Page 44 - Spring 2018 Final

Pike:Layout 1 02-Apr-18 5:27 PM Page 1

44 Bob, in your role as editor of the magazine and as
an umpire I thought you might be interested in
sharing our experience, with your wise comments,
with your readers. (Ed - I will give it a go and I
have excluded the diagrams sent and produced
something else!). We recently had an unusual
problem occur in one of our matches.
The lead bowl shows where it came to rest before
bowl the back bowl had been delivered. After de-
livery the back bowl struck the lead bowl pushing it
Dead or not Dead?
Dead or not Dead? over the ditch line into the ditch area, where it
comes to rest just before the back bowl, which is
still moving, strikes it again, sending it back over
the ditch line into the live area where it comes to
rest for a second time. (Ed- I wish you had a video,
this I had to see!)
The second bowl was removed from the ditch but bowl the first bowl remained in play in the
live area, because it was deemed that as the back bowl was still in play when it hit the lead
bowl for the second time should remain in the live are where it had come to rest for the sec-
ond time.
Regards
Colin Pike

Ed - firstly, let me establish something not understood by the vast majority of bowls is THAT
A BOWL CROSSING THE DITCH IS NOT DEAD! Nowhere in the rule book does it say that
a bowl crossing the ditch line is dead. We are of course discussing a non-toucher. To be
dead it must a) come to rest either wholly in the ditch or with any part of it overhanging the
ditch line. b) it must contact the Fender. C) it must contact a toucher in the ditch or d) it must
contact a Jack in the ditch. If it has not done any of these four it is live until it does any of
them, so if you stop a bowl before it does any of the above the YOU ARE INTERFERING
WITH A LIVE BOWL IN PLAY. The actual relevant parts of the rules in the rule book state:-
B (3) DEAD BOWL - (e) it touches or rebounds from the fender or contacts a toucher
or the jack which is in the ditch, unless the bowl in question is a toucher or (f) when it
comes to rest any part of the bowl breaks any part of the ditch line, unless it is a
toucher.
The interesting part of the question asked by Colin is that it is that he states that the lead
bowl has “come to rest” and therefore dead and should be removed. However everything
may have happened so quickly that this could not have been done. It is clear that the lead
bowl is dead and no matter what, it cannot be made live again, a dead bowl is a dead bowl
full stop! As to the back bowl, according to the above rules there is nothing to cover this situ-
ation as the lead bowl was not a toucher.

I have seen very many hands go in and stop a bowl hitting the fender or a Jack/Bowl in the
ditch BUT until it does hit it is still live. My reasoning is that by hitting a dead bowl at rest, as
stated, then it clearly is a dead bowl. Now, what would happen if both bowls were still mov-
ing in the ditch and one rolled back into the live area after being hit is another question alto-
gether. So Umpires and Barrack Room Lawyers, what would you have ruled and why?

If I was the Umpire I would have ruled that both bowls were dead - no problemo! However,
there is no exact rule that covers this situation as the rules do not cover a non-toucher being
hit by a non-toucher in the ditch. Perhaps other Umpires will disagree with me? If so let’s
hear you.