CORNWALL COUNTY SHORT MAT BOWLING ASSOCIATION - NEWS RELEASE 15th May 2020

CORNWALL COUNTY SHORT MAT BOWLING ASSOCIATION

NEWS RELEASE - 15th  May 2020

Short Mat Bowling remains on hold with lockdown measures remaining in place.  Locally a number of competitions from the 2019/20 season are still be completed including the Two Wood Singles, Four Wood Pairs, Area League finals, Champion of Champions, Team of Three and Rae Francis Club Team Competitions.  No Summer League competition will take place this year and this weekends visit from the Friends of Essex touring team which was to form part of the Association's 30th anniversary celebrations has been postponed to a later date.

On the National stage the English Short Mat Bowling Association has provisionally re-scheduled the outstanding 2019-20 season Nationals Championships and Inter County Semi Finals and Finals for dates in early September.  The Short Mat Players Tour season ending World Masters on the 18th and 19th April was postponed and entries for 2020/21 season tournaments are currently on hold.

The CCSMBA Management Committee met recently via video conference to discuss the current situation and how to plan for the future.  In a statement issued today the CCSMBA Management Committee noted that as the sport does not lend itself well to social distancing measures and the additional issues arising from the age profile of the membership and that it would be difficult to plan the County Calendar and program of League Competitions as usual at this time.  In response to queries from members the usual deadline of 31st May for annual affiliations and league entry fees has been put on hold and is to be reviewed at the Committee meeting in July.

Currently no play is possible with all settings, including bowls clubhouses and village halls, remaining closed.  Plans for next season will be determined largely by when these settings can re-open, the distancing measures that remain in place at the time and willingness of bowlers to return should the threat of Coronavirus remain.

The full CCSMBA statement can be found at https://ccsmba.co.uk/content.php?pg=covid19.

ENDS

Nicholas Truscott

Press and Promotions Officer