Urmston & District Veterans Bowling League

League Recovery Programme

This plan was first prepared in March 2020. Nearly a year on, things aren’t any clearer. The dates below have been updated for 2021.

Estimates for how long activities like bowling may be suspended for range from a few weeks to a year or more. But there is still hope that we might be able to arrange something for this season. These notes set out some of the issues involved, and possible programmes.

As a vets’ league we can continue later in the year than night leagues, and I have taken 13 October as a latest feasible end to the season.

The 2020 season was originally planned around 22 league matches, three rounds of knock-out competitions, and a memorial match and presentation day. All these are on Wednesdays. There was one round of the knock-out competitions on a Monday, and the Merit and the Joe Rigby pairs competition planned for a Monday and Friday each. In the league matches every team plays all the others twice, at home and away.

Options for shortening the season include:

1. Playing a “half-season” where teams play the others only once. Some teams would have one more home matches than away; the others would have one more away match. There may be suspicions of injustice and some teams have to go the tricky greens and others don’t.
2. Restructuring the league into three or four divisions.
3. Dropping the team knock-out competitions.
4. Dropping the memorial match and presentation day (or having the presentations separately).
5. Dropping the Merit and/or Joe Rigby. These don’t save any Wednesdays, but would make the season less congested.
6. Playing matches on another day as well as Wednesdays.

I don’t think we can go with no. 6. Teams and players have commitments on other days, and other leagues will also be trying to put something in place.

Table 1 shows what we could do starting at various dates. Table 2 shows how the league could be split into two (as now), three or four divisions.

Promotion and Relegation

If we can play a full programme in two divisions, then promotion and relegation would work as normal for the following year.

In any other scheme, we would not have a fair basis on which to decide promotions and relegations. The 2022 season should therefore be based on two divisions based on how they are now.

Finances

The BCGBA notoriously insisted on full payment of club levies for 2021. Greater Manchester County and the league charged no fees.

For 2020 we increased the proposed club fee by £10, to cover entries to the Merit and Joe Rigby competitions. Fees for 2021 will have to be decided in the light of what sort of a programme we can offer. Clearly if we don’t run the Merit and Joe Rigby competitions the extra £10 would not be payable.

Table 1 – Possible Programmes

Notes

1. Nothing proposed for a 26 May start. We could play friendlies that day and start on 3 June.
2. For a 2 June start we could play the Merit qualifying and final days on Wednesdays.
3. For a 9 June start we could play the Merit final day on a Wednesday.
4. A 16 June start has the advantage that the fixtures are as published in the fixture cards.
5. For starts on 23 or 30 June, the programme is as per the fixture cards, delayed by one or two weeks.

Table 2 – Division Composition

Winton Social have confirmed that they will be entering only two teams when bowling restarts. They have lost the use of the second green. We have no news yet of other clubs, but we know that some have been badly hit by the virus. So the suggestions below may yet be modified.