BASINGSTOKE’S young bowls star Nicole Rogers made a successful England debut as she helped the the under-25s Ladies retain the British Isles International series at Bridgend..

England started their defence against their toughest rivals Scotland. Both teams struggled with the sluggish green, but England prevailed winning by 18 shots while Wales beat Ireland.

In the second round of matches Scotland took on Ireland while England took on host Wales and with the temperatures raising both off and on the rinks and with the home supporters becoming very ruckus, this match turned out to be a feisty affair.

Wales led for most of the game but England drew level with two ends to go, but with a disastrous penultimate end saw the Welsh coming out as winners by three shots.

With Scotland beating Ireland by over 50 shots England had to beat Ireland by a large score and hope that Scotland just beat Wales.

Unlike the glorious weather of the Saturday, the players were met with rain on Sunday morning.

England got off to great start and were up on all rinks, while the Wales and Scotland match was more cat and mouse game with the locals trying to carry their to team victory with their vocal support, but Scotland were just too strong and ran out winners by 20 shots.

This gave England their chance. With the young Irish team wilting under the constant rain and English onslaught England won their match by 84 shots across the four rinks to take the title.

Afterwards Nicole who bowls for Oakley Bowls Club said ‘It’s been a great weekend. I never thought I’d get the chance to play for my country so soon in only my second season outdoors.

“There’s been a great team spirit and the players have made me feel really welcome as the newbie in the team. It was great that everyone in the squad got to play and to finish on a winning team capped it off. Hopefully I can continue to improve and get a chance to play again in future years.”

Rogers also enjoyed individual success winning the Hampshire Ladies under-25 title. This qualified her for the finals of the national under-25 championships held at Royal Leamington Spa.

There she reached the quarter finals, losing to the eventual runner-up, Rebecca Moorbey from Cambridgeshire. Rogers will be attending three more finals during the month long National Championships.

In the under-18 singles she will be joined by three other Basingstoke juniors, Ashley Nethercliffe and Heather Statham (Oakley BC) and Alice Lovett (Basingstoke Town).

Rogers and Heather Statham will then join forces to play in the junior pairs and then finally, Hampshire Junior Ladies will take on Kent in the Inter Counties Championship.