Veterans try out something new

League News

Both the Brighouse and Huddersfield Veterans League are trying out something new this coming season.

The Brighouse Veterans League are changing their points-scoring system so that bowlers can still collect points for their team even when losing a game. This is a system that has been tried out by a number of different leagues in recent years with some success and points are allocated for the number of chalks gained. This comes out like this:

Chalks scored = 0-4  ....... Points scored = 0

Chalks scored = 5-9  ...... Points scored = 1

Chalks scored = 10-15  .....Points scored = 2

Chalks scored = 16-19 ..... Points scored = 3

Chalks scored = 20  ........ Points scored = 4

Chalks scored = 21  ........ Points scored = 6

Last season's fixtures in the Brighouse Veterans League consisted of 6 singles games. A point is awarded to the winner of each of the 6 winners with 2 points going to the team with the best 'Aggregate For' total. This means that there are 8 points to be won in every match. My current understanding is that the aggregate totals are irrelevant under the new system so 36 points is the maximum any team can score in one match (6 wins x 6 points =36).

Even the losing team can score up to 24 points (6 losses to 20 means 6 games x 4 points = 24).

The Huddersfield Veterans 6-Man League are introducing something even more leading edge for the 2025 summer season. This will see bowlers alternating in having the jack right through each game regardless of which bowler wins an end. This is a test which will only be used in the 6-Man League's bottom Division (Division 4) this coming season as an experiment. Mainly this is seen as helping some bowlers who cannot reach long marks and, when it is their turn they can send the jack into the middle of the green or centre along an edge to eliminate the long end from their opponent's option of shots when it is their turn to have the jack.

Too often a bowler who can sling the jack the furthest wins the end and their dominance ensures that the imbalance is never going to be addressed. With bowlers taking it in turns to lead with the jack that trick has less impact and opens up the game making things more even. The purists will say that this is tinkering with the laws of the game whilst others will say it is designed to make games have a closer and fairer outcome.

It is an interesting experiment which, if a limited bowler plays his ends right, will also immediately eliminate any long marks from the armoury of any bowler. It will be interesting to see how it works in practice. Maybe the slingers will come back seeking a further twist in the laws of bowling by asking for a minimum mark to be raised to 25 metres for example.