The North and South Island Indoor Bowls Teams have been announced at the 66th National Indoor Bowls Championships in Timaru to compete in the 35th annual North versus South Inter-Island Match for the Kevin Eddy Memorial Trophy at Roskill and Districts Hall, Blockhouse Bay, Auckland on Saturday August 15.
The South Island is touring the North Island this year.
There are seven new caps in the North Island team and four players have been recalled while South Island has one new cap and five players have been recalled. This has been caused by the New Zealand Mat Blacks being ineligible for selection.
The new cap for the South is Ashburton's Matt Markham who has come through the junior ranks. The players recalled are South Canterbury's Barb Reid and Christine Shand, Jenny Eden, Blair Spicer, Canterbury and Hayden Warnes, Golden Bay-Motueka.
The new caps for the North include the new national singles champion Avon Compton, North Wellington, Sarah Warrington, Manawatu, Jessie Moffat, North Wellington, Sue Bourne, Taranaki, Jude Martin, Bush Ruahine, Mark Hastie and Shaun Blackbourn, Waikato. Those recalled are Geoff Coughey, Tauranga who last played in 1999, Joseph Zino, Hutt Valley, Lorraine Phipps, Tauranga and Lisa Gould, Upper Hutt Valley who was in the team in 2001.
Bay of Plenty's Gina Owen who had to withdraw from the Mat Blacks that played Australia recently, because of injury, is eligible and has been given the women's singles berth for the third time. She has inter-island medals in all four disciplines.
Michael Lawson, Ashburton who captains the South Island makes his seventeenth appearance while Suzanne Mackie, Southland makes her sixteenth. Dale Rayner, North Wellington makes her sixteenth appearance for the North Island while the North Island captain Grant Harvey, North Taranaki makes his 13th appearance. Harvey will play the men's singles for the first time.
The South Island plays matches against Taranaki, North Taranaki, King Country, Waikato, Tauranga, Thames Valley, Counties and Roskill and Districts combined, Northland, followed by Auckland and North Harbour combined in a nine match itinerary. The tour culminates in the annual Inter-Island match which the North has won for the past eleven years since 2004.
North Island Women: Singles: Gina Owen, Bay of Plenty; Pairs: Dale Rayner, North Wellington, Sarah Warrington, Manawatu; Triples: Jessie Moffat, North Wellington, Lisa Gould, Upper Hutt Valley, Sue Bourne, Taranaki; Fours: Jude Martin, Bush Ruahine, Sharon Peters, North Harbour, Rochelle Hastie, Waikato, Lorraine Phipps, Tauranga; Reserves: Shelley Jacombs, Hutt Valley, Annelies Baker, Tauranga.
Men: Singles: Grant Harvey, North Taranaki, (Captain); Pairs: Joseph Zino, Hutt Valley, Jason Parker, Counties; Triples: Avon Compton, North Wellington, Geoff Coughey, Tauranga, Shaun Blackbourn, Waikato; Fours: Steve Fisher, Auckland, Matthew Ellis, Counties, Mark Hastie, Waikato, Alex Reed, Tauranga Reserves: Robin Porter, Bay of Plenty, Paul Voorend, North Wellington Manager: David Lynn, Poverty Bay-East Coast.
South Island Women: Singles: Belinda Peard, Southland; Pairs: Suzanne Mackie, Southland, Elaine Carnie, Southland; Triples: Barbara Reid, South Canterbury, Kathryn Edgar, South Otago, Christine Shand, South Canterbury; Fours: Ann Cottrell, Otago, Marie-Therese Hooper, Canterbury, Deanne Osborne, Canterbury, Jenny Eden, Canterbury; Reserves: Jean McKenzie, Nelson, Marilyn Holmes, Otago.
Men: Singles: Grant Wilson, Ashburton; Pairs: Blair Spicer, Canterbury, Daniel Sinclair, Otago; Triples: Robert Wilson, South Otago, James Sullivan, Canterbury, Matt Markham, Ashburton; Fours: Daniel French, Otago, Michael Lawson, Ashburton, (Captain). Brent Keen, Southland, Hayden Warnes, Golden Bay-Motueka; Reserves: Adam Williams, Canterbury, Matt Bassett, Ashburton. Manager: Nigel Warnes, Golden Bay-Motueka.
