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FAMILY AFFAIR FOR ENGLAND HOPEFULS |
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Written by Melvyn Beck
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Sunday, 13 April 2008 |
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ALTHOUGH the outdoor bowls
season is still to get under way for the vast majority of clubs, nine
local bowlers already have their eyes firmly fixed on international
trials next month.
It’s
a real family affair, too, with Stuart and Catherine Popple, Sarah and
Val Newson and the Morton brothers, Tristan and Ean, all hoping to
impress the selectors.
Hunts’ success in reaching the Middleton
Cup final last year for the first time clearly caught the eye of the
selectors, with former junior international Stuart Popple being
included in the 40-strong senior men’s trial, along with county
team-mates Nicky Brett and Simon Leader.
Brett is one of the
main candidates to take over the skip’s role vacated by England legend
Andy Thomson, who has announced his retirement from international
outdoor bowls.
Brett has been moved across from number three to
Robert Newman to take over Thomson’s rink for the trial at the Norgren
club, Shipston-on-Stour on Sunday, May 25.
Leader, who plays out
of the Warboys White Hart club with Brett, was one of the reserves last
year when England regained the British team title in Scotland.
Meanwhile,
Stuart Popple’s wife Catherine, along with Peterborough & District
colleague Val Newson and Whittlesey Manor’s Pat Reynolds, have all been
named as skips in the 32-strong women’s trial being held at the New
Lount club, Leicestershire, on Saturday, May 10.
Popple and
Reynolds were involved last year when England lifted the title at
Llandrindod Wells, but Newson was controversially omitted from the
trial after being a regular international for several years.
Val’s daughter Sarah, who has played in the last two series, is also included in the trial, but not in any of the rinks skipped by her Hunts team-mates.
The Mortons, Ean
and Tristan, were both on duty for the England junior men’s team last
year when England finished runners-up again to Scotland.
Ean has
been named as one of the skips in the trial at the Norgren club on
Saturday, May 24, with a strong-looking combination at his command,
while Tristan has been chosen at two to Derbyshire’s Philip Broughton.
Also
included in the trial squad for the first time is Buckden-based James
Price, a member of the Parkway club, who qualified along with Tristan
to represent Hunts in the national county singles finals at Worthing
last year.
Whittlesey Manor’s Hannah Overton, who has played in
the last two successful junior women’s series for England, is in the
trial at New Lount on Sunday, May 11, leading for Surrey’s Debbie
Sarratt. Also included in the squad is fellow Hunts player Katie Webb,
from Papworth.
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