I know Laws of the Sport of Bowls Crystal Mark
Third Edition pretty well, but a situation occurred in a club roll-up the
other night when I wasn’t so sure.
I got it
right on the rink but I rushed home afterwards, got a beer from the fridge, and
started thumbing through my reprint of the rules. Here is the situation:
the end is finished; the vices go to measure
but before they can do anything one of the earliest bowls delivered, which is close
to the jack, falls. It becomes the closest bowl although it appears that an
opposition bowl probably would have been shot if this first bowl had not
fallen.
I advised
that the now fallen bowl, which was now closest to the jack, was shot.
I knew that
the rules stated that any member of either team could have placed a support
against the tilting bowl before measuring began, but no one had done so. I knew
that a skip could request that everyone wait 30 seconds after the final bowl of
the end to see whether a bowl would fall before wedging it. However these rules
clearly did not apply in this case.
My
subsequent research shows that the relevant rule is 23.6.3
“[I]f a bowl
falls of its own accord, it must be left in its new position while deciding the
number of shots scored continues, and all the shots agreed before the bowl fell
will count;”
Since no
shots had been agreed before the bowl fell, my interpretation is that the head
is counted with the fallen bowl in its new position.
Interestingly,
since we won the game by one point, this decision eventually determined the
winner on the night.
Why do some bowls fall over, apart from wind or standing too near them?
ReplyDeleteWhat is the ruling for a bowl that falls over and moves the Jack after the next bowl is delivered or 30 seconds after the last bowl is delivered.I know that it cannot be counted as a TOUCHER.What happens to the bowl and the moved Jack.Thank you for your consideration.Wayne
ReplyDeleteIf the jack is moved by the tipping over of a bowl belonging to a player playing on the same rink, the jack has not been moved by what is defined in the Laws as a neutral object. According to Rule 24.2.1 the only neutral bowls are those belonging to players from some other rink.
DeleteThe jack movement is treated no differently than any other movement caused by a non-toucher bowl during play as evidenced by no mention of a correction in the Laws.
Similarly, if the jack is moved by the tipping of a bowl during measurement (after 30 seconds if requested) that movement is not considered displacement by a neutral object so the Laws do not prescribe any correction. The jack remains in its new position and measurement continues according to Law 23.6.3.
Logically, there is no corrective action because both sides were entitled to wedge the bowl ( Law 23.6.1 ) but nothing was done. Any harm is self harm!