The 2017/18 bowls season has just begun but four Gisborne-East Coast representative teams will be at the Ohope Bowling Club tomorrow to play their Bay of Plenty counterparts in the annual one-day intercentre fixture.
Play gets under way at 9.30am with two rounds of singles, pairs and fours followed bya final round of triples. A feature of the first two rounds is that two reserve players from each team can be interchanged freely in the pairs and fours but not in the singles.
In the Gisborne senior men’s side, Jamey Ferris, Bob McIlroy, Robin Jefferson, Murray Murton, Mick Maunder, Charlie Ure and selector Steve Goldsbury will team up with newcomers Bruce Lourie (formerly of Thames Valley) and John Kawana (formerly of Counties Manukau).
A feature of the senior women’s team will be the debut of Betty Herring, who has moved to Gisborne from Ohope. Selector Emily Hongara has also named Dayvinia Mills, Anita Vaotuua, Lyn Trueman, Tanya Harrison, Erin Sutherland, Val McGreevy, Joy Davis and Sarah Brown. Lex Kennedy will be manager.
The junior men’s team selected by new centre president Mark Bain is a mixture of youth, experience and newcomers. Secondary school students Ashli Ferris and Luke Sanders line up with Murray Duncan, Marty Ryan, Mike Howes and Willy Murray, along with newcomers Ron Robertson, Andrew Ball and Ben Elkington.
The same could be said about the junior women’s side selected by Bruce Ball, with secondary school students Angela Gibson-Sam and Paige Richter included with Diane Oates, Lucy Shanks, Diane Murray, Michelle Brown and Ngawai Turipa, along with Barbara Gibson and Norma Miller.
The seniors will play for the Waioeka Shield and the juniors, the Endeavour Shield.
