The Preston Cup, was given to the Abingdon Bowling Club by Alderman Preston in 1921 to be presented to the winners of an annual competition between teams of four men from Bowling Clubs affiliated to the Bowls England.
The Skurry Cup was given to the Abingdon Bowling Club in 1951 to be presented annually to the runners up in the Competition.
The JJ Plate was donated by John Jenkins and John Davie, in 2003, to be competed for by the losing Quarter Finalist on Finals day.
The elimination rounds are held over a 10 week period with eight teams competing on Finals Day, at Abingdon Bowling Club, the date is Saturday 26th July 2008. A programme for Finals Day, will be available on the day, giving the names of the eight qualifying teams, the winners from previous years, and the names of sponsors.The sponsors of the Preston Cup are Greene King (previously Morlands Breweries of Abingdon),Robert Stanley Optical Specialists and Avonmore Associates with F Knight & Sons (Building Suppliers, 70/78 Ock St) sponsoring the JJ Plate.
The 2008 Competition Draw Preliminary Rounds (htm Format) The 2008 Competition Final's Day Results (htm Format) The 2008 final On Saturday 26th July the sun shone and Abingdon Bowling Club staged the 83rd Preston Cup Final. Teams from Abingdon (2), Hagbourne, Lower Heyford, Wantage, Oxford C & C, Carterton, and Watlington took part in the final stage of this competition having eliminated other teams from around the local area. The games were played in good spirit with the spectators applauding some accurate bowling. Consistent bowling by the Carterton team, Sam Muir, Chris Thorne, George Weedon and Peter Maisey ensured they won Preston Cup trophy, fighting off a brave challenge from Wantage team of Alan Mead, Bob Rose, Ray Johnson and Eric Hollinrake. Results Quarter Finals Hagbourne 15 Wantage 23; Abingdon D 18 Oxford City & County 25; Watlington 17 Carterton 18; Abingdon G 28 Lower Heyford 9 JJ Plate Semi Finals Hagbourne 25 Abington D 10; Watlington 19 Lower Heyford 22 JJ Plate Final Hagbourne (Dale Hall, Alan Bowler, John Beardsley, Mick Mullins) 21, Lower Heyford (David Witherspoon, John Nubbs, Nigel satchel, Chris Cox) 8 Preston Cup Semi Final Abingdon 17, Carterton 20; Wantage 19 Oxford City & County 18 Preston Cup Final Carterton (Sam Muir, Chris Thorne, George Weedon, Peter Maisey) 21, Wantage (Alan Mead, Bob Rose, Ray Johnson, Eric Hollinrake) 18 The 2007 final played on Saturday 28 July ended with a convincing win for Morland over local rivals Abingdon. Roger Goodchild was undoubtably the man of the day skippering his team to 3 easy victories to lift the Preston Cup for the first time, Abingdon's Peter Rogers, Brian Salsbury, Philip Woodville and Arthur Hall then taking the Skurray Cup with Watlington winning the JJ plate competition. A selection of photos from Finals Day 2007 The 2006 Competition Final's Day Results (htm Format) The 2006 final played on Saturday 29 July ended with an exciting final end. Having been behind for most of the game Summertown (Gerry Webb, John Skinner, Peter Sargeant and Russell Edwards) drew level at 17 all on the 20th end then on the last end they managed to gain the shot wood to overtake Carterton (Sammy Timms, Gordon Walker, TIm Warner and David Clanfield) to win 18-17. The JJ Plate saw a comfortable win for Lambourn (M Dowdeswell, S Ives, G Lewis and M Linn) over Hagbourne by 25 shots to 9 A selection of photos from Finals Day 2006 The 2005 Competition Draw Preliminary Rounds and Final Results The 2005 finals day was on Thursday 28 July and played in a good and competitive spirit. The 2005 competition was won by the West Witney team of A McIntyre, G Coombs, G Cogger and H Williams with S Timms, J Hicks, A Wise and R Clanfield from Carterton as runners up. The JJ Plate was won Wallingford (H Oliver, P Bailey, J Bearsley and B Green) after being taken to the 22nd end by West Witney (P Maisey, N Kinlock, T Prew and M Hichcox)