Bowls: Late call-up for Dunedin player

Peter Wilson, of Dunedin, has received a last-minute call up to the New Zealand team for the third annual PBA transtasman bowls test on the Queensland Gold Coast.

Wilson (41), a process worker for Fonterra, has replaced Jamie Hill (Auckland) who has taken a rest from bowls this winter.

Wilson started playing bowls in 1994 and has been a member of the PBA for the past seven years.

He was ranked fifth after last year's domestic season.

He was ranked third in the New Zealand PBA two years ago and was a member of the New Zealand team that won last year's transtasman series.

Wilson has made two appearances on the World Bowls Tour, at Perth, Scotland, in 2010 and at Swansea in Wales last year.

The other Otago member of the team is veteran Ken Walker, who will be playing in his third transtasman challenge.

Walker, who joined the PBA in 2003, had his best season in 2008 when he was ranked top of the New Zealand PBA.

Walker made seven appearances on the World Bowls Tour from 2005 to 2009 and also played in two World Bowls in the outdoor game.

He is confident about retaining the Trans Tasman Challenge Cup.

"Of course we can win," Walker said. "We have an experienced team who have all been there before and we won last year."

The test series will begin at the Tweed Heads Bowling Club on the Gold Coast tomorrow and continue for three days. Former Dunedin-based international Paul Girdler is bowls manager at the Tweed Heads ClubAustralia won the Trans Tasman Challenge Cup in 2010 and New Zealand last year.

The team manager is John Cross (Dunedin).

It was team member Raika Gregory's impressive play that won the Challenge tournament for New Zealand last year.

It will not be an easy task for New Zealand to retain the cup because Australia has selected a strong team that is full of former World Bowls and Commonwealth Games champions.

Five rounds are played tomorrow and on Saturday, with all Australian team members playing the New Zealanders. The top three from each team then play off on Sunday ,in a best-of-three-match challenge to decide the winning association.

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Transtasman test
The protagonists
New Zealand: Chris Lourie (Waikato), Murray Glassey (Hawkes Bay), Ken Walker (Dunedin), Raika Gregory (Waikato), Peter Wilson (Dunedin).
Australia: Brett Wilkie, Steve Glasson, Kelvin Kerkow, Karen Murphy, Ben Twist.