VICKI WHITTY has retained her place in the England Under-25 team and goes to Belfast on Friday, January 17, determined to help her country retain the British Isles title in the triangular tournament against Northern Ireland and Wales.

The 20-year-old Dorchester bowler had her original trial at the age of 15 when she was picked as a reserve. She gained her first cap the following season and has played each year since apart from the

2000-01 campaign when the English Women's Indoor BA introduced a new intake of aspiring youngsters.

The EWIBA have produced an impressive number of under-25 bowlers now playing for the full England side but they have left them out of the junior squad this season.

Whitty, who has enjoyed playing alongside rising stars Cheryl Northall, Amy (Gowshall) Monks, Ellen Alexander, Helen Dabbs and Kerry Stanley, will be at number two in Belfast for Northamptonshire skip Deena Bryan on a rink completed by lead Louise Meeks (Norfolk) and Joanne Simmons (Long Eaton).

The Dorset bowler knows all three of her colleagues well and is eager to repeat last year's success which saw England sink hosts Wales

100-61 and Northern Ireland 159-33, Whitty's rink scoring a staggering 56-2 triumph against the Irish.

She has been chosen after a trial in November at Solihull followed by a practice match against the Leicestershire men's team. Her Dorchester colleague Charlotte Webster also played at Solihull yet was not selected for the next match but as she is only 16 she has plenty of years ahead of her to earn an international call-up.

The season has been particularly hectic for Whitty now in her second year at Exeter University studying economics and business studies.

To compete in national competitions and attend England trials has involved considerable travelling and careful planning over the last three months - and this talented product of Dorchester's youth

policy is still involved in the Sue Jennings rink, hoping to go one better than 2000 when she, Ros Gwatkin, Annette Hallett and skip Jennings were runners-up in the national fours final.