Derbyshire Bowls Association
Competition Rules
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Bowls Derbyshire
REVISED RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR ALL COUNTY COMPETITIONS 2015
It should be appreciated that NO set of rules and regulations governing a game or sport has achieved such perfection as to cope with every situation that may arise. This set of rules and regulations are NO exception. Unusual incidents not definitely provided for in these rules and regulations do occur. It is, therefore, well to remember that these rules and regulations have been framed in the belief that true sportsmanship will prevail and in the absence of any express rule or regulation, common sense will find a way to complete a happy solution to any problem.
1. These regulations shall apply to all the following Competitions ( Amended for 2015 season ):-
Four Bowl Singles Championship.
Four Bowl Pairs Championship.
Three Wood Triple Championship.
Two Bowl Fours Championship.
Under 25’s Four Bowl Singles Championship.
Secretary’s Cup (Four Bowl) Singles Championship.
Champion of Champions
The Harry Clark (10’s) Cup Competition. ( Open to non-affiliated clubs and lady members )
The County Team Championship. ( Open to non-affiliated clubs and lady members )
The County Leagues . ( Open to non-affiliated clubs and lady members)
Qualification for Entry
2. Only bona fide members of Clubs affiliated to Bowls Derbyshire shall be eligible to compete. In ALL competitions entrants must be members of the same Club.
3a. A COMPETITOR MUST NOT REPRESENT OR ALLOW HIS NAME TO BE SUBMITTED FOR MORE THAN ONE CLUB OR COUNTY ASSOCIATION IN ANY ONE YEAR.
3b. All Competitors agree, by entering the competition, to ensure their availability for all stages of the competition (see Rule 11) National finals dates are the last two weeks of August at Leamington.
3c. No competitor should be entered into any of the Competitions without their prior knowledge and agreement.
3d. Each entry shall be made by all named players in that discipline and all named players shall be excluded from being a substitute in the same discipline.
3e. In Pairs, Triples and Fours, the players as entered shall constitute the team and shall normally play together throughout the county competition.
4. All County Competitions shall be administered by the Competition Committee ( 7 members) comprising the President, Hon. Secretary; Hon. Assistant/Competition Secretary and four (4) elected NON - EXECUTIVEMembers from affiliated Clubs.
5. The Hon. Competition Secretary shall administer the day to day running of all the County Competitions. All enquiries and Correspondence must be sent to the Hon. Competition Secretary.
Draw
6. The Competition Committee shall make the draw for each Competition and the first name/Club drawn shall be the challenger and the second the opponent. One third (1/3rd) of the Competition Committee shall constitute a Quorum.
7. The complete draw for all competitions shall be made by the Competition Committee and published on the BD website and circulated to all club secretaries. It shall be the responsibility of the individual competitor to acquaint himself with the draw by consulting, if necessary, the BD website or with his clubs secretary. After results are in for games played the clubs/competitors will be informed of the updated draw by the competition secretary via telephone, text or email and the BD website will be updated accordingly .
Play
8. ALL Competitions shall be played in accordance with the Laws of the Game adopted by the World Bowls Board and in accordance with the bye-laws laid down by Bowls England except where follows :-
a) Ladies allowed inclusion into the Open League, Harry Clarke and Team Championship.
b) Agreed changes to the competition rules for the Harry Clarke and Team Championship competitions regarding abandoned games to now be considered as complete if 50% of the total ends have been completed i.e. Team Championship (42 ends) and Harry Clarke ( 30 ends plus at least 11 ends in the singles). If the appropriate number of ends have not been completed the game will be classed null and void and therefore have to be re-scheduled to be played on another convenient date.
c) Players selected for approved International duties, together with officers and officials on duty with the England teams, must be allowed to play in all stages of county competitions leading to BE National Championships should dates clash.
9. The Challenger shall have the choice of green and rink to play on. He can either play on his Club green, his Opponents green or on a green of regulation size of a Club affiliated to Bowls Derbyshire .The Semi and Final ties in all Competitions will be played on the green of an affiliated Club specified by the Competition Committee.
