What is a Guest Bowler & how to become one

Winter League

From year one the Winter League has welcomed teams fielding guest bowlers for a number of reason but more of that later.

What is a Guest Bowler? Teams are allowed to register guest bowlers who have no record of playing for that club in any league. This guest can then play in any league matches throughout the season for that team.

If this bowler's club has a team in the Winter League then we would normally expect them to play for that team but if there are some circumstances which prevent that then an appeal can be made to the League for an exception to be made. Circumstances such as their normal club team is playing on a day of the week that they will never be available or if their normal club team has a settled and full team of bowlers and they will never get a game.

All guest bowlers are expected to become members of the club that they are guesting for. Currently our League Rules do not say this but that is expected to be changed at the Half-Year Meeting of the League.

A team can register as many guest bowlers as they like but can only play one of them in any one match.

How do you become a Guest Bowler?

Find an existing or new team in the League and agree with them to be a registered guest bowler with them. Alternatively we can help a bowler looking for a team to play for in the League. We have placed a few guests over the past two seasons who may have a choice of teams to play for. You can be registered for a team at any time as long as you haven't played for another team in the current season.

Why do we allow Guest Bowlers?

Guest bowlers serve a number of purposes.

1. They fill shortages which could prevent a team full-filling their fixture.

2. They give a taste of winter bowling to a bowler who wouldn't have that opportunity otherwise.

3. Once experienced that guest bowler may then go back to his home club to encourage and actively lead the formation of a Winter League team. This has happened at least twice that I am aware of.

We know that bowlers in our League are the best ambassadors of winter bowling so the more we have from a wider range of clubs the more the word gets spread and the more likely it is that more teams will want to join the League.