Using a Different Order of Play in Lawn Bowling Triples

 

I have always felt that on a triples team, I would like the second most skillful bowler to deliver the jack and the lead bowls. A skip has considerable latitude to reassign the duties of the bowlers on his team to achieve this, although it is rarely exercised.

 

Who must rake the bowls is not specified in the Laws of the Sport of Bowls. This job can be assigned by the skip to his vice. According to Rule 40.2.1 “...the third can (my italics) measure any and all disputed shots.” Since the word can is used, the skip can assign this job to his lead if he chooses. “[A] player who is controlling play” is referred to in Rule 12.1.3 but that player is not designated as a person who occupies a particular position in the order of play. It follows that a skip could assign the lead to control play at any time but in particular when the skip goes to the mat.

It is thus possible for a skip to have his most experienced colleague place the mat, deliver the jack, deliver the first three bowls for the side, control play when the skip is bowling, and measure to determine the score; while leaving the less skilled or less experienced bowler to rake the bowls and deliver the fourth, fifth and sixth bowls for the side!

There are several less obvious advantages to this arrangement. Since the lead is more experienced than the vice in this situation, this experience can be used to determine which is the more playable side of the rink and communicate this to the less experienced colleague. Another fact that can be passed on is whether a particular side is narrower or wider than normal.

This order of play gives the better of the first two bowlers on the team the least hindered approach to the jack and the chance to get a close bowl early to put pressure on the opposition. Since your second best bowler delivers the jack there is much better control of jack length for the team’s strategy and the deliverer of the jack has a better feel for the length of the end. The lead can remind a less experienced colleague that the jack is short, medium, or long and whether the green is fast or slow. 

There are disadvantages. If this newly selected lead fails to get close bowls, it becomes more likely than before for the side to be seriously down by the time the skip comes to the mat. Because your weakest bowler is now bowling second (s)he may face a less open head. The chance of playing a successful running shot is reduced.

The aforementioned order of play is particularly attractive for a team that comprises an experienced pairs team joined by a less experienced bowler. This is even more appealing if the experienced pair has a set of well-developed hand signals for communicating between head and mat. It might also appear to appeal to a mens’ pairs team augmented with a female in order to qualify for mixed triples. However, it is tactically important that the lead would be well advised to deliver jack lengths and choose mat positions that optimize the play of the less experienced, second player.