In the H. Clark and the County Team Championship all rounds prior to the finals will be played on the home green as drawn. The finals for the H. Clark and the County Team Championship shall be played on a neutral green, if available, nominated by the Competition Committee.
10. The semi and finals ties are fixed dates and shall be played on the day/dates specified by the competition committee unless for a good reason and mutually agreeable. Playing another code of bowls is not considered a good reason.
11. A tie in any round, except the Semi and final ties, may be played before the final date set for that round of the competition by MUTUAL AGREEMENT between the Competitors concerned. Should either the Challenger or his opponent have difficulty in fulfilling a set date the other player should be informed, in order to arrange a mutually agreed date of play. It is the responsibility of both players to keep the Competition Secretary informed if any difficulty arises in completing the game. Should a competitor, or team, withdraw without good reason from the competition the Competition Committee shall have the right to recommend to the Main Committee an appropriate course of action. Competitors should accept that the integrity of the competition is compromised by inappropriate withdrawal from the County Competition and should expect relevant action as a result .
Any other variation or alteration to the final date shall only be allowed by the Competition Committee. The Hon. Competition Secretary must be notified of any changes as noted above.
Rounds prior the semi-finals can only be extended past the final date with the agreement from the competition secretary. New dates should be offered by the entrant that can play on the original date and in according to rule 14.
Any individual or named entrant in the pairs, triples or fours that continue to concede their first match in a competition without good reason could be part of a restricted draw and placed into any possible preliminary round of the same competition the following year.
Any individual or constituted team in pairs, triples or fours that concedes after already playing a round, without extraordinary circumstances, will have their entries declined for a period of one year from the same BE National championship county competition under county jurisdiction. The substitute, by not entering and ensuring his availability, could be exempt from the same relevant action.
This could be waived under exceptional circumstances after a letter of explanation has been submitted to the Competition Secretary for consideration by the Competition Committee. Preference to play another code of bowls will not be considered exceptional.
12. If Competitors cannot agree a day/date prior to the FINAL DATE for each round then the tie MUST BE PLAYED ON THE SET DATE.
13. Competitors who have NO agreement to play on an earlier day/date and who fail to appear on the FINAL DATE shall be automatically disqualified from the Competition and, as noted above, should expect the Competition Committee to take appropriate action.
14. Up to the Semi –final stage, if a green is unplayable due to inclement weather and no other green is available, the home player/s must offer the opposition TWO DAYS/DATES WITHIN THE FOLLOWING SEVEN (7) DAYS. If days/dates cannot be offered by the home player/s during this seven (7) day period the opposition will go through to the next round. If the opposition cannot accept the days/dates offered then the home player/s will progress to the next round.
15. Two trial ends may be played before the first end of a tie is played. On the day of the tie no Competitor shall play on the allocated rink before the tie is commenced.
16. If the scores are equal when the scheduled ends have been completed in the Pairs, Triples and Fours game, then an extra end, or ends, will be played immediately until a conclusion is reached. A toss of a coin to be made to decide who has the choice of playing first or second on the extra end. In the Team Championship a coin will be tossed to decide which side nominates a rink to play an extra end, or ends, which will only be played, if necessary, immediately after all the other rinks have completed their ends.
Bowls
17. Each bowl must comply with the current requirements of Law Nine (9) B E. version, W.B.B. Joint Laws of the Game.
Disputes & Agreements
18. If any Competitor/s fail to appear within thirty (30) minutes of the fixed or agreed starting time their opponents may claim the tie. The starting time for all mid-week matches shall be 18h30. Different starting times may be used by mutual consent. The Hon. Competition Secretary must be notified of any such changes. Any dispute / disagreement shall be submitted, in writing, to reach the Hon. Competition
Secretary within forty eight (48) hours. The Hon. Competition Secretary shall convene a meeting of the Competition Committee who will make their decision based on the information received. If the Competition Committee deem it necessary the dispute will be referred to the Main Committee. THE DECISION OF THE COMPETITION COMMITTEE SHALL BE FINAL AND BINDING.
