Page 22 - Spring 2016

Page 22:Layout 1 24/05/2016 20:58 Page 1

22 IS THE

JACK LIVE?

Having seen the item on "One
Player Missing" in the last issue I
thought that your readers might
be interested in my diagram,
which seeks to explain whether
the jack is live or dead.
I have seen the rule misap-
plied at club level many times,
and as a consequence I created
the artwork several years ago
and it has been on the clubhouse
wall ever since. I have recently
brought it into line with the latest rule book. I have even witnessed a huge row over the matter at
inter-county level, and on one occasion have seen an umpire get it wrong.

2014 Rule Book Page 12 2a
A jack is live and may be played by a live bowl if the jack is within the live area or if any portion
of it is within the live area when it is breaking the ditch line.
Page 32 LIVE AREA - means that section of the rink mat between the dead line and the ditch
line, delineated by the inside edge of the half inch marking.
Peter Sheather

Ed - Peter has allowed me to cover another point or two that is often misunderstood and not that
easy to explain in words.

2014 Rule Book Page 12 2b.
If any portion of the is in the live area when it is intersecting the ditch line. It can be played by
a live bowl and this bowl would be determined to be a toucher. This also means that any live
bowl which in its original course enter the ditch without touching the fender or any bowl which
is at rest within the ditch, and touches any part of the jack which is intersecting the ditch line
and has a portion of in the live area, will be determined to a toucher.
Quite simply it means that a live bowl may enter the ditch and make contact with a live jack, such as
the middle one in Peter’s diagram and it WILL be a toucher. So, a bowl may FULLY enter the ditch
and contact or rest on the jack partly in the ditch and it WILL be a toucher, EVEN IF THE WHOLE
BOWL IS IN THE DITCH, PROVIDED IT IS IN ONE CONTINUOUS MOTION i.e. it has not stopped
at any point AND NOT AFFECTED BY d & e BELOW.
What! you may say but I would point out that there is no rule in the book that says a bowl is dead
when it crosses the ditch line.
For a live bowl to be dead when it enters the ditch 2014 Rule Book Page 9:-

(d) It finishes in the ditch without touching the jack or
(e) It touches or rebounds from the fender or contacts a toucher or the jack which is in the ditch,
So all those hands that stop live bowls when they cross the ditch line OR stop such a bowl from
hitting a jack or bowl in the ditch or preventing it hitting or making contact with the fender, ARE
BREAKING THE RULES, although there is no specific penalty, it might be possible to stretch the
rules slightly and have the end replayed, depending on who stopped the bowls. My latter comment
may open Pandora’s box a little but it would be an interesting topic if any Umpire or Barrack room
Lawyer wants to pitch in on the Subject, please do!