01 Mar WE HAVE LIFT OFF!

The management committee have decided today on both the dates for the start of the 2021 season and the league structures. The 6-man teams will have their first game on Monday 3 May whilst the 10-man teams will start on Tuesday 4 May. By this time all our bowlers will have had the first vaccination and given it time to take effect, some will probably have had the second jab.

Monday’s 6-man squads will be made up of 3 x 10 team divisions playing 18 league matches plus games in the Julie Fuller trophy which is being restructured this year to give each team more games.

The 2019 promotions and relegations in the 10-man sections have been retained as has the structure of the divisions. Sections 1 & 2 have 14 teams each playing 26 matches, Sections 3 & 4 have 12 teams each playing 22 matches. Section 5 has only 10 teams due to a couple of withdrawals.

To accommodate 26 matches for Sections 1 & 2 teams one game is being played on Fridays in May, June, July and August so hopefully in better weather than playing in April.

We have created a new concept for Section 5 so that they too have 22 matches. After the first 18 regular matches have been played it will be split into two mini leagues of 5 teams, the bottom 5 teams playing each other once to avoid the wooden spoon and the top 5 teams playing each other for the 2 promotion spots. We think this will provide an exciting end to the season.

Overall with the May starting dates only the first two matches will be played under lockdown conditions with the club toilets open and outdoor catering, if any. From the third match all clubs can open without any restrictions under the current road map to normality.

Further clarity will be issued to clubs about playing safely when the BCGBA provide guidelines from from the as yet unpublished government documents.

Our league and competitions secretary, Mr David Sykes, is now beavering away on the fixtures so that we can compile a year book and publish the fixtures on Bowlsnet.