Winter series is continuing to be a huge success
The man behind the new Bandit Bowls organisation is delighted to keep proving people wrong.
Jamie Brookes is running a winter series in Shropshire for an 11th year during what is supposed to be the closed season when bowlers put their bowls in the bag and forget about them.
But another 100-plus turnout for round 11 of the 2023/24 series at Adderley on Sunday reinforced Brookes and his team’s belief that the demand for winter action continues to grow.
“It’s a very satisfying feeling to receive so many entries and see so many entrants week in, week out,” said Audlem-based Brookes. “It proves that crown green bowling is more than just a summer sport.
“We had another fantastic turnout at Adderley and the green, as always, was running really well.”
In fact demand to play in the early afternoon session was so high that Brookes & co had to run 10 round groups of four bowlers in each playing 13-up matches.
Four of the top five in the series points table topped their tables – Callum Wraight, Ade Jennings, Alan Boulton and David Cunningham.
County Merit winner in 2021, Jack Hewitt, was also a group winner along with leading lights including Stuart Rutter, Andy Armstrong, Chris Stretch, Ian Howell, Joe Killen and Brookes himself.
Other round robin successes were delivered by John Doherty, Chris Makin, Gus Needham, Nathan Brown, Lee Tarver-Stevens, James Blair, John Lea, Jan Wakefield, Gareth Davies, Steve Dance, Colin Petit, Adrian Owens, Geoff Harding and Joe Dicken.
