Staggered start did one pairs match no favours

At Terrace End on Sunday, the ringing of the bell early for the completion of the third round in the centre pairs saw Pat Horgan trailing Dave Free by four or five shots.

With either two or three ends to play (pardon the vagueness, but each team I spoke to had different figures), the situation is still to be resolved.

Rex Easton, the centre representative, thought he was doing players a favour when he permitted a staggered start in the third round.

Only seven games had to be played and throughout the day the time limit had not been required. With some outside city teams involved, Rex let games begin without taking note of the different times. The end result had Pat and Dave's game being called off about 40 minutes early.

An apology has been given to the players and a request that they find a time and date to complete the game. Logically, the draw for post-section play will be changed should Pat win the match.

Let's hope that is the last of the centre's problems for this season.Three bad decisions by Bowls Manawatu-appointed representatives were the feature of last weekend's play.

The centre has a greens inspection team whose job is to grade the greens for tournament play.

The selection of Hokowhitu club for the men's and women's pairs, from reports I have received, showed that the inspection team didn't do a good job.

At Takaro on Saturday and at Hokowhitu on Sunday, a departure from the rule about returning an incorrectly delivered jack was permitted without being in the conditions of play.

Umpires give up their time to police the conditions of play and rules of our game, so the decision was right, the process wrong. This weekend sees the first outing of our senior and development rep sides.

The men will be playing for the Arnott Shield and Duckett Trophy in Wanganui, while our women, for the first time, play Taranaki at Terrace End.

With Ray Lovie intending to go to Australia and Stephen Wood already there, selector Eric Watson has lost two of his national-winning team from last year. With Philip Skoglund jnr unavailable, the opportunity to try new talent in his team of 12 was expected.

Pat Horgan, Ross Ellery, David Walker, Terry Johnson, Steve Toms and former development player Tui Niwa make a good base, but the inclusion of Brian Little, Don Sones, Paul Rowe, Neil Gordon, Keith Walker and Kevin Suisted is surprising. It's not that they don't deserve consideration, but with the exception of Paul and Keith, they haven't been in the frame for a few years.

I understand some former development players were not available due to weddings, birthdays etc. But I found it strange Takaro scheduled club championships for the same weekend.

Not only did it make the player choose between club and centre, but it also denied their members from playing in the RSA elimination on the Sunday. Surely this wasn't the only date available.

I'm also aware some players had issues with the centre or the selector last season. The game is more important than that, so what about reconsidering your position? Our game and centre need everybody pulling together. On Labour Monday, the Hokowhitu club had an open day; 40 attended with five joining that day.

Hokowhitu has always been a promoter of our game and in youth bowls, a leader. One of their stalwarts, Don McPhee, has been the driving force for the youth and it is regrettable Don has lost his sight recently.

Northern had their first night of Mates in Bowls last Wednesday with 80 non-bowlers trying their hand, having fun and looking forward to the other five nights.

Terrace End has started a Target bowls competition for players and intending members.

This weekend a further session will be held. Our Manawatu development side is a mix of experience and youth and should do well in the Duckett. Many of the players haven't completed five years play, so it's good to see Eric giving our future champs an early start in intercentre bowls.

The team: Mark and Eion McIntosh Ashhurst, Cameron Nairn, Ben Hamilton, Martin Hammond (Northern); Brian Harris (Himatangi), Shane Rogers, Mike Abraham, Grant Simms, Cameron Fitzgerald (Terrace End); Ted Hodgson, Jacob Aldridge PN).

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