Jackaroos confirmed for upcoming events, including inaugural World Bowls Challenge

by Bowls Australia on August 12, 2019

Bowls Australia (BA) will send High Performance teams to compete in premier competitions at home and abroad in the coming months, leading into the BCiB Australian Jackaroos hosting the might of the world in the sport’s newest international competition.

Australian selectors have today named the Jackaroos and Emerging Jackaroos personnel that will contest upcoming Moama Pairs and Hong Kong International Classic events, in addition to confirming the 10-strong contingent charged with the nation’s hopes at the inaugural World Bowls Challenge.

Australia will host the previously-announced ‘Team World’ in the new marquee international event, the World Bowls Challenge, to hit Moama Bowling Club in Victoria from November 29-30, and be broadcast live on Fox Sports Australia and Kayo Sports.

Jackaroos’ stalwarts Aron Sherriff, Aaron Teys, Barrie Lester, Natasha Scott, Kelsey Cottrell and Rebecca Van Asch are the six players retained from the recent 2019 Asia Pacific Championships campaign, to be complemented by the New South Welsh quartet of Ellen Ryan, Karen Murphy, Corey Wedlock and Aaron Wilson.

Set to be captained by Van Asch, the BCiB Australian Jackaroos will compete against the likes of Team World’s Alex Marshall MBE, Shannon McIlroy, Ryan Bester, Jo Edwards and Colleen Piketh in Bowls’ equivalent to Golf’s Ryder Cup.

The event will deviate from tradition in utilising sets-play and will begin with Mixed Triples, followed by Men’s Pairs, Women’s Pairs, then Mixed Pairs, and conclude with ten Singles matches (five Men’s and five Women’s singles matches) staged across staggered starts.

In coming to their decision, selectors considered a range of factors, including the unique composite format of the event and the covered carpet surface at Moama.

Further to the World Bowls Challenge, there have been a number of additional line-ups confirmed for events, both home and abroad.

BCiB Australian Jackaroos Ryan and Kristina Krstic and Wayne Ruediger and Corey Wedlock will compete in the upcoming Moama Women’s and Men’s Pairs events respectively, while Emerging Jackaroos Tiffany Brodie, Bolivia Millerick, Jayden Christie and Carl Healey will represent Australia at the Hong Kong International Classic in November.

National Coach Steve Glasson was confident the selectors had opted for the right mix of players with a loaded events period to close out 2019.

“The remainder of the year looms as a significantly busy period for our players and so we took this into consideration when selecting squads in order to maximise our chances of success,” Glasson said.

“We are excited to take on Team World in the inaugural World Bowls Challenge and have every confidence in our ten selected to embrace this unique event which will no doubt be a terrific advertisement for our sport.

“In terms of the other selections, we have enjoyed a long-standing relationship with both the Moama Bowling Club and the Hong Kong Lawn Bowls Association (HKLBA). We would like to thank them for the opportunity to again take part in their outstanding events.”

See below for selected squads, in chronological order:

Moama Women’s Pairs**
August 20-23
Moama Bowling Club, VIC, Australia

Kristina Krstic
Ellen Ryan

Moama Men’s Pairs**
September 30 – October 2
Moama Bowling Club, VIC, Australia

Wayne Ruediger
Corey Wedlock

Hong Kong International Classic**
November 9-17
Hong Kong China

Tiffany Brodie*
Bolivia Millerick*
Jayden Christie*
Carl Healey*

World Bowls Challenge
November 29-30
Moama Bowling Club, VIC, Australia

Kelsey Cottrell
Ellen Ryan
Karen Murphy
Natasha Scott
Rebecca Van Asch ©
Barrie Lester
Aron Sherriff
Aaron Teys
Corey Wedlock
Aaron Wilson

Team selection for Australia’s involvement in the Multi-Nations and Trans-Tasman on the Gold Coast from November 18-24 and 25-27, respectively, will be made early in September.

* indicates Australian Emerging Jackaroo
** indicates uncapped event