Born: 24 May, 1936, in Edinburgh.
Died: 16 August, 2008, in Bonnyrigg, aged 72. ALEX McIntosh was one of the nation's bowling greats. The Newbattle player remains to this day one of Scotland's most capped and successful n
ational players, and at international level represented Scotland at the World Championships in 1972, 1976, 1980 and 1988 and at Commonwealth level in 1970, 1974 and 1978.
Born in 1936 to John T McIntosh and his wife, Helen Thomson, "Big Tosh", as he was affectionately known, was educated at Newtongrange Primary School, leaving Newbattle Senior Secondary when he reached 15 to take up employment as an engineer at the central workshops at Lady Victoria Colliery.
Fourteen years later, in 1963, he married Ann and they shared 32 happy years together before she died in 1995. They had two sons, John in 1965 and, on the very day that he won the Scottish National Fours Championship in 1968, his second son, Scott, was born, but that news was kept from him by his teammates.
"We actually received the news that Alex was a father again halfway through the competition but decided not to tell him until later in case it put him off his game," said brother-in-law and former Scottish team captain John Slight.
In his teenage years McIntosh began showing a keen interest in most sports, joining the National Coal Board boxing team and the Newtongrange Lothian cricket team. He was also an enthusiastic billiards player and a keen golfer at Broomieknowe golf club.
But it was bowls in which he excelled, encouraged, no doubt, by the fact that it ran in his blood, with his father, four uncles and grandfather all involved in the sport. Unfortunately, his father never lived to see the great heights that his son achieved, dying in the same year McIntosh attained his first full outdoor cap in 1962.
After his first appearance for Scotland, the gentle giant had to endure a seven-year wait before pulling on the Scottish colours again in 1969, then went on to earn 54 caps from 18 campaigns on the home international stage, becoming part of Scottish history when he contributed to Scotland's amazing record of securing the home international titles in 12 consecutive years.
Indoors, his record was also impressive, with him stacking up 30 indoor caps simultaneously from ten series under the now-defunct Edinburgh club banner along with two stints as the national singles champion before going on to end his international career in 1986 for Midlothian.
A year after being recalled to the national team, McIntosh reached new heights, and made history at the 1970 Commonwealth Games, held on his home turf in Edinburgh, when he skipped his Newbattle clubmates John Slight, Norrie Pryde and David Pearson to the fours silver medal – the first and only time a club rink has achieved this distinction.
After that, there was no holding him back. He was again named in the Scottish team for the Games in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 1974, where, along with Jackie Christie from the Northern club, he gave Scotland its first ever gold medal in the pairs event. In the following 1978 Games, in Edmonton, Canada, he was again on the medal podium, giving Scotland its only medal of the event when he picked up silver along with his lifetime friend and adversary Willie Wood.
Edmonton was, though, without a doubt his proudest sporting moment, where he marched with pride at the opening ceremony as the Scottish standard bearer.
He also courted glory on the world stage, winning silver in the fours at Worthing in 1972, which contributed to Scotland being awarded the prestigious Leonard Trophy as the best-performing team for the first time since the event's inauguration, and he claimed silver in the fours at Melbourne in 1980 and in the triples in Henderson, New Zealand, in 1988.
On the home front, he was also a force to be reckoned with, winning his Newbattle championship 19 times over six decades.
Bowling was without doubt his life. Not only was he a revered player but in the late 1970s he began his own business – Bowling Green Services, responsible for the upkeep of more than 20 clubs, before he retired after a health scare in 2001.
He is, unquestionably one of Scotland's most successful sons, maintaining his involvement with the sport until his death. He was always on hand to help out in any situation and was the enthusiastic manager of Midlothian county team for the past two years.
Willie Wood said: "Alex and I came through the sport together. We played together at the old Edinburgh club in Milton Street and forged a lasting, although competitive, friendship. I have many great memories of Alex. He was a great player, always encouraging, but the times I remember most were the fun times we shared after our matches. He liked to socialise and kept everyone entertained. He enjoyed company.
"He was greatly respected, on and off the green, all over the world and everyone knew he was a force not to be messed with. He was a great character."
He is survived by his two sons and two sisters.
The full article contains 869 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
