The game of ‘Lawn Green Bowls’.

More than 100 million people in 80 countries participate in bowling of all sorts worldwide.

Lawn green bowls is played mainly in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa and the United States.

The game of Lawn Green Bowls is played on a flat and level grass plot known as a ‘bowls green’.

Players roll balls known as bowls (an older term is woods, because they were originally made of wood) which are about 5in. (13cm) in diameter. The bowls must not be more than 16.5in (41.9cm) in circumference or 3.5lb (1.6kg) in weight.

Bowls are made of wood, hardened rubber, or a synthetic composition and are flattened (biased) slightly on one side so that they roll with a curve.

A bowl is rolled at a smaller white ball called the ‘jack’. The object of the game is for a team to get as many bowls as possible nearest to the jack.

The ‘bowling green’ on which the game is played must be at least 40yds (36m) square, surrounded by a ditch 12in (30cm) deep and 12in (30cm) wide, enclosed by a bank.

The bowling green is then sub divided ‘width wise’ into six "rinks”, or alleys, each rink being 18 to 21ft (5.4 to 6.3m) wide. The actual width of each rink depending on the actual size of the bowling green.

Extremities of each rink being marked by a white marker placed on the surrounding bank, whilst the centre of each rink is depicted by a white marker with the rink number on it, also placed on the surrounding bank.

To even up wear on the grass, bowls rinks are moved along the ‘green’ on a daily basis, coloured marks in the ditches depict the rink positions for daily use. On a weekly basis the green is ‘turned around