An extraordinary display of character saw Lorna Smith make history at Ayr's Northfield yesterday by becoming the first woman to mount a successful defence of the Scottish singles title.

Controversy has dogged the Seychelles-born bowler since she won this title 12 months ago, immediately after having been omitted from the Scotland team for last year's world championships. Now based in Linlithgow, she had won four South African singles titles before emigrating to Scotland five years ago but withdrew from Scotland's elite squad for next year's Commonwealth Games as a result of the decision to drop her.

However, this success, coupled with last month's victory at the British Isles championships and the fact that she is the only bowler to have played every day here this week having lost in the final of the ladies' seniors on Thursday, has been deeply embarrassing for the governing body.

Its failure to persuade her to return to the fold effectively means Scotland will go to Glasgow 2014 without one of world's finest bowlers, a champion who opted to become "Scottish", in bowls terms, three years ago and has represented her adopted country ever since.

Even if she did now agree to make herself available again, though, HeraldSport understands it would be too late for the Commonwealth Games because an official release that would need to be provided by South African Bowls has not been applied for and the deadline for doing so has now passed.

Smith showed no sign of letting the situation get to her, however, beating Jane Telfer from the Maxwelltown club in Dumfries 21-17 in a closely fought final. In truth, she could not have handled it any more impressively, although she rightly noted afterwards that in bowls terms it would not have mattered whether she won. "To be honest I don't have to prove anything to anybody," she said. "I've come here to enjoy myself. I love my bowls and every day if I win it's a bonus and I'm chuffed to be the winner again."

Her absence from the Glasgow 2014 squad should draw considerable scrutiny but so, too, should the overall way in which the Scotland team is selected. This was further highlighted by Iain McLean's commanding performance in claiming the men's title.

Twice a junior singles champion here, in 2002 and 2007, he has also been left out of the elite squad which was selected more than three years ahead of the Commonwealth Games and before David Gourlay was appointed as the national team's head coach.

This event represented a rare opportunity for the Lanarkshire bowler to demonstrate his ability and he seized it from the off, beating five-time indoor world champion and reigning indoor and outdoor pairs champion Alex Marshall in his opening match.

"It was a tough draw – they don't get much tougher than that but I've always fancied my own capability to match anyone. I came through a scrappy game with Alex and I feel I've gone from strength to strength," he said following yesterday's 21-11 win over Turriff's Ian Murray.

"Alex is world class . . . he's got every shot in the book, so I was just grateful to get over the line in the end. If you can get over that kind of hurdle then it is good for your confidence and I think that showed. I feel I grew into the tournament and played well as it went on."

He said he hoped that this victory might encourage the national selectors to take note. "At the end of the day my cv's pretty good as it is, so if this is another wee notch on the ladder then so be it, you can only hope," McLean said. "I've got those ambitions, but I'm not in the elite squad or anything like that so it's a fair step away."

That is because there is no sign of selectorial policy changing, something which seems at odds with the need for sport to provide fair and transparent opportunities for competitors. For his part, Gourlay has done a fine job with those at his disposal, turning abject failure at the 2010 Commonwealth Games into a roaring success at the world championships last year. However, he has had extremely limited room for manoeuvre in terms of squad selection, and a year has now passed since the national coach stated that he wanted to see put in place "a competition pathway ... competitions that are open to everybody that wants to compete in them, but they've got to be relevant."

No blame lies with a coach whose focus must naturally be on those already chosen, but nothing has been done to change the selection process, which means there is no real opportunity for players such as McLean to force their way into the elite squad.

It is clearly an issue that needs to be resolved for the future because the archaic system that the current administration have failed to address means it looks certain that Scotland's men's and women's champions will not be involved in Glasgow 2014 for reasons other than bowling ability.