Crown green bowls (or crown green) is a code of bowls played outdoors on a grass or artificial turf surface known as a bowling green. The sport's name is derived from the intentionally convex or uneven nature of the bowling green which is traditionally formed with a raised centre known as the crown.
Crown green bowls is played in the Midlands, Northern England, and North Wales.
Game The aim of crown green bowls is to roll a set of two bowls from the hand towards a smaller target bowl known as the jack. Rolling the bowl or jack is known as the delivery. When delivering a bowl or jack, the player must place one foot on a mat to ensure that all bowls and jack are sent from the same spot.
A full game comprises a number of ends. An end is where the jack is rolled first. The player sending the jack can choose to deliver it wherever they like on the bowling green. This ability to bowl an end in any direction is a unique feature of crown green bowls. Players then take it in turns to roll each of their bowls towards the jack. An end finishes when all bowls have been delivered. At the amateur level it is usual for several ends to be played simultaneously on one green. If two moving woods meet, both are taken back and the shots replayed. If a moving wood strikes a stationary wood or jack from another end, it is again taken back and replayed, but the bowl struck is replaced where contact took place.
The aim of an end is for a player to finish with their own bowls closer to the jack than those of the opponent. For each bowl that is closer than those of the opponent, a player scores one point. Each player usually has two bowls allowing a maximum of two points on each end. A score of one or two is denoted to the two markers (one from each team, in a team match) by raising one or two hands. The winner of the end delivers the jack in the next end.
Competitive games are usually held between two people with the winner being the first person to accumulate 21 points. An unlimited number of ends are played until someone wins. Variations exist where players can have more than two bowls, games are played to 31 points or more, or players form teams of two or more players.
Bowling green
Crown green bowls is played on a specially prepared short-cut smooth grass surface known as a bowling green or simply the green (usually 45x45 yards). The green usually has a raised centre known as the crown which can often be as high as 30 centimetres above the edge of the green. The green has a ditch around the edge, and slopes on all sides from the crown towards the ditch. Greens are usually rectangular or square, but L-shaped and circular greens also exist. The surfaces also often feature ridges, hollows and slopes to make the game more difficult. Due to this vast array of historical differences, no rules stipulating the shape, size or height of the crown are laid down by the British Crown Green Bowls Association.
Bowls equipment
Bowls
In crown green bowls, players use two bowls each. Bowls are also commonly known as woods. There are no requirement for official markings on the bowls although manufacturers branding and the weight of the bowls is common. Players often have their initials marked on one side, or use stickers to identify their bowls. One side of the bowl has an indent or dimple allowing the player to identify by touch which side of the bowl has the bias.
Crown green bowls come in a variety of bias strengths, weights, densities, sizes, materials and colours. The minimum weight is but there is no maximum weight.British Crown Green Bowls Association : Laws of the Game | http://crowngreenbowls.sharepoint.com/Pages/LawsoftheGame.aspx
Bowls are referred to and sold by their weight, and are available from 2 lb 0 oz to 2 lb 14 oz, in 1 oz increments. They were traditionally made from lignum vitae wood but are now manufactured from a composite plastic. Wooden bowls have a variable density throughout their core due to the nature of wood. Plastic bowls have a consistent and regular density throughout and manufacturers can produce bowls in different densities generally known as standard, low density and high density. This means that a smaller bowl with a higher density can be the same weight as a larger bowl with a lower density.
There are two ways of delivering a bowl: with or against the bias. Sending a bowl with the thumb on the biased side is known as thumb peg and sending a bowl with the thumb on the non-biased side is known as finger peg. The different pegs determine in which direction the bowl will go. A player delivering the jack is expected to declare which peg is used, but a player delivering a subsequent wood is not.
Jack
The jack, also commonly known as the block, is a smaller version of the bowls used by each player in a game of crown green bowls and also contains a bias. There are written specifications determining the size, weight and bias strength of jacks. To be able to be used in an official British Crown Green Bowls Association recognised league match or competition, jacks must be black, white or yellow. Other colours are available for use in practice.
Jacks have different markings on each side. On one side there is a single circle with the manufacturer's name and other official lettering. This side of the jack is the side with the bias. The other side has a single circle surrounded by three solid dots or smaller circles indicating the non-bias side. Official jacks must also be stamped with an approved date stamp every seven years to comply with the rules. Jacks measure 9.5 cm (3 & 3/4 inches) in diameter and weigh about 660 grams (1 lb 7 oz).
