FORMER state cricketer Trevor Docking achieved his first ever triples championship in 22 years of lawn bowls when he was successful in the North-West Open triples played at the Penguin club last Sunday.
The Coastal championships have reverted to club champion of champions competition this season and Docking, playing with Penguin clubmates Cameron Windram and Wayne Willcox, progressed through the club event to clinch the championship with three hard-fought wins in the quarter final, semi-final and grand final.
Docking now has the full complement of club championship singles, pairs, triples and fours titles and in addition has represented the North-West in the statewide pennant competition and also played for Tasmania in the Interstate Sides Series at Holdfast Bay, Adelaide in 2002.
However, he said yesterday that the highlight of his sporting career was being selected to play in Tasmania's first Sheffield Shield match in Perth in 1977 and being part of the successful Gillette Cup win in 1979.
He retired from first-class cricket in 1989 to begin his successful lawn bowls career.
Nitz in hot form
THE state's leading bowler Mark Nitz continued his sizzling red-hot form since January 2 to win the Bill Shephard Memorial Betta Milk Classic Pairs at South Burnie this week playing with Burnie club mate Trevor Carpenter.
The win gave the state singles champion 20 successive championship wins plus one pennant match in a 16 day period.
The run began with five wins in the state Open fours, six in the state Open singles, his club pairs grand final and eight in the South Burnie championship played over three days.
In the grand final the Burnie pair defeated Phillip Jones and Darryl Austin from the Wynyard club by 12 shots, after defeating the Spreyton/Devonport combination of Alan Carver/Tristan Bakes by one shot in their semi-final.
Carver and Bakes made a valiant effort to steal the match by scoring five close shots on the final end.
For Nitz it was his third successive win in the Classic, playing with Wayne Denny the previous two years.
He also won with his father Wayne 17 years ago and it was this win that saw the teenager start to make heads turn in the bowls world.
The state fours was also a third straight win and with five North-West singles in the past eight years he has taken over the mantle of champion of the modern era from the likes of Leigh Bishop, Michael Hill and Peter Lawson, all former Australian representatives.
What a pity for state bowls that he is unavailable for selection in the state side, due to the costs involved. Mark will attempt to extend the winning sequence with pennant tomorrow against East Devonport and the North-West open pairs finals at Burnie on Sunday.
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