Plans are in place for bowls

The British Crown Green Bowling Association suspended all leagues until further notice in March due to the coronavirus pandemic – with the season due to start on April 8.

Since then, no timeline has been set for the games to begin, but Shropshire Premier Bowling League vice-chairman Rob Burroughs has revealed that they are aiming to start the season at the beginning of July.

“We have a few plans in place for various times, but it’s difficult to get anything concrete down because we don’t know really,” he said. “If we can get a July start then we can probably finish the season playing twice a week – that would be the preference. We hope that will be possible, but it depends on other leagues as well and their plans.

“Other leagues will probably follow suit I think though, and it’s just a case of talking to clubs and other leagues and making a decision. By the time we can bowl, we’ll need life to be virtually back to normal and everyone out and about.”

With constantly changing government advice and guidelines, and with no current end in sight for the UK-wide lockdown, it is not known whether the country will approach normal life in time for July.

If the bowls league is unable to begin in July, Burroughs insists they have other solutions.

“Anything after July then we’d have to split the league and have a cup competition or something like that,” he added.