Shropshire Star

Shropshire bowls bad-boys face the threat of points deduction

The bad-boys of bowls in Shropshire could be about to get a rude awakening.

Published

Both the county association and one of Shropshire's leading leagues are considering introducing disciplinary procedures next year after a rise in reports of bad behaviour, most of them fuelled by alcohol.

Drunken rowdiness, including some spectators rushing on to the green during play, cast a dark shadow over the British Senior Merit at Florence in the Potteries this summer.

So much so that the sport's governing body, the British Crown Green Bowling Association (BCGBA), is to employ stewards for crowd control at their big events in future. That fact was confirmed by the BCGBA's Ludlow-based competition secretary John Coxill who, in another role as chairman of the Shropshire Referees Society, has a close-up view of the growing problem.

But it's not just at national level that falling standards of behaviour have had an impact.

There were disgraceful scenes at both legs of Shropshire's Junior County Championship final against Warwick & Worcester last year and this season has seen reports of misconduct at the County Merit finals, the Tanners Shropshire League Handicap and a couple of First Division fixtures in the Molson Coors Mid Shropshire League.

The problem was discussed at length at the last county executive meeting when it was agreed that, sadly, foul language was becoming the norm both on and off the green.

County delegates are to discuss introducing a code of conduct committee at the next executive gathering later this month, the plan being to put the idea before the AGM in February.

But in Mid Shropshire one member club has gone a step further by putting forward a proposal that would see clubs and bowlers found guilty of bad behaviour punished by points deductions and bans.

It's the idea of Hadley USC, a club spokesman explaining: "We feel that the etiquette within the game has dropped to an all-time low and this action needs to be taken to prevent a further decline in standards of behaviour, particularly between players and opposition supporters."

The motion will be debated at the league's AGM in January, but the message is getting clearer – those in charge of the game Shropshire are determined to take action to rid the game of perpetual offenders.

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