Eastern Counties Bowling Association

Founded 1968

Affiliated to Bowls England

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EASTERN COUNTIES BOWLING ASSOCIATION

RULES GOVERNING CHAMPIONSHIPS and LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP

 

1       The League Championships shall be open to all members of the Association who shall play each other, home and away in alternate years on dates agreed by individual Counties in the first instance, if failure to agree then they shall be fixed by the Association.

 

2.      All games shall be played on full-sized greens and in accordance with the current Laws of the Sport of Bowls as adopted by Bowls England.

 

3.      In the league championships each county will be represented by five rinks of four players, of  which one rink will comprise of nominated officers and/or players. Officers can be of any age and  players must be over 60 years of age at 1st April’. All players shall be members of Clubs affiliated to their County Bowling Association. A County BA represented by a player who has previously played for another Member County BA in the same year shall forfeit any points gained in default.

 

4.      a). If a County BA team fails to appear after 30 minutes of the appointed commencement time, and in the opinion of the Umpire there is not a reasonable explanation for the delay, the game shall be forfeited and two points plus six shots per rink awarded to the opposition team.

 

         b). If a County BA does not fulfil all its games, any games they have played will  be declared void and cancelled from the League results.

 

5.      a) Waterproofs, if worn, will be White.

b) In the event of the Umpire and/or Green keeper deciding that no play or no further play is possible, matches in which the total number of ends played equals or exceeds 72 will be deemed to have been completed and the scores will stand.

c) In matches where the total number of ends played is less than 72, the tie will be declared void and the game will be completely replayed at a later date, to be agreed by both Counties.

 

6.      a) In the event of a County BA cancelling a game or unable to reach agreement as stated in Rule 5c, the Association Emergency Committee, together with a representative from each of the involved Counties shall fix a date for the match to be played.

 

         b) If a County fails to give a minimum of 5 days notification of a cancelled or postponed fixture, the offending County shall be fined £50 to this association, plus reimburse food charges to the home County.

 

7       In the League Championship (all five rinks) a win shall count ten points, a tie five points, each winning rink shall count two points, a tied rink one point. In the event of equality of points, precedence shall be decided on shots difference.

 

 8.     Each County BA shall provide distinguishing coloured discs for players in all games.

 

 9.     The Home County BA shall arrange for the appointment of a qualified EBUA Umpire or Competent Person to officiate at all League games.    

                       

10.    The Singles, Pairs, Triples, Fours, Junior Singles and Two Wood Singles Championships shall be conducted in accordance with the Laws of the Sport of Bowls as adopted by Bowls England and shall be open to any respective team from the County BA Championship Finalists in each of the competitions.

 

11.    Should the Singles, Junior Singles or Two Wood Singles competitor also be engaged in the Pairs, Triples or Fours competitions, he shall play in the Singles/Junior Singles/Two Wood Single Championship and if other arrangements cannot be made, be substituted in other Championship(s). Where a singles player is substituted in the triples and/or fours Championships an extra substitute will be allowed.

 

 12.   Preliminary Rounds: The first named County BA as the Home Team to offer two dates for the game (one of which should be a Saturday or Sunday), to be played on the green of the Home player(s) or elsewhere by mutual consent; the game to be played by 29th September 2025.

 

Semi-Finals & Finals: To be played on greens within the President's County BA and will be on Sunday 11th May 2025 and Sunday 10th May 2026.

 

13.    In the event of a multiplicity of engagements the Emergency Committee shall use their best endeavours to make arrangements that would enable the competitors(s) to compete.

 

14.    The results of all Competitions MUST be sent to the Association Secretary within 24 hours.

 

15.    The Bedford Cup Competition is for the Principal Officers of the county.

 

16.    A qualified EBUA Umpire or Competent Person shall be appointed to officiate at all

         Championship Finals

 

17.    An entry fee shall be fixed annually at the Annual General Meeting.