Page 8 - Winter 2012

England Ladies 5:Layout 1 07/01/2013 09:04 Page 1

8 MARKING A WHITE (or coloured) BOWL
An incident happened recently where a player playing with
white bowls had a toucher. The Skip declared that he only had white
chalk and said he wouldn’t bother mark it. No problem as it was all
done sportingly but I was asked subsequently what the position
was? Strictly by the rules, in failing to mark the bowl it ceased to be
a toucher once the next bowl has come to rest. It matters little what
colour chalk is used, if it’s not marked Rule 6b applies.
The above assumes it is not a legitimately nominated bowl but many bowls are nomi-
nated that shouldn’t be, as 6c states about a toucher “to attempt to mark such a bowl could
cause it to fall or move it shall not be marked, but it must be nominated. Thus if it is not in
danger of moving IT MUST BE MARKED or it ceases to be a toucher.
I play with multi coloured bowls and a box of 50 assorted chalks from the cheap shop
cost me 50p, so it’s hardly down to money. If you use coloured bowls please use some chalk
that is fairly visible. As an aside, a comma and then the word but in rule 6c is surely bad
grammar? Although grammar is certainly not my strong point!
DITCHING THE JACK
I had an exchange of emails recently on the subject of ditching the jack. The circumstances
were about a Pairs final that went to an extra end. The lead of one Pair ditched the jack with
his first bowl and the words quoted “completely spoilt an excellent match.” i.e. this was not
good for the spectators. I said, only a little tongue in cheek, that spectators don’t count.
An email discussion ensued regarding this tactic and whether or not it should be banned
or controlled in some way but I still regard it as a legitimate shot. The question is, if you
banned it, on which end would you do this and with which bowl? Let’s say you did this on
any extra ends, would you stop it with the first bowl bowled but what about the second or
third. What about the last end where ditching it at some point would end the game? Surely
it would be the same if you did this on the last but one end etc. etc. etc. So it’s not as easy
as it may first look.
Rumour has it that the Irish have banned it somehow but this is not strictly true. They
have not stopped ditching the jack; they have said that if either of the first two bowls delivered
are touchers and end up entirely in the ditch, they are removed from the mat. The position
of the jack is not mentioned. Their rule states:-
“37. Last end or Extra End - If either of the first two bowls delivered in the end by a
player in singles, the lead in pairs, triples or rinks touch the jack and the entire bowl ends up
in the ditch, the bowl is declared dead and removed from the ditch. Bowls which touch the
jack and intersect the line are not removed. Such bowls or touchers which are still in the live
area can be pushed into the ditch by the second of the first two bowls or subsequent bowls
and will not be removed.”
UMPIRES CALLING FOOT FAULTS
Another issue has arisen recently about Umpires allegedly being pre-
vented from calling foot faults in certain disciplines. Rule 6a in D. PLAY-
ING THE GAME, states “In Pairs, Triples and Fours games it is the duty
of the players who are at the delivery end to call foot faults”.
This has been read as though it prevents Umpires from calling foot faults
in these disciplines BUT IT DOES NOT EXCLUDE UMPIRES.
I would contend that I. The DUTIES OF OFFICIALS (2) a covers
this point. It basically states “The Umpire shall enforce the E.S.M.B.A.
Laws of the Game.” This clearly puts a duty on Umpires and if the players concerned are
missing or ignoring foot faults then surely the Umpire has no choice but to step in? This is
something that could be clarified by the ESMBA without the necessity for a rule change that
cannot be brought in for several years, although I would eventually like to see a change to
make things Crystal clear.