Difficult decisions

Tough Men's 4s match this evening against Papworth B, currently second in Division 3. The C Team has no match so I'm playing third for the B Team. Responsible for both B and C Team selection, want to  have an eyeball at a couple of B Team players.

Obvious from the start we're up against a good team. On our rink 2 we're down 3-11 by the eighth end. They're killing us on short length jacks. With no instructions coming from our skip, when we get the jack after the ninth end I suggest to our lead a long jack is worth trying. Bingo! We win eight of the final twelve ends to finish ahead 18-16.

Rink 3 is ahead throughout their match and win 19-14. Unfortunately rink 1 collapses from end 9 onwards and loses heavily, 9-24. Although we win two rinks to one, we lose the bonus point for the highest bowls score. The final result 4-3 to us in points. Into the clubhouse for a tea of buttered new potatoes, two sausages and beans.

Now got some difficult decisions to make for team selection. Been keeping a tally of total bowls difference for each player. Unfair to make a judgement on a single match since Men's 4s is a team game, but after four matches patterns start to emerge. Some players have an unbeaten record and a very positive bowls difference, others anything but. The difficulty comes when players with expectations are moved from B to C Team or into reserves. Suspect I've got a few difficult conversations coming up.

Here are this evening's scorecards.