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when added up was £133,000, or did I mishear? I asked what the money was for and I
was told for a headquarters. I have been to most but not all AGM’s and I certainly do not 27
remember the counties or the committee either proposing or voting on such fund gathering.
I am not in principle against this nor paid officials but we crawl before we walk before we run and
in truth we have been shrinking in numbers and we are just a tiny sport that could certainly not af-
ford such an extravagance.
There has even been some consideration of taking over a full length indoor arena. This at
our current membership size makes no sense to me! It seems that the ESMBA have forgotten it
is their job to serve the member counties and their registered players, not the other way around.
My article in the last magazine on a full time administrator supports a move to appoint one
but I certainly made the comment that this should be done in a structured way and not a jobs for
the boy’s way of doing things. The last time I saw a discussion proposal from the ESMBA the fi-
nancial information was the woolliest uncheckable set of financial figures I have ever seen. I am
or at least was an accountant until I retired and it was rubbish. Similarly, on this new “fait accompli”
no financial information whatsoever was issued with the so called press release and this I would
suggest is vital. Apparently this is being done when it has been running to see how it works. This
then probably becomes someone’s Fiefdom
The Counties acquiesced this through at the AGM and at this rate it may be that an alternative
governing body may be the only way forward. No doubt “The England Team” will be bandied about,
suggesting any new body could never be officially recognised by the British Isles or World Council
but in the end, the interests of thousands of bowlers are more important than just a few players at
the very top.
Will I be shunned by the ESMBA for printing my critical comments? Probably but they mostly
ignore the magazine anyway. That in itself shows the ESMBA are not as good as they think they
are at promoting either themselves or the sport in. HOWEVER, should they send me anything
other than BS then I will certainly publish it. I would add that no other National Association gen-
erally sends me anything anyway, other than Seamus Kyne from Ireland.
Why should I care? Well, I love this sport, which has enormous worldwide potential world-
wide. It saddens me to think that all the effort made to establish our sport through the 80’s and
90’s has come to this.
Bobbyweaf

BONDAGE TO REPLACE
BONDAGE TO REPLACE
SHORT MAT BOWLS?
SHORT MAT BOWLS?
A genuine extract from the internet read, “A village hall is to hold bondage
classes - complete with tea and biscuits. Trumpington Village Hall on the
outskirts of Cambridge usually hosts WI meetings, indoor bowls and the local
Brownies troop. But next month it will host a series of workshops including
"spanking and impact play", "kink on a budget" and "flogging", in an event
organised by the group Peer Rope Cambridge.
The online programme for the October event, which costs £10, ends
with the note: "We'd very much appreciate it if you could help us to pack up
- stack chairs, collapse tables. Our maid for the day, Sarah, serves tea, cof-
fee and biscuits."
Sheila Stuart, who represents Trumpington on Cambridge City Council,
OK Skip told the Cambridge News: "I think this is becoming much more common and
but how do you less hidden with the popularity of Fifty Shades of Grey, and has brought it
expect me to much more out in the open. Cambridge has a very diverse community, so I
bowl?
am not surprised." Ed - This was on MSN and Radio 1, I don’t think it was a
wind-up but I would be very careful the next time you suggest having a Whip round, especially if
you live in East Anglia