Thank you to Competitions Secretary Mike Potter for the below report on the 2022 Veterans Merit.
Shropshire Veterans Merit 2022 – Monday 20th June 2022 – Madeley Cricket Club, Telford.
16 of the county’s elder generation gathered for a midday start of the Veterans Merit staged at Madeley Cricket & Bowling Club in Telford. With the players and their supporters enjoying the mild Summer conditions, the players took to the green, having 5 chalks already on their cards with the exception of home players who began with 3 on their side.
** Home bowlers start with 3 on card **
Round One
Graham Turner 21 Dave Povey 09
Ian Evans** 21 Keith Pessall 16
Dave Watkins 21 Colin Pettitt** 14
Bob Cliffe 21 Cedric Bancroft 19
Bob Renke 21 Pete Burd 18
Peter Spragg 21 Tony Roche 10
Alan Boulton 21 Les Mumford** 19
Ian Foster 21 Dave Brown 10
Qtr Finals
Graham Turner 21 Ian Evans** 18
Bob Cliffe 21 Dave Watkins 17
Peter Spragg 21 Bob Renke 20
Alan Boulton 21 Ian Foster 15
Semi finals
Graham Turner 21 Bob Cliffe 12
Alan Boulton 21 Peter Spragg 18
Final
Graham Turner 21 Alan Boulton 18
Highlights from the quarter finals
After an even start that went to 8-8 and 12-12, Graham Turner went on a run to lead 19-12 only to then see homester, Ian Evans hit back to close to within a chalk before Graham got the 2 he needed for game. 21-19. Another close game saw Alan Boulton and Ian Foster shared the initial ends of their game as they tied 10-10 and 13-13, from which Alan struck forward to lead 20-13 which he soon converted to a 21-15 winning card. From 6-6 Bob Cliffe forged himself a good 15-7 and 17-10 lead until last year’s Champion, Dave Watkins almost turned the game around as he closed to trail 17-19 just before Bob finished his hopes and won 21-17. The closest matched game of the round saw Peter Spragg and Bob Renke struggle to win any more than 2 consecutive ends which meant the scores went down the card 8-8, 12-12, 17-17 and inevitably 20-20 before Peter delivered the telling shot to go through 21-20.
Semi finals
In a game that looked much tighter than the card reads, Graham Turner, from 7-11 down after 7 ends, needed to fight hard to get back against Bob Cliffe and did so strongly he only conceded a single chalk and won 8 of the next 9 ends, 6 of which were double scoring to book his place in the final and scupper Bob’s plans as Graham ended the game 21-12. Meanwhile, Alan Boulton found a run with the jack to go from 10-10 to lead 16-10 only for Peter Spragg to have a run of his own, albeit 8 single scoring ends to take an 18-16 lead of his own, only to see Alan polish off the win scoring maximums in the next 3 ends to win 21-18.
The final – Both players agreed to forego the 5 chalks on the card to play a straight 21up game.
The final featuring the 2018 (Alan Boulton) and 2019 (Graham Turner) Champions began evenly 4-4 (8 ends) as they tested each other until Alan showed some fine close bowling in the 45 metre corners to force a strong 12-4 (15 ends) & 18-7 (20 ends) lead until Graham wrestled the jack and changed the mark to a 25 metre up and down the middle of the green mark and gradually clawed is way back in to the game and actually won the next 11 ends to run out the unlikely winner 21-18 (31 ends). The small crowd of spectators were quick to congratulate them for the first class bowling efforts of both players.
County President/Competition Sec, Mike Potter thanked Madeley Cricket BC for their hospitality and staging the event on their well presented green before making the presentation of the prizes to the worthy winners and to the 2022 Veterans Merit Champion, Graham Turner.
Congratulations to all.
