FLAT green bowler Janet Cropper produced the best performance ever by a Lancashire player in the English Women's Bowling Association National Championships.

The Bolton Flat Green Bowling Club player reached the final of the two-wood singles at Leamington.

She has represented Lancashire at Leamington on numerous occasions but this year she was a big star of the championships - in appearance as well as ability.

Traditionally, the players have worn all-white at the event but, as the Lancashire County Champion, Janet chose to wear her red shirt which, together with her smartly-tailored white trousers, made her quite an attraction.

But it was only after she had beaten international Amy Monkhouse of Lincolnshire in the third round that people started taking notice.

In spite of the heat Janet looked calm and composed in both the quarter-finals and semi-finals and won both.

It was in the final against last year's four-wood champion, Shirley Page from Hertfordshire, that she really caused a stir.

Janet applied pressure from the outset with her inch-perfect bowling and, whenever she was shot-against, with her audacious firing shots.

The score was level going into the last end, and Janet chose to set a full-length jack.

Her first bowl finished up as a bad good one - jack-high but with a four-inch gap between the bowl and the jack.

This presented Shirley with a wonderful target and she executed the shot perfectly by placing her bowl exactly in the gap.

Janet just missed the target with her second bowl and finished as runner-up - the highest achievement ever by a Lancashire lady bowler.