MIXED fortune for Northants teams in the second round of matches in the Derbyshire Trophy, the England Bowling Federation indoor inter-county championship.

The A team recovered from their surprise one shot defeat by their B team in the opening fixture by defeating North Cambs 106-65 at March to claim 12 of the 14 points on offer.

They won on three of the four rinks, with the trio of Tony Barwell, Paul Dalliday and Simon Law leading the way with a 43-9 victory. The rinks of Mike Robertson and John Earl also finished in credit with 27-13 and 20-19 wins respectively.

Meanwhile the B team came down to earth with a bump as they returned pointless from Norfolk after a 155-53 defeat at the Gallow club in Fakenham. They are on their travels again next Sunday with a trip to Lincoln to play Lincs.

RESULTS

Northants A 106 (12), North Cambs 65 (2) – (Northants rinks only):

Wayne Morris, James Harford, Martyn Dolby lost 24-16; Michael Humphreys, Stephen Harris, John Earl won 20-19; Richard Allam, Michael Jeapes, MIke Robertson won 27-13; Tony Barwell, Paul Dalliday, Simon Law won 43-9.

Northants B 53 (0), Norfolk 155 (14) – (Northants rinks only): 

Andy Cox, MIck Greaves, MIck Linnell lost 46-13; Stuart Agger, Cliff Watson, Graham Agger lost 25-16; Les Sharp, Melvyn Beck, Paul Bailey lost 31-13; Gareth Dickenson, Brian Bassam, John Holroyd lost 53-11.

BOTH the Northants A and B teams resume their Derbyshire Trophy programme on Sunday with trips to North Cambs and Norfolk respectively.

Following their surprise one shot win over the A team in the opening match, the B side will be hoping to build on that success against Norfolk at the Gallows club in Fakenham. They make one enforced change, with Melvyn Beck replacing the unavailable Neil Wright.

Having had to make four late changes for the opening match, A team captain James Harford has had to ring the changes again for the match at March, with John Earl, Michael Jeapes, Richard Allam, Martyn Dolby and Tony Barwell coming in for Roger Martin, Tony Scarr, Ally McNaughton, Dusty Miller and Brian Martin.

A TEAM

Tony Barwell, Paul Dalliday, Simon Law; Wayne Morris, John Earl, Martyn Dolby; Richard Allam, Michael Jeapes, Mike Robertson; Michael Humphreys, James Harford, Adam Warrington.

B TEAM

Stuart Agger, Cliff Watson, Graham Agger; Gareth Dickenson, Brian Bassam, John Holroyd; Andy Cox, Mick Greaves, Mick Linnell; Les Sharp, Melvyn Beck, Paul Bailey.

NORTHANTS B upset the form book by defeating their A team by one shot (90-89) in the opening Derbyshire Trophy fixture of the season played at Stamford.

The A team skipper James Harford had to reshuffle his team at the eleventh hour when four of his selected side withdrew for a variety of reasons, and while winning on three of the four rinks, the 29-18 victory for the rink of debutant Stuart Agger, Cliff Watson and Graham Agger tipped the scales in favour of Malcolm  Squires' B side who claimed eight of the 14 points on offer.

The A team rinks wins came from Simon Law, Mike Robertson and Roger Martin, but a combined winning aggregate of ten shots against John Holroyd, Mick Linnell and Paul Bailey respectively left them one shot short and so their hopes of winning the southern section for the third year in a row have suffered an early setback.

The B team, who now head to Norfolk for their next fixture in a fortnight's time, had three debutants in Stuart Agger, Gareth Dickenson and Andy Cox.

RESULT

Northants B 90 (8) bt Northants A 89 (6) – (Northants B rinks first):

Gareth Dickenson, Brian Bassam, John Holroyd 18, Wayne Morris, Paul Dalliday, Simon Law 19; Andy Cox, Mick Greaves, Mick Linnell 22, Dusty Miller, Ally McNaughton, Mike Robertson 27; Les Sharp, Neil Wright, Paul Bailey 21, Michael Humphreys, Tony Scarr, Roger Martin 25; Stuart Agger, Cliff Watson, Graham Agger 29, Brian Martin, James Harford, Adam Warrington 18.

The Northants A and B teams line-up before their Derbyshire Trophy match at Stamford which the B team won.

THE Northants Women's Bowling Federation held their annual meeting recently at the Peterborough & District club, but sadly not all clubs were represented.

In her report, President Vivienne Hempsell stressed the need to encourage ladies withn all clubs to 'have a go' and find out what playing for the county entails.

Life membership was proposed and accepted for Glenys Edwards for her outstanding commitment over many years on the committee and as a competitor.

