In 1922 the seeds were sown for the formation of Yorkshire County Bowling Association with the formation of the Durham and Yorkshire Joint Association that became affiliated to the English Bowling Association. In 1932 Yorkshire became independent of Durham though, at that time the association was male orientated until the ladies association was formed in 1950. Both operated as separate organisations until unification in 2011.

The County has proudly produced five England Presidents namely Mr R Richardson (1964), Mrs J Kendall (1966), Mr H Armstrong (1982), Mrs K Horncastle (1990) and Mr IRD Woodcock (2005).

In addition Yorkshire has also provided five female and 18 male internationals in addition to four female and eight male junior internationals. Included in these are several players who have represented England in the Commonwealth Games. It was in 1978 that Bobby Robertson and Jim Ashman represented England in Toronto, whilst Betty Stubbings followed in 1982 and 1986 at Brisbane and Edinburgh respectively.

Yorkshire has enjoyed great success on the greens over the years, for the men the late Tom Fleming dominated proceeding in the 1950’s and 1960’s winning eight County Championships. However Tom’s achievements have been surpassed by Mark Walton who has taken 19 titles. For the ladies two names dominated the scene, their names being Beryl Alderson and Betty Stubbings who became Yorkshire County Champion 13 times between them.

Nationally the county has won the John’s Trophy on three occasions and the Middleton Cup six times.

However it is individual national titles that have provided most success for Yorkshire bowlers. In 2003 Paul Allenby was National Singles Winner with Mark Walton Runner Up. In 2004 Walton went one better and clinched the title. Joined by Stephen Dilks and Chris Kelly, Walton also won the National Triples the same year. Walton went on to win the singles again in 2006 and was runner-up in 2007.

The Ladies have also enjoyed success with the late Carol McLean and Michelle Mooring winning National U25 Pairs in 2003, whilst their Amy Rose Team was National Champions in 2008.

The most recent successes for the men saw Ben Render win the Two-Wood Singles in 2013 before being joined by Shaun Wells, Dominic Kelly and Nigel Brignall to reach the Final of the Fours at Royal Leamington Spa in 2014.

In 2018 the Ladies and Men reached the Semi Finals of the Johns and Middleton respectively, with the Ladies going one step further reaching the final of the Walker Cup. Individually Sue Allen won the Senior Singles, with Sue Cotton and Di Jones winning the National Pairs. Cotton and Jones went on to win the British Isle Pairs in 2019.

County Details

Contact: Lesley Dearlove
Email: dearlovelesley@gmail.com
Website: www.yorksba.co.uk
Agreed Centre: York

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