1.
Teams will consist of four players, any combination of men and women.
2.
Bowls will be 4 inch indoor biased carpet bowls.
3.
Carpet will be 30 feet by 6 feet.
4.
Standings for a tournament will be based on Wins/Ties/Losses. A win
shall count as 2 points, a tie as 1 point and a loss as 0 points.
5.
Tournament play for a national final will be a round-robin event. If two teams are tied after round robin
play, four extra ends (or more if necessary) will be played until the tie is
broken. If a three way tie exists, the
aggregate points scored against each team shall be divided into the aggregate
points it has scored.
6.
Bowls moved inadvertently before being measured will be put back in
place. The thirds will be responsible
for measuring. Dead bowls will be
removed. All measurements will be
supervised by the event official.
7.
If a player bowls an opponent’s bowl by mistake, he or she will replace
it with one of their own, once the bowl has come to rest.
8.
Penalties will apply for knocking the jack off the carpet. The points will be added to the score of the
opposing team and the end will be counted as an end played, except the eighth
end should be replayed if the jack is knocked off. Penalties are listed further
on in these rules.
MODIFIED
RULES FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES:
We have in mind persons who
because of accidents or other ailments are unable to deliver their bowls in a
standing position. Such persons should
be permitted to deliver the bowls in a position which best suits them, whether
sitting in wheel chairs, ordinary chairs or stools; even to resting their knee,
if kneeling, or knees on the floor.
Front wheels and legs of chairs, and the person’s knee must be
immediately behind the toe-line, otherwise standard rules and commonsense
prevail.
THE PLAYERS
In a fours game, each plays
two bowls, the leaders their two alternately, then similarly with the seconds,
the thirds and the skippers.
Teams will toss and the
winner of the toss will have the choice of the set of bowls to use, and will
have the option of directing the opponent to bowl the jack and the first bowl
or electing to do so himself. Each succeeding
end will be started by the winner of the previous end at which a score was
recorded. In deciding the winner of an
end, penalty scores must not be considered.
The first to play at an end that results in a tie (no score), a dead
end, or a penalty, will again play first.
The “skipper” will have sole
control of his players and the skippers will be the sole judges of all disputed
points, except on measuring (done by the thirds).
If they are unable to agree,
the dispute will be settled by the umpire.
In the fours game, the third will be the measurer and the second will be
the scorer. The Skipper is the director
of the head except when bowling, then the third is the director of the head.
LOCATION OF
PLAYERS
The directors of the head
stand at the jack end of the carpet.
All players, except the skippers, must remain at the delivery end until
the skippers are due to bowl, and they will then change ends.
All players except those
controlling play, will stand or be seated beyond the end of the carpet at the
delivery end or beyond the end of the carpet at the jack end if the players
have changed ends. The skippers, after
having changed ends will remain beyond the end of the carpet at the delivery
end. The player controlling play for
the team that has possession of the carpet may stand behind the carpet at the
jack end or along either side of the carpet provided they remain less than 15
feet from the end of the carpet at the jack end. The player controlling play for the team that does not have
possession of the carpet must stand beyond the end of the carpet at the jack
end.
BOWLING THE
JACK
If the jack, when bowled,
runs off the carpet either at the ends or the sides, or if no part of it
reaches the line 20 feet from the delivery end of the carpet, it will be sent
back for the opponent to bowl it. After
each leader has had one unsatisfactory throw, the jack will be placed
approximately 24 feet from the delivery end of the carpet and in the centre of
the carpet. The opponent’s throwing of
the jack will not affect the order of playing of the bowls. If the jack, when bowled, comes to rest on
the carpet between the line 20 feet from the delivery end and the front of the
rectangle at the jack end, it will be placed at the centre of the carpet at a
point opposite that at which it came to rest.
If the jack, when bowled, comes to rest on the carpet at a point further
from the delivery end than the front line of the rectangle at the jack end, it
will be centred at the front of this rectangle. If at any time the jack is shifted by play
and rebounds so that it comes to rest less than 15 feet from the delivery end
of the carpet, the end will be dead and will be replayed.
DELIVERING
THE BOWL
At the moment of delivery, a
player must have at least part of one foot within, and on the footer. No portion of either foot may be on, or
over, any portion of the carpet except the footer area. Any portion of either foot which is not on
the footer must be outside the carpet.
At the moment of releasing the bowl, a player must have the hand
delivering the bowl within the boundaries of the delivery rectangle. The bowl need not contact the carpet before
passing outside the delivery rectangle.
The bowl must pass wholly over the front line of the delivery rectangle.
It is permissible to deliver a bowl in such a way that the natural bias does
not operate except that a bowl may not be delivered disc over disc. A bowl which comes to rest less than 10 feet
from the delivery end of the carpet, or outside the boundaries of the carpet,
is dead and will be removed. If a
player bowls an opponent’s bowl by mistake, it will, when it has come to rest,
be replaced by one of his own bowls.
DELIVERING THE JACK: The
rules that govern the delivery of a bowl as to the footer and the delivery rectangle,
will also apply to the delivery of the jack.
If a player infringes these rules, the jack will be considered as
improperly delivered.
