New challenge for Morgan Moffat

Press, 29 January 1986, Page 37

New challenge for Morgan Moffat

By

KEVIN McMENAMIN

Canterbury will be looking very much to Morgan Moffat when it contests the zone five elimination of the Rothmans intercentre bowls tournament at Omaaru this weekend. Despite its depth of bowling strength, Canterbury has a rather dismal record in the event. It has not won the national final since 1970, and last year hit a fresh low when it failed to get past the zone elimination at Timaru. The zone winner on that occasion was Canterbury. Canterbury was second ahead of Canterbury Country and North Otago. This was Canterbury Country’s first year back in the tournament after an absence of several seasons and it did quite well to only lose second place on the points differential.

However, Canterbury’s effort was disappointing and not for the first time it was a lack of singles successes which hindered its progress. This year Moffat has been given the singles role. It is a position that many people thought he should have been tried in. years ago, but successive selection panels have preferred to have him in his better-known position of fours skip. Getting to the final (where he was beaten by

Peter Beiliss) of the singles at the recent national tournament in Christchurch might have been the factor that has decided the selectors to switch Moffat this year. Moffat will join a lengthy list of players who have been given the singles job. All have been good bowlers, with sound singles records, but none, with the exception of Stan Lawson in the mid-19705, has been a notable success. Most of them have enjoyed something like a 50 per cent success rate, and with the singles results so often determining the outcome, 50 per cent has not been good enough. If he can recapture the form he had earlier this month, Moffat should have no trouble winning his three games at Oamaru and if he does, Canterbury would be more than half way to success. Between them the pair, and the four should win more than they lose. The pair of Bernie Johns and Ken Watson has a lot of potential, and Johns has been in top form at a big pairs tournament in Auckland this week.

The only newcomer to the team is the fours lead, Warner Barber. It is rather odd that he should gain selection in this posi-

tion after playing at No. 3 in the Papanui four skipped by Pat Doig which finished third equal at the New Zealand championships. That was a change that was forced by circumstances, and Barber is a sound lead who is unlikely to find the company too rich.

The four will be skipped by the very experienced Travis Coup and with Sonny Calder and Graham Stanley as his middle men, Coup has a team which should be very hard to beat. However, Coup, who has a long association with the event, will be very aware of the fact that favouritism, even warm favouritism, is no guarantee to success.

The Canterbury Country team might prove the town team’s toughest

rival. The Country selection looks to be more balanced this year and if Bob Patterson is at his best he will be a difficult singles rival. The four, to be skipped by Morris Naim, will not be easily brushed aside, either.

The zone eliminations take on added importance this year, with a Commonwealth Games coming up. The inter-island teams are expected to be announced next week and the only players eligible are amateurs, which will make the inter-island match a virtual final Games trial.

Moffat looks to be just about assured of selection, with Watson and Stanley distinct possibilities. Stanley, in particular, may only have to do well at Oamaru to be Moffat’s third in the South Island team and it would be a short step then for Stanley to clinch a trip to Edinburgh.

Canterbury has some particularly able junior bowlers at the moment and they, too, will be put to the test at Oamaru this week-end, the zone eliminations in the junior inter-centre tournament being played in conjunction with the senior event.

Given the respective number of bowlers in the four centres that make up zone five, Canterbury should qualify for both the national finals. However, history shows that almost invariably one, or both, come unstuck. The host centre, North Otago, is unlikely to be a major threat; and it, in fact, may have already achieved its biggest victory. Originally the zone five eliminations were to have been played in Ashburton, but following an appeal to the New Zealand Bowling Association, North Otago was successful in getting the venue changed to Oamaru.