One rule change agreed by Mgt Committee

Winter League

The Management Committee of the Winter League met at Netherton on Thursday to work through a number of proposals for changes in the structure and formation of the League. These will all be covered by postings here over the weekend starting with two proposed rule changes both put forward by Netherton Con.

The first of these being a proposal to change the rules around the promotion and relegation of teams in each of the League's 10 Divisions. In essence this meant:

• Only one team be promoted and one team relegated from each division.

• In the event of a host club declining promotion after finishing top of their division then the second-placed team will be promoted instead.

• Any team declining promotion will incur a points penalty for the following season.

• In the event of a host club avoiding relegation then the team finishing second-to-bottom will be relegated instead.

The only element of this proposal to be approved by the meeting was the first one, being the introduction of a one-up, one down from the start of next season which was passed with a 7-6 vote in favour. The wording of this new rule has to be completed and approved by the Management Committee in advance of the August Annual General Meeting. This will then be put before the 80 teams in the League at that AGM for their final decision on whether that is introduced or not.

The second proposed rule change again from Netherton Cons was a move to 5-person teams for next season. Matches would then be comprised of two pairs games and one singles. Currently teams are comprised of four team members who play in two singles and one pairs games.

The case highlighted the additional number of bowlers that would be accommodated and a step forward in meeting the increasing demand for Winter bowling places.

A number of members spoke against this proposal with concerns about extending the playing time which seems to be at its current 3-hours limit. It is also worth mentioning the impact it could have on players' grandparent responsibilities on the school run. The starting time has twice been changed over the years to minimise the overlapping threat to members school run times and to avoid the increased traffic that there is on the way home for other bowlers.

There was no seconder for this proposal so it didn't progress any further.

Another item given air time at the meeting as a discussion topic was the 'old chestnut' of a new scoring system. Committee member Alan Hudson spoke to this item where he opened the discussion with the merits of the Brighouse Veterans system of points being awarded for the number of chalks that the losers accrued in their games. This would result in that each of the three games winners would collect 21 points and then variable points being awarded to the losers based on the losing scores in each of the three games.

Some members spoke of their experiences of the alternative system which many believed to be fairer and more encouraging to new and lesser bowlers. This is the third time that this option has been placed before the Management Committee and the Chairman asked that members give a vote on this matter so as to inform the process if it was worthwhile raising as a rule change in time for next season. The vote went against the move to the alternative system by 7-9 so no further action is planned at present.