Tempers rise in the park as temperatures soar

Scotland's bowls veteran left fuming by opening ceremony vote as countrywoman seeks to put the record straight

No sooner had your correspondent boarded the Metrolink tram at Piccadilly station than a figure from the past approached and asked if he was on the right track for the bowls. Ron Jones, a 72-year-old former Canadian international trundler who spent the first 22 years of his life in Liverpool, was keen to be on site when end-to-end play ensued.

Having reassured him, I mentioned that the last tram I rode was a red one, an admission calculated to date a person faster than reminiscing about the films of George Formby.

In the days of red trams, of course, every day of summer was as glorious as yesterday, and practically every outdoor sporting activity took place in an environment as tranquil as the picturesque four-green arena here at Heaton Park.

Like most idylls, however, the image did not match the reality. While not exactly festering with intrigue, the atmosphere at the Commonwealth Games lawn bowls venue was certainly simmering.

The Scots may have felt left out of this sporting summer, their footballers having failed to qualify for the World Cup finals in Japan and South Korea, but few have expressed injured pride as bitterly as Willie Wood, the country's bowls icon.

Given that Wood was about to take part in his seventh Commonwealth Games, a record for any sport, he thought he would be chosen to carry the flag for Scotland during the spectacular opening ceremony at the City of Manchester Stadium on Thursday night. Instead, after a vote by the the country's 198 Games participants, Scotland's banner was handed to Craig MacLean, a cyclist.

"The whole thing stinks," was Wood's reaction to the decision. The 64-year-old from Gifford, East Lothian boycotted the opening ceremony and said: "When my event finishes on Wednesday, I'll be straight back up the road." That was Wood's last public comment on the subject. The Scottish Commonwealth Games Council banned him from discussing the matter further with the press, at least until the Games are over.

This is the second time Wood has considered himself let down by his country. Four years ago he thought he would be chosen to carry the flag in Kuala Lumpur. On that occasion he consoled himself that he had been overlooked in favour of the sprinter Dougie Walker because of a personality clash between himself and certain council members. This time the decision is harder for him to take because it was the result of a team ballot.

The point was made that the majority of Scotland's team are young, so Willie Wood probably means less to some of them than Ronnie Wood. If so, that is a sad reflection on the Scottish sports authorities, who could have presented Wood's credentials easily enough: since winning a bronze medal in Christchurch in 1974, he has appeared in every Games since then with the exception of Edinburgh in 1986, and has won three more medals: two gold and a silver.

Wood, who says he does not intend to go to the Games in Melbourne four years hence, even if selected, showed his team spirit in the fours event yesterday. Scotland were five down to Fiji, but collected seven shots from the last end to win 18-16.

While Wood has nothing left to prove, his countrywoman, Margaret Letham, is keen to set her record straight after a disappointing experience when competing in her last major international event, the women's World Championships, in Moama, Victoria, Australia, in 2000.

Letham defeated Margaret Johnston, of Northern Ireland, in her section and was due to compete in the play-off for a gold medal. But Johnston complained that the bias was faulty in Letham's bowls, and the organisers sent them to be tested at the Drake's Pride factory. The bowls were declared to be faulty, and Johnston went on to win the gold medal.

Unhappy about the decision, the Scotland representatives sent the offending bowls back to the factory that manufactured them for further tests in Scotland, where they were found to have a legal bias.

Since then, Letham has waited for an opportunity to make amends. It arrives here next week when she is due to play in the same section as Johnston in the women's singles. This will be a challenging test for both players, though Letham says she has tried to put the Moama incident behind her and just wants to concentrate on playing as well as she can here. That may be so, but her fellow competitors cannot wait for battle to commence.

Memories run deep, which is why the Scottish camp in general has little time to exchange pleasantries with Ian Schuback, the world No 1, who is currently commentating on the Games for Australian television.

This dates back to the International Indoor Open in Preston in 1999, when Schuback played Scotland's David Gourlay in the best-of-five-sets final. Gourlay won the first two sets. At the start of the third set, Schuback threw the jack, which seemed certain to land in the ditch. Schuback picked up the mat, but put it down again when the jack stayed on the edge of the green. Gourley complained, and Schuback lost the point.

Schuback went on to win the match, infuriating the Scots afterwards by saying: "If that complaint had happened in Australia, we would have gone outside to settle it." To borrow from Billy Connolly, Schuback is as welcome in the Scottish camp as a fart in a space suit.