xith3d texturing help with odejava

hi, im having trouble texturing my bowling ball in my game,
I can get it to change colour but it renders flat plain colour with no textures. also can any one help me in the right direction for ball to cast shadows?

Shape3D shapeBowlingBall = new Shape3D();
Geometry geomBowlingBall = TestUtils.createSphere(10.0f, 24);
shapeBowlingBall.setGeometry(geomBowlingBall);
transformGroupBowlingBall.addChild(shapeBowlingBall);
Texture metalTexture = Texture2D) TextureLoader.tf.getMinMapTexture("metal.png");
bowlingBallApp = new Appearance();
bowlingBallApp.setTexture(metalTexture);
shapeBowlingBall.setAppearance(bowlingBallApp); 
odejavaToXith.addUserTransformGroup("bowlingBall", transformGroupBowlingBall);