ALL OUR YESTERDAYS
21 Years Ago in the year 2000
We continue our build-up to the 2021 summer bowling season with a look back in time to the start of a new Millennium and the build-up to the year 2000 season.
Peter Muff once again hosted The Examiner Overseas Pairs Competition in the Algarve when John Aspinal lifted the trophy for a second successive year. After his 1999 success with Pamela Haynes he had a different partner this time around when he partnered Avril Bennett to victory. Longwood bowler John and his Zeneca partner had a 21-10 success in the final over Mick Haynes and Joan Earnshaw.
Ashley Daykin beat Bob Armitage to win the early season competition the St Andrews Motor Company Spring Handicap exactly 20 years after winning the trophy for the first time as a 16-year-old in 1980. That was when the competition was played under its previous banner of the Ben Shaws Easter Handicap and he had a 7 handicap start. Fast forward 20 years and he is playing off scratch to beat Armitage 21-9 in the 2000 final.
The Huddersfield Bowling Association will open their Nuffield League programme on Saturday 6 May. There are to be 16 teams in each of the Subscription, Drayton, Littlewood, Bamforth and Binns cups, 15 in the Ingham Cup and 6 in the Beaumont Cup which means that they will play each other three times.
Just two days before the start of the 2000 season Slaithwaite Cricket & Bowling Club withdrew their team from the Binns Cup after being unable to name eight bowlers for their opening fixture. Slaithwaite were not the only team to struggle to field full teams as Almondbury Cons also withdrew from the Binns Cup whilst four teams - Netherton Cons, Skel Windmill, Thongsbridge C&BC and Zeneca have all relinquished their 12-man teams of 1999 and moved into the Binns Cup.
Business as usual at The Griffin where South Yorkshire County player Lee Schofield triumphed in the Shawfleet Classic competition by beating birthday boy Paul Sigsworth. The Barnsley player took the £170 first prize with a 21-18 win in the final to dampen Paul's 36th birthday celebrations.
Quarter-Finals: B.Starkey 21-16 D.Reeves, L.Schofield 21-7 D.Wormald, P.Sigsworth 21-13 B.Morley, D.Walkden 21-13 J.Wright Semi-Finals: Schofield 21-12 Starkey, Sigsworth 21-17 Walkden
Final: Schofield 21-18 Sigsworth
I am very grateful to The Huddersfield Examiner for their permission to include the above photographs.