YORK & District Bowling Association welcome a team from the Friends of English Bowling to York RI's Ashton Lane ground in Holgate on Tuesday, June 21, with a 2pm start.

Since starting in 2005, the Friends, ordinary bowlers who join together to put something back into the sport, have raised significant sums of money through games such as the one in York.

They provide Bowls England with about £30,000 each year to help with youth development and support the national championships.

While in Yorkshire the Friends are playing three matches, the other two being against a Yorkshire County team at Northallerton on Wednesday, June 22, and Harrogate BC on Thursday, June 23, to commemorate that club's 80th anniversary.

The Friends team will be made up of players from Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Huntingdonshire, Northamptonshire, Northumberland, Wiltshire and Yorkshire.

The YABA team is: Rink 1 - J McCarthy President, M Spencer, D Ellcock, P Godwin; Rink 2 - P Smith, J Holtby, J Crowe, P Jackson; Rink 3 - C Harris, P Flannery, D Dearlove, W Waldie; Rink 4 - H Wenham, CW Brookes, T Butterfield, A Thornton; Rink 5 - A Price, J Walton, G Bell (Secretary), P Reeves; Rink 6 - R Keeler, N Ellis, D Preece, M Bulmer.

* Yorkshire Bowls Association Zone 4 are holding their Men's 2 Wood Singles competition at York RI on Saturday, June 11. Entries will be taken on the day prior to midday for a 12.30pm start.