Bowls is the winner as Shropshire puts on a show

And the association was rewarded for its efforts at Whitchurch club Bridgewater with two local bowlers reaching two of the three finals to be played.

Telford-based Luke Morris, representing Adderley, got to the final of the Under-18 Merit while Jessica Marshall (Norton in Hales) was a finalist in the supplementary KO for the same age group.

British and North Shropshire Parks chief Phil Scott said: “The were 32 juniors and 26 under-25 bowlers and we were treated to a bowls bonanza.

“The quality from each group of players was immense with a large crowd of over 120 watching as representatives from North Shropshire, East Midlands, South Yorkshire, Warwickshire and Yorkshire battled it out for the national titles.

“In the Junior Merit semi-finals we had two Shropshire team-mates in Luke Morris and Austin Wilson (both Adderley) playing each other and it went down to the wire as Luke won 21-20.

“In the final Harley Tattersley from Yorkshire, who won the supplementary in 2022, raced ahead and put the pressure on young Luke from the off and built up a lead which he never let go to win 21-9.

“And in the supplementary Merit final we had Jessica Marshall from Norton in Hales, who had been selected this year for Shropshire but was unable to attend,

“She showed why she was selected by getting to the final against Owen Sherriff from East Midlands, a seasoned county player in his final year, who won 21-14.”

Yorkshire dominated the Under-25 Merit and Josh Thomas – who had his hardest game of the day against North Shropshire’s Molly Harris – beat favourite Marc Armitage 21-10

“Overall it was a great advert for the game – two age groups playing on the same day and same venue where they all supported each other,” added Scott. “It showed why things can be done to develop the game, even though some at the top want to cancel things like the BCGBA 18-23 Merit as they have no entries.

“They need to come and look at what British Parks are doing to grow the game at the younger level and learn from it. It’s about doing what the juniors want, not what is the easiest to do - bringing two age groups together works and others need to wake up and think outside of the box for the future of the game we all love to play!”