BARKSTON ASH AMATEUR BOWLING ASSOCIATION

RULES - AUGUST 1996 (REVISED FEBRUARY 2025)

1) The title of the association shall be the Barkston Ash Amateur Bowling Association.

2) The primary object of the Association shall be to further the game of bowls.

3) a) An Executive, consisting of President, Secretary, Treasurer, Fixture Secretary, Chairperson and one representative from each club in membership, shall govern the Association.

b) The Executive Committee, consisting of the President, Secretary, Treasurer, Fixture Secretary, Chairperson and two delegate's representatives shall have decision making powers but will be answerable to the Executive.

4) Life members are entitled to attend all meetings, but have no vote, except at the Annual General Meeting. In the event of a tie in voting, the President, or any person acting on his /her behalf shall have casting vote.

5) The President, Secretary, Treasurer, Fixture Secretary, Chairperson and two delegate's representatives shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting.

6) a) A meeting will be held annually in January / February, being the combined Annual General Meeting (A.G.M.) and Rules meeting. Each club in membership shall be entitled to send 2 representatives in addition to the delegate. Clubs are allowed 1 vote on any rule amendments.

b) In addition to A.G.M. and Rules meeting the Executive will meet a further twice per year; usually in March and July or August. These meetings shall be known as delegates' meetings.

c) Any club failing to be represented at the meetings referred in rule 6.a or rule 6.b shall be fined £5 for each offence.

d) The Executive Committee will meet at least once per month during the season (April - September) and as required out of season. These meetings may be in person or via internet and / or telephone conferencing facilities.

i) At least five members of the Executive Committee need to be present to invoke decision making powers, as per rule 3.b.

ii) Minutes of these meetings will be distributed to each club Secretary and Delegate, and will include a summary of discussion, detail of matters arising, actions and resolution, and summary of finances.

e) The Executive Committee may request the attendance and / or advice from other delegates to aid any resolution of dispute and / or decision making.

f) The revised role of the Executive Committee in no way compromises or affects rule 10.

7) The finances of the Association shall be vested in the Executive and the audited accounts shall be submitted to the Annual General Meeting.

8) Notice of any proposed alteration or amendment to the rules shall be given in writing to the Secretary by 30th.September. The Secretary shall send notice thereof to all clubs in the Association within 14 days of that date. No rules shall be altered, rescinded, or added to without a majority vote of members present at the A.G.M. and Rules meeting or any Special General Meeting (rule 10).

9) Each club shall be bound by the Rules of the Association and all games shall be played in accordance with the rules of the British Crown Green Bowling Association. Wilful infringement of these rules by any club or player will be dealt with as the Executive think fit.

10) The Secretary shall convene a Special General Meeting at any time on receiving a request signed by the secretaries of at least 5 clubs in membership, stating the business to be submitted to the meeting.

11) Any club wishing to join the Association must be proposed and seconded by two clubs already in membership and must then be approved by the Executive. Any club wishing to leave the Association shall give notice to the Secretary at least 21days before the A.G.M.

12) An Annual Registration Fee in respect of each team must be paid 7 days prior to the 1^st organised League or Cup match. Failure to pay the registration fees by the due date will incur a £10 fine and a final demand will be issued. Should the monies not be paid by 6pm on the Friday before the 1^st organised fixture then the offending club will be considered to have forfeited their place in the League and will have to re- apply for membership. The monies invoiced will still be outstanding for payment and representation will be made to YCCGBA to advise on the clubs Failure of payment and breach of League rules.

13) A copy of the current rules must be available and on display at all inter-club matches and merit competitions, to be consulted should any dispute arise. Failure to do so may result in a £5 fine.

14) All fees or fines may be waived at the discretion of the Executive Committee.

15)       a) Presentation Night, every club must purchase a minimum of two tickets, the cost of which will be added to the usual invoice towards the end of the season.
            b) Any club that fails to attend on Presentation Night to collect their trophies and / or prizes, will forfeit any prize money that may be due.
            c) Any player (s) that have won trophies and / or prizes are expected to attend the Presentation Night, however: -
 i) In exceptional circumstances the player (s) may advise the Executive Committee of their unavailability to attend and appoint a representative who may collect their trophy and / or prizes. Notification must be submitted to Executive Committee at least one week prior to the Presentation Night.
ii) If the player (s) have not advised the Executive Committee as per Rule 15 c) i, then a deduction of 10%, per player, will be made against any prize monies being due. No prize monies will be awarded prior to the Presentation Evening.

16) Any correspondence, be it comment or complaint, from club (or individual member) to the Executive (or any member of the Executive Committee) must come only via Club Secretary to Association Secretary. Any correspondence other than by this route will not be considered. This excludes queries regarding re-arranged or postponed matches, which only the Fixture Secretary can deal with.

