An updated version of the laws of lawn bowling has been published. The Crystal Mark Fourth Edition was approved at the Biennial World Bowls Council Meeting in August 2022.

International Technical Official (and Bowls International columnist) Allan Thornhill has this to say about the new Laws of the Sport on the Bowls International website:

“In the grand scheme of things, there are not that many practical changes that affect the playing of the sport. There have been slight adjustments to some of the definitions, in particular the definitions of a rink and rink of play to tidy up any confusion on what is included within the boundaries of the rink of play. As a result, some further laws have been adjusted to deal with the change of wording.

A new definition has been created from existing wording to define measuring. Neither of these changes really affect the playing of the game, but set the scene for the rest of the laws.

Another relocation of existing wording has created a new law stating that in all games players must play with the appropriate number of bowls from the same set. Again this is a cosmetic change to define this in the play arrangement section rather than later on in the law book where it was harder to find previously.

Cheats Never Prosper
None of us like a cheat and cheats never prosper – this change to the laws is likely to be the most controversial and raise the most questions. It was with this in mind that a proposal was submitted to deal more robustly with those individuals that feel it necessary to cheat.”

You can find more about the updated laws here: https://bowlsinternational.keypublishing.com/laws-of-the-sport-fourth-edition-approved/

You may download the updated laws here: http://www.worldbowls.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Laws_of_the_Sport_Fourth_Edition.pdf