Aust. wins bowls, 8-0

Press, 28 March 1983, Page 23

Aust. wins bowls, 8-0

NZPA Devonport Australia made a clean sweep of the Inter-Dominion bowls series over New Zealand yesterday with an 8-0 win in the final test at Penguin, Tasmania. Australia’s lop-sided win, once again spearheaded by the Queenslanders, Bob Parella and Keith Poole, gave the home side a 3-0 result. in the three-test series, and wrapped up Australia’s fourth InterDominion series in five years. Parella, the winner of the singles silver medal at the Brisbane s Commonwealth Games, crushed Danny O’Connor of Auckland, 21-7, to go through the series unbeaten in a tremendous return to form.

Since the Games, Parella has struggled and there were suggestions that he should be axed from the Inter-Dominion team.

But Parella silenced his critics in typically devastating style not only by blitzing O’Connor in the three singles encounters, but combining superbly with New South Wades’ Robbie Dobbins. • ■ . , The 1 only point dropped by Parella and Dobbins was in the first test when O’Connor and his Auckland partner, Rowan Brassey, squeezed a 19-19 draw. Parella and Dobbins provided the launching pad for Australia’s triumph in the final test when they downed ©’Connor and Brasse* 21-13. But it was Parella’s fel-

low Queenslander, Keith Poole, who delivered the knock-out punch, Poole, the Australian captain and the man who guided the green and golds to their gold medal in the fours at Brisbane, turned on a magnificent exhibition of precision bowls to steer the triples side to a 19-12 victory, then repeated the effort to spearhead the Australian fours to an 18-13 win.

“Poole was the master out there today, and we were the pupils,” lamented the New Zealand manager Kerry Clarke.

Although bitterly disappointed at New Zealand’s whitewash in the series, Clarke said there had been one big plug for the Kiwis. “We have seen the birth of a future champion in Stewart McConnell. While it

was disappointing to lose the series, we can look to the future with considerable optimism following the emergency of McConnell,” he said.

“He bowled superbly throughout the series and was easily our most outstanding player ■ — it is refreshing to see so much talent in one so young,” said Clarke.

McConnell, aged 32, a teacher at Otago Boys’ High School in Dunedin, earned the praise of team-mates and opposition alike. “Make no mistake, Stewart McConnell is the best thing that has happened to New Zealand bowls for a long time, and we are going to hear a lot more of this youngster in the future,” said the Australian team manager, Terry McKenna.