BPL ready to bring normalcy back to bowls
The nation has endured over the past year and sport has certainly suffered a similar fate, with events completely cancelled or postponed, thanks to this disastrous pandemic that has ravaged the globe, but fortunes are starting to turn for the sport of bowls.
Normalcy returns to the world of bowls this month, with the Bowls Premier League (BPL) marking the sport’s comeback after a complete orbit around the sun.
It is fitting that the BPL marks the return of bowls to the national sporting calendar, with the made-for-television event unquestionably one of the most exciting and eagerly anticipated competitions that bowls boasts worldwide.
As the tournament descends on Moama Bowling Club, just North of Australia’s longest river, the Murray, the best players and most devout of fans alike will have their mind fixated on the spectacular facility that provided the closest of events a year ago at BPL11.
It took a piece of brilliance from Michael Walker, whose momentous drive in the dying stages of the final decider clinched an epic tie-breaker against the Melbourne Roys and gained the Murray Steamers their second BPL crown, nine editions after the franchise’s first.
Following such an extended layoff, fans can expect exuberance beyond belief with players roaring at the opportunity to compete again and attempt to etch their names into the League’s history book.
A plethora of narratives have arisen from the previous eleven editions of this exciting competition, and there are copious plot lines that could be driven off the greens and onto the screens of sports fans around the nation.
Who could forget the Adelaide Endurance’s three successive grand final appearances from BPL01-03; all without victory.
And of course, there was the Sydney Lions historic three-peat performance from BPL04-06, which no team has come close to matching.
This time last year, Aron Sherriff earned yet another MVP crown and now is on the cusp of accumulating an unprecedented fourth MVP honour.
Perhaps the Roys or the Pulse will finally see an end to the Melbourne curse.
Whatever occurrence in this month’s BPL, it is sure to cause the raucous crowd to venture into raptures as bowls returns to the limelight.
BPL12 runs from February 23-26, with Rinkside Live live-streaming available on Facebook and broadcast action nightly from 5-10pm AEDT on Fox Sports and Kayo.
