World Ranking: 15
Order of Merit: 18
| 2022/23 SMPT season record | W | D | L |
| Singles | 24 | 0 | 2 |
| Pairs | 9 | 0 | 2 |
| Fours | 4 | 1 | 1 |
Alex has played in three of the six World ranking events this season, losing just two matches along the way.
Alex won our very last event pre Covid, The English Masters, and he was looking to continue his fine form at the season opening UK Open at Chelmsford. Four wins from four in group one, led to a win in the cup knockout last 64 against Christopher Hillier, then a tight match in the last 32 against Ireland’s Nathan Haire, ended in a 15-14 loss.
In November Alex took part in the World Fours & Pairs Masters. In Saturday’s Fours event, Alex was joined by Paul Pomeroy, James Smith & Sam Harvey and a good run was ended in the Quarter Finals by Ireland’s Joe & Pauline Beattie, Gary Moore & Cecil Dillon. In the Pairs, alongside partner Sam Harvey, They enjoyed three wins from three in the group and went on to make it all the way to the Semi Finals where they lost out to their fours’ team mates, James Smith & Paul Pomeroy.
Back to singles action and his English Masters defence in February this year, started strongly with him cruising to top spot in group 20 and ensuring cup knockout qualification. Three good wins saw him progress to the Quarter Finals and a rematch with Lawrence Moffat, who he had beaten in the previous final, 3 years ago. This time it was the Scot who came out on top, winning 11-6.
Onward to the final weekend of events this season, the Belfast Open Pairs & World Masters Singles. In the Pairs, Alex, once again, teamed up with Sam Harvey. One win and one loss in the group saw them progress to the cup knockout, but this time they were beaten in the first round by Steven Jeffers & Angus Barnes.
Many had widely tipped Alex to become only the second non home player to win an event in Belfast, this not surprising, following his superb exploits over the last twelve months or so that saw him take home two English National singles titles and of course, join the select few who have won a National, British Isles & World title in the same event, in the same season.
It started well with a fairly comfortable five wins from five in group 28 and from then on in, an exhibition of short mat bowls followed as he cruised into the final using a good mix of drawing and aggressive running at the jack. Despite the score line, Adam Rankin made a great contest of the final, but nothing was going to stop the Englishman from taking, arguably, the hardest singles competition title there is to win.
The Short Mat Players Tour’s (SMPT) selection of short-listed players is final. Voting is open to all players who have a SMPT Player Profile on our website.
Players who have previously played in a SMPT event but do not have a Player Profile can register for one by emailing profiles@shortmatplayerstour.com – any player wanting a profile should send their email from the email address that is to be used for their profile, confirming the name of the last SMPT event they entered. Once a Player Profile has been set up, the player is eligible to vote.
Players may vote only once, through one registered profile under their name. Simply login to your Player Profile and register your top three choices in order of preference.
All votes must be received by the SMPT in the required format before 8pm on Sunday 2nd July 2023. The winner will be announced on our website on Tuesday 4th July 2023