As the Men’s Pairs Round 2 commences tomorrow this is a general reminder to all players in both Men’s and Ladies Sections, in all competitions that a draw for rinks must be made and not simply the home player going on their favourite rink.
This rule comes under our General Conditions – where “The competitions shall be played under the rules of Bowl England, Regulation No 50….”.
The below (in bold) is taken from this Bowls England Competitions and Rules & Regulations (April 2021).
Draw for Rinks
The draw for rink/s to be played on shall be made in accordance with the current Laws of the Sport (Law 3.1). For a match requiring one rink, a minimum of two rinks shall be offered to the opponent. For a match requiring more than one rink, the minimum number of rinks offered shall be at least equal to the number of rinks required.
In addition when drawing of the rinks this should be made ‘blind’, what I mean here – if the home player offers 2 rinks, say 5 and 6, both of these rinks / or numbers should be hidden, and then selected – either using discs, or the rink numbers putting on two bits of paper, or using dominos (domino with 5 and 6 on) – and not down to the away player saying we will pick 5 for example, knowing the home player prefers 6!
I hope this is all self explanatory as I know 99% of the time this rule is being adhered to and followed.
This is a MUST rule in ALL competitions.Any questions / queries please let me know – John Harthen (johnharthen@sky.com)