New $100,000 format breathes life into lawn bowls
The shorter format of play is being heralded as a saving grace for the sport Bowls hottest new format of competition, the $100,000 Australian Premier League, has breathed new life into the traditional sport of bowls after erupting at Brisbane’s Club Pine Rivers today.
Featuring an array of innovative concepts aimed at turning the conventional sport on its head, including super-subs, power-play double scoring ends and shot clocks to speed up play, the ground-breaking T20 version of bowls produced an electrifying atmosphere in front of a capacity crowd eager to adopt the highly anticipated premise.
Whilst the name of the competition suggests an Australian state or territory would be left in good standing, it was in fact the country’s across the ditch neighbour New Zealand who finished with pride of place at the top of the table after two rounds.
The TOWER New Zealand Blackjacks remain undefeated after two encounters, accounting for the Blundstone Melbourne Roys and host city heroes XXXX Brisbane Gold, with a log jam of contenders piled up on one victory, and the star-studded BCiB Sydney Lions unable to impress with two consecutive losses.
The sport of bowls makes its first foray into live television coverage since its one-time venture in 1980, with Fox Sports 2, and Sky TV NZ, televising three matches a night from 5.00-9.30pm AEST until an inaugural winner is crowned late on Friday.
Ladder after round two.
1. New Zealand Blackjacks, 2 wins, 3 set points, 4 points
2. Perth Suns 1, 2, 2
3. Melbourne Roys 1, 2, 2
4. Brisbane Gold 1, 1, 2
5. Adelaide Endurance 1, 1, 2
6. Sydney Lions 0, 1, 0
To keep up-to-date with all the action from the inaugural Australian Premier League, visit www.australianpremierleague.com.au, follow @APLbowls on Twitter and ‘like’ www.facebook.com/AustralianPremierLeague
