Somerville to miss N.Z. bowls in Chch

Press, 27 October 1977, Page 36

Somerville to miss N.Z. bowls in Chch

With just one exception, all the country’s leading bowlers have entered for the national championships, which begin in Christchurch on December 26.

The one prominent name missing is Jack Somerville, of the Matamata club, Rewa. Somerville has an outstanding record in his WaikatoThames Valley centre and he skipped the champion four at the national tournament in 1971. Two years later he was second in the pairs. Somerville was the third in Gordon Jolly’s gold medalwinning four at the 1974 Commonwealth Games and he won New Zealand selection again last year for the world championships in South Africa. He must, therefore, be a leading candidate for the New Zealand team for next year’s Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, although not being seen at the Christchurch tournament will very likely count against him. It is unknown why Somerville has elected not to play. He is a farmer by occupation, but he also has an interest in a Matamata business.

Mr Dave Martin, a Christchurch member of the national selection panel, said yesterday that he was surprised that Somerville had not entered and that his nonappearance would certainly

not help his chances of going to Edmonton. All three champions are defending their titles — Ivan Kostanich (Helensville), singles; Norm Lash (Hutt), pairs; and Kerry Clark (North East Valley), fours. The unexpectedly big increase in entries is due largely to a sharp rise in the number of Christchurch competitors. In the singles, for example, Christchurch will provide 619 of the 1480 entries. At the last Christchurch tournament four years 437 local bowlers went after the singles title. Dunedin has the next highest singles involvement (191) and it is followed by Auckland (116), Southland (114) and Wellington (85). There is a drop then to Waikato (48) and South Canterbury (42). With the exception of Southland, which has risen from 87, most of the totals from outside Christchurch are about the same as in 1974.

For the pairs, there are 592 Christchurch entries (compared with 431 four years ago) in the total of 1192. Dunedin (148), Auckland (64) and Wellington (58) are the next highest. The pattern is the same in the fours. Christchurch will supply 336 teams (267 in 1974), Dunedin 82, Auckland 30 and Wellington 29. The total fours entry is 650.