A Warlingham bowling club member wants emulate hit film Cool Runnings by putting together a Jamaican bowling team.

In the 1993 film starring John Candy, a group of Jamaican's swap their sunny island life for snowy, cold mountains as they competed in the bobsleigh at the Olympic Games.

Now, Jamaican Andrew Newell is looking to do something similar by swapping their sandy beaches for the grassy greens of lawn bowls.

"A Jamaican on a lawn bowls green is definitely akin to a Jamaican in a bobsled, it almost never happens," said Newell, the son of an St Elizabethan father and a Clarendonian mother, who grew in Battersea before moving to Sanderstead two years ago and joining the Warlingham club.

"I began playing seven years ago having seen it on television and having watched it live in parks around London.

"I was instantly interested and joined a club, won a few regional competitions and now would like to pursue an international bowls tournament.

"I would not want to represent anyone but Jamaica but, due to the lack of a Jamaican governing body for the sport, it is impossible for me to represent Jamaica as a member of the World Bowls Organization.

"There needs to be a common interest in the sport in Jamaica before anything can get started.

"I have not found a lawn bowls green in Jamaica but I want to create one and to create a high profile invitational competition featuring the world's best to raise awareness of the sport in the country."

To achieve this, Newell will be visiting Jamaica between July 24 and August 10 and would like to meet those interested in helping him achieve his dream of getting Jamaica onto another world stage.

"In a country that does not even have one bowling alley, but ample open green land, instead of just squatting and throwing parties, let's give lawn bowls a thought, and a few actions," added the 37-year-old.

"Who knows which latent world champions are playing marbles in Jamaican streets, unknowingly practicing in preparation for an opportunity to beat the world's best skippers at lawn bowls."

If you want to help Newell, then email mrbrownbeard@aol.com