JACK IN COURSE: If a jack in
course is obstructed or deflected by a neutral object or neutral person or by an
umpire, opponent, or a member of the opposing team, it will be redelivered by
the same player. If it is obstructed or
deflected by a member of the players own team, it will be redelivered by the
Lead of the opposing team.
MOVEMENT OF JACK: If a jack is
diverted from its course while in motion on the carpet as the result of play,
or displaced while at rest on the carpet by one of the players, the opposing
Skipper will restore the jack to its former position or allow it to remain
where it rests and play the end to a finish, or declare the end dead.
BOWL IMPROPERLY DELIVERED:
Should a player deliver a bowl not in accordance with earlier provisions of
these laws, the umpire may after having given a warning, have the bowl stopped
and declared dead. If the bowl has come
to rest and has not disturbed the head, the bowl will also be declared
dead. If the bowl has disturbed the
head, the opponent will have the option of either re-setting head; leaving the
head as altered; or declaring the end dead.
MOVEMENT OF BOWLS: If a bowl,
while in motion or at rest on the carpet, is interfered with or displaced by
one of the players, the opposing Skipper will have the option of:
1.
Restoring the bowls as near as possible to its original position
2.
Letting it remain where it rests
3.
Declaring the bowl dead
4.
Declaring the end dead
If a bowl in its original
course is interfered with by a neutral person or object and it has not
disturbed the head, it will be replayed.
If it has disturbed the head, the two Skippers will agree on the
replacement of the head. If they are
not able to agree, the end will be declared dead.
If the head is disturbed by a
neutral object or person, the two Skippers will agree as to the replacement of
the head. If they are unable to agree,
the end will be declared dead.
If a bowl or the jack is
inadvertently moved while being measured it will be replaced by the opposing
measurer. If the movement is caused by
an umpire, the umpire will make the replacement.
MEASURING
After all of the bowls have
been played and come to rest, the measurers will decide the result. If the measuring is necessary, it may be
carried out by either measurer. If the
opposing measurer is not satisfied, he may then measure himself. If the measurers are not in agreement, they
will call the umpire whose decision is final.
One point is allowed for each bowl nearer the jack than the nearest bowl
of the opponent. If the nearest
opposing bowls are equidistant from the jack, the end is a tie and no score is
recorded although it will count as an end.
PENALTIES
FOR TAKING THE JACK OFF THE CARPET
Leader....................................................................1
point
Second...................................................................2
points
Third.......................................................................3
points
Skipper...................................................................4
points
The points will be added to
the score of the opposing team, and the end will count as an end played.
Exception:
The final end will be replayed if the jack is knocked off the mat and penalties
will apply.
NOTE:
In all cases, the team throwing the first in the end in which penalties were
incurred, will throw first in the next end.
DEFINITIONS
Bowl in
Course or Jack in Course: a bowl or
jack from the moment it is released from the hand until it comes to rest.
End:
the playing of the jack and all the bowls of all the opponents in the same
direction.
Head:
the jack and such bowls as have come to rest on the carpet and are not dead.
Displaced as
applied to a jack or bowl: disturbed by any agency that is
not sanctioned by these laws.
MEASURING
CONDITIONS
The measurement will be made
to the nearest point of each object. No
measuring will be allowed until all the bowls in an end have come to rest. When the last bowl has come to rest, half a
minute will elapse, if either team desires, before the shots are counted.
If a bowl requiring to be
measured is resting on another bowl which prevents its measurement, the best
available means will be taken to secure its position, whereupon the other bowl
will be removed.
The same course will be
followed where more than two bowls are involved, or where, in the course of
measuring, a single bowl is in danger of falling or otherwise changing its
position.
If a bowl is not stabilized
and it changes its position on its own accord before being measured, its
changed position will apply.
No bowl will be removed
without first receiving the consent of the opposing measurer.
Nothing in these laws will be
deemed to make it mandatory for the last player to play his last bowl in any
end, but the player will declare to his opposing Skipper his intention to
refrain from playing it before the commencement of determining the result of
the end and this declaration will be irrevocable.
PLAY
IRREGULARITIES
When a player has played
before his turn, the opposing Skipper will have the right to stop the bowl in
its course and it will be played in its proper turn; but in the event of the
bowl so played having moved or displaced the jack or bowl, the opposing Skipper
will have the option of allowing the end to remain as it is after the bowl so
played comes to rest or having the end declared dead.
If the result of an end has
been agreed upon, or the head has been touched in the agreed process of
determining the result, then a player who forfeits or has omitted to play a
bowl will forfeit the right to play it.
A player who has neglected to
play a bowl in the proper sequence will forfeit the right to play such bowl, if
a bowl has been played by each team before such mistake was discovered.
If, before the mistake is
noticed, a bowl has been delivered in the reversed order, and the head has not
been disturbed, the opponent will then play two successive bowls to restore the
correct sequence. If the head has been
disturbed, the opposing Skipper will have the option of allowing the end to
remain as it is after the bowl so played had come to rest or having the end
declared dead.
If a bowl, delivered out of
the proper sequence, drives the jack off the carpet, the end will be declared
dead and penalties will be assessed in accordance with earlier provisions of
these laws.
No player or spectator will
be permitted to interfere with a player in any way while a player is in the
process of delivering his bowl.
EQUIPMENT