2.00 start. As always with this fixture the selectors need to balance the desire to win with the recognition that this is
their only chance to have a look at new combinations for the Middleton Cup campaign. One notable name
in the team is Gareth Burbridge who returned to Bowls during the winter and was very impressive. He comes in for his first
Midland Counties game since 1993 as lead to Rob Stanley. All six back end combinations are different from last year but all
look like they should work, whether they do or not remains to be seen.
Whilst five out of six
of last year's ever presents are still in the team (Ian Crowe, Colin Hemming, Dean Hemming, Mark Sandoz and Rob Stanley) it is the
sixth who deserves a special mention. Ian Jenkins has been the centre of the team on and off the green for a number of years and
was always proud to represent his county. However he has decided to take a break from bowls and will be greatly missed. Whether he
wll represent his county again is unknown but he deserves a huge thanks for all he has given. Now is the time for Worcestershire
to discover another Jenko, it's a tough act to follow but if Worcestershire are to continue to flourish they will need to have
players who turn out every match giving absolutely everything regardless of the situation. Jenko was not alone in showing these
traits but he seemed to stand out, everybody knew he was there and nobody was in any doubt that he wanted to win.
The team is:
Andy Pain, Colin Hemming, Adrian Burbridge, Edric Vorsterman
Derek Wallcroft, Pete Davis, Craig Hall, Marc Stones
Dave Wilde, John Weaver, Paul Speake, Grant Burgess
Simon Jones, Mark Sandoz, Rob Dawson, Dean Hemming
Gareth Burbridge, Ian Crowe, Steve Parker, Rob Stanley
Malcolm Baker, Hughie Lammas, Malcolm Oldnall, Rob McCaughtrie
Reserves: Chris Garfield, Phil Moule, Wayne White, Simon Thursfield,
Keith Weaver, Gareth Roberts, Brian Borthwick, Arthur Jackson
The team for this years Top Four competition has been selected and is the same as the one that lost out in last years semi final against Yorkshire by a single shot. The team being Marc Stones (Gilt Edge), Steve Parker (Gilt Edge), Rob Stanley (Worcester) and Grant Burgess (Gilt Edge). Simon Jones (Worcester) has been selected as reserve following his excellent 2003 season. The first round match will be against Dorset and will be played on 6th June at Gilt Edge B.C. with a 13.30 start. This will be the fifth time that Worcestershire have faced Dorset in the last six years and whilst Worcestershire have come out on top in each of the last four matches they have been close affairs. Worcestershire will need to be on top of their game to qualify for the regional finals later in the season.
The trial teams have been selected for the Senior and Junior British Isles
home international series for 2004 and Worcestershire have their strongest representation for many years. 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 fifteenth consecutive series and if selected will become one of asn
elite band to have made 50 appearances for his country. However it looks
unlikely that he will be in the same rink as hw was in last year's series as he
is involved with a new rink comprising of Chris Young, Stuart Thomas and Les
Gillett. Simon Jones and Mark Atkins (Worcester B.C.) have been rightly rewarded for their
excellent performances at Worthing last year with their first trials. They have
been selected together as a front end (Simon lead and Mark at two) for Richard
Bray and Clive Webb. They should at least know their teammates as Richard played
them in the semi-final of the fours and Clive was the skip against them in the
final of the pairs. In addition Rob Stanley has some what surprisingly been named
as a non-travelling reserve, as he didn't have an extra special season last year
and has been out of the picture since his last trial in 1999, but I'm sure this
is a reward for some consistent performances in the national championships since then. There are
also junior trials for Marc Stones and Craig Hall of Gilt Edge. Marc has again
been selected at three to Craig Cooper (a position he occupied in last years
series) and Craig has been selected at three to Aaron Lockhart. The junior trial will be held at New Lount B.C. in Leicestershire on
Saturday 29th May, with the senior trial at the same venue the following day.
Good luck to all involved.
Senior Trial Teams
Chris Young (Surrey), Stuart Thomas (Warwicks), Grant Burgess (Worcs), Les Gillett (Warwicks)
Greg Moon (Oxon), Neil McKee (Northants), Steve Warren (Wilts), Nigel Smith (Essex)
Dean Morgan (Hants), Stuart Airey (Cumbria), Graham Ashby (Warwicks), Ian Bond (Devon)
Alan Prew (Oxon), Neil Corbyn (Northants), Steven Birdsey (Northumb), Ian Mayne (Lancs)
Steve Mitchinson (Essex), Duncan Robinson (Notts), Danny Denison (Devon), Paul Broderick (Northants)
John Ottaway (Norfolk), Mervyn King (Norfolk), Graham Shadwell (Wilts), Stephen Farish (Cumbria)
Simon Jones (Worcs), Mark Atkins (Worcs), Richard Bray (Cornwall), Clive Webb (Suffolk)
John Rednall (Suffolk), Adrian Holden (Suffolk), John McGuinness (Bucks), Kirk Smith (Bucks)
Michael Bowley (Notts), Paul Barnicott (Kent), Mark Dyer (Wilts), Phil Downs (Devon)
Paul Coleman (Surrey), Mark Royal (Suffolk), Billy Jackson (Lincs), Mark Walton (Yorks)
Mark Bantock (Bucks), Nicky Brett (Hunts), Robert Newman (Berks), Trevor Taylor (Cumbria)
Nick Cammack (Notts), Simon Skelton (Derbys), Brett Morley (Notts), Andy Thomson (Kent)
Reserves: Darren Rowsell (Norfolk), Danny Brown (Lincs)
Non-Travelling: Neil Rees (Northants), Trevor Collins (Hunts), Rob Stanley (Worcs), Simon Leader (Hunts)
Junior Trial Teams
Craig Docherty (Cumbria), Tom Cawdell (Beds), Stephen Knight (Glos), Neil Hope (Wilts)
Sam Tolchard (Devon), Richard Chandler (Cumbria), Ian Williams (Wilts), James Webber (Devon)
Nick Welsh (Oxon), Ben Sherwen (Cumbria), Marc Stones (Worcs), Craig Cooper (Northumb)
Steffan Adcock (Norfolk), Ean Morton (Hunts), Jonathon Walker (Cumbria), Simon Law (Hunts)
David Sykes (Durham), Neil Moulton (Norfolk), Luke Nunn (Beds), Adrian Finnie (Sussex)
Simon Jones (Beds), Craig Sheperd (Dorset), Ian Gallagher (Cumbria), Paul May (Hants)
Paul Field (Kent), Craig Northam (Durham), Craig Hall (Worcs), Aaron Lockhart (Notts)
Allan Seth (Essex), Marc Dawes (Lancs), Nick Holliday (Glos), Jamie Chestney (Norfolk)
Danny May (Cumbria), Robert Drew (Cambs), Darren Woolner (Cornwall), Chris Rodgers (Leics)
Simon Gilbert (Warwicks), Lee Haywood (Devon), Craig Doughty (Somerset), Shaun McCaughan (Kent)
David Roe (Cornwall), James Branfield (Somerset), Chris Gale (Lancs), Paul Ging (Northumb)
Carl Brooks (Berks), Peter Jackson (Yorks), Roger Teague (Cornwall), Andrew Knapper (Berks)
Reserves: Daniel Box (Warwicks), Paul Humphrey (Yorks), Robert Chisholm (Northumb), Paul Pomery (Dorset)