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<< Section 2

Section 3 - Equipment: mat, jack, bowls and measures

 

6

Mat
  The mat should be 600 millimetres long and 360 millimetres wide.
   

7

Jack
 
1 The jack should be a solid sphere (ball shaped) and either white or yellow.
2

For outdoor non-synthetic greens, the jack should:

  • measure between 63 millimetres and 64 millimetres across (the diameter); and
  • weigh between 225 grams and 285 grams.
3

For outdoor synthetic greens and indoor greens, the jack should:

  • measure between 63 millimetres and 67 millimetres across (the diameter); and
  • weigh between 382 grams and 453 grams.
   

8

Bowls
   
8.1
Specifications
 
1

Bowls should be made of wood (lignum vitae), rubber or plastic resin (called composition or plastic bowls) and should be any colour approved by WB. The basic colour is added during the manufacturing process.
2

Indentations designed to help the player grip the bowl during delivery (for example, grooved rings or dimples) can be incorporated during the manufacturing process.

They can also be added at a later date, but only by a Licensed Manufacturer or a Licensed Tester.

3

Each set of bowls can carry a player’s individual emblem, logo or engraving as a distinguishing mark inside the smallest grooved ring on both sides of every bowl.
4 The requirement for distinguishing marks applies to all bowls used in International Events, World Bowls Championships and Commonwealth Games.
5

For domestic play, Member National Authorities can decide the requirements for distinguishing marks.
6

Bowls made of wood should:

  • measure between 116 millimetres and 134 millimetres across at their widest points; and
  • weigh up to 1.59 kilograms.
7

Bowls made of rubber or plastic resin should:

  • measure between 116 millimetres and 131 millimetres across at their widest points; and
  • weigh up to 1.59 kilograms.
8

The Controlling Body can supply adhesive (stick-on) markings for players to temporarily fix to both sides of their bowls, or allow players to use their own markings. When these markings are used:

  • they are part of the bowl for all purposes under the Laws of the Sport of Bowls;
  • there should be only one such marking fixed to either side of the bowl;
  • they should not be put over any distinguishing marks on the non-bias side of the bowl, although they can cover the distinguishing marks on the bias side of the bowl; and
  • all bowls belonging to players within a team or side should have these markings on them and the markings should all be the same design and colour.

 
8.2
Bias of bowls
 
1 A Working Reference Bowl will have a bias approved by WB. All bowls should have a bias that is not less than that of a Working Reference Bowl and should be imprinted with the registered World Bowls Stamp.
2

To check the accuracy of the bias and the visibility of the World Bowls Stamp, all bowls should be re-tested and re-stamped at least once every 10 years, or earlier if the date of the stamp is not clearly legible.
3

For domestic play, Member National Authorities can decide the requirements for re-testing and re-stamping bowls.
8.3
Lodging a challenge to bowls
 
1

Any challenge to bowls should be based on the grounds that they donot meet one or more of the requirements of laws 8.1 and 8.2.
2

A challenge can be lodged by a player, the manager in a side game, the umpire or the Controlling Body.
3

No challenge, or notice that a challenge will be made, should be lodged during the trial ends or during a game. If the person making such a challenge is a player, that person will be disqualified and the game will be forfeited to the opponent.
4

If a challenge is lodged:

  • it should be lodged with the umpire or the Controlling Body;
  • it should be made not later than 10 minutes after the final end in which the bowls were used is completed; and
  • the person making the challenge, if they are an opponent or the manager in a side game, should pay a deposit to the umpire or Controlling Body for a fixed amount decided each year by WB or the relevant Member National Authority.
5 Once a challenge is lodged and the deposit paid, it cannot be withdrawn.
8.4
Following up a challenge to bowls
 
1

The umpire should ask the player using the bowls concerned (the user) or the person who owns the bowls concerned (the owner) to hand over the set of bowls so that the umpire can send them to the Controlling Body for testing by a Licensed Tester.
2

Bowls sent for testing should be in sets of four.
3

If the user or owner of the challenged set of bowlsrefuses to hand the whole set over to the umpire, the game will be forfeited to the opponent.

4

Neither the user nor the owner should use the challenged set of bowls in any game controlled or permitted by the Controlling Body until the set of bowls has been tested by a Licensed Tester.
5 When the umpire has received the challenged set of bowls, they should take immediate steps to pass the set to the Secretary of the Controlling Body who should arrange for them to be tested by a Licensed Tester as soon as possible. The test should be carried out in the presence of representatives of any of the following: WB, the Member National Authority, the Controlling Body, and the user or owner if they want to attend.
6

If a Licensed Tester finds that the challenged set of bowls meets the requirements of laws 8.1 and 8.2:

  • the set of bowls should be returned to the user or owner by the Controlling Body; and
  • the person who lodged the challenge should lose their deposit and pay the Controlling Body for all expenses in having the tests done.
8.5
Bowls failing a test
 
1

Failing a test as a result of a challenge being lodged (see law 8.3)

  • If a Licensed Tester finds that a bowl does not meet the requirements of laws 8.1 or 8.2, they should alter the bowl as necessary before returning it.
  • If a Licensed Tester cannot alter a bowl to meet the requirements of laws 8.1 and 8.2, they should cancel any current stamp imprinted on the bowl by stamping an ‘X’ over it before returning it.
  • If a Licensed Tester tests a challenged set of bowls and finds that they do not meet the requirements of laws 8.1 and 8.2:
    • the game in which they were used should be forfeited to the opponent;
    • the deposit should be returned to the person who lodged the challenge; and
    • the user or owner of the set of bowls should pay the Controlling Body for all expenses in having the tests done.
2

Failing a test as a result of routine re-testing (see law 8.2.2)

  • If a Licensed Tester finds that a bowl does not meet the requirements of laws 8.1 or 8.2, the user or owner of the set of bowls can choose whether to:
    • have the Licensed Tester alter the bowl as necessary before returning it; or
    • leave the bowl unaltered and have the Licensed Tester cancel any current stamp imprinted on the bowl by stamping an ‘X’ over it before returning it.
  • If a Licensed Tester cannot alter a bowl to meet the requirements of laws 8.1 and 8.2, they should cancel any current stamp imprinted on the bowl by stamping an ‘X’ over it before returning it.
8.6
Alteration to bias
 
1 A player should not alter, or cause to be altered other than by a Licensed Tester, any bowl imprinted with the registered World Bowls Stamp in any way that would alter the bias of the bowl.
2 Any player breaking this law will be suspended from playing for as long as the Member National Authority of which the player’s club is a member decides.
3

The Member National Authority which suspended the player should give WB details of the suspension, and the suspension will apply among all Member National Authorities.
4 Players or owners who colour the grooved rings or dimples on a bowl for decoration are not breaking this law.
   

9

Bowls: World Bowls Stamp

 
1

Licensed Manufacturers and Licensed Testers are entitled to imprint the registered World Bowls Stamp between the inner and outer rings of bowls. Imprints on the running surfaces of bowls should be avoided wherever possible.

World Bowls Stamp

 WB World Bowls
 A is the code letter of the Licensed Manufacturer or Licensed Tester
 Numbers is the year that the stamp expires (in this example, 2013)
 R shows that the stamp is a registered trademark

 
2 The current World Bowls Stamp was introduced on 1 April 2002 and should be used on all new and re-tested bowls from that date.
3

Both the International Bowling Board (IBB) and the World Bowls Board (WBB) stamps, which were used before the current World Bowls Stamp, will be valid until the end of the year that the stamp expires. (For example, the stamp in the above illustration would not be valid after 31 December 2013.)
4 If bowls are imprinted with the registered World Bowls Stamp and are in line with the Laws of the Sport of Bowls in all other ways, they can be used in all games under the control of WB or any Member National Authority.
5 For domestic play, Member National Authorities can decide the requirements for the stamps on bowls.
   

10

Measuring equipment

 

The umpire should bring, or be provided with by the club on whose green the game is being played, suitable equipment to carry out the duties described in law 56. This equipment should at least include:

  • a copy of the current Laws of the Sport of Bowls;
  • a tape measure at least 25 metres long;
  • equipment for measuring between the jack and bowls when the distances between them are beyond the range of a flexible measure (for example, a string measure or a telescopic measure);
  • a flexible measure (for example, a box measure or a bullet measure);
  • callipers;
  • feeler gauges;
  • wedges (for supporting leaning bowls); and
  • equipment (for deciding whether or not the jack or a bowl is within the side boundary of the rink when the side boundary is not marked by a green thread as described in law 5.9) such as:
    • a portable, retractable line;
    • a mirror and a square (both with a levelling bubble); or
    • a boundary scope.

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