Merrien looks to calm the storm

IAN MERRIEN hopes that his appointment as Guernsey Bowling Association president will bring an end to the ructions of the past months. But it seems that the new man at the helm is in the middle of a disagreement within a day of filling the vacancy.

Merrien has accepted the role believing that the move was within the rules of the GBA, but others have said that it contravenes the association's constitution.

But the move has angered some members who feel that there should be an extraordinary general meeting to ratify any appointment, especially the presidency. One, who did not wish to be named, said: 'If there were vacancies on the committee at the annual meeting, the members could have given the executive the mandate to go out and co-opt someone.

'But there weren't any vacancies; the two positions became available after the first meeting, when the president and the vice-president walked out.

Another spoke of a letter to the executive from the membership calling for an EGM.

'At the moment, it's not even a legal executive committee because there's only the president and two committee members; we're two people down,' the bowler said.

The disagreement is the latest episode in what has been a turbulent couple of months for the sport.

The GBA membership has been divided since the appointment of Collins as chief executive.

At the first meeting following his appointment, president Bernie Simon and vice-president Dave Lucas walked out and resigned, angry at what they felt was Collins' heavy-handed approach to his new role.

Collins had been the treasurer but had also then willingly taken on the roles of secretary and fixtures secretary because of a lack of volunteers.

He wanted the three positions combined under the title chief executive, which the executive committee agreed to.

However, since then, there have been increasing ructions: Collins planned to bring the sport up-to-date, attract new members and safeguard its future.

He outlined his intentions in a letter to members; however, some older ones felt that he was merely adapting their previous proposals for his own advancement and was moving too quickly and unilaterally.

Collins strongly denied the accusations, and the argument has simmered since.

The appointment of Merrien will provoke more discussion, including claims that he is just a supporter of Collins.

'The position sneaked up on me,' said Merrien.

'Garry approached me, we spoke about it, he recommended me to the committee and they appointed me. I've gone in to see what it's all about.

'I know he has his ideas and that there has been some disagreement. I just hope that it will all die down quickly.'