Verdict on bowls four – guilty

National champion Gary Lawson may not play for New Zealand again, according to former representative Peter Belliss. Photo / Canterbury Star

An independent panel investigating match-fixing allegations has found a Gary Lawson-led New Zealand four deliberately lost an end against Thailand during the Asia-Pacific bowls tournament in Malaysia last August.

In a 13-page judgment released to the players today, the judicial committee said Lawson and teammates Jamie Hill, Shayne Sincock and Shannon McIlroy were guilty of deliberately throwing the 17th end of the match.

"It found the New Zealand team (four) did agree to lose the 17th end but they also found that evidence presented showed they had then tried to win the 18th (and final) end," a source told NZPA today.

"That (losing the 17th end) however, was enough to find the players guilty of trying to lose the match."

The charges were brought by Asia-Pacific contestants Canada and World Bowls.

The New Zealand combination, who had already qualified for post section play in Kuala Lumpur, led Thailand 15-12 in their section play match before conceding a four on the penultimate end and another shot on the last, to lose 15-17.

The New Zealanders held three shots on the last end before the Thai No 3 deflected his delivery off a wide bowl to end up behind the jack.

Bowls New Zealand (BNZ) stood the four down while investigating the accusations.

That investigation found there was a case to be heard and the players appeared before a judicial committee in October.

Lawson, 43, who has represented his country since 1989 and last year won the pairs and fours titles at the world championships in Christchurch, has always denied the accusations.

"The decision today was pretty much what I expected really," Lawson told NZPA, adding he had been asked not to comment further on legal advice.

However, he told Radio Sport in an interview he felt the quartet, particularly McIlroy, had been punished enough.

"We have been suspended from the New Zealand team, missed out on a trip to Malaysia, had our payments from high performance for winning the world championship ceased..."

He said the whole issue had been pushed by BNZ chief executive Kerry Clark.

"The Canadians needed to beat Thailand (in their final section play match) otherwise they were going to miss out on the quarters.

"When it didn't happen, they put a protest in. But it was always an informal protest and they didn't want it to go further.

"Kerry Clark turned up the next day, and he's the guy who pushed it - he pushed it at World Bowls level with coach Dave Edwards, and at the end of the day it got blown way out of proportion.

"This is about Kerry Clark himself - at the end of the day, he doesn't like me and I think he hasn't done a very good job.

"That's what it is. It's just a shame he's used this to have a crack at me.

"At the end of the day I just want people to understand how backward the game is going and if that means bringing the game into disrepute then I am guilty."

The four bowlers and BNZ have 10 days to make submissions on what penalty should be imposed.

The source told NZPA the four bowlers also had the right of appeal to the Sports Tribunal both on the decision reached today and also on the sentence if they were not happy with that.

Clark did not return calls from NZPA today.

Lawson, who won a record-equalling 10th national title at the recent national championshps in Wellington, was diffident on his bowls future, indicating there was no point carrying on if he did not now have the passion or desire to train and practice.

- NZPA