Bowls England have today (26/03) published a Competitive Events update – this includes the national finals schedule, what events are being played (as in Inter-County) – these are Middleton Cup, Balcomb Cup, Walker Cup and White Rose (all are going ahead this year).
I realise the schedule at the national finals is different and may not suit everyone but surely some bowls and national finals to look forward to must be a positive step, as long as it is safe and secure of course. In a way you only need to look 60 odd miles north where Bowls Scotland have cancelled their competitions and national finals for this year already. This to me is a little surprising especially where their are many positive moves in playing our sport.
Within the news article there is a link to “Qualifiers By County” – this shows the amount of entries per county per discipline, and as you may recall the top 13 of each discipline will receive an additional entry at the national finals. Unfortunately we are not of the “top 13” and don’t qualify for an additional entry.
Also there is a Summary of Events – detailing each event, along with number of ends (some of these have changed), such as the Club Two Fours – now 15 ends.
Please note on the National Finals Schedule – I have queried some of the sessions, and the schedule will need to be revised slightly (i.e. Balcomb only needs 2 sessions); to note the 2 Wood singles is correct as all 5 games are played on one day. There seems a lot of sessions (7 in total) for Senior Fours, again this is correct due to rink availability.
Here is the link for the news article.Finally I understand a “Return To Play Guidance” is now due out next week (and hopefully on Monday).