Bowled over

Clout has been named in the ACT side to contest the two matches which will form a lead-up to next year’s Australian Sides Championships in Victoria next April.

Fellow Queanbeyan bowler Maggie Johnston was also named for the ACT after her recent appearance at the Australian Senior Sides Championships held at the Queanbeyan Bowling Club last week.

Clout meanwhile, will be looking for any opportunity to move on from last week’s Champion of Champions campaign that saw her and partner Ruth Moore finish last in their pool after three straight losses.

Clout and Moore were beaten by eventual champions NSW in their opening match before being thrashed by Queensland 31-11 in their second match – the most lopsided result of the tournament.

The duo rounded out their championships with a narrow, one-shot loss to Western Australia.

“We’re a bit disappointed at the moment but I think you’ve got to be disappointed,” Clout said following the pair’s final match. “If you were blasé about it, it would mean you weren’t out there trying.

“We’ll get back into it next week and start concentrating on preparing for the test against Tasmania next month.”

After a promising opening against competition frontrunners NSW where they were far from outclassed, Clout was at something of a loss to explain why they had fallen so far off the pace in Sunday’s play.

“When you start to lose your line and length, it can be very hard sometimes to know why that is,” Clout said. “The problem is, often the harder you try to get it back, the worse it gets.

“We certainly didn’t play our best bowls by any means and we were up against a very high class of opponent where you’ve got to play your best bowls if you’re going to be a chance.”

Karen Murphy from NSW enjoyed an historic tournament taking out the women’s singles to go with her pairs title. Victoria’s Dylan Fisher proved too strong in the men’s singles while the men’s pairs was won by Queensland’s Jay Cross and Des Cann Jnr.