The remaining four national competitions took place at Melton Mowbray last week.

Thursday the 10^th saw 64 competitors from all over England take part in the singles competition. With sixteen groups of four bowlers everyone was guaranteed a minimum of three, ten end games. Darren Brown was in a group with bowlers from West Sussex, Hampshire and Dorset.  In three fiercely competitive games Darren came second in all three of them and finished at the bottom of his group. Jeff Branch faced bowlers from Gloucester, Suffolk and Avon, as with Darren, Jeff came second in all three of his games. Neil Rixon group included bowlers from Cornwall, Hampshire and North Yorkshire. Neil won his game against North Yorkshire 11 – 05 but lost his other two games. All three of our singles bowlers finished in the bottom two and did not progress to the knockout stages.

Friday the 11^th had 64 pairs broken down again into sixteen groups of four.  Alan Spicer and Brian McGivern played pairs from Essex, Cornwall and Avon. They won all three of their group games, finishing top of their group they progressed to the first round of the knockouts. Here they came across a team from Greater Manchester. The Mancunians got the upper hand and won the game 10 – 4. Bev Stevenson and Jeff Branch played teams from Hampshire, North Yorkshire and Norfolk. Bev and Jeff won their game against Norfolk 10 – 8 but lost the other two leaving them third in their group and not through to the knockouts. Darren Brown and Mark Spalding played pairs from Shropshire, Essex and Greater Manchester. Darren and Mark had three tough games where the opposition took the win in each game. Andrew Miles and Alan Hare played teams from Wiltshire, Surrey and Norfolk. Andrew and Alan held Wiltshire to a draw in their first game but lost the other two and did not make it to the knockouts either.

Saturday the 12^th and it was the fours. With 64 teams it meant with 256 bowlers on the mats it was a very busy day at Melton Mowbray.  Our fours team of Malcolm Warwick, Jeanette Gayler, Jan Rogers and Jeff Branch played teams from Hampshire, Worcestershire and East Sussex. They drew against East Sussex but won their other two games and topped their group to go through to the knockouts. In the first round they played a team from Suffolk. In a good game Suffolk had the upper hand and took the win at 11 – 5. The fours team of Bev Stevenson, Martin Nash, Alan Spicer and Brian McGivern played teams from Gloucester, Norfolk and Essex. They won two of their games, in a group where three of the four teams won two games each it was all down to shot difference. With a shot difference of plus six they just held on to second place pushing Gloucester with a shot difference of plus five into third. It just shows how every shot counts. In the first knockout round they drew Herefordshire. Herefordshire took control and the win at 9 – 3. The Team of Audrey Fowler, Brian Fowler, Mark Spalding and Darren Brown played teams from Dorset, Oxfordshire and Essex. Audrey, Brian, Mark and Darren beat Essex and drew against Oxfordshire. Unfortunately they lost to Dorset. With only three points they slipped into third place and didn’t make the knockouts. Our final team of Bill Gearing, Trevor Knight, Julia Bruce and Neil Rixon played teams from Devon, Suffolk and Surrey. Bill, Trevor, Julia and Neil beat Suffolk but lost out to Surrey and Devon. With only two points they did not make it through to the knockouts.

Sunday the 13^th was the final day of the nationalsand it was the triples. Audrey Fowler, Mark Spalding and Darren Brown played teams from East Sussex, Dorset and Cornwall. They beat Cornwall and Dorset but lost out to East Sussex. In another group with three teams on four points Audrey, Mark and Darren had a shot difference of plus seven. This put them in third place as East Sussex had plus fifteen and Dorset had plus twelve. Alan Spicer, Martin Nash and Brian McGivern played teams from East Sussex, West Sussex and Surrey. They held East Sussex to a draw but lost the other two. This put them last in their group.  Trevor Knight, Michelle Conlon and Neil Rixon played teams from West Sussex, East Sussex and Essex. They beat East Sussex but lost out to West Sussex and Essex. With two points they finished third in their group but did not progress any further in the competition. Terri Watkinson, Roger Watkinson and Darren Stanford played teams from Devon, Dorset and Oxfordshire. They beat Devon but lost the other two. They finished third in third group but did not progress to the knockouts.

Congratulations to all our bowlers. Between them they had some very close games. In many cases Hertfordshire teams just missed out on that second spot and progression to the knockout stages. These competitions get tougher every year. Although Hertfordshire bowlers are continually improving so is everyone else. We must look forward to next year when once again we get the opportunity to bowl against the best that England has to offer. Make sure you enter for the qualifiers next season. The dates of all these competitions are now available on this website.