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News from the Friends of English Bowling
Mar 2010
All our 2010 matches are
listed under the 'Matches' menu, and they take place across the country. We are
invited by a club, association or county to play them, which we are delighted
to do, paying our way and helping them to celebrate special occasions. All the
games we played in 2009 were greatly enjoyed with everybody joining in with the
fun of the day. We were always excellent guests managing to lose our matches by
one or two shots. We are a unified association and field a mixed side, but we
are willing to play all men, all women, or any sort of mixed sides - and
if there are any newly unified counties who want to celebrate their unification
by playing a mixed side against us, bring it on!
The Friends have the
"X Factor" so join us and join in.
Kath and Adie Lloyd
Nov 2009
Graham Clark, Promoter and
Organiser of the Bowlers Draw 2009, is keen to communicate that the Draw will
take place on Friday 26th February 2010, at the Bowls England (Mens) Dinner,
being held at The Walker Stadium, Leicester.
Unfortunately all Draw
tickets and posters were printed before the date of this Dinner was finalised,
and incorrectly state the date of the Draw as 20th February 2010.
The
Licensing Authority, The Gambling Commission, has been consulted re this change
and requires the Bowlers Draw Society (the Friends) to take reasonable steps to
communicate this change.
Aug
2009
Friends v Bedfordshire C.B.A. at Henlow Park B.C. -
4th June
The committee arrived at 10.30a.m. for a meeting to be greeted
by the ladies of the host club with tea or coffee and biscuits, the remainder
of the Friends team arrived at midday and were treated to an excellent buffet.
The game was played on a warm sunny day the green was very good and as always
the game was played in the right manner but unfortunately one of our rinks was
a little too friendly so overall we lost the game by 10 shots. We then returned
to the clubhouse for a wonderful after match meal provided by the ladies,the
hospitality we received all day was first class and we thank the club for
everything they did for us.
Friends v Bowls Wiltshire at North
Wilts B.C. - 17th June
On a warm windy afternoon at Chippenham we had
another enjoyable afternoon. But as in the previous game one of our rinks was a
little too friendly and once again we came second by a few shots, nevertheless
I am sure many new friends were made and old friendships renewed. The after
match meal was very good and once again I would like to extend our thanks to
the club for the use of their facilities.
July
2009
The 2008 Unapproved AGM Minutes are now available as a
pdf file -
please click here to view the Minutes.
'Friends'
v Metropolitan Police (Bushey) BC - 7th July 2009
This was a 75th
Anniversary Match for the club, which was formed in 1934 as the Metropolitan
Police No 2 District BC. It played then at the old Met Police Hendon Training
School and moved to the current very large (35 Acre) site at Bushey in 1967.
The Friends team was captained by Michael Poole, and the game was a huge
success.
Hospitality was excellent, first class venue and as part of
the Friends spreading goodwill around the Country we lost by 11 shots. Thanks
must go to Margaret Osborne of the host club for helping us out when we were
one player short, and also to Bryan Fox of Gloucestershire who came in at the
last minute and made the long journey with the boys from Wiltshire.
In
addition to Margaret, we had 7 other guests playing for us - Brenice Willmott
from Northamptonshire Ted Webb, Edith Coxhill, and Carole Dunn from
Hertfordshire and David Johns and Rod Amor from Wiltshire Our thanks to all
these players. If they enjoyed themselves maybe we can persuade them to join!
The rest of The Friends team came form 10 Counties - Beds, Bucks, Cambs,
Gloucs, Hereford, Herts, Middx, Northants, Wiltshire and Worcester. The five
lady non-playing guests were very well looked after by the host club.
All
in all a very successful day.
March 2009
Hon. Secretary - A message
from the Chairman
Unfortunately our Secretary, Roger Carter has
recently resigned due to an increase in workload associated with his many other
bowls commitments and responsibilities. Roger has been our Secretary since the
formation of the Friends and we sincerely thank him for all his hard work and
support over the past four years. Vice-Chairman, John Durston will assume this
role pending the appointment of a new Secretary. Anyone interested in this
position - please contact either John Durston or myself for more information.
