Archive October - December 2011

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Wednesday December 21st

We wish all our members a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Wednesday December 21st

League Winners Trophy Presentations

Our Association Chairman, Mike Costall and our President, Keith Etches presented the Division One, Two and Three trophies to the winners at our recent Annual General Meeting. Wallasey Festival winner, Andy Wainwright also received his trophy on the same night.

West Kirby Victoria Captain, Malcolm Johnson receives the Division One Trophy for the eleventh consecutive season. Malcolm has now stood down as Captain leaving the new Vics Captain, Karl Sherbrooke with a hard act to follow.

Wallasey Royal British Legion Secretary, John Burke receives the Division Two Trophy.

Marine Park's Treasurer, Robin Mouland, receives the Division Three Trophy.

Andy Wainwright receives the Wallasey Festival Trophy.

Sunday December 4th

League Structure for 2012

As discussed at our recent Annual General Meeting, our League Structure for 2012 has been dramatically affected by team withdrawals and new teams entering the Association. Sadly, Great Meols have now confirmed their withdrawal of their team from last season's Division One alongside the Sacred Heart Club withdrawing their team from Division One. With the welcome addition of an extra Harrison Park team and the unanimously elected Upton Victory Hall Club into the Association for 2012, we now have 30 teams for the 2012 season. As we also discussed at the Annual General Meeting, the decision to only promote the 2011 Division Two and Division Three Champions for 2012 but still relegate the bottom two Division One and Division Two teams, has meant that we will now operate three Divisions of ten teams each next season. The make up of the three Divisions will be as follows:

This means that all teams will now play 18 League matches each starting on Thursday April 19th. Our season opens on Tuesday April 10th with the preliminary rounds of the Divisional Cups (Harold Jones, Sheppick & Association). The Five A Side Cup competition will be a two day event on Saturday & Sunday 14th & 15th April. With the League Season now finishing in the first week of August, weather permitting, the newly formed Pairs Leagues will start on Tuesday 14th August and run until Thursday September 13th. Both the Five A Side Cup and the Pairs Leagues are not compulsory competitions but the Five A Side Cup will be limited to the first 32 entries. The Pairs Leagues will consist of Divisions of Five Teams per Division, therefore enabling each team to play eight matches, 4 home and four away. Each Team will consist of 4 Pairs and Clubs will only be allowed to enter 1 team for each Team in their Club. Harrison Park, Hoylake Central, Marine Park, Moreton R.B.L., Quarry Vikings and Wallasey R.B.L. will be allowed to enter two teams from their Club, with Manor Road being allowed to enter three teams. There will be an entry fee per team to cover prize money for each Division winning team and this, along with the make up of the Divisions will be discussed in the New Year by the Executive Committee. With the season now stretching from April 10th to September 13th, hopefully all clubs will enjoy the extra games this will involve.

Sunday December 4th

British Parks Senior County Championship & Veterans County Team Knockout.

The Executive Committee have been addressing the financial losses incurred during the 2011 season, as reported at the Annual General Meeting by the Association Treasurer and have decided that we cannot now sustain the free cost of coach travel to our Senior County Championship matches and also the Veterans  County Team Knockout competition. We have been operating these coaches, free of charge to players and supporters alike, for at least nine years now and unfortunately in 2012 we will have to make a charge to players and supporters. All players in the Senior County Championship teams, in both the home and away teams, will be asked to contribute £5 per man per match towards the cost of coach travel and after match refreshments. All the players selected in the three Veterans County Team Knockout teams will also be asked to pay £5 each for the trip to North Staffordshire on July 22nd. All This income will go towards the cost of at least one coach and at least half of another coach during the season and will help the Association avoid the £300 plus loss we made running our Parks teams in 2011. With coaches now costing up to £380 (2011 prices) you can see how much we have to lay out during the season. With at least four coaches and more than likely five needed for the 2012 season, we will need over £1300 to cover travel costs, let alone the cost of after match buffets (which are compulsory for Senior County matches). I will be writing to all the players who represented us last season, in both the Senior County & Veterans County  Team Knockout, explaining the financial situation and will also be asking their availability for the 2012 scheduled fixtures. If any player does not wish to contribute towards the costs he, or she (Veterans Knockout), will have the opportunity to opt out of representing the County in 2012 without any come backs from the Executive Committee.

Tuesday November 8th

Annual General Meeting

The Wallasey C.G.B.A. Annual General Meeting will be held on Wednesday November 23rd at Manor Road Bowling Club starting at 7-30pm. We have received no proposals from clubs for any rule alterations and the Executive have only proposed 1 item for change concerning the date for receipt of Starred Player lists. All the relevant paperwork will be with the club Secretaries before the end of this week.

Monday November 7th

British Parks C.G.B.A. Presidential Honour for Keith Etches

Our own Wallasey C.G.B.A. President, Keith Etches, was elected as the President of the British Parks C.G.B.A for 2012 at the British Parks Annual General Meeting at Winnington Park last Saturday. This is a well deserved honour for Keith who has done so much to promote bowls in Wirral and Merseyside since he started playing competitive bowls in 1970. Keith held the Secretary position at Liscard Bowling Club for 21 years and was a member of the Merseyside County Bowling Committee for 20 years, being their President for 2 years. Keith has been in Wallasey C.G.B.A. administration for 37 consecutive years fulfilling all the Officer posts from Vice Chairman, Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer at one time and another and is now our current Competition Secretary. Keith has been our President for 12 consecutive years now and has played, Captained and been Team Manager of our British Parks Senior County Championship team on numerous occasions. He was also Captain of our "A" team that performed so well at the British Parks Veterans Team Knockout this past season. Personally, I think there is no one more deserving of the Honour of the British Parks Presidency and all our congratulations go to him on his appointment.

