On Saturday, 25th August, Merrow bowlers travelled the short distance to local rivals Burpham to play a friendly of five triples.

The afternoon started cool, but the sun soon came out to warm us up. After playing our trial ends, the teams went into battle. Looking around the scoreboards, your correspondent could see that Burpham were forging ahead.

We stopped for tea and biscuits at the halfway mark, which provided a most welcome break. Unfortunately for Merrow, the break did nothing to improve our score.

At the conclusion, Burpham came out on top by a significant margin, winning by 115-60. However, it was not all doom and gloom. Merrow had two rinks that broke the mould. Sue, Ken, and Bob lost on the final end by just two points, having come very close to a win. Meanwhile, Richard, Brian R, and Colin managed a draw, certainly our best rink.

The afternoon ended with all sitting down to sandwiches (thanks to Nina), drinks, and a chat. We thank Mike, Anne, and John for their sterling efforts on the catering front.

Our next match against Burpham will be in February 2019, when we play host at Wey Valley.

Merrow’s David Ewins delivers a bowl

The match gets under way

On Sunday, 19th August, Merrow bowlers travelled to Elstead to play a friendly of three triples.

The Elstead green had had some substantial improvements since our last visit, being very lush and well covered. The match was soon going Merrow’s way, with the final outcome being outstanding wins on all three rinks. The final score was 70-29 to Merrow, with our best rink being Mike, Rodney, and David E winning by 25-9.

Well done to the Merrow bowlers for a truly outstanding performance.

On Saturday, 18th August, Merrow entertained Woking Park. Due to a misunderstanding, we ended up playing three rinks of triples instead of four.

A cloudy afternoon soon had the sun breaking through, warming things up.

Merrow started well, but started to run into problems as Woking got to know the green. However, we also got into our stride and were soon back on track.

We broke for tea after ten ends. Everyone enjoyed Sally’s cakes and a refreshing cup of tea.

After tea, Merrow stepped up the pressure, eventually winning on all three rinks, with a final score of 57-45. Top rink by one point was Debbie, Mike, and Colin with a score of 21-15. Well done to all players, a fine win.

For our latest match in the Harding Cup, on Thursday 16th August we played East Horsley.

As normal, both home and away matches were played on the same day.

Good teams were fielded by both sides. Despite a win at home by ten points, the away team unfortunately lost by thirteen, meaning that Merrow lost overall.

The result probably means the end of Merrow’s involvement in the competition, although there is a remote chance that we may survive into another round.

Our latest midweek match was at home against Puttenham on Wednsday, 15th August.

Three rinks of triples were played. The afternoon was cloudy but warm, making for good bowling conditions.

Puttenham proved to be strong opponents, but Merrow managed to win well on two rinks, with rink three losing by a single point. Merrow were victors by 56-36, with the captain’s rink of Ken, Brian T, and Brian R being our top rink with a score of 25-13.

A lovely tea with homemade cakes was provided by Lorna at the halfway mark, which was very well received by both teams.

On Saturday, 11th August, Merrow played host to Ewhurst for a friendly match of three triples.

With the end of the recent heatwave, the day was overcast and cool, with the threat of rain ever-present.

The match was played in good spirits on both sides, but Ewhurst were soon in the ascendancy. We had a welcome break for tea at the halfway stage, with delicious cakes provided by Debbie going down a treat.

After tea, Merrow started to fight back. However, the fates decreed that Ewhurst would win overall with a score of 35-58. Well done to Merrow’s team of Sue, Mike, and Colin, who managed to overcome their opposition, winning 19-16.

The Harding Cup is a competition for local villages and, since the demise of Shere BC, consists of Albury, East Horsley, Puttenham, and Merrow.

Each side is made up of two triples, each containing at least one lady bowler. One team play at home, the other away. The scores are aggregated to discover the winning team. At the end of all matches a final is played on a neutral ground. in 2017, Merrow bowlers made it to the final, which was played at Puttenham, sadly losing by just a single point.

On Monday, 6th August, Merrow played Puttenham in the 2018 competition. On a sweltering afternoon, the away team of Debbie, David R, and Bob travelled to Puttenham, while the home team of Tony C, Lorna, and David E entertained our opponents.

The result was extremely close, as the away team lost by eleven points. However, the home team won by twelve points, giving Merrow an overall win.

On an extremely hot Saturday, 4th August, Merrow travelled to Liphook to play a return match of four triples. As ever, we received a warm welcome from Liphook, and is often the case, met up with some fellow Wey Valley bowlers. During the match we were blessed with a light breeze which helped to keep us a little cooler, but the temperature was quite testing and any shade was greatly appreciated!

Liphook’s green proved to be very fast with lots of movement, so much so that it was almost like an indoor rink. After a good start, Merrow were holding their own. However, the break for tea at nine ends seemed to take away some of our impetus and we ended the day losing by 56-71 points. It wasn’t all bad news though. Although not managing a win, Judy, Debbie and Colin came back strongly to post a very respectable score. Our only victors on the day were Mark, Ken and David E, with an eight point victory; well done! As a club, we gave a good account of ourselves and our results will reflect that. To put that in context, we beat Liphook handsomely when they came to Merrow, so we can hold our heads high.

… On Sunday 22nd it’s our annual match against the Village Club! Don’t forget to put your name down, or at least come along and cheer us on. Remember, they beat us last year, so let’s do our best to win.

There will be a barbecue and raffle too.

On Wednesday, 11th July, Merrow played host to Holloway Hill for a friendly of four triples.

The weather, while warm and sunny, was a little cooler than of late, which was most welcome.

As the match developed, Holloway Hill were in the ascendancy, with only your correspondent’s rink ahead for Merrow. But, as you know, we Merrow bowlers never give up and recovery was on the cards. At the culmination of the match, Holloway Hill came out on top 57-60. However, Merrow won on two rinks and drew on a third, so we can be pleased with our performance, particularly as we had some inexperienced bowlers playing.

We stopped for some very welcome tea and cake at half time, provided by David Foster.

Merrow’s best rink, winning by two points, were Lorna, Debbie, and Ken. Good performances by Bernard, Julian, and Robin are also to be conmended. Well done to all our bowlers.