Graham Clark - March 2009
December 2008
Web
Site Updates
As you know, we are now known as
The Friends of English Bowling, and in line with
that change, we now have a new web site address:
www.friendsofenglishbowling.co.uk.
Please 'bookmark' the site, or add
us to your 'favourites' now. Although the 'old' web address will still work, it
will eventually be phased out.
As part of the update, the new 'Friends'
logo has been introduced, and further web site amendments will be carried out
soon.
Bowlers Draw 2008
This year's Draw was operated by
the Bowlers Draw Society, a sub-committee within the Friends, and organised by
John & Freddie Austin and Howard Pryse, with Chairman Graham Clark
co-ordinating the Gambling Commission requirements. A number of 'Friends'
helped enormously by donating their printing, organisational and administrative
skills as well as selling and purchasing tickets.
The final accounting
has yet to be completed, but with total ticket sales of just over £50,000
the profit made by the BDS/Friends will be approximately £10,000 for use
within Bowls. The Clubs and Counties will have also benefitted by circa
£25,000 from their 50% 'donation' from their ticket sales. This is a
wonderful result especially given that the Draw resulted in a loss last year
(run commercially on behalf of the EBA) on ticket sales of just over
£53,000. Graham Clark commented that "we are all indebted to John,
Freddie and Howard for this great achievement - thank you".
The Draw for
the 38 Cash Prizes and the 5 Club prizes (for those who sold £100+
tickets) took place on Friday 21st November at the Bowls England Women's Dinner
in Leicester. The first Prize for £2,500 was drawn by Councillor Mrs
Judith Falp, Chairman, Warwick District Council. The remaining prizes were
drawn by the President of the Leicestershire Ladies County Bowling Association
Mrs Barbara Gamble, with the assistance of Mrs Chris Massie and Mrs Kathleen
McLoughlin.
The top selling Club this year was South Woodham Ferrers
from Essex, with a wonderful total of £1,200. Apart from the two
Mini-breaks that they won, the Club also benefited by £600 (50% of their
Sales) and three of the winning Cash prizes were from the tickets they
sold.
The organisers wish to thank all the County Agents, all the people
that they recruited within their Counties to work with them and all the Clubs
who took part, for the effort that they have all put in. It is recognised that
it has not been easy for anyone to sell tickets in competition with the various
other fund-raising schemes already in place at Clubs. Thanks also go to
Westlecot BC Swindon, who provided their Club facilities when needed for
administering the Draw. Finally, well-done to everyone who worked so hard and
contributed to the wonderful success that was the Bowlers Draw
2008.
Lists of prize-winners have been circulated to County Agents
and County Secretaries, and are also available from the links below. All
Prize-winners should contact John Austin to claim their prizes as soon as
possible.
 Cash Prize winners
Club Prize winners
(Please note: these
are Adobe .pdf files, which will open in a new window)
August 2008
We would like to welcome all new "Friends" to the Association as
Individual members, County Associations and Corporate sponsors. We would also
thank all our existing members for their continued support in 2008. We have
lost very few members since the "Friends" was originally set up and are
continually recruiting new members committed to putting something back into the
sport we all love and support.
As the majority of members are aware at
the Special General Meeting held in December the revised and amended
Constitution was adopted by the meeting; the main aim in amending the
Constitution was to enable us to apply for CASC status and reduce our tax
burden. Unfortunately the goalposts for registration appear to have changed and
we were unsuccessful in our application; in consequence the Executive Committee
agreed to withdraw our appeal in this respect rather than incur additional
significant costs. As members are aware from 1st January 2008 the English
Bowling Association ceased to exist and the EBA and EWBA amalgamated under the
new company "BOWLS ENGLAND". Although the majority of the members of the
"Friends" are men we are continually expanding our membership to encompass the
ladies and we hope to fully support both genders within our unified sport and
would welcome all interested ladies to become "Friends" and help us to achieve
this aim. Incorporated within the new constitution was a change in title to
"FRIENDS OF ENGLISH BOWLING" and this will be incorporated in due course
in a new badge and logo.