RULES GOVERNING THE INTERCLUB AND MERIT COMPETITIONS

LM1. The constitution of the leagues and details of play shall be decided at the A.G.M. and Rules Meeting when all entries have been ascertained.

LM2. All matches shall be played on dates agreed by clubs in membership. The fixture list shall be completed before the end of March each year and confirmed by the Executive.

LM3. League and cup matches will be played on Saturdays and play shall commence no later than 2.00pm. In the event of any evening matches being required, play shall commence no later than 6.30pm.  
Where a club has 3 teams but only one green the second team will play no later than 1.15pm and the third team ready to play no later than 3pm.

LM4. All matches shall be played on the day and date designated unless:-

1. The green is deemed unfit for play. In the event of a postponement due to an unfit green, the home team captain must inform the fixture secretary within 48 hours.
2. If teams are involved in the Yorkshire County competitions, their league match is allowed to be rearranged.
3. Teams who have players playing for other clubs in the Yorkshire Cup are not allowed to rearrange their league match to accommodate them. 
4. Postponement of a Barkston Ash fixture, without involving the Fixture Secretary, will only be considered once per season, per club, in extenuating circumstances, however, the Fixture Secretary will need to be advised as soon as possible after the change but, at least 72 hours before the match commences. Otherwise, the postponement of any Barkston Ash fixture will only be considered if the Fixture Secretary has been advised in writing stating the reason which necessitates the postponement of a fixture, by the team requesting the postponement. Adequate time must be given prior to the published fixture date. If the Fixture Secretary consents to the postponement and rearrangement of a fixture, the Fixture Secretary will initiate contact with the other affected club and arbitrate over any discussions and must be included on all correspondence regarding the rearrangement.
5. Clubs which have teams competing in more than one league should compare and review all fixtures to ensure that their green has not been double booked. Any such fixture clashes should be advised in writing to the Fixture Secretary prior to the commencement of the season.
6. The Fixture Secretary reserves the right to consult the Executive Committee over any issue regarding the fulfilment of fixtures.
7. Any rearranged matches, at the end of the season, should be completed within 14 days of the last fixture but always by the scheduled finishing date for league fixtures, as re-arranged matches after that date will not be allowed.
8. In the event of a match not being played points will be awarded as follows if neither team is at fault:-

i) Home team – Current average home score.
ii) Away team – Mean of current average away score and current average score of visiting teams at that venue.
iii) If one or both teams are at fault then one or both teams will be awarded nil points.

LM5. The competing teams in the inter club competitions shall consist of 8 players. Every player must be a registered member of the club he/she represents. No player shall be allowed to take part in inter club matches or Merit competitions unless he/she is an amateur and bone- fide member of a club in membership and is so registered with the Fixture Secretary at least 7 days prior to playing.
LM6. No player shall be allowed to play for more than one club in any one year except with the permission of the Executive Committee. Transfers between clubs will be considered in some circumstances, but only if both clubs involved are in agreement. Should a transfer be approved, 7 days must elapse between registering and playing for the new club.
LM7. Captains of competing teams shall decide any questions of play and all matters of dispute, but must agree upon a third person to act as referee, whose decision shall be final.
LM8. Singles play. Only the aggregate points scored by the team shall be taken into account in all inter-club matches.

LM9. A club having two teams in the Association shall, before the season commences, submit the names of its 8 best players, 4 of whom will be starred by the Executive Committee and be eligible for ‘A’ team matches only. Similar principles apply to teams having three or more teams in membership. A request to change the starring of players will be considered by the Executive Committee only up to the half-way point of the season.

LM10. The order of play shall be exactly as drawn and not at captains’ discretion. This excludes late arrivals and early leavers if agreed between both captains.
LM11. Any player due to play in an inter-club match, must be present no later than one hour after the scheduled time for commencement of play (e.g. no later than 3.00pm for an afternoon match and no later than 7.30pm for an evening match). Where a club has three teams and has staggered start times it will be no later than 2.15pm for the B team and no later than 4pm for the C team. At this time, a substitute must be provided, otherwise his/her opponent will claim the game 21 – 0. ‘Absent’ must be recorded against the missing player’s name.

LM12. No member of a visiting team may practise on the opponents green for 7 days prior to playing in a match or Merit, which is under the control of the Association. However, if a player plays in a match arranged by this Association or any other recognised bowling association, such play will not be considered practise. On match days visiting players are allowed only two ends practise.

LM13. In team cup matches and merit competitions, neutral greens shall be considered neutral to the club and not to individual players, no practise ends are allowed before the game.
All home bowlers to receive a handicap even if they do not play in the Barkston Ash League.
A list of players to be submitted to the organiser in order that relevant players are highlighted.

