Triple at centre of world rumpus

THE Guernsey triple at the women's world bowls championships were at the centre of a raging rumpus at Leamington Spa last night. Gwen de la Mare, Jean Simon and Jacqueline Nicolle were devastated when their appeal against their 18-16 defeat at the hands of the defending champions New Zealand was dismissed by the emergency appeals committee.

At 16-11 after 14 ends, the Guernsey trio looked as if they were heading for a famous victory over the Kiwis, when the New Zealand skip, Marlene Castle, took the unusual step of asking an umpire to review a decision she had already made.

The issue concerned a line bowl, skilfully drawn to the very boundary of the rink by Nicolle and the umpire, using a set square in the prescribed manner, declared the bowl to be overhanging the rink of play and duly alive.

Although it is normal practice to allow the umpire to make a decision independently and without comment, Castle pointed out that the string, which marks the boundary of the rink, was not straight.

Astonishingly, the umpire, calling on the assistance of a colleague, took the advice from the player and straightened the string, before declaring that the bowl was entirely off the rink and therefore dead.

It was removed from the rink.

Guernsey were thus denied the shot and New Zealand put three on the card, whereupon the Sarnians, looking visibly shaken, conceded a further four shots (1-2-1) without reply and lost by two.

'I was watching from the bank and clearly heard the umpire say it was a live bowl,' said Dave Trebert, whose wife Eunice and Anne Simon have qualified for the pairs quarter-finals.

'The etiquette of the game is that you accept the umpire's decision without question and it was out of order for the New Zealand skip to intervene in that way,' he added. 'It was most upsetting.'

Guernsey duly issued a challenge and the committee sat for an hour on the case. They admitted that the circumstances were 'regrettable', but agreed that a string should be straightened before a line judgement is made and dismissed the appeal.