Warwickshire fielded two sides in the Regional Final of the White Rose Trophy, one containing the more experienced players and the players looking to gain experience for future seasons. The A side completed a clean sweep of games, booking their place in the National Finals with a session to spare.
Due to having two teams in the group the first session pitted A against B, the A side was made up of Lewis Gardner and Sam Shuttleworth (both Whitnash) in the pairs; Thomas Mills, Jacob Mills (both Rugby) and Aiden Maries (Avenue Leamington) in the triples with Josh Hancock (Whitnash) in reserve. Representing Warwickshire in the B team were Campbell Turner (Avenue Leamington) and Charlie Green (Avenue Coventry) in the pairs, with the triples made up of Lucas Hampson (Bidford), Riley Hunter (Solihull Municipal) and Declan Maries (Avenue Leamington), finally Rhys Cooper (Whitnash) as reserve. Warwickshire A had the better of both the pairs and the triples, the pairs winning 24-3, triples 16-3 and overall 40-6. After the first session three teams all had six points, Warwickshire A, Worcestershire and team made up of Oxfordshire & Wiltshire.
Both sides remained unchanged for the second session. In the pairs Warwickshire A were eight up after six ends but saw off a Herefordshire fightback to win 11-6. In the triples Warwickshire A saw their seven shot lead after five ends get cut to two with four ends to play, a good finish saw them win 15-7 to give an overall 26-13. The B side were two down with four ends left but dropped two fours to eventually lose 7-14. In the triples the game was level after eight ends but the Bears took a treble, only to see the scores level with one end left, with his final wood Declan Maries peeled away the shot wood to gain an 11-9 victory and importantly take two points off one of the A teams rivals. With two sessions gone Warwickshire A had 12 points, Worcestershire and the Oxon/Wilts mix both on 10 points.
The third session also saw both teams remain unchanged. Warwickshire A faced off against the Oxon/Wilts team, the pairs looked to be in control four up after five ends but were just a shot up with four ends left. A brace of doubles took the score 10-5 to the Bears but the time limit expired so the remaining two ends couldn’t be played. The triples recovered from an early deficit to reach seven ends all square, a good four end spell saw the Bears head into the final end two up and they held on to win 11-10, overall score 21-15. Warwickshire B took on another of the main rivals of the A team, this time however they couldn’t take any points from their opposition, the pairs losing 16-8, the triples 11-6 and overall 27-14. Warwickshire A now had 18 points, Worcestershire 16 and Oxon/Wilts 10.
Session four saw the B side shuffle things around, the pairs now Rhys Cooper and Declan Maries with the triples made up of Lucas Hampson, Riley Hunter and Charlie Green. The A team remained the unchanged, they also knew that another clean sweep this time against Worcestershire would secure them top spot and a place at the Nationals. Despite losing the first two ends the triples went on a six end winning spree to lead by eleven. A double and treble cut that to six but the triples took a single to secure a 15-8 win. Worcestershire led in the pairs but could never break clear, with seven ends gone the Bears trailed by a single. A four put them ahead but three singles saw the game all square with one end left, with both skips having one wood left the Worcestershire skip was two down and attempted to split the holding woods and take shot but missed, Warwickshire winning 9-7 and 24-15 overall. A good performance by Warwickshire B saw the triples win 14-5 and the pairs 13-7, for an overall 27-12 win. Those results meant that Warwickshire A finished top with 24 points, ahead of Worcestershire and Oxon/Wilts on 16 points, Warwickshire B & Oxfordshire had 8 points and Herefordshire failed to pick up any points.
With Warwickshire A being unreachable the final session wasn’t needed. The Bears join Durham, Lincolnshire A, Essex A, Huntingdonshire A, Surrey A, Berkshire and Cornwall A at the Nationals on Sunday 16th August.