Lloyd wins holy trinity of major county bowling titles

By his own admission, newly crowned Shropshire Merit champion Martin Lloyd isn't one for celebrating.

But completing what he considers to be the holy trinity of major county bowling titles was enough for the Chester Road stalwart to toast his own achievements.

"I didn't get to sleep too early," confessed Lloyd after a victorious day at Bicton which saw him lift the stunning Charles Beddard Trophy to add to his previous career successes in the County Handicap and Premier League Merit.

"I had a few drinks with the lads at Bicton and then went home but it was probably 1.30am before I got to sleep.

"I'm over the moon. It was the one I wanted to complete the set of the big three tournaments and it's so tough to win.

"Just trying to qualify from north Shropshire has become really hard over the last few years because there are so many good players."

And, for the 38-year-old, his biggest success couldn't have produced a more dramatic conclusion as he successfully played a winning draw with his final bowl to edge out Peter Farmer 21-20 in the final.

Passport

It was hard not to feel for Farmer, the Childs Ercall ace now having had three final defeats — including two 21-20s — to sit alongside his four Merit titles.

But Lloyd was impressive throughout, defeating two former Merit winners en route to a victory which gives him a passport to the All England, the Champion of Champions and also the Oceanico Masters in Portugal.

The Bunbury-based electrician defeated John Breeze — the tournament winner the Merit last time came to Bicton in 2000 — 21-12 in his opening game before edging past Craig Davies of Sir John Bayley 21-20 in a second round battle which produced his biggest scare of a sweltering day.

Defending champion Alan Davidson was beaten 21-16 by Lloyd in the quarter-finals, before he saw off the impressive Martin Williams 21-10 in the semi-finals.

And that set up a meeting with Farmer which drew endless plaudits from a crowd which was fell some way short of traditional Merit numbers due to England's World Cup football clash with Germany.

"You could travel the whole of the country for 10 years and still not see a better final than that," commented County chairman Barry Jennings.

On the other side of the draw, Farmer had beaten reigning All England champion Callum Wraight 21-17 in a clash of the titans in the semi-finals.

But the day belonged to Lloyd who bounced back spectacularly from a 21-7 home defeat to Meole Brace's Tony Hotchkiss in the Shropshire Premier League on Friday.

"I remember Alan Davidson winning the Merit at Abbey in 2004 and two days earlier he had been beaten 21-4 by Ian Booth, who used to play for Chester Road," added Lloyd.

"In his acceptance speech that day, he thanked Ian for giving him a lesson and getting his mind right ahead of the Merit.

"I suppose it was quite similar to me this time having lost to Tony on Friday."

By a strange quirk, Davidon also beat Farmer in the final six years ago. And the score that day? 21-20.

By JAMES GARRISON