Can England afford to overlook talent like Hick?

Nov 9 2007 by Linzi Nicholson, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

Can England afford to overlook talent like Hick?

HUDDERSFIELD Indoor Bowls Club continue their Yorkshire League Division I defence against Hull tomorrow.

The team, sponsored by Wrights Publications Ltd of Holmfirth, have had a mixed start.

After beating Metrodome (Barnsley) 12-6, they failed to raise a side against Blackpool Newton Hall in the first round of the Denny Cup and were eliminated.

Captain Michael Hick was bitterly disappointed after his side did well in the subsidiary event last year.

Hick also suffered disappointment when he travelled to Oxford for trials for this year’s England Under 25 team.

According to reports, the trial smacked of southern bias with both Hick and fellow Yorkshireman Paul Mosley, from Thornaby IBC, being overlooked.

Hick played three games for England last year and had been in two winning rinks, while Mosley, who was skip last year, played 12 games for his country over three years, winning 10 games.

Huddersfield secretary Harold Hick commented: “The pair had an excellent record by anyone’s standards and it will be interesting to see if England can afford to do without this sort of quality.”

Hick and Jack Dyson helped Yorkshire’s Under 25 Double Rinks team beat Northumberland.