#BPL11: By the Numbers
With the dust now settled on yet another memorable edition of the Bowls Premier League (BPL), Aaron Delaporte takes a forensic look at how BPL11 fared by the numbers, with records, milestones and firsts aplenty.
The Bowls Premier League (BPL) once again lived up to its reputation as the most exciting bowls competition in the world, when in a thrilling conclusion, the Murray Steamers claimed their second title and the very first at their Moama home venue.
The Steamers previously won the title way back in their debut competition at APL02 in November 2014 (Club Pine Rivers, QLD), with Ryan Bester and Michael Walker also a part of that team.
New to the Steamers at BPL11, Jo Edwards also claimed her second BPL, having won it previously with the New Zealand Blackjacks at APL03.
It was a remarkable effort by the New Zealand international to play so well in the Finals, given she missed a game during the penultimate night session after her shin was on the wrong end of a ricochet off a Bester drive during the final match on Day 3.
Magic Milestones
A number of top-line players celebrated milestones at the Moama leg of the BPL, with many enjoying their milestone with a victory.
Fittingly, Aron Sherriff, the only player to have participated in every BPL since its inception, was the first player to bring up a milestone with his 150th game in a Round 2 win over the Perth Suns.
Other milestones:
- 150 games – Ryan Bester (Round 14)
- 100 games – Kelsey Cottrell (Round 4), Alex Marshall (Round 4), Ben Twist (Round 9), Kristina Krstic (Round 14, first Perth Sun to reach 100 games*), Scott Thulborn (Round 14, only player not to win their milestone match*)
Evenness of the competition
The 14th and final preliminary round saw that many different permutations of finishing positions that it was virtually impossible to predict the outcome.
Without a doubt, BPL11 was the closest competition the event has ever seen, with just two wins separating first and last position (eight wins being the lowest ever tally to finish in first).
As it panned out, Murray took that with a remarkable -23 shots and even continued to lose shots while winning their Semi-Final and Final, getting home in a tie-break on each occasion.
The key to BPL has always been winning the match tie-breaks and the Steamers won four of the five they played.
Lack of tie-breaks
BPL11 saw an extremely low number of tie-breaks played across the 14 preliminary rounds, with just 22 occurring from 56 matches.
The Tweed Heads Ospreys went a record 13 consecutive rounds without a playing a tiebreak, before finally having to endure the sudden-death end in the final round of the competition.
Additionally, the three tie-breaks in the last three finals (Semi-Final, Preliminary Final, Final) was a BPL first.
Dual MVPs
Aaron Wilson and Aron Sherriff became the first players in the event’s history to share MVP honours, with Sherriff having now won the medal a record three times.
It was a first MVP win for Wilson, who’s Melbourne Roys side finished last at BPL10 and nearly pulled off an incredible rags to riches turnaround.
His win completed a trio of ‘Aaron’s’ to consecutively taste MVP success. (Aaron Teys – BPL10 MVP)
However, for Aaron Teys, his Tweed Heads Ospreys side became the second in history to go from first to last, joining Brisbane (BPL01 > BPL02) to take home the wooden spoon after winning the title the previous event.
Contribution by Aaron Delaporte (Bowls WA)