Substitutions
19. In a Pairs, Triples or Fours game only ONE (1) SUBSTITUTE, who has not previously played in that Competition may be played as a substitute. Should a substitute be necessary in subsequent rounds, only the original shall be eligible. When a substitute plays, the card must be clearly marked SUBSTITUTE against his name.
20. A Competitor having once played in or having been eliminated in a pairs, triples or Fours partnership shall not be eligible to play in any other Pair, Triple or Fours partnership.
The named entrants conceding a walk-over before their first game in any county competition cannot also act as substitutes, as this is considered a game played and lost.
Scores
21. Immediately after the completion of a tie the WINNER MUST NOTIFY the Hon. Competition Secretary , by telephone, text or email, of the score. This must be done by 23h00 (11.00p.m.) on the day the tie is played. The Hon. Competition Secretary has an answer service WHICH MUST BE USED when the Hon. Competition Secretary is not available. Failure to notify your results on the day can cause delay if there should be any discrepancies of any kind.
Score Cards
22. Any team conceding a tie in the preliminary or first round MUST RETURN A CARD CLEARLY STATING THE FULL NAMES OF THE PLAYERS WHO WOULD / SHOULD HAVE PLAYED.
In subsequent rounds substitutes may be played in accordance with the Rules and Regulations Nineteen (19) and twenty (20).
23. Score cards bearing the FULL NAMES and initials of each player who have participated must be retainedFOR EACH ROUND OF ALL COMPETITIONS.
24. Score cards MUST BE SIGNED BY THE LOSERS IN ALL COMPETITIONS
Dress
25. Dress for all rounds of the County Competitions up to, but not including the Semi – finals shall be Greys and White Tops. Coloured shirts approved by the County Association may be worn. A mixture of coloured and white shirts will not be allowed. Braces, if worn, shall not be visible. White socks, belts, if worn, must be totally white. Brown or White shoes may be worn. Dress for the final stages i.e. the Semi and Final ties, shall be White or County approved Coloured Shirt (no mixture), Club, County or National tie (where applicable). White socks, belts, if worn, must be totally White. As in earlier rounds no mixture of white and coloured shirts will be allowed. Dress code for the Team championship and Harry Clarke competitions is grey skirt/trousers for all rounds except the final which will be white skirt/trousers.
Players representing their County in National Championship Finals must wear the same Bowls England registered county shirts.
No excuses will be accepted for failing to comply with the dress code.
26. The above dress code also applies to the Officers of the Association.
National Finals
27. In order to avoid a duplication at the National Championships through competitors qualifying in more than one event, the designated County Official must re-allocate A or B representatives accordingly.
28. Any individual or constituted team in pairs, triples or fours that qualify to represent the county at Leamington in the national championships and fails to attend will have their entries declined for a period of one year from all BE National championship county competitions under county jurisdiction. The substitute, by not entering and ensuring his availability, could be exempt from the same relevant action.
This could be waived under exceptional circumstances after a letter of explanation has been submitted to the Competition Secretary for consideration by the Competition Committee. Preference to play another code of bowls will not be considered exceptional
2012 Rules for Harry Clark Knockout Cup
The team shall consist of ten (10) members of one and the same affiliated Club who shall only play for one (1) team entered in the competition in any one season. Any member may play in any round of the competition so long as he has not played for any other
The composition of the team shall consist of the following:-
1 Singles Game 1 Point
1 Pairs Game 1 Point
1 Triples Game 1 Point
1 Fours Game 1 Point
All games to be played to B E rules
The games shall be played simultaneously with one point being awarded to the winner of the Singles Pairs, Triples and Fours. One point shall also be awarded for the highest aggregate score.
A half point shall be awarded for a tie in the Pairs, Triples and Fours. In the event of the points being equal at the end of the match the team that has won the Singles game shall be awarded the match.
The HOME team is obliged to supply a marker for the Singles game.
The Match will be played on the stipulated date unless it is mutually agreed to play before the stipulated day /date.
The Hon Competition Secretary MUST be informed of any changes.
The Final tie will be played on day / date stipulated by the Competition Secretary