By John Blasetti
This amazing result could spark your interest in the great game of lawn bowls.
| The date: | 8 November 2022 |
| The competition: | Bowls Victoria Midweek Pennant |
| The home / opposing team: | Montmorency Bowls Club |
| Our team / the visitors: | Blackburn North Bowling Club |
| A ‘resting toucher’: | A bowl which comes to rest such that it remains in contact with the Jack |
The weather was fine on the day our 12-player team car pooled out to the venue. We arrived at 9:45 am to enable some practice time on the Montmorency green prior to the game commencing at 10:30 am.
Typically, a team is divided into three groups of four players (or ‘rinks’). In each rink, four local players compete against four visitors, with each player delivering two bowls in sequence over 21 rotations (or ‘ends’). Scoring is determined by noting the number of one team’s bowls lying closer to the white/yellow ball (or ‘jack’) than the nearest opposition bowl. Each such bowl earns one point (or ‘shot’) for that team, and are accumulated over 21 ends. The rink scores are then combined in order to decide the overall winner.
This day I played in the capacity of ‘SKIP’ alongside the following players:
LEAD – Jenni GRATTON (U3A)
2ND – Ann WANG (U3A)
3RD – Margaret FEHRING (BNBC V/P)
Steady play saw our rink scoring steadily, and we retired to the lunch break leading 10/0. When play resumed, the opposition team mounted a determined comeback and began to catch up. Montmorency was holding shot when Ann Wang strode to the mat. A hush fell over the non-existent gaggle of spectators. I directed Ann to deliver her bowl ‘backhand’ style, and watched its steady progress toward the Jack. The bowl then came into contact with the Jack, advancing it toward the nearest Montmorency bowl. Pictured is the resultant outcome – TWO ‘resting touchers’.
The photo shows a Montmorency umpire attempting to insert a sliver of paper between the Jack (yellow), Ann’s bowl (purple) and a Montmorency bowl (black and red) to no avail. For the uninitiated, a ‘resting toucher’ is an extremely rare event. To accomplish it in ‘stereo’ is akin to winning Tattslotto, or being struck by lightning, and Ann may never repeat it. So, thank you Ann for allowing us to witness such a unique event and yes, we did wind up winning both our rink and overall.
For those U3A members inspired by Ann’s story, kindly go to 23EXES09 Introduction to Lawn Bowls which resets each Term in the Course Timetable.
See you on the green!