Gang of four in nine changes
The bid to find a bigger nucleus of players for next year means Shropshire's bowls selectors have made a staggering NINE changes to the team to face North Lancs & Fylde in the Endsleigh County Championship next month. The bid to find a bigger nucleus of players for next year means Shropshire's bowls selectors have made a staggering NINE changes to the team to face North Lancs & Fylde in the Endsleigh County Championship next month. Debuts for young guns Chris Worthington (SJ Bayley) and Scott Harries (Bylet), plus Meole Brace skipper Mark Thomas are the headline news for the game on Sunday, July 1, the home leg of which is at Donnington Wood No 2. It's a game Shropshire must win to stand any chance of finishing runners-up to Yorkshire in qualifying group one and going on to try and retain the supplementary crown. Read the full story in today's Shropshire Star
It's a game Shropshire must win to stand any chance of finishing runners-up to Yorkshire in qualifying group one and going on to try and retain the supplementary crown.
But the 'gang of four' selectors are not interested in being second best, they are eager to get things right for the 2008 campaign.
And having warned established players that they would be left out for the next game in the name of experimentation, that's exactly what's happened.
Simon Parsonage, Wayne Phillips, Daryl Edwards, Alan Palin, Tony Rhodes, Andy Duckett, Wayne Rogers and Paul Griffiths are all named on reserve after playing in the draw against Cumbria - while Clay Flattley of Castlefields is left out altogether.
Added to the debutants there are county recalls for Rich Morris (Wrockwardine Wood) and Spencer Clarke (SJ Bayley) at home, and Chester Road pair Paul Latham and Martin Lloyd, Adie Rowe (Meole) and Dave Hoffman (Ford) up at Bamber Bridge.
Before the team announcement selectors' spokesman Dennis Lewis stressed: "The tried and tested players who are regulars WILL regain their places. They have not be discarded.
"It's just that we now have the opportunity to look at potential new players and a new venue."
By Malcolm Fletcher
