(Article by Chris Le Lievre)

The Auckland men`s and women`s representative sides face a tough battle this Sunday in Wellington as they prepare to face off against Wellington, Marlborough and Canterbury.

The quadrangular held at Naenae will be the final hitout for all the centres before the all-important National Intercentre regional qualifying events which are held on the 27th and 28th of February.

The Auckland sides seem fairly settled, with only a couple of changes from their last outing in December.

Onehunga`s Danny Delany has been trusted with the coveted mens singles spot for Auckland. His three oponents are all of the highest class; Canterbury`s Darren Redway, the current New Zealand National Club Singles champion, Marlborough`s Kelvin Scott, a former National singles winner and Wellington`s Kevin Rice, who last weekend won the Wellington 7`s Interclub as Wilton`s singles exponent.

Delany is the current National pairs champion, and is tipped to gain a New Zealand squad invitation direct entry into the $125,000 Australian Open held near Melbourne from February 14 to 20.

Life will not get any easier for the Auckland men`s pair consisting of debutant Barclay Lee who skips former singles player Kevin Dixon. All three of their matches will be against former Black Jacks who are skipping their respective pair; Canterbury`s Glen MacDonald, 2008 Trusts New Zealand Open triples champion Shayne Sincock of Marlborough and Wellington`s Ben King.

Although he is a part of the New Zealand squad, Canterbury`s young star Andrew Kelly finds himself unwanted by the Canterbury selectors for this Sunday`s clash. Kelly will be in action on Auckland`s North Shore on February 26, 27,28 as a part of the New Zealand under 25 side taking on Australia in the annual Trans Tasman.

The Wellington men`s side have had a major reshuffle since their disappointing outing on January 31. Squaring off against Kapiti Coast, Wairarapa and Manawatu, they finished dead last.

Even without the Eastbourne international trio of Justin Goodwin, Andrew Curtain and Gary Lawson who are unavailable, the team still boasts a fine looking lineup, with five of the six players who won the National Intercentre in 2008. Only Sydney-based Matt Gallop is no longer in the side from 2008. National fours winner Blake Signal returns after missing the January encounter to bolster Rob Ashton`s four.

On the other side of the coin, the Wellington women have named an unchanged lineup from their January quadrangular where they dismantled every team put before them.

The team won last season`s National Intercentre and have kept an almost identical side from then on, the only exception being Lisa White slotting in at two in Lui Hare`s four as the competition has switched from triples to fours. The traditional ends format is now being used as opposed to the oft-maligned sets play.

Pakuranga duo Tania Wrigley and Gaylene Harvey take the spots at lead and three in the Auckland women`s four, previously held by Raelene Castle, who is unavailable due to Netball New Zealand commitments, and Karen Hema respectively.

Harvey is “stoked”with her inclusion in the side for which she will make her debut for. She has graduated from the reserve side on the back of some strong performances over the season.

Fours skipper Reen Stratford returns to the city in which she won her first National title, in the pairs last month with Bev Crowe. The two players she defeated in the semi final, Wellington`s Helen King and Clare McCaul, will face Auckland`s Karen de Jongh and the in-form Rima Strickland in the pairs.

Auckland Bowls wishes all teams travelling to Wellington the very best of luck.

Auckland, Wellington, Marlborough, Canterbury Representative Quadrangular

Sunday 7th February, Naenae Bowling Club, Wellington

Open Men 

AUCKLAND

Singles- Danny Delany (Onehunga)

Pairs- Barclay Lee (St Heliers) (skip), Kevin Dixon (Onehunga)

Fours- Grant Goodwin (Hillsboro) (skip), Steve Cox (Henderson), Neil Fisher (Pakuranga), Tom Delany (Onehunga)

Wellington

Singles- Kevin Rice

Pairs- Ben King (skip), Roger Glendinning

Fours- Rob Ashton (skip), Blake Signal, Bruce Henderson, Clint Carroll

Marlborough 

Singles- Kelvin Scott

Pairs- Shayne Sincock (skip), Warren Brown

Fours- Andre Smith (skip), Lloyd Gallop, Sanjhe Prasad, Steven Gallop

Canterbury 

Singles- Darren Redway

Pairs- Glen MacDonald (skip), Steve Ditford

Fours- Maurice Symes (skip), Lance Main, Rohan Ware, Eric Allison

Open Women

AUCKLAND

Singles- Jill Fraser (Pakuranga)

Pairs- Karen de Jongh (Carlton Cornwall) (skip), Rima Strickland (Onehunga)

Fours- Reen Stratford (New Lynn) (skip), Gaylene Harvey (Pakuranga), Leanne Watson (New Lynn), Tania Wrigley (Pakuranga)

Wellington 

Singles- Leigh Griffin

Pairs- Helen King (skip), Clare McCaul

Fours- Lui Hare (skip), Patricia Wishnowsky, Lisa White, Robyn Tuckett

Marlborough 

Singles- Jan Gallop

Pairs- Noelene Hood, Glenda Bishop

Fours- Josephine Romano, Karen Day, Colleen Robbins, Honey Rubin

Canterbury 

Singles- Jan Shirley

Pairs- Adele Greenfield (skip), Verna Veint

Fours- Pam Phair (skip), Lois Grey, Nicola Reed, Sherrie Cottle

Disabled Teams

Auckland

David Stallard, Wayne Ford, Chris Matthews, Paul Stallard, Richard Bentley

Canterbury 

Graham Reardon, Michael Reynolds, John Stalker, Quinn Mahoney