LM14. Visiting teams in the league competition shall be given lead of the Jack. In merit competitions, players must toss for lead of Jack. Standard Jacks, as defined by BCGBA must be used in all competitions.

LM15. After each inter-club match, the home club shall be responsible for posting the result on line within 24 hours and the result confirmed within 48 hours. Please note either team can post the result, but both teams must have confirmed the result within 48 hours, but the responsibility lies initially with the home team. It is recommended that each club retain a result sheet until the end of each season for every completed game, for reference in the event of any dispute.
Failure to post results in a timely manner could result in a fine at the Fixture Secretary’s discretion.

LM16. The league shall consist of 2 or more divisions (currently 4). With the approval of the Executive, the number of divisions may be changed should the number of teams in the competition justify it. Normally promotion and / or relegation is on the basis of ‘two up and two down’ but the Executive Committee is empowered to change the number promoted or relegated should it be deemed necessary to do so. Any new team joining the Association will be assessed for its strength and placed in whichever division is deemed appropriate, even though promotion and / or relegation issues of other clubs may be affected.

LM17. Should two or more teams have the same number of aggregate points at the end of the season, the team with the greatest points difference (‘points for’ minus ‘points against’) will be declared the winner.

LM18. No player is allowed to play in two teams in the league on the same day. For the purposes of rearranged fixtures any player that has played for another team whether Barkston Ash or other, then they will be considered fixture tied and ineligible to play.

LM19. Eligibility Any player must have played in a minimum of 3 of his/her completed club matches in the Barkston Ash league in that season before being eligible to play in the Merit competitions. (The same restriction applies to the eligibility of players in the semi-final and final of the team cup competitions.)
In a doubles merit the partners can be from different registered clubs.
Home bowlers will be handicapped and this includes pairs where only one player is a home bowler.

LM20. A selection committee, as decided by the Executive Committee, will select the players or club teams for Inter-League matches.

LM21. The Dress Code (as per YCCGBA Rule 33) should be observed generally in all matches, but will be observed strictly in finals (both team cup-ties and merits).

LM22. Currently the Singles and Pairs merits are each held independently on one day and played down to the winner.

LM23. Clubs having two or more teams in the Association who may not be able to field a full team (8 players) should always play a full complement in the highest ranked team first.

RULES GOVERNING THE BARKSTON ASH & JACK COOK COMPETITIONS

C1. Competing teams shall consist of 8 players, every player being a registered member of the club they represent.

C2. Starred players – same principles apply as in league matches (see Rule LM9).

C3. When a club enters more than one team, a player may move up to a senior team but not down from one in which they have played.

C4. No player is allowed to play in two teams on the same day (including re-arranged dates).

C5. Teams from Divisions 1 and 2 will enter the BARKSTON ASH TROPHY.
       Teams from Divisions 3 and 4 will enter the JACK COOK CUP.

C6. In both competitions.
All teams in the League agree to make their green available to host cup matches.unless the green is not available as per rule LM 4. Any club not able to host a fixture must advise the Fixture Secretary 48 hours in advance of the scheduled drawn dates. If this is not adhered to then a fine of £50 would be payable.
The dates of each round will be published at the start of the season.
Cup greens will be decided,  based on the location of the teams that they are drawn against as far as possible.
However, if two teams from the same club are drawn to play each other, the match shall be played on their own green.

C7. Leaders of Jack shall be determined by toss of coin between captains, the winner having choice of Jack on either even or odd numbered games.

C8. Handicapping is as follows: -
            Division 1 teams NIL Division 3 teams NIL
            Division 2 teams +16 Division 4 teams +16

C9. Singles play. The match winners will be determined on total aggregate including any handicap.

C10. In the event of a tie, a previously nominated player from each team will play each other (15 up) to decide the winner. Leader of Jack decided by toss of coin. If teams are from different divisions, the player from the lower division team will receive +2 point handicap start.

C11. Unless otherwise stated, the above rules will apply to any other team knockout competition that may be introduced.

C12. The team cup competitions are played on Saturdays as far as possible and should take precedent over league merit competitions.

X1. The Executive is the sole interpreter of these rules. Should any question or dispute arise in connection with these rules, the Executive will decide. That decision will be final and there shall be no further appeal either at law or otherwise.

X2. Any matter not provided for in the foregoing rules shall be dealt with as the Executive consider appropriate, including any matter which does, or is likely to, bring the Association, any member club, or any registered player into disrepute.

Conditions governing the Lord Lascelles Challenge Trophy
Lord Lascelles states: -
‘Should the Barkston Ash Amateur Bowling Association cease to exist, The Lascelles Trophy shall be returned to me, or my executors, to be disposed of as may be thought desirable’.

The Lascelles Trophy is awarded to the winners of Division 1

Rules August 1996
(Revised February 2025)

(Hon. Secretary)