MIDDLESEX GIVE OPPOSITION THE COLD SHOULDER

With the warm sunshine of April having given way to the coldest May in many a year it was of course time for the Middlesex friendly Squad to make their seasonal bow.

For the first game President Graham Kellett (Cambridge Park) and his team gathered at a frosty Holtwhites to host Warwickshire CBA, a side Middlesex had beaten in their first friendly for each of the past 3 seasons.

3 jumpers and a jacket were the order of the day as Middlesex won on 5 rinks to extend that run to 4 and record an opening match 120-95 win. Clearly the Warwickshire’s bears were not of the polar variety as the cold took its toll on those present.

Top rink was David Barnicoat and Antonio Bracallello (Bush Hill Park), David Todd (Junior President / Treasurer and Sunbury Sports) and Eric Prior (Match Secretary / Mill Hill) who won 26-8

Congratulations to Richard Gascoigne who received his full county badge from the President after the game.

The County players only had 36 hours to defrost before they had to repack their thermals and travel along the M40 to the picturesque Buckinghamshire town of Marlow for the first away game of the season.

On arrival the first order of the day was to walk down to the Thames and check it had not frozen over and to offer the Swans some bread dipped in hot soup. Seriously, however, the weather was slightly brighter and only 1 jumper was generally required. Indeed for a while during the game, the sun came out and you could almost close your eyes and imagine summer was on the way but it did not last as the clouds returned and the thermometer plummeted.

The game itself was played on a sporting green which required a bit of a push but for early May it was a descent surface. The rink result was all square with each side prevailing on 3, the difference was that Middlesex’s rink wins were heavy (20, 26 and 27 shots!) with the final result being a landslide 155-94, Middlesex’s biggest friendly win since the 60 shot victory margin over Huntingdonshire CBA in 2007.

 After the game Teddington’s David Baker was presented with his full County Badge. Top rink was Steve Bland (Wealdstone), Roy Dodson (Brondesbury), Maurice Zollo (Strawberry Hill) and Tony Waller (Ladygate) who won 32-5.

So 2 wins from 2, can the side make it 3 on the trot and match the start to 2009’s campaign? Next up, on Tuesday the 18^th May, they travel north to Henlow Park Bowling Club to take on Bedfordshire CBA.