1.      The Competition shall be open to all male members of affiliated clubs except for both the Coronation Shield and Portman Trophy in which female members will also be able to participate. No restriction shall be placed upon any member playing in more than one Competition, but he shall not play for more than one club in Harrow & District Competitions.

 

2.      The Competitions shall be controlled by the Competition Secretary. A sub committee, appointed by the Executive Committee,  shall be appointed to determine all disputes which do not fall under the scope of the Competition Secretaries duties or any appeal against the Competition Secretaries decision.   On finals day the appointed Umpires decision will be final.

 

3.      All entries must be from actual members of affiliated clubs and shall be received by the Competition Secretary, together with entrance fees on the Summary form through the entrant’s Club Secretary before the closing date at the end of December

   

4.     Protests shall be made within 24 hours of the playing of the tie, with a clear written statement, of the point at issue.  A protest against any conditions under which a tie is played must be made to the opponent, or opponents, recorded on the score card and notified to the Competition Secretary immediately after the game. The game should be completed as if no protest had been made.

 

5.     The draw shall be made in its entirety, the first out being the Challenger, and the second, the Opponent. The result of the draw, will be distributed at the April Executive meeting and placed on the website as soon as practical there after.   Updates of the draw will be notified to each clubs nominated contact as soon as possible after the completion of the previous round.

 

6 (i)     Within 96 hours of the start of a round the Challenger (except in the Portman and Coronation Shield) must offer the Opponent two dates.  If it is the opening round of a Competition then dates must be offered by at least 20 days before the end of the round.   These dates must not be within 48 hours of the date the offer is being made, may not be consecutive and must not be a Bank Holiday unless mutually agreed by the opponent.  One date may be a Saturday or a Sunday.   Upon receipt of the offer the opponent must accept one of the dates within 48 hours.

Illustration:
If the first round of the competition ends on April 27th then dates must be offered by April 6th. if the offer is made on

April 6th then the first eligible date would be April 9th, the offer would have to be accepted by April 8th.   If the 2nd 
round starts on April 28th then dates must be offered by May 1st.
 

(ii) The Portman Trophy and Coronation Shield will be played on set dates agreed by the executive.   By mutual agreement ties may be played earlier than the set date.

 

(iii) If the opponent has not received an offer in line with 6(i) then he should contact the Challenger and offer dates. The opponent, at this point, becomes the home player and must notify the Competition Secretary of the situation without delay.

Illustration
If the round starts on April 27th and no offer of dates has been received by close of play May 1st then on May 2nd Opponent becomes challenger.

 

(iv) If at all possible dates offered shall not be offered to coincide with the H & DBA Tour.

 

7.     A Challenger or an Opponent failing to comply with the above shall be "SCRATCHED" upon the successful application of the opposite competitor and, failing such application before the last day of the round, BOTH SHALL BE SCRATCHED.

 

8.    All rounds to be played-off, on or before the dates fixed. Results to be notified to the Competition Secretary, as soon as possible after the game, and before 10.30 p.m.

 

9.    Results MUST reach the Competition Secretary no later than 10 30 p.m. on the last day of the round, by telephone if necessary. Failure to comply with this rule WILL result in disqualification of BOTH Players / Teams.

 

10.    A score card for each game, signed by both players / skips, and bearing the numbers of the Competitors, must be forwarded ( scanned cards sent electronically are also acceptable) to the Competition Secretary to confirm the result within 24 hours of the game being played, (postmark to decide). The onus of making such a return shall be with the Winner.   Failing compliance, the defaulting player will be "scratched".

 

11.    The generally accepted start time for matches will be 6.15pm Monday to Friday and 10a.m. Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holidays. Matches can be played at any other convenient time subject to mutual agreement. If a competitor arrives more than 30 minutes after the time fixed for the game, the other may claim a "walk over". Such claims must be made to the Competition Secretary by 10.30 p.m. on the scheduled date of the game in accordance with Rule 8.

 

12.    In the event of disputes, relating specifically to walkovers, only written evidence of challenges and acceptances will be considered.

 

13.    The Committee Secretary will determine the period of time between rounds, and these must be strictly adhered to. No extension of time will be allowed, except in unusual circumstances. (see Rule 14 ).

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14.    In the event of the Green being / becoming unplayable due to factors beyond the player’s control (i.e. unusual circumstances, viz. inclement weather, violence, unplayable green etc.) the following options apply: -

 

(i)  If the match has not started and no time is available for play to start, then an alternative mutually acceptable date should be agreed.

 

(ii) If the unplayed match was scheduled for the final date of any round the mutually agreed rearranged date must be within the next 5 days

 

(iii) If the match has started and less than 10 ends are completed, the match shall be restarted on a mutually acceptable date, subject to        point 14(ii) above, on the same green with the same players as if no interruption had occurred. In a team event if the same players are not available on an alternative mutually acceptable date then the match should be restarted.

 

(iv) If the match has started and more than 10 ends are recorded, the result will stand at the point where the match is stopped.

 

In any of the above circumstances the Competition Secretary must be advised and his decision is, final.

 

OR

 

When a match of any kind is temporarily stopped, either by mutual consent, by the Controlling Body or by the Umpire after appeal to him for any valid reason, the match shall be resumed with the score as it was when the match stopped. An end commenced but not completed shall be declared “dead”.

 

15.    In all games up to, but excluding the Semi-final, or Final, the Challenger shall have the choice of playing on his own or Opponent's green, or any mutually agreed neutral green.

 

16.    The Semi-Finals (except Portman Trophy and Coronation Shield) will be played on specified dates set by the Competition Secretary on neutral greens unless the 2 players / sides are from the same club then they can choose to use their own green.   The green to be organised by the Challenger but must be mutually agreed.   The opponent can, if they wish, agree to play on the challenger's green and Vice Versa.   In the event that a mutual green cannot be mutually agreed the Competition Secretary will determine the venue.

The Portman Semi will be played on a fixed date with the venue determined by the Competition Secretary.   The Coronation Shield Semi will be played on a fixed date on a Home / Away basis as all previous rounds.

2 Woods - will be played to 21 ends not 21 shots in line with County and National versions.

The Finals will be played on the first Saturday in September on a green selected by the Executive Committee or Sub-Committee.

 

17.    All games to be played on "Outdoor Greens".

 

18.    The rules for substitutes in all Competitions shall be in accordance with the Middlesex County Bowling Association rules.

 
19.    Coronation Shield (Double Fours).   In the event of a tie an Extra End is to be played on the Challengers Green.

 

20.    Portman Trophy.   In the event of a tie an Extra End is to be played by the Triples.

 
21.    The WB & WIBC “Laws of the Sport of Bowls (English Version) shall be applied in any other situations.

 

All Competitors will be deemed to have accepted these conditions.

 

 

 

Mr Rod Fraser (Hon. Comp. Sec.)

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Email:  -    rodfraser762@gmail.com