life
SPORT & LEISURE
Bowls
Island outdoors
Written by James Kerr
T
his year is a landmark season
for English lawn bowling. On
1 January 2008, the men’s and
women’s organizations became integrated;
Bowls England was launched as the
governing body of the unified English
Bowling Association and the English
Women’s Bowling Association.
Lawn bowls is usually played on a large,
rectangular bowling green divided into
parallel playing strips called ‘rinks’. Bowls
are made of a hard, plastic material and
are designed to travel a curved path,
referred to as ‘bias’, which is produced
by the shape of the bowl. A bowler can
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recognize the bias direction of the bowl in
his or her hand by a dimple or symbol on
one side.
In the simplest competition, singles,
one of two opponents flips a coin to see
who wins the ‘mat’ and begins a segment
of the competition (in bowling parlance,
an ‘end’), by placing the mat and rolling
the ‘jack’ to the other end of the green to
serve as a target. Once it has come to rest,
the jack is aligned to the centre of the rink
and the players take turns to roll their
bowls from the mat towards the jack.
After each competitor has delivered all
of his or her bowls, the distance of the
closest bowls to the jack is determined and
points, called ‘shots’, are awarded for each
bowl which a competitor has closer than
the opponent's nearest to the jack. This is
repeated for the next end, with a game of
bowls typically lasting 21 ends.
There are hundreds of bowlers on
the Island, many of whom participate
in the Island-wide leagues, with some
representing the county at national
level. The Island has had four English
International players. There are clubs
all over the Island and shops in which
equipment can be purchased in Shanklin,
Ryde and Newport. Bowling appeals to
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