Two clubs had submitted completed nomination forms resulting in the apppointment of Shirley Suffling (Ketton) as deputy president. She was presented with her badge of office by the President who thanked her for her support.

Apart from the office of match secretary, the remaining officers agreed to continue in their respective roles for the following year.

Thanks were extended to Norma Squires for her many years as an NWBF player and her hard work and support of the committee as match secretary, which remains vacant at the moment.

OFFICERS ELECTED

President and safeguarding officer, Vivienne Hempsell; deputy president, Shirley Suffling; treasurer, Chris Ford; secretary and national delegate, Terri Handley; competition secretary, Valerie Du'Kett; match secretary, vacant; Donald Steward team captain, Joan Robinson; Silver Jubilee Vase team captain, Ann Cooper.

NORTHANTS open their Derbyshire Trophy campaign at Stamford on Sunday morning (10.00am) with the A team facing their own B team.

The A team, winners of the English Bowling Federation's indoor inter-county title in 2019, were beaten in the delayed 2020 final by Durham at Newark a few weeks ago, and so James Harford's team sets out bidding to win the southern section title for a third year in a row.

There are three changes from the final against Durham with Brian Martin, John Earl and Wayne Morris replacing Richard Allam, Mike Robertson and Stephen Harris.

 Malcolm Squires' B team, who haven't played since early last year, have three new faces in their team – Stuart Agger Andy Cox and Gareth Dickenson.

A TEAM

Paul Dalliday, Michael Jeapes, Simon Law; Brian Martin, James Harford, Tristan Morton; Wayne Morris, John Earl, Martyn Dolby; Michael Humphreys, Adam Warrington, Roger Martin.

B TEAM

Stuart Agger, Cliff Watson, Graham Agger; Les Sharp, Neil Wright, Paul Bailey; Gareth Dickenson, Brian Basam, John Holroyd; Andy Cox, Mick Greaves, Mick Linnell.

PROBLEMS in filling administrative posts in bowls was again highlighted at the Northants Bowling Federation annual general meeting held at the Parkway club.

For the second year running the county will be operating without a President as no nominations were forthcoming, and so the officers will again have to share presidential duties next year.

There is also a vacancy for the Adams Trophy team captain, and unless that is filled before the start of next year's county championship programme, which returns to normal after the pandemic, then a selection panel will have to be formed to select the team.

Fortunately, key administrative positions have been filled with Melvyn Beck (secretary and competition secretary), Les Sharp (treasurer) and Graham Agger (match secretary) all re-elected, while Dick Noble becomes the county's first chairman, Peter Brown replaces Neil Wright as safegarding officer and Cliff Watson takes over as results secretary from Barry Lawrence, who was made a life member for his major contribution to the county over many years, although he will continue as a member of the management committee.

There was also a tribute to Malcolm Squires, who has retired from county administrative duties after forty years, including two terms as President.

Club delegates supported a motion from the executive to streamline the administration which has seen the four team captains removed from the day-to-day operation and the maxiumum number of committee members reduced from ten to six.

The appointment of a chairman for the first time is aimed at bringing some continuity to the running of committee meetings, especially in the absence of a President, who has traditionally chaired meetings. In future the President will be able to concentrate solely on ceremonial duties without the additional responsibility of chairing meetings.

One other motion from the committee that earned support from the club delegates was for clubs in the future to have just one voting delegate instead of two, as it was felt that if delegates were mandated by their clubs to vote a certain way, then it was not necessary to have two votes.

In his annual report, secretary Melvyn Beck warned that unless more people came forward to assist in the running of the county, then the long-term future of the county would be under threat, adding that this apathy was not simply confined to bowls, but to other sports and organisations.

In the competition secretary's report, Melvyn Beck said that fears of a possible slump in county competition entries following the scrapping of the 2020 programme owing to the pandemic did not materialise, with total entries only being 28 down from what was received for the previous year.

He added that it would be interesting to see whether the indoor entries will be affected as a result of the loss of last winter's competitions. There were 97 entries for the 2019/20 season, a drop of six on the previous year, but forty down from the 2016/17 campaign.

Treasurer Les Sharp thanked Forterra for their continued sponsorship of the county,

FULL LIST OF OFFICERS ELECTED

President – Vacant; Chairman, Dick Noble; Secretary, Melvyn Beck; Treasurer, Les Sharp; Match secretary, Graham Agger; Competition secretary, Melvyn Beck; Results secretary, Cliff Watson; Minutes' secretary, Linda Toms; NDC representative, Melvyn Beck; Press officer, Melvyn Beck; Safeguarding officer, Peter Brown; Management committee, Mick Greaves, James Harford, Barry Lawrence; Adams captain, vacant; Newton captain, Dick Noble; Derbyshire A captain, James Harford; Derbyshire B captain, Malcolm Squires.

