Australia will have its home soil pride on the line when the Tri-Nations Bowls event rolls into action at Mosman Park Bowling Club in Western Australia on 18 October.
An Australian invitational line-up is aiming to win back-to-back titles after Kelvin Kerkow, Steve Glasson, Wayne Turley and Karen Murphy defeated the British Lions 2-1 in last year’s final.
But South Africa will have something to say about that, and will try and win its second Tri-Nations after claiming the inaugural event in 2005.
The event consists of a selection of the world’s best players, with both men and women representing their respective countries, or in the case of the British Lions, the entire United Kingdom.
Turley is the only player from last year’s Australian quartet to be retained and in 2007 he will be joined by fellow Australian squad members Claire Duke, Aron Sherriff and Nathan Rice.
Duke has been one of the best performed players on the local scene over the past two years, finishing top of the national singles rankings in 2006.
The 24-year-old Moama-based bowler currently sits in second place on the 2007 singles rankings and at the recent Queensland Open made the final of all three disciplines.
Rice is also in sparkling form, topping the national singles rankings in 2006 and showing his abilities as skip of the pairs and triples combinations during Australia’s successful World Team Cup campaign in May.
Sherriff, a relative newcomer on the international stage, made his debut for Australia at the World Team Cup and impressed in the final against Ireland with a stunning performance in the tough singles role.
Turley, a Commonwealth Games gold medallist, was also part of the successful World Team Cup side.
While the Australians will go into the event with form and a home green advantage, the opposition looks ominous.
The British Lions squad comprises Ellen Falkner (England), Robert Weale (Wales), David Gourlay (Scotland) and Jeremy Henry (Ireland).
Gourlay is world No.1 on the tough World Bowls Tour, while Henry won the world championship singles gold medal in 2000. Weale was the singles silver medallist at the 2006 Commonwealth Games and Falkner collected bronze in the triples at the same event.
The South African line-up is equally as impressive and comprises Lorna Trigwell, Gerry Baker, Wayne Perry and Bill Radloff.
The first three days pits nation against nation with the two top teams battling out a world-class final on Sunday 21 October.
Tri-Nations is the brainchild of long-time bowls television commentator and promoter Steve Boylan, who passed away earlier this year.
Bowls Australia played a major role in the 2005 event and has taken responsibility for staging the event in 2007.
In memory of Mr Boylan, the three competing teams will play for the Steve Boylan Cup.