At our Committee Meeting held in May, John
Austin announced his resignation as Honorary Treasurer and Membership Secretary
and Committee Member Kath Lloyd, who was assisting John in the preparation of
the accounts, has been appointed as Treasurer for the remainder of the year.
Kath, with the assistance of Mike Poole, has been busy chasing the late
subscription payers and we would thank Mike for his help. We would ask that if
any member is able to help in reviewing the accounts and financial statements
she would be most grateful to hear from them. John Austin had been Membership
Secretary and Treasurer since the inception of the Association and we sincerely
thank him and Freddie for their input and guidance, particularly in recruiting
new members to the "Friends" in this very important period.
It is now
more important than ever that we maintain and increase our membership in order
to enable us to continue to sponsor some of the major Competitions. As members
are aware, in 2007 we successfully sponsored the EBA Champion of Champions,
National Pairs and National Fours Championships, the Mixed Fours Competition
and the Middleton Cup. In addition, as in previous years, we also sponsored the
cost of youth trips to Worthing during National Championship fortnight and also
provided the 'Friends' hospitality marquee to meet old friends and like minded
bowlers. The marquee was a great success will be repeated for this season's
Championships and we look forward to seeing you all there.
Bowls England
has obtained separate sponsorship this year for the Mixed Fours Competition and
the Middleton Cup so it is proposed that, in addition to the other
Championships we are already sponsoring, that the Friends sponsorship will be
transferred to the Men's National Club 2 x 4's, the National County Top 2 x
4's, provision of National Championship Travel Subsistence and also to
sponsoring the Ladies Champion of Champions Event.
In our sponsoring of one
of the Ladies major Championships we hope that it will encourage more Ladies to
become members of the "Friends" and assist with our sponsorship of
bowls.
In order to protect the financial benefit available to Clubs and
Counties, and as a major support and fund raising venture this year, the
Friends have taken over the Grand Draw previously operated by the EBA. In
former years this was run by a commercial lottery agency on behalf of the EBA
and experienced a decline in ticket sales and increase in costs.
By
operating the "BOWLERS DRAW" ourselves we hope to reduce operating
costs, printing and postage and hopefully deliver a considerable profit for all
participating clubs with any remaining funds being ploughed back into
sponsoring the National Championships and youth visits to Worthing. As
previously all clubs receive 50% back from the tickets they sell for their club
funds. Tickets can be obtained from any member of the Committee. The draw is
being masterminded by our Chairman Graham Clark, John Austin and Howard Pryse
and we thank them for their input in the immense amount of work involved in
this venture.
As members are aware, although we are not an Association
playing a multitude of matches, John Durston, our Match Secretary, is active in
arranging a few matches each season. The first match this year was against
Dorset CBA at Gillingham in June with Dorset running out winners by 2 shots.
The annual match against Bowls England competing for the Ian Woodcock Trophy
was held this year in July at the Borough of Eye BC in the President's home
County of Suffolk with the Friends regaining the trophy. Further matches have
been arranged against Bowls England Ladies President's Teams at Leamington, the
Bowls England President's Select Team at Worthing, Three Counties BA, the
Runner-Up Club of the Year Prittlewell BC in Essex and Yorkshire CBA at
Kingston BC Hull. John reports that it is a problem to find sufficient players
for some of these matches and ALL members are asked to make themselves
available for some of the remaining matches to enable John to select
competitive teams. If any member has not been given an opportunity to apply for
the remaining matches this year please contact John direct at home or by Email
at and he will endeavour to fit him or her into one of the matches.
A number of matches are being arranged for next season against the Bowls
England President's Teams, the Bowls England Select Team at Worthing, the
Metropolitan Police (Bushey) BC and the Runner-Up Club of the Year together
with possible games against Bedfordshire CBA and Wiltshire CBA. If you have any
comments about the number of matches being arranged John would be pleased to
hear your comments.
