Apart from the game of cricket, there is nothing more English than seeing a bowling green full of players properly dressed in whites, enjoying the sunshine.
At this time of the year, matches are like buses, one comes along and it is quickly followed by two more. This was the situation at Ottery St Mary Bowling club this week.
Firstly, Beckenham and Bromley Bowling Club visited as part of their tour of Devon, and it was delightful to welcome the first touring team to the club for eighteen months. Not so delightful was the result as the Ottery team was heavily beaten.
This was followed by two friendly matches, the first being an away match when the club travelled out of county to Dorset to play Bridport Bowling Club on Saturday.
Then, on Sunday, another cross-border match took place as Taunton Bowling Club travelled down the M5 to play at Ottery. Both matches resulted in resounding wins for Ottery.
Although it is satisfying to win any match, it was a pleasure to see people from both sides playing a competitive match for the first time, and more importantly, seeing how much they enjoyed playing.
Turning now to individual success, I am pleased to report that Sharon Kenny and Gail Hawke have reached the semi-final of The County Ladies Pairs competition, and one more win will see them into the national finals. This would entail a trip to Leamington, which is the recognized bowling capital of England.
Not to be outdone, the men’s triple are well placed in the area section of their county competition. A good win against old rivals Feniton later this week will secure them a place in the regional finals. The results of both matches will feature in next weeks’ report, but in the meantime, we wish both teams all the very best.
Finally, congratulations are due to a triple consisting of Gerard McCarthy, Carol Keating and Ray Luscombe, who represented the club in The Howard Cotterill competition, which was organized by Honiton Bowling Club.
Despite a poor start, they managed to rally and their cumulative score was enough to win the competition.
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