No change for World team, but shake-up for the Euros

Drennan Team England have named two very different squads for this year’s  European and World Championships.
Joint managers Mark Downes and Mark Addy have stuck to the same six for the world champs who finished third last year, while four of the country’s rising stars have been added to the Euro squad.
The World Champs team head to Bulgaria in mid-September to the Plovdiv rowing course, scene of Tommy Pickering’s gold medal way back in 1989. This time the fishing is expected to be somewhat different, with draining and restocking of the lake a possibility.
With a star-studded England line-up, and little chance of severe weather upsetting the fishing as it did last year, the team will be expecting better than the bronze they secured in Slovenia.
For the match which takes over the weekend of September 18 and 19, – five-times World Champion Alan Scotthorne will be joined by former champs Sean Ashby and William Raison, plus Des Shipp, Steve Hemingray and Callum Dicks.
For the Euros, though, the squad will have a very different look.
This takes place on the Almere Canal in Holland (July 23/24), where England came unstuck in 2009 in the World Champs. Here, Alan Scotthorne, Sean Ashby and William Raison will join four of England’s rising stars – Matt Godfrey, Lee Kerry, Cameron Hughes and Matt Derry.
“Introducing the youngsters is a brilliant way of feathering the England nest for future years,” Mark Downes said.
“Mark Addy and I won’t be around forever and nor will some of the senior lads in 10 years’ time, so we want to have a nucleus of experienced younger anglers to form a team for whoever takes over from us.
“The Euros used to be a win-at-all-costs match but we’re increasingly using that match to develop young lads into future World Championships anglers.”