We would advise you that the Annual General
Meeting of the Association is to be held in the Conference Room at Bowls
England Worthing Headquarters on THURSDAY 21st AUGUST 2008 commencing at
2.00pm, Notice of the Meeting is enclosed and we would urge you to attend if
you are available. Nominations for the Officers and Committee Members to be
with me no later than Saturday 9th August 2008 together with any items you
would like discussed under "Any Other Business".
If you have a
colleague that would like to become one of the "Friends" could you ask them to
contact either myself or any member of the Committee.
Graham Clark,
Chairman
2 Fleming Close Ferndale, Yaxley, Cambs PE7 3ZD
Email:
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'Friends' v Prittlewell B.C.
Prittlewell Bowling Club,
Southend on Sea, Essex was runner up in the 2007 Club of the Year Competition.
To celebrate this success a fixture was arranged between the 'Friends' and the
Club and was played on 4th August. It was perhaps fitting that this game was
arranged for 2008 as the Club was also celebrating its 80th anniversary. The
day started off in brilliant sunshine but the weather did deteriorate in the
afternoon and although looking very threatening, fortunately, we only had a few
spots of rain. There was much banter on the green and it was obvious that all
were thoroughly enjoying themselves.
The 'Friends' team was captained
by the Bowls England Men's President, Cliff Waterman, but unfortunately the
rink that Cliff played on, which included myself and also David Green the Essex
Hon. Secretary and skip, Ken Clarke, the 2008 Essex President, were well and
truly walloped by the Prittlewell executive rink by 29 shots to 11. By
coincidence the only other rink to lose was the 'Hunts' rink which included the
Chairman of the 'Friends', Graham Clark and skipped by Bob Morton. Not a good
day for the hierarchy, I am afraid, but no matter, it was only a game, as they
say.
Thanks to the other four rinks we won the game by 26 shots, 133 to
107. Prittlewell really did us proud. They provided a magnificent buffet and
after match meal for the 'Friends' and our partners at no cost. Our best
winning rink comprised Don Alen, Ken Playle, Colin Dunstone and John Scholey,
who were awarded priceless Bowls England spoons by the Captain of the day as
was the Prittlewell best winning rink. The Club was also presented. with a
glass engraved plaque to commemorate this splendid occasion.
John
Durston
Match Secretary
'Friends' v Bowls England Lady President's Team
The
fourth game of the season was played against the Bowls England Lady President's
team at a very busy Leamington, on Friday 1st August. Arrangements were made
for the men to change at the cricket pavilion which is some distance from the
greens. Rumour has it that it was designed to wear us out before the start of
the game. A very enjoyable sit down 'ploughmans' was provided in the Leamington
Clubhouse prior to the game by the Leamington Club.
The 'Friends' team
was captained by the Chairman, Graham Clark (non playing due to his commitment
with the Ladies Champion of Champions Competition which was being played at the
same time and which the 'Friends' were sponsoring) and was played in very good
spirit on a rather windy but otherwise lovely afternoon. The 'Friends' were
instructed not to try too hard as we wanted to create a good impression with
the Ladies and most complied with the exception of the rinks skipped by Mike
Haigh who won 27 shots to 12 and Alan Gray who won by 21 shots to 14. The rink
I played on, skipped by Mike Bond, at 18 ends was 24 shots to nine down. We
thought we had overdone the good impression bit and decided to pull out the
stops on the last three ends, gaining a four, two and a six which meant we were
only three shots adrift at 21 ends. However it might have been that Kay Kerley
who was skipping against us felt sorry for us.
The final score was
'Friends' 119, Lady President's Team 106 a win for the 'Friends' by 13 shots.
It was a very enjoyable afternoon except that my rink, despite the late rally
were declared the worst losing rink and had to suffer the ignominy of being
presented by the Lady President, Angela Harris, with a yellow plastic duck.
Unfortunately, there was no after match meal as the Lady Officers were
attending an early evening civic ceremony connected with the Leamington
fortnight. We look forward to battle again next year.
