John Bell

John Nicholson Bell, born on 14 January 1947, is a former English lawn and indoor bowler who also became a television commentator and an administrator of his sport. He won his first world title as part of the England team in the team event, the Leonard Cup, at the 1980 World Outdoor Bowls Championship in Melbourne, took another gold at the 1984 championships, and added a fourth gold medal in the fours at the 1996 championship, with bronze medals in the triples and fours at Auckland in 1988. He represented England in the fours at the 1994 and 1998 Commonwealth Games. At home he won national titles in the singles, triples and pairs, the British Isles singles in 1984 and a senior pairs title in 2016, bowling for the Wigton Club outdoors and the Cumbria Club in Carlisle indoors. From the mid-1980s he joined the BBC bowls commentary team, and from December 2012 until 2021 he was President of World Bowls, after a career as Head of Tourism for Carlisle City Council.