Harris Claims British Isles Pairs Title

Stephen went on to lead for Potters legend Greg Harlow, world indoor singles champion Les Gillett and singles specialist Martin Puckett in the international series against Wales, Ireland and Scotland.

Making his senior debut, Stephen recalls: "After our success in the pairs, in my first game against Wales I was drawn on the same end rink on the 13-rink complex.

“We knew it would be tough against David Harding but Martin and I got us off to some good starts and Les and Greg cleaned up when needed. We led 15-6 and 24-9 to give England a good platform to get the win to start the series.

“Our final score ended 29-14, with the overall score 129-97.”

On The final day of the series, Stephen admitted he was feeling the fatigue but knew a win against Ireland would set up a decider against Scotland in the afternoon.

“We started slowly against some great bowls by Irish skip Ian McClure and his young rink, but a couple of good ends turned the game for us, and we went on to win 30-5 as the team triumphed 139-83,” said Stephen.

“With Scotland also winning twice it was all to play for in our final match and again we started well. But we knew if they had got ahead their team overall would come back us. So, we kept it tight and took a 16-9 lead with a 6-count on the 11th end. On the adjoining rink Jamie Walker was winning 18-3 so we urged each other on to give the team 77-47 lead at halfway.”

Stephen’s quartet eventually won 22-18 to emerge unbeaten and England (131-94) the overall winners.

“It was a great experience to win my first senior series and to play alongside Martin Puckett, who apparently just pipped me for player of the series, Les and Greg who were all very encouraging and supportive.

“I hope there will be many more opportunities to play at this level.”