John Durston
Match Secretary
July
2008
'Friends' v 3 Counties Bowling Association
The
'Friends' played their 3rd game of the season against the 3 Counties Bowling
Association at Leominster Bowling Club on 17th July 2008. The Captain for the
day was Don Pugh of Herefordshire CBA . Don telephoned the Match Secretary just
before the game and advised that the opposing President, his old adversary,
David Holloway, would be putting out a strong rink against him and asked that a
bit of strength be put into his rink by including our Chairman Graham Clark. I
thought that was a somewhat contradiction of terms but duly obliged. Much to my
surprise they came out on top by 3 shots but mind you I did select John Wilks
of Wiltshire as their skip.
Despite the triumph of the Captain's rink
we unfortunately went down the pan by 20 shots. It was perhaps surprising that
3 Counties won the game having regard to the fact that they fielded three
County Presidents in addition to their own President, Max Hart of
Gloucestershire, John Bevan of Herefordshire and Mike Bond of Worcestershire.
It seems that Presidents are better players now than those who were around in
my era. The worst losing rink was that skipped by Colin Dunstone but he did
have a handicap with Wesso (John Weston) as his third.
Our Captain had
great delight in presenting the losing rink and in particular Wesso with their
booby prizes (in Wesso's case a hand grenade which was nonchantly thrown to him
which fortunately did not go off). All the other rinks were pretty close, only
three or four shots the difference. No matter the score, it was a good fun game
on a lovely afternoon and by the banter on the rinks was thoroughly enjoyed by
all. Our thanks to Leominster Bowling Club for allowing us to use their
facilities and for providing an excellent buffet and after match meal. The next
game is with the Ladies President's team at Leamington on Friday 1st August.
John Durston
Match Secretary
'Friends' v. the
Bowls England (Men) Presidents team
The 'Friends' played their second
game of the season against the Bowls England (Men) Presidents team on 7th July
at Borough of Eye BC, Suffolk captained by Ian Morrill. The weather on this day
was dreadful and the Bowls England Captain of the day, Chris Smith, having eyed
up the opposition, tried to use it as an excuse not to play. However at 1.45pm
the Borough of Eye President, much to Chris's disappointment, declared the
green fit for play and 24 stalwarts took up the cudgels.
Miraculously
the rain stopped and other than a slight shower half way through the game, it
was completed in the dry. Needless to say the 'Friends' won, albeit by only six
shots. Mind you we left it a bit tight as our success was achieved by the rink
skipped by Charles Sharpe with Stuart Lake, Ken Playle, and Ian Bates who
scored all eight shots (hot shot) on the last end. If you don't believe it look
in Bowls International, the card was snatched from my grasp to send in for the
feat to be recognized.
Despite the weather it was an excellent day. The
Borough of Eye Club did us proud with an excellent buffet lunch and after match
meal for which we are extremely grateful. It was a pity that they couldn't lay
on the weather as well. Never mind, everyone seemed to have thoroughly enjoyed
themselves. The next game is against the 3 Counties Bowling Association at
Leominster on Thursday 17th July.
John Durston
Match
Secretary
June
2008
The 'Friends' played a game with
Dorset County Bowling Association at Gillingham on 4th June 2008.
Unfortunately the date selected was during the week of the Dorset Tour so most
of their Officers were not available. However the team was ably captained by
the Dorset Secretary, Ray Aldridge, resulting in a win for them by two shots.
What a pity that two rinks lost shots on the last end, that skipped by Mike
Newth lost one shot and that by David Holloway three shots. Mike would say it
was the fault of his number 3, David Wederell and as I was observing from the
bank I would tend to agree with that.
David Holloway's rink had a bit
of a 'tanking' anyway, losing by 34 shots to 16. They were presented with a
shoe shine kit at the after match meal in order to polish up their game. The
rink skipped by Michael Rich managed to lose a six on the third end but that
obviously woke them up as their opponents only scored twice after that and they
won by 33 shots to 9 and were the highest winning rink.
