World Bowls Championships countdown – episode four

As we look forward to World Bowls on the Gold Coast later this month, veteran correspondent David Rhys Jones continues his trip down memory lane with a vivid account of what happened when the men’s and women’s championships were both held at the Henderson Bowls Club in Auckland, where he watched with pride as his old friend and pairs partner David Bryant won the men’s singles title in the most
extraordinary way, and another good friend, Janet Ackland, lifted the women’s title.

1988 – BRYANT – THE HENDERSON HOUDINI

I was excited. 1988 saw my first trip abroad in my new career as a bowls journalist and broadcaster. Along with legendary locals Ian Birch and Doug Armstrong, and Scottish raconteur Gordon Dunwoodie, I was employed by TVNZ. They covered the event comprehensively, and I also sent daily reports home to The Times newspaper to feature.
The press corps – yes, there were four or five of us travelling out from the UK! – stopped over in Bali for a few nights, and got ourselves properly sunburnt. And, on arrival in Auckland, wearing torn-off jeans and t-shirts, we made a bee-line for the venue, which, with a few days to go before the first bowl rolled, looked like a building site.
In the press room, we were introduced to the Reuters representative, who was sitting quietly in the corner. It was none other than Terry ‘TP’ McLean, New Zealand’s top rugby reporter, now semi-retired. I had met him 30-odd years before, when he was on the panel of a BBC Wales Sports Brains Trust in the YMCA
in Llanelli, where the All-Blacks were playing the Scarlets.
Reminiscing about that occasion, the legendary ‘TP’ recalled that a question was asked by a young boy in the audience. “It was more of an essay, with a question popped in at the end,” he grinned. “That was me,” I said – though I had forgotten all about it until the doyen of sporting Kiwi journalism jogged my memory.
Happy days!
On the green, my old mate David Bryant pulled off a miraculous win over the evergreen Willie Wood to win the singles, and Rowan Brassey and Peter Belliss defeated Bryant and Tony Allcock in a classic pairs
final. Scots-born Morgan Moffat played solidly in between Commonwealth Games champion Ian Dickison and the legendary Phil Skoglund as New Zealand won the triples, while Ireland’s Rod McCutcheon, John McCloughlin, Sammy Allen and Jim Baker struck gold in the fours.
The battle of the hemispheres thus produced two golds for the north, and two for the south. But it was the way in which Bryant, at 56, won the singles title for the third time, and how Wood was so cruelly denied the top honour for the second time in succession, that lives longest in the memory.
Remember, with the scores tied at 20-20, it was a last bowl reshuffle that prompted a controversial measure that gave Belliss the singles title in Aberdeen in 1984. Four years later, the goalposts had been
moved, and they were playing to a first-to-25 format. Wood duly reached 21 first against Bryant, and, on the basis of the old rules, had won, 21-12.
But, this was 1988, and the suave Englishman dug in and turned things around. At 22-22, the heavens opened, and the Henderson green went under water. Play was stopped for almost an hour, as the gallant groundsmen worked hard to make the rink playable. You don’t need to be a Biblical scholar to remember how Moses parted the Red Sea so that the Israelites could cross into the land of milk and honey. Well, that what it looked like when they had finished their work.
When the finalists returned to the rink, both players needed a treble for victory. The green was clearly still running at a fair pace, but there were no trial ends.
Wood, who went first, played an almost perfect end, but finished, unbelievably, without a bowl on the rink.
With his third bowl, Bryant struck Wood’s shot bowl, and dispatched two of the Scot’s bowls from the rink of play. Wood promptly drew the shot.
At that stage, he held shot and third bowl. What happened next? – You have to say that Bryant’s last bowl was on target – but he was blessed with maximum result.
A bull’s eye hit saw the shot bowl rocket on to Wood’s third bowl, which sped into the ditch.
The Scottish bowls that had been shot would have stopped on impact, BUT… Bryant’s own bowl, following through, hit it again, and it, too, went off the rink.
Bryant had three bowls on the rink, but the luckless Wood had none – and the match was over.
The end that gave Bryant his third world outdoor singles title is viewable on YouTube to this day, and is well worth a watch. I must admit I watch it frequently – but I am chuffed to say, in the manner
of Max Boyce, “I WAS THERE!

1988 – HENDERSON – ACKLAND IN AUCKLAND

I was there, too, at the same venue, later the same year, for the fifth women’s World Bowls. This time,
the distribution of gold medals was again equally shared by the northern and southern hemispheres, Wales and Ireland winning the singles and pairs respectively, and Australia coming
up trumps in the triples and fours.
The growth of the popularity of bowls, and particularly the credibility of these world championships, was evident. The first time women’s World Bowls was played in New Zealand – in 1973 – only nine countries were represented; this time there were 24 entries. That meant a full round robin was impracticable, and, for the first time, there were two qualifying groups in each discipline.
Having won the Commonwealth Games pairs with Freda Elliott in 1986, Margaret Johnston, from Northern Ireland, teamed up for the first time with Phillis Nolan, from the Republic of Ireland, to form an awesome partnership that went on to win the world title three times in succession – in 1988, 1992 and 1996.
Nolan and Johnston lost only one of their ten group matches, going down 30-12 to hotly-tipped England duo Wendy Line and Mary Price on day two. But they powered into the final with ten wins and an impressive shots credit of +101, before defeating surprise finalists, Heather Roberts and June Fulton, from Botswana, by nine, 22-13.
Johnston also reached the final of the singles, and was probably favourite to win it, but she was upstaged on the day by Janet Ackland, from the Penarth Belle Vue Bowls Club, who beat her, 25-20, before delivering a gracious winning speech which endeared her to all present.
Both finalists lost two matches in their groups, but Ackland had the satisfaction of finishing ahead of Kiwi Millie Khan, top Scot Senga McCrone, and defending champion Merle Richardson, from Australia, while Johnston saw off strong challenges from Fiji’s Maria Lum On, Rebecca Akaruru of the Cook Islands, and England’s Commonwealth Games champion Wendy Line.
Australia’s well-coached players proved too strong in the team events: Marion Stevens, Greeta Fahey and Dorothy Roche won the triples, and, joined by Norma Wainwright at lead, added the fours title, beating England in both of the finals.
It’s worth mentioning that Stevens, who was born in Middlesex, but who emigrated to Australia in 1973, played a significant role in dismissing England, who were represented by Norma Shaw, Jayne Roylance and Barbara Fuller in the triples, and by the same three plus Mary Price in the fours.
The Aussies returned a 22-13 card in the triples, but were slightly fortunate to get over the line, 20-19, in the fours.
Despite claiming two gold medals at the championships, Australia were pushed into second place in the overall league table, as England, with no golds to show for their efforts, took the Daily
Mirror team trophy.