Wednesday October 19th

Funeral arrangements, Jimmy Bunting

Jim's funeral will take place at Landican on Monday October 31st starting at 11-00am. Mourners will then be welcomed at Manor Road Bowling Club after the funeral service has been completed.

Wednesday October 19th

Sad News from Manor Road Bowling Club

I am sorry to have to report the very sad news from Manor Road Bowling Club that Jimmy Bunting passed away earlier this morning after a prolonged period of illness. Jimmy was 67 years of age and was one of the top bowlers in Wallasey for over 30 years. In fact Jimmy won the Wallasey Individual Merit title in 1981 when he was a member of the Quarry Bowling Club. Jimmy was a long standing player in the Wallasey Senior County team and only stopped playing in that team a couple of years ago. Always a very difficult opponent to play against, Jimmy gave very little away on the green and you knew if you were drawn against him nothing came easy. I remember Jimmy beating me to 2 at Manor Road one afternoon and I was apparently lucky to get 2. The return match the next Wednesday saw me win to 12 but at least 19 of my scoring shots were apparently wick ins or knock ons from Jimmy's woods. Jimmy was indeed a unique character and had a wicked sense of humour and he will be very badly missed by many Wallasey and Wirral bowlers. All our condolences go to Jimmy's family members and as soon as I hear any news of the funeral arrangements I will post them on this site.

Sunday October 16th

Annual General Meeting

I have not received any proposals at all from clubs for the Annual General Meeting and therefore the only Rule Change to be discussed at the A.G.M. will be the proposal from the Executive Committee to change the Team Competition Rule: General (applicable to both League and/or Cup) Number 1 found on page 48 of the 2011 handbook. The committee proposes the date included in the last sentence of this ruling for registering a club's "Starred Players" be changed to March 16th from January 31st. The date for just registering players will remain as January 31st.

In 2012 our Five A Side competition will become a two day event on a Saturday & Sunday in April with the dates to be confirmed later this year. Entry to this event is not compulsory and once again Individual Handicaps will go on the scorecard as adopted so successfully this year.

We are proposing to run a Pairs Team League of possibly six or seven divisions in 2012 with 5 teams in each division depending on entries. This would mean 4 matches home and away for each team and this competition will be run in late August and early September. Entry into this new competition will not be compulsory and further details will be advised at the A.G.M.

Saturday October 15th

Funeral Arrangements, Roy Dewhurst

Roy's funeral will take place on Friday October 21st at Landican, commencing at 11-00am.

Wednesday October 12th

Sad news from Heswall R.B.L.

I am very sorry to have to report the sad loss of Roy Dewhurst, who passed away peacefully last night at the age of 75. Roy was a much respected and feared opponent on the bowling green and had played for Heswall Royal British Legion since 1983. Previously Roy had also played at the Claughton Village Bowling Club. Roy was instrumental in getting Heswall R.B.L. accepted into the Birkenhead & Wirral Bowling League in 1983 and was a past long time Captain of the Wirral & District County side. Roy did a lot of work behind the scenes at Heswall & Wirral and will be greatly missed by the whole Wirral bowling community. Roy also played football for Port Sunlight in the West Cheshire League for many years. All our condolences go to Roy's family and friends at this time and as soon as funeral arrangements are known, I will post them on this site.

Saturday October 8th

North Wirral League Division One Finals

The results of the above Finals day can be seen via the North Wirral League site accessed via the table above.

Sunday October 2nd

Colin & Craig Saville Win Tom Bassnett Pairs

The Father & Son combination of Queens Royal's Colin & Craig Saville won the Tom Bassnett Pairs competition for the 2nd time in 3 years yesterday, when they beat the Marine Park pairing of Lorna Foster & Robert Lynch 21-14 in the Final at Central Park. On the hottest October day since records began, the successful Saville pairing bowled well throughout the day to deservedly take the trophy. In the quarter finals they defeated John Sherlock & Tommy Walker surprisingly easily 21-08. In the semi finals they defeated Peter Dodd & Keith Etches 21-14, oblivious to the fact that they were treading on dangerous ground in putting out the Association President and Secretary. Lorna Foster & Robert Lynch may have been surprise finalists but both players proved they deserved to reach the final with their earlier victories against Andy Buchanan & Mike McLoughlin (21-18) and Barry Smith & Andy Wainwright (21-13). Lorna and Robert bowled superbly well in both matches and carried on their good work early in the final, building up an early 06-03 lead before the Saville's took control by bowling consistently well on a long distance mark that Lorna and Robert could not quite compete against. At 20-06 up Colin suddenly decided he had had enough of bowling his own woods and mistakenly decided to bowl Craig's. Unsurprisingly bowling the former "King of Wallasey's" woods proved too much for Colin and suddenly Lorna and Robert capitalised by reducing the deficit to 14-20 with a run of 8 shots. Alas for the gallant losers, that was as far as they got with the Saville combination claiming the extra shot required for victory. I would like to thank all the bowlers who turned up yesterday and especially Terry Fanning from Bronze Bowling Club, who once gain provided his usual excellent contribution as our host at Central Park, providing welcome refreshing drinks on such a hot day. Thanks go once again to Keith Etches for his excellent running of all our competitions this year and a special thanks to Colin Saville who, not for the first time, provided a donation that enabled us to pay out some prize money in a competition close to his heart.

Colin & Craig Saville pictured with Association President Keith Etches after winning the Tom Bassnett Pairs Competition.

2011 Tom Bassnett Pairs Finalists, Lorna Foster, Robert Lynch, Craig Saville & Colin Saville