NORTHANTS reached all three men's singles finals at the delayed 2020 English Bowling Federation national indoor championships at Newark, but managed only one success courtesy of Stephen Harris in the under 25 singles.

It followed his victory in the under 25 open pairs with sister Louise at Skegness in late August, and so he bows out of the junior category with two national titles in the space of a few weeks.

He defeated fellow junior indoor international Ed Elmore (Hunts) 21-16 in the final to claim the junior singles title for the county for the first time, his final opponent having already collected the pairs and triples crowns.

It also avenged his semi-final defeat in the pairs with Wayne Morris at the hands of Elmore and Albert Corn the previous day.

Martyn Dolby and Adam Warrington missed out on glory having both been impressive in their semi-finals, especially Dolby who swamped Hunts' David Peak 21-2 in the senior singles..

However, he was beaten 21-13 the following morning by A. HInd (Cleveland) as he attempted to win a fourth national indoor title, while Warrington lost his way in the singles final after a bright start, losing 21-5 to Clive Rawson (Notts).

The only other Northants representative to reach a semi-final was Joan Robinson in the senior singles, where she lost 21-10 to Notts.

Chris Ford was the only other Northants player to win a match, winning her first round singles tie 21-15 against Suffolk, before bowing out 21-5 in the next at the hands of Derbys.

There were opening match defeats for:

Katie Bailey and John Earl in the mixed pairs (21-16 to Durham); Moira Holroyd, substitute Stephen Harris and John Holroyd in the mixed triples (25-9 to Durham); Martyn Dolby, John Earl, Adam Warrington in the triples (18-17 after extra end against Derbys); Shirley Suffling and Chris Ford in the pairs (22-13 against Lincs); Shirley Suffling, substitute Rose March, Chris Ford in the triples (22-17 against Derbys).

NORTHANTS' hopes of retaining the Derbyshire Trophy, the English Bowling Federation's indoor inter-county championship, for the first time ended in disappointment at Newark where they were beaten 111-82 by Durham in the delayed 2020 final.

Results from three of the four rinks had Northants in front overall by ten shots, but unfortunately the fourth suffered a crushing 46-7 defeat which tipped the scales heavily in favour of the northern champions.

Northants' winning rink was Paul Dalliday Michael Jeapes, one of two late replacements, and Simon Law, who won 34-14, while the rinks of Michael Humphreys, Adamn Warrington and Roger Martin and Richard Allam, Stephen Harris and Martyn Dolby only lost by four and six shots respectively.

However, the rink of Mike Robertson, the other late inclusion, team captain James Harford and Tristan Morton had one of those days, only managing to score on six of the 25 ends.

RESULT

Northants 82, Durham 111 (Northants rinks only):

Richard Allam, Stephen Harris, Martyn Dolby lost 27-21.

Michael Humphreys, Adam Warrington, Roger Martin lost 24-20.

Paul Dalliday, Michael Jeapes, Simon Law won 34-14.

Mike Robertson, James Harford, Tristan Morton lost 46-7.

THE men's inter-county championship programme returns to normal next year, having had a truncated version last year owing to the pandemic.

So instead of a straight knockout as last year, the county will be having five county matches in the southern section played on five consecutive Saturdays between June 4 and July 2.

Home venues for the Adams and Newton teams are still to be decided, and the county are also looking for a new Adams team captain following the resignation of Roger Martin, who stepped into the post last year, which involved just the one game against the eventual winners Hunts.

2022 FIXTURES

June 4 – Suffolk (home); June 11 – Hunts (home); June 18 – Lincs (away); June 25 – North Essex (Adams only, away); North Cambs (Newton only, away); July 2 – Norfolk (away).

NORTHANTS Bowling Federation hold their annual general meeting at the Parkway Club on Wednesday, October 13 starting at 7.30pm.

Any member of an affiiated club can attend the meeting, but clubs can only appoint two voting delegates.

The county are hoping to appoint a President, and a deputy for that matter, but so far no nominations have been received from clubs.

If a President is not appointed, then members of the executive committee will have to undertake the presidential duties at county matches and the indoor and outdoor national finals at Newark and Skegness respectively.

The county are hoping to appoint a chairman for the first time to head the committee meetings instead of the President, but this will only happen if delegates accept a proposed change to the constitution forwarded by the committee.

Barry Lawrence is stepping down as results secretary, but it is understood a successor is in the pipeline.