The 'Friends'
team was captained by the Chief Executive of Bowls England, Tony Allcock, who
managed to find the time from a very busy schedule to play. He very rarely
plays these days yet bowled as if he had never given up competitive bowling and
skipped his rink to a 28 shots to 14 win. I understand he was overheard to say
he couldn't understand why people found the game so difficult.
The
weather was kind, a very pleasant sunny afternoon and the green, although a bit
'pushy' played quite well. The hospitality of the Gillingham Club was second to
none, and in addition their Ladies put on an excellent buffet lunch and after
match meal. Overall a very enjoyable afternoon.
My thanks to Joe
Burdett, the Dorset Match Secretary for arranging the game. The next game is
with the Bowls England Men's President Cliff Waterman at Borough of Eye on
Monday 7th July 2008.
John Durston
Match Secretary
September 2007
A total of £22,500 was donated to the EBA to
support the National Championships and Competitions. The cheque was
presented to EBA President Peter Arnold at Worthing by the Friends Chairman Ian
Morrill and their main Fundraiser John Austin.
The donations were
allocated to:
|
2007 £ |
| Champion of
Champions |
2500 |
| Mixed
Fours |
2500 |
| National
Pairs |
1600 |
| National
Fours |
1600 |
| Middleton Cup
Entries |
2100 |
| Middleton Cup
Travel subsistence |
3700 |
| Youth
visits |
4000 |
| Sponsors
Marquee |
2000 |
| Banners &
new County name Boards |
2500 |
| 2007
Total |
£22,500 |
The Youth visits to the
National Championships were a great success. All the youngsters from
Huntingdonshire, Leicestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire enjoyed their day
out.
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Friends of English Bowling - Game with Somerset County
Bowling Association Patrons, 5th September 2007
The fifth and last
game of the 2007 season was with Somerset County Bowling Association Patrons
who were celebrating their 40th Anniversary. The game was played at Yeovil
Bowling Club on 5th September. In line with the other four games played, it was
an excellent day. The weather was glorious the green played exceptionally well
and everyone thoroughly enjoyed it, even the rinks skipped by Vernon Evans and
Don Pugh who lost by 11 shots and 10 shots respectively. There was not a lot in
the other rinks and the Friends lost overall by 27 shots.
The opposing
Captain, David Wederell, the Chairman of the Somerset Patrons, had gone to
great lengths to field a very strong team in order to engineer the inevitable
result. Captain of the day for the 'Friends' was the Match Secretary whose
rink, skipped by Mark Martin, lost by just two shots as a result of the
opposing skip, Alan Gray, receiving his usual generous helping of luck.
The Yeovil Club put on an excellent buffet at lunch time followed up by
another excellent three course after match meal. So of the five games played we
won three, lost one plus a disputed loss against the EBA President due to
'match fixing'.
The Match Secretary is now working on the 2008
programme of matches. Games are currently being arranged in Herefordshire,
Dorset, Yorkshire, Suffolk, and Worthing. The runner up in the Club of the Year
Competition, when known, will be offered a game and there is one more in the
'pipe line' which may or may not reach fruition.
Full details will be
circulated in due course and all those who indicate on the membership renewal
form, soon to be sent out by the Hon. Secretary, that they wish to be
considered for matches, will be sent an availability sheet.
John Durston
Match Secretary
August
2007
Friends of English Bowling v EBA
Select Team played at Beach House Park Worthing on 23rd August
2007.
The fourth 'Friends' game of the 2007 season was played at
Beach House Park, Worthing on 23rd August 2007. This is always a much sought
after game as everyone wants to play on the 'hallowed turf' and in particular
on 'A' green where both last year's and this year's game was played.
There was much skulduggery before the game with Peter Arnold, the EBA
President poaching players who had been selected for the 'Friends' based on the
argument that the Junior Vice, Dennis Cousins, had deserted the Select team to
captain the ''Friends' team. This game is always described as a 'fun game', and
this one really was, and that the score does not matter. No, we the 'Friends'
were not bothered about the score as we won by 5 shots.
Peter Arnold
would say that we won because he included players who had not played previously
but he more than made up for that by including 'star players' who had been
knocked out of the later stages of the National Championships the result of
which the rink on which the Match Secretary played and skipped by Alan Gray was
'thrashed' by Arthur Hockley's four. The President's team included most of the
Office staff present and past and also the Lady Mayor of Worthing.
After the game the players, accompanied by their wives and partners,
retired to the indoor green at Field Place, Worthing for an after match meal.
The food was really excellent, there was much 'banter' and the evening was
thoroughly enjoyed by all. A draw was made during the proceedings and over
£300 raised for the Lady Mayor's charities.
John Durston
Match
Secretary
August
2007
The 'Friends' played their third
game of the season on Thursday 2nd August 2007 at Banister Park, Eastleigh
against the EBA President's team. Ian Morrill, the Friends Chairman, was
Captain of the day and the team was graced with the presence of the EBA Chief
Executive, Tony Allcock who himself stated that he had decided to play for the
'enemy'.
The President, fearful of being beaten, picked a very strong
team and this coupled with the fact that he manipulated the Rules of the Sport
on his rink, skipped by Alan Chase, in order to beat Tony by two shots resulted
in the President's team winning overall by 5 shots. Mind you the thrashing of
Alan Gray by his Somerset County compatriot, Mike Martin, by 26 shots to 10
didn't help either. What a way to treat a colleague!!! However, never mind, it
was an excellent afternoon played in glorious sunshine (the showers came before
and after the game). As the President, Peter Arnold, always says, the score
does not really matter (unless you lose), it is the conviviality that is
important and there was plenty of that evident during and after the game.
Anyway the President's team only really won by 1 as they won on three rinks,
the Friends on two and one was drawn.
Many thanks to Banister Park who
put on an excellent buffet and after match meal for the players and their
ladies. The next game is against an EBA Select team on Thursday 23rd August
during the second week of the National Championships. There were over 60
applications for this game and the Match secretary apologises for having to
disappoint so many. The criteria has been to ensure that all those who applied
for games have been selected to play at least once.
John Durston
Match
Secretary
June
2007
Friends of English Bowling v
Worcestershire CBA - 13th June 2007.
The second Friends of English
Bowling game of the 2007 season took place at Worcester BC on Wednesday 13th
June 2007 with Worcestershire CBA. It was captained by traitor, John Weston,
Worcestershire's 2003 President and current Match Secretary. The weather was
'iffy' to say the least and the calibre of the players was such that they
refused to play in the rain. We had to come off twice during the heavier spells
and the game was restricted to 18 ends. Nevertheless from the banter on the
green it was obvious that it was a very enjoyable afternoon albeit rather
damp.
As usual the 'Friends' were victorious, this time by 13 shots, the
highest winning rink on the 'Friends' side comprised Roy Sutton, Robert Turner,
David Clarke and Don Pugh. A loaded rink if ever there was one. The highest
winning rink for Worcestershire was skipped by T. Hall who was playing against
a rink skipped by Adie Lloyd. Adie was a bit miffed at having to come off at 18
ends as he was coming back fast.
The Worcestershire rink skipped by
Vernon Evans were crowing as they thought they were home and dry as the winning
rink on their side only to lose a six on the last end. Worcester B.C.
entertained us to a superb buffet lunch and after match meal which helped to
overcome the disappointment of the inclement weather. Played 2, won 2, three to
go. The EBA President's team at Banister Park, Eastleigh on 2nd August will be
the next scalp.
John Durston
Match Secretary
May 2007
The first game of the season for the 'Friends'
was played against Nottinghamshire EBA at the Notts HQ. It was a very enjoyable
game played in good weather conditions. The green was a bit 'pushy' but overall
played well.
The President of Notts, Mike Boon, captained their team and
the Friends was captained, ironically, by the Senior Vice President of Notts,
Chris Bromley, who was labelled a Traitor. Never the less the Traitors team was
victorious by 20 shots thanks, in particular, to the highest winning rink of
Graham Clark, Robert Turner, Pat Geary and Les Parnell who beat their opponents
skipped by Chris, yes it really was, Chris Smith by 33 shots to 9. It was
perhaps, fortuitous that they had such an easy ride as the Friends rink skipped
by Vernon Evans accompanied by John McCarthy, Ernest Mills and Philip Cole was
trounced by John Martin's rink by 40 shots to 14.
After the game the
teams and the accompanying ladies, tucked into a delicious four course meal.
Many thanks to Notts EBA and in particular Chris Smith who made the
arrangements, for this very enjoyable occasion. Our next scalp, Worcestershire
CBA at Worcester Bowling Club on Wednesday 13th June.
John Durston
Match Secretary
January
2007
A message from Tony Allcock
MBE
A new organisation has been formed within the bowling fraternity,
the Friends of the English Bowling Association. With the opportunities for
commercial sponsorship becoming increasingly difficult to obtain, the concept
of inviting those who had over the years derived pleasure from their sport, to
contribute to improving both its existence and status seemed an excellent idea.
This has now been formalised and in August 2006, the Friends of the English
Bowling Association was officially established.
Whilst The Friends of
English Bowling is not a bowling association, in order to show appreciation of
Members' contributions and to foster further interest, it was agreed that each
year a few matches would be played against selected clubs/teams. The EBA is
grateful for this generous show of support and congratulates all who in the
early months ensured that the idea was carried forward and brought to
fruition.
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December 2006
The
status of Friends of English Bowling
It should be emphasised that
'Friends of English Bowling' is not a part of, or controlled by, Bowls England,
but an independent society of bowlers and like minded people who, for years,
have derived great pleasure from the sport and wish to put something back into
the game and to contribute to improving both its existence and
status.
One principal aim is to sponsor major National Championships
that would otherwise struggle to exist without any form of sponsorship. It is
our intention in 2007 to again sponsor the Champion of Champions and Mixed
Fours Championships, but also to sponsor the Middleton Cup, together with
covering the cost of youth trips to Worthing during National Championships
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Hospitality Marquee
I am sure that those of you who
visited Worthing last summer made good use of the hospitality marquee to meet
old friends and like minded bowlers. It is proposed that this will continue to
be a regular fixture in 2007 and future years, and we hope that you will all
make good use of it when you visit the Nationals.
Matches
Although we are not an Association playing a multitude of matches, we propose
to arrange up to six matches every season, and we would very much like to know
if you would like to play in any of these matches. We would hope to give all
those who would wish to play at least one game during the season.
A
match programme is being put together by John Durston (e-mail:
johndurston@newbridge-fine-wines.fsnet.co.uk) and we will be sending out
nomination sheets to those interested when the details have been finalised
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Hospitality Marquee |
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October 2006 |
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First Meeting
The first full meeting of the
"Friends" was held on the 31st August 2006 at Worthing, and the following were
elected:
Chairman Ian Morrill
Vice Chairman David Mitchell-Gears
Hon.
Secretary Roger Carter
Hon. Membership Secretary/Treasurer John
Austin
Match Secretary John Durston
Elected member Tony Allcock
MBE
Elected Member Howard Pryse
Elected Member Kath Lloyd
Elected
Member Mike Poole
The Temporary Committee agreed to make a start by
supporting two competitions in 2007: The Champion of Champions and Mixed Fours,
at £2,500 each. The cost of the production of Sponsor Banners was also
met.
In his report to the meeting, the temporary Chairman suggested the
additional sponsorship of the The Middleton Cup for two years at £5,800
per year, and of youth trips to the Worthing Finals at £4,000.
A
further suggestion that has been made is to provide or restore the score boards
to help spectators.
Membership as at the end of 2006
Friends
of English Bowling membership is as follows:
Personal members -
200
County Members - 22
Corporate members - 7
Membership Income to
date is £49,000
Subscriptions
Subscriptions for 2007
become due on 1st January 2007, as before at £100 per ordinary member. If
you have a colleague that would like to become one of the "Friends" could you
ask them to contact:
John Austin, Membership Secretary
30, High Street,
Croughton, Brackley,
Northants NN13 5LT
Telephone: 01869
810610
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