Newly-crowned Welsh singles champion ‘devastated’ after bowls stolen

The newly-crowned Welsh singles champion Mikey Brain says he is ‘devastated’ after having his beloved blue Taylor bowls stolen.
The theft occurred when the 23-year-old’s car was broken into on Wednesday, March 6.
Mikey, a member of Port Talbot IBC, who won the blue riband Welsh indoor singles at the first time of asking and in doing so became one of the youngest ever winners of the prestigious competition, was in Birmingham when the theft occurred. 
“I’m doing exams with university as I’m a degree apprentice,” he explained.
A software engineer by profession, Mikey, who has been playing bowls outdoors for 12 years and indoors for six, says he parked his car at 4.10 pm and when he went back at 5.30 pm, the bowls bag had been stolen.
A member of Wales’ junior international series winning team last month, Mikey had used the Thomas Taylor Internationals Size 3 then and had been planning to taken them to Chelmsford next week for the men’s senior series for which he is one of the four travelling reserves.
“I’m devastated,” he said. 
“They are now very sentimental to me given all I have achieved in recent weeks. My bowls shoes, a top and whites were also in the bag.
“I only had them with me because I had planned to stop off for a practice on my way home.
“It was only my bowls bag that was taken. I’d have rather they took the car and left the bowls bag. I think the thief must have been watching me and cloned my signal to open the car as there was no damage which was weird.
“Thankfully I have a set of bowls I can borrow to take to the internationals next week which are similar, but I’m so gutted my set has gone because of the year I’ve had with them.
“I just want them back, even if they are battered.”