EBF says no to scheme to allow 'indoor only' bowlers to play county competitions

Post date: Nov 17, 2013 6:06:49 PM

Bowlers who are not members of outdoor clubs affiliated to the Northants Bowling Federation will not be eligible to compete in Federation indoor competitions, after a proposal to include them was defeated at the English Bowling Federation annual meeting.

The Lincolnshire Federation had drawn up a rule that would enable non-affiliated bowlers to compete in Federation indoor competitions and Derbyshire Trophy inter-county events as long as the indoor club to which they were attached, also affiliated to their local county federation at a suggested rate of £50 per club.

The proposal, if accepted - and supported by Northants - would enable those for whom outdoor bowling had become inappropriate through, for example, age or disability, to still be competitive on an indoor surface.

However, the meeting felt that the Federation had been formed originally as an outdoor body with a long history and to allow an indoor club to affiliate its large memberships en bloc would be contrary to the integrity of its roots.

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Northants also lost its proposal to stage Reg Wright Under 25 inter-county matches on either a neutral green or a venue to be decided by mutual agreement, including round-robin matches on the same day.

County secretary Mike Ramsden argued that the proposal was to avoid round trips of upto 200 miles by players - and their parents, for those not old enough to drive - and reduce the chances of fielding incomplete or weakened teams. The proposal, opposed by Hunts among others, failed to achieve the two-thirds majority the meeting demanded, for an amendment to the rules to be carried.

Also defeated was a Northants proposition that instead of being switched off during an indoor or outdoor match, as current rules dictate, mobile phones should merely be on silent mode to enable emergency calls to be immediately taken, away from the green.

However, though delegates were sympathetic to those who were 'on call' or possibly expecting urgent messages, it was felt that common sense would prevail and calls could be checked at regular intervals off the green, requiring no necessity for them to be activated during play.

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The next Eversley Trophy - for Federation county executives - will be staged as a one day round-robin indoor tournament - it was agreed at the English Bowling Federation annual meeting. This would replace the current format in which Northants has competed in an indoor mini-league with neighbouring counties to earn the right to represent its area in the national finals.

The event will be staged on a day yet to be decided with two rinks of three players who are officials of their county in 11-end segments, similar to the current women's version for the Harry Carver Trophy.

Several counties introduced varying proposals or amendments for the Eversley tournament but after lengthy discussion all were either rejected or withdrawn in favour of the national executive's original proposal.