Mat The mat is also known as the footer. It is usually black and has a textured top surface to help with grip. It a simple rubber circular mat measuring 14 cm (4.5 inches) in diameter, and around 0.5 cm (1/8th of an inch) in thickness. When delivering a jack or bowl, the player must place their non-leading foot on the mat.
Major events The first event that gained major status was the Talbot Handicap played at the Talbot Hotel in Blackpool which was inaugurated in 1887 and continued until 1975. In 1907 the Waterloo Handicap was inaugurated and the event held at the Waterloo Hotel (also in Blackpool) eventually surpassed the importance of the Talbot Handicap. The Waterloo Hotel had its safety licence to hold big competitions withdrawn and the competition lost some of its stature when it transferred to Fleetwood Bowling Club in 2022.
More modern events include the BCGBA Senior Individual Merit and BCGBA Champion of Champions.
Past winners BCGBA Champion of Champions
YearWinner 1974 Jim Hadfield 1975 Jim Collen 1976 Tony Poole 1977 Cliff Bordley 1978 Noel Burrows 1979 Terry Turner 1980 Noel Burrows 1981 Dave Ellis 1982 Nigel Cranston 1983 Stan Frith 1984 Tony Poole 1985 Robert Hitchen 1986 Steve Smurthwaite 1987 Brian Shore 1988 Martin Gilpin 1989 Tommy Johnstone 1990 Ian Rigby 1991 Brian Duncan 1992 Steve Williams
YearWinner 1993 Jack Robertson 1994 Stuart Jones 1995 Ken Strutt 1996 Ken Strutt 1997 Andy Petford 1998 Paul Strutt 1999 Ian Rigby 2000 Chris Mordue 2001 Kerry Morris 2002 Alan Thompson 2003 Graeme Wilson 2004 Gary Ellis 2005 Paul Wilson 2006 Andrew Spragg 2007 John Bailey 2008 Graeme Wilson 2009 Graeme Wilson 2010 Chris Mordue 2011 Gary Ellis
YearWinner 2012 John Finch 2013 Terry Glover 2014 Simon Coupe 2015 Callum Wraight 2016 Gary Ellis 2017 Michael Beer 2018 John Bailey 2019 Colin Kelly 2020 not held (COVID) 2021 not held (covid) 2022 Chris Kelly 2023 Greg Smith 2024 Paul Dudley
BCGBA Senior Merit
YearWinner 1910 E Peers 1911 J Stead 1912 T Dale 1913 J Chesters 1914 A Robinson 1915 J Charnock 1916 S Sackville 1917 J Gough 1918 T Burgess 1919 J Charnock 1920 W Twist 1921 F Dickinson 1922 John Gleave 1923 Joe Gleave 1924 E Blackledge 1925 F Bentley 1926 A Booth 1927 P Ainscough 1928 Joe Gleave 1929 J Gough 1930 G Fielding 1931 J Fort 1932 C Garside 1933 J Eyes 1934 Joe Gleave 1935 J Pickering 1936 G Howells 1937 W Garrard 1938 J Davies 1939 W Garside1940-45 not held 1946 B Longbottom 1947 H King 1948 R Meyrick 1949 A Bebbington 1950 J Barnsley 1951 J Pilling
YearWinner 1952 A Shore 1953 W Slater 1954 N Norris 1955 H Burgess 1956 E Fish 1957 N Hardman 1958 C Littlehales 1959 E Ashton 1960 R Hodson 1961 R Meyrick 1962 R Meyrick 1963 F Goulden 1964 R Green 1965 W Baldwin 1966 R Meyrick 1967 A Shore 1968 R Oakes 1969 A Johnson 1970 A Dowley 1971 Tony Poole 1972 Dennis Mercer 1973 W Line 1974 F Whitehead 1975 R Wilby 1976 Noel Burrows 1977 R Edkins 1978 K Widdowson 1979 Jack Hunt 1980 J Hadfield 1981 Ian Ross 1982 Ian Bottomley 1983 Stan Frith 1984 Michael Leach 1985 T Moss 1986 Steve Smurthwaite 1987 A Dodd 1988 Ron Stanford
YearWinner 1989 Chris Squires 1990 Phil Owen 1991 Paul Chamberlain 1992 Stan Frith 1993 John Taylor 1994 Steve Ellis 1995 Gary Ainley 1996 Stephen Hirst 1997 Glynn Cookson 1998 Stuart Perry 1999 Lee Heaton 2000 Graeme Wilson 2001 Matt Gilmore 2002 Tommy Johnstone 2003 Gary Ellis 2004 Graeme Wilson 2005 Darren Smith 2006 Andrew Spragg 2007 Andrew Spragg 2008 Matt Bower 2009 Callum Wraight 2010 Noel Burrows 2011 Mike Riley 2012 Gary Ellis 2013 Greg Smith 2014 Ashley Daykin 2015 Tom Vickers 2016 Matt Gilmore 2017 Darren Plenderleith 2018 Chris Mordue 2019 Ryan Prosser 2020 not held (covid) 2021 Ross Dunkley 2022 Callum Wraight 2023 Simon Coupe 2024 Greg Smith
The Talbot Handicap
YearWinner 1887 T Salisbury 1888 D Greenhalgh 1889 J Bowden 1890 D Greenhalgh 1891 H Rutter 1892 William Balmer 1893 John Peace 1894 Thomas Berry 1895 Gerard Hart 1896 R Mather 1897 Thomas Meadows 1898 Thomas Hayes 1899 John Peace 1900 Edward Barton 1901 James Platt 1902 James Ward 1903 W Fairhurst 1904 C Farrington 1905 M Sharples 1906 W Taylor 1907 J Bagot 1908 S Massey 1909 W H Law 1910 R Hart 1911 F Threlfall 1912 Richard Birchall 1913 H Southern 1914 J Bromilow 1915 T Richardson 1916 R Johnson
YearWinner 1917 G F Hampson 1918 Eli Yates 1919 Edward Whiteside 1920 L Banks 1921 F Threlfall 1922 W Finch 1923 J Farnworth 1924 Tom Rose 1925 Jack Cox 1926 G Beswick 1927 T Monks 1928 G Beswick 1929 W R Hardy 1930 H Walkden 1931 R Pendlebury 1932 James Heyes 1933 T Turner 1934 H Hardman 1935 H Bury 1936 W Grace 1937 G Lomax 1938 W Molyneux 1939 abandoned 1940 W J Wilcock 1941 J Edmondson 1942 George Croker 1943 F Gillett 1944 W Ashton 1945 J Jolly 1946 A Raby
YearWinner 1947 R Thomas 1948 J H Hill 1949 J Molyneux 1950 J Wolstencroft 1951 W Parr 1952 J Timmins 1953 J Molyneux 1954 W Parr 1955 W Simm 1956 J Rothwell 1957 J E Ball 1958 R Mercer 1959 W H Frost 1960 W Dalton 1961 W Turner 1962 W Dalton 1963 R Kellett 1964 J Kirby 1965 A Milnes 1966 S Priestley 1967 Billy Dawber 1968 F Whitehead 1969 R Peat 1970 Keith Illingworth 1971 G Rigby 1972 W Dalton 1973 C E Jackson 1974 Brian Duncan 1975 Stuart BuckleyDiscontinued
The Fleetwood Autumn Waterloo (formerly Waterloo Handicap)
YearWinner 1907 James Rothwell 1908 George Beatty 1909 Tom Meadows 1910 not held 1911 John Peace 1912 Thomas Lowe 1913 Gerard Hart 1914 John Rothwell 1915 W Fairhurst 1916 J Parkinson 1917 George Barnes 1918 W Simms 1919 Len Moss 1920 E Whiteside 1921 J Bagot 1922 W A Smith 1923 J Martin 1924 Rowland Hill 1925 Jack Cox 1926 T Roscoe 1927 H Waddecar 1928 T Whittle 1929 Charles Halpin 1930 J Chadwick 1931 A Gleave 1932 T E Booth 1933 A Ogden 1934 W Derbyshire 1935 C Roberts 1936 H Yates 1937 A King 1938 J W Whitter 1939 abandoned 1940 H Holden 1941 W J Wilcock 1942 Tommy Bimson 1943 S Ivell 1944 Tedber Tinker 1945 W Grace 1946 C Parkinson