Windy conditions of no help to selectors

BY PHIL SKOGLUND

OPINION: Manawatu beat Hawke's Bay in all grades last Sunday in conditions no player would have enjoyed.

The strong south-westerly winds made bowling difficult and would not have helped selectors Lyn Elphick and Eric Watson finalising teams for the quadrangular late next month.

In recent years these teams have involved six players, but with the change from triples to fours by Bowls New Zealand, I'm sure the numbers will be increased to seven.

So from last weekend's fixture, one player per team will be dropped, or will our selectors widen their player base again?

The dropping by BNZ of the development grade as a national event enables centres to experiment by exposing young players to inter-centre competition.

The elevation of Shane Rogers to the senior side last weekend gave other players an opportunity to skip a rep side.

Would Eric have done this if the development grade was a national event?

It reminds me of my decision a couple of years ago when I kept Desiree Lambert in the development side to help bolster the centre's chances of winning both grades.

I think Shane deserves another go, so who will Eric drop?

Or will he consider Neil Gordon, one of the form players at Wanganui a few weeks ago?

I can't read Eric too well. He has surprised me before and no doubt will do it again this season.

Lyn will have to drop two players, assuming Sheryn Blake is available. So her decision will be a little harder.

One thing to come out of the women's event was the success of Feona Sayles' change to Redline bowls.

The quadrangular will be a lot harder to win, with Wellington and Kapiti Coast having strong sides. We only need to remember last year's in the Wairarapa.The nationals start on December 28.

The host centre, Wellington, plus Kapiti Coast, make up 70 per cent of the entry, while the South Island men and women have five teams each in the fours.

Teams from the northern area of the North Island are eight women and nine men, while composite entries involving players from both islands or overseas add another two women's and six men's sides.

Total entries: Women – singles 200, pairs 174, fours 84. Men – Singles 392, pairs 288, fours 112. Can we still call this a national?

Manawatu's representation: Women – Two Northern teams, one from Johnston Park (which includes a Northern bowler) and a composite side.

Men – One team from Johnston Park, composite teams from Northern (2), Terrace End and Takaro.

Other Manawatu bowlers are in the pairs and singles only. In total we have about 40 players competing.Feilding's Tony Jensen suggests another way of selecting our centre officials which has merit.

If our 16 clubs were divided into four clusters of four and each cluster had two people on the executive, we should get better input.

The clusters could meet to discuss regional or centre issues which could then be relayed by their delegates.

Changes need to happen. Is this one of them?Don't forget entries close on January 4 for the centre open singles and fours so get them in before Christmas.

At Anniversary Weekend, Wanganui East are holding a men's open fours. If interested, give me a call.

The tournament is Saturday and Sunday only.

Northern are holding an Open Easter triples on Saturday, Sunday and Monday with entries restricted to the first 32 received. As a parting wish consider the following:

The deletion of our present centre open tournaments.

Discussion with Kapiti and Wanganui about a regional division-one interclub involving four clubs from each centre, men and women.

Sponsorship to cover travel and first-prize costs is available.

Each centre runs a domestic second division, the winners replacing the bottom centre side in the regional event the next season.

Champion of champions be the vehicle for any national events that may be reinstated in future.

The freeing of centre tournament dates to provide days for an extended and more interesting interclub.I have been asked why I have decided to give up writing this column and, truthfully, I have run out of ideas to present to you.

To those who have contributed over the years by email, phone or comment, my thanks.

And to all others, join and enjoy our sport.

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