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Section 5 - The game

 

18

Starting the game

   
18.1
Trial ends
 
1 Before the start of play in any game, or before continuing an unfinished game on another day, one trial end should be played in each direction.
2

For domestic play, the Controlling Body can limit the number of trial ends to be played (no trial ends or one trial end in one direction). It can also decide whether the trial ends are played immediately before or immediately after the scheduled start time for the game.
3

Trial ends should be played on the same rink that the game will be played on.
4 Each player should not use more than the number of bowls being used during the game.
5 Each player can use any combination of bowls taken from different sets of bowls.
6 The opponents of the team which started the first trial end should start the second trial end.
7 The team which starts the trial end should place the mat, deliver the jack and place the jack on the centre line of the rink at a distance they choose from the mat line (the distance should not be changed during the course of the trial end).
8 When each bowl comes to rest, any player or the marker can remove it and place it towards the front ditch.
9 If a bowl moves the jack, the jack should be put back to its former position.
18.2
Tossing for opening play
 
1 The managers in a side game (or, in their absence, representatives of the sides), skips in a team game or opponents in Singles should toss a coin.
2

The winner of the toss should choose whether to:

  • place the mat and deliver the jack and the first bowl; or
  • tell the opposing player to place the mat and deliver the jack and the first bowl (the opposing player cannot refuse).
3

The option chosen by the manager or representative who wins the toss in a side game will apply to all teams or Singles players (or a combination of teams and Singles players) who make up the side.

18.3
The start of play
 
1 In any game, the start of play is the delivery of the jack by the first player to play in the first end.
2

In any end, the start of play is the delivery of the jack by the first player to play in that end.
18.4
Play in other ends
 

In all ends after the first but apart from in an extra end, the winner of the previous scoring end should choose whether to:

  • place the mat and deliver the jack and the first bowl; or
  • tell the opposing player to place the mat and deliver the jack and the first bowl (the opposing player cannot refuse).
   

19

Placing the mat
   
19.1
At the start of each end
 
1 Before the start of play in each end, the player to play first should place the centre line of the mat lengthwise along the centre line of the rink, with the mat line at least 2 metres from the rear ditch and at least 25 metres from the front ditch.
2

If, before the jack has been delivered, a player or the marker finds that the mat has not been placed as described in paragraph 1 above, the player to play first should correctly position the mat.
3 If, after the jack has been delivered but before the first bowl is delivered, a player or the marker finds that the mat line has not been positioned within the distances described in paragraph 1 above, the opposing player should place the mat as described in paragraph 1 and re-deliver the jack, making sure that it is centred, but the opposing player should not play first.
4 After the first player to play has delivered the first bowl, no-one has the right to challenge the legality of the original distance of the mat line from the rear and front ditches.
5 If one or more groundsheets are to be used (outdoor play only), the Controlling Body should consult the nominated greenkeeper and then decide where the groundsheets will be placed for the first end and every end after that. The mat line should be placed on the rear edge of the groundsheet.
19.2
During each end
 

After the start of play in any end, the mat should not be moved from its original position except in the following circumstances.

1 If the mat is displaced, it should be replaced in its original position.
2

If the mat is out of line with the centre line, it should be straightened on that line.
3 If the mat is off the centre line, it should be moved to that line.
4 If a player picks up the mat before the end has been completed, an opposing player should replace the mat in its original position.
5 If a bowl from a neighbouring rink, moving in its original course and on a bias which will take it back into its own rink, is travelling on a path which will bring it into contact with the mat, any player on the rink on which the mat is being used can lift it so that the bowl can pass and then replace the mat in its original position.
6 After the last bowl required to be played in each end has been delivered, a player or the marker should lift the mat and place it completely beyond the face of the rear bank. Opponents in Singles can, however, agree to carry the mat up the rink so that they can use it at the next end.
   

20

Position on the mat
 
1 Before delivery a player should be standing on the mat with one foot fully on the mat. At the moment they deliver the jack or a bowl, the player should have all or part of one foot on or above the mat.
2

Before delivery a player using an approved wheelchair should have one wheel on the mat and, at the moment they deliver the jack or a bowl, the player should have all or part of one wheel on or above the mat.

3 Any player not meeting the terms of this law is committing a foot-fault, and law 21 will apply.
   

21

Foot-faulting
 
1

If the umpire, either by their own observation or on appeal by one of the skips or opponents in Singles, decides that a player has not met the terms of law 20, the umpire should, on the first occasion, warn the player in the presence of the skip and advise the manager or the coach when they are present that a warning has been given.
2

On each occasion after this, the umpire should have the player’s bowl stopped and declared dead.
3

If it has not been possible to stop the bowl and it disturbs the head, the opponent should choose whether to:

  • replace the head;
  • leave the head as altered; or
  • declare the end dead.
4 If a player has been given a warning and still fails to meet the terms of law 20 while delivering the jack, law 23.2 will apply.
   

22

Delivering the jack
 
1

Before the jack is delivered, the mat should be placed as described in law 19.1.1. The player to play first should deliver the jack and make sure that it is centred.

2

If the jack in its original course comes to rest less than 2 metres from the front ditch, it should be placed on the centre line of the rink with the nearest point of the jack to the mat line being 2 metres from the front ditch. This should be done by:

  • placing the jack at a mark on the centre line of the rink measuring a distance of 2 metres from the front ditch (see diagram 1 in appendix B.3); or
  • placing the jack alongside the edge of a 2-metre measuring device (for example, a thin wooden batten which is 2 metres long - see diagram 2 in appendix B.3)
3

If, in its original course, the jack is displaced by one of the other players, law 33.1.1 will apply.
4 If, in its original course, the jack is displaced by a neutral person or neutral object, law 33.3.1 will apply.
5 If, before a bowl has been played by each team, a player notices that the wrong team has delivered the jack, the correct team will re-start the end.
6 If, after a bowl has been played by each team, a player notices that the wrong team has delivered the jack, play in that end should continue in that order.
7 After the first player to play has delivered the first bowl, no-one has the right to challenge the legality of the original position of the jack.
   

23

Improper delivery of the jack
 
1

The jack has been improperly delivered if it comes to rest:

  • in the ditch;
  • completely outside the boundaries of the rink;
  • less than 23 metres from the mat line after the jack has been centred;
  • on the rink after contact with the face of the bank; or
  • on the rink after contact with any object or person completely outside the boundaries of the rink.
2

If a player improperly delivers the jack, the opposing player should place the mat as described in law 19.1.1 and re-deliver the jack, making sure that it is centred, but the opposing player should not play first.
3

If the jack is improperly delivered once by each player in any end, it should not be delivered again in that end. Instead, it should be centred with the nearest point of the jack to the mat line being 2 metres from the front ditch, and the mat should be placed as described in law 19.1.1 by the first player to play.
4 If the jack is improperly delivered once by each player and the end is then declared dead, law 31.4 will apply.

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