Jamie Chestney, Norfolk's exciting young prospect, shrugged his shoulders as he assessed his first series as an England skip, and agreed it was a case of putting it all down to experience.

Jamie Chestney, Norfolk's exciting young prospect, shrugged his shoulders as he assessed his first series as an England skip, and agreed it was a case of putting it all down to experience.

Chestney's quartet - with Craig Docherty, Ian Jenkins and Billy Jackson at the front end, had competed well, winning one match, 21-17, losing another by the same score, and going down narrowly against Wales, 22-20.

“Overall, Scotland deserved to win the series,” said the 20-year-old Chestney, after the Scots had lowered England's colours, 123-101, in the final session, “But I enjoyed it, and hope I will be back for more.”

John Ottaway, leading as always, helped Stephen Farish to an 18-13 win over Wales, and a 17-16 win over Scotland, while Mervyn King, playing third to Robert Newman, lost by five to Wales, but chalked up a 22-15 win against Scotland.

After beating Ireland comfortably in the opening match, England, the defending champions collapsed badly against Wales, and were always under the cosh against Scotland, who won the title for the first time since 2004.

Ironically, one of Scotland's stars was Gary Smith, originally from Kent, who played for England from 1982 until 2001, but took up residence in Scotland wgen he was appointed as CEO of World Bowls Limited.

After giving up bowls for a couple of years, he is now playing out of Linlithgow, but his selection for Scotland was controversial.

It certainly caused quite a stir on the bowls websites, and the Scottish selectors came in for heavy criticism for picking an Englishman - especially one who so passionately espoused England's cause for so long.

“I took some stick, but had no trouble adjusting,” said Smith. “The players accepted me, and it's just a game of bowls after all. It was great to return to the international scene after a seven-year break.”

Earlier, England won the British pairs, fours and under 25 singles titles, while Sandy Wotherspoon, a Scot, won the singles, and Jersey took the triples.

British Isles bowls championships at Llandrindod Wells - Finals:- Singles: S Wotherspoon (Scotland) bt G Kelly (Ireland) 21-18. Under 25 singles: S Holland (England) bt I McLean (Scotland) 21-17. Pairs: C Goldsmith & G Charlton (England) bt D & R Weale (Wales) 20-17. Triples: J Rowcliffe, A Shaw, C Renouf (Jersey) bt G Jones, M Selway, I Henderson (Wales) 20-13. Fours: Danny May, I Airey, R Chandler, S Airey (England) bt C McCafferty, A Grant, A Forrest, R Grant (Scotland) 26-15.

Home international series (at the same venue):-

Wales bt England 124-98 - Rink scores (Wales skips first): J Tomlinson 22, J Chestney 20; A Atwood 20, R Newman 13; W Thomas 13, S Farish 18; J Greenslade 21, G Shadwell 21; R Weale 29, N Brett 9; M Wyatt 19, M Walton 21.

Scotland bt Ireland 124-94 - Rink scores (Scotland skips first): G Logan 26, N Booth 17; I Campbell 21, C Craig 9; R Grant 18, N Graham 13; W W Wood 32, J Henry 12; D Burnett 13, J Ross 20; C Mitchell 14, A Montgomery 23.

Scotland bt England 123-101 - Rink scores (Scotland skips first): D Burnett 23, I Bond 10; C Mitchell 26, M Walton 15; G Logan 21, J Chestney 17; I Campbell 15, R Newman 22; R Grant 16, S Farish 17; W W Wood 22, G Shadwell 20.

Ireland bt Wales 138-110 - Rink scores (Wales skips first): J Ross 24, R Weale 18; A Montgomery 18, M Wyatt 16; N Booth 27, J Tomlinson 14; C Craig 20, A Atwood 19; N Graham 25, W Thomas 24; J Henry 24, J Greenslade 19.

Final standings: 1 Scotland 6pts (+53 shots); 2 Wales 2pts (-3 shots); 3 England 2pts (-7 shots; 4 Ireland 2pts (-43 shots).