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Solutions to national’s enigma
(The Citizen - March 3, 2006)
Mindful that economics is keeping bowls stagnant and hindering membership, Bowls South Africa has formulated two possible solutions to the national championships enigma.
In the first, they suggest “a club championship” where four selected players from a club play fours, then triples and singles.
The fours will be played first with teams divided into sections of six and in sets of seven ends. The winners will play, in the afternoon of the third day, in sets format on a knockout basis, to the final.
The club side then splits up with one player in the singles and the triple playing with two bowls in sections of six. Three sets of six ends will be played and after that knockout.
The singles will be divided into sections of six in a format of three sets of seven ends. Three rounds will be played each day.
The team with the most points after the final will be the winner. There will also be a winner in each discipline.
Bowls SA say that with an entry twice that of last year’s tournaments the competition will take nine days to complete.
In the second option Bowls SA suggest a tournament similar to the present Spar women’s pairs, played from club level where the winner will play in the district competition and then the national finals.
Personal opinions are that Bowls SA has two good tournament formulas in its hands and a consideration is that of making the first a national CLUB championship and the second the South African championship in the different disciplines.
In addition, the four disciplines should be played at different times and at different venues in the country during the bowls season, a practice that will involve districts rearranging their championship schedules to fit into Bowls SA’s calendar.
Bowls SA has invited comment on the two options and will formulate a plan to put to districts at their next council meeting in August.
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Italian Club after letting the CGBA first division slip away from them on the final day last year did not make any mistake this time and took the premier event last week, according president Renzo Brocco.
In addition, the club’s second team finished second in their league and will play in the premier competition next year. In addition, their third side, entered in the ninth league for the first time this year, has gained promotion by winning that league.
The club’s women’s sides, which came into the CGBA leagues must later than the men, also had a top-class year with their first and second sides ending No 1 and No 2 in the fifth division. Their third team finished third in the sixth league and their fourth side has gained promotion from the eighth league.
In addition, their mixed pairs sides finished first and second in the CGBA mixed pairs with Garry van Rensburg and Milly Wasserzug winning and Peter Storey and Marlene Krog runners-up. Renzo Vittoni and Lynn McKinnon were semi-finalists.
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It must be difficult for Western Province bowlers to swallow that two Gauteng raiders took their biggest bowls prize away last weekend. Theuns Fraser, the manager of the South African bowls team that joined the Commonwealth Games team in Pretoria yesterday, and his Sables team mate Tony Doyle, ran off with the first prize of R40 000 with the best Western Province side of Kevin Campbell and Shaun Addinall finishing third.
The WP pair had a bad day on Sunday in the last two rounds first going down to Fraser and Doyle and then suffering a scourge of runs at the head from the Griquas pair, Mark Kromhout and David Pieters, to be knocked off the perch.
Kromhout and Pieters finished second.
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Cedar Park are cock of the walk after winning the CGBA second division and reaching the first division for the first time in the 14 year history of the club.
After winning leagues six years in a row the club settled into the third division and then spent four years in the second before this year’s success. During the club’s run, they also won the national fours title.
Younger players benefit by absence of stars
The Citizen - April 28, 2006
Several districts playing in the annual inter-districts tournament in Johannesburg were denuded by the unavailability of many players, but this has been to the benefit of many others who have the opportunity to further their own causes.
The absence of some players has definitely shown in the form of some teams, more particularly Western Province where they have lost four of their top players to retirement and lack of leave left for bowls has become obvious.
Without Neil Burkett, (in Australia), Eric Johannes (no longer available), Kevin Campbell (reportedly retired) and Shaun Addinall (no more leave) they are much less the team they have been.. However, this is not say that the team put together has not acquitted itself well and the younger players drafted into the side have coped admirably with the task.
Not least of these is 40-year-old Peter Harvey, son of one of South Africa’s greatest bowlers, Tommy Harvey, who passed away at the age of 42 in the prime of his bowls career. Just to watch the son play one sees the father in him and that recognizable push delivery is so evident in the son.
Western Province manager, Bobby Cron said Harvey would soon be skipping one of the WP teams in inter-district tournaments.
It was also fortuitous for Western Province that former international Alan Lofthouse was able to make himself available to skip one of the WP fours after it became obvious Neil Burkett would not be back from Australia in time . His experience at this and international level has been a definite factor in helping the WP younger players..
There is a lot of youth in this tournament not least of all from Bloemfontein where we have Clinton Roets, Wayne Perry – both already internationals – Handre Marais who made such an impressions in gaining a bronze medal in the SA Masters, together with Wayne York and Jarred Oracki. With this talent, the future of the game in Bloemfontein looks very alive and well, if not now, as they lead their section after the sixth of the nine rounds.
Talk of younger players brings us to thoughts about upcoming international events and the national selectors are expected to go for youth when they pick their sides for the African States tournament in August. They are due to announce their sides at the end of the inter-districts this evening (Friday).
When I say going for youth I apply that more to the men than the women for there is a definite lack of younger players of established caliber among the women, a matter that should receive the urgent consideration of national and district executives.
So with youth in mind what do you think – and I expect brickbats – of my side for the African States.
Men: Fours: Brian Dixon, Wayne Perry, Duane Abrahams and Handre Marais. Singles: Nic Rusling.
Women: Fours: Loraine Victor, Cheryl Cox, Colleen Webb and Esme Steyn, although I would like to see Leone Durand, recently returned to the game among those names. For the singles there is only Lorna Trigwell.
Men’s national tournament chair Nicky Parker has been at the inter-provincials as a spectator and tells me all is in readiness for the tournament that begins in Cape Town on May 13 with the pairs competition. Headquarters is at Constantia.
One thing the inter-provincials have brought out is that there are some better bowlers on the national executive. National president Piet Breitenbach skips one of the two North West fours while executive member Tys Pringle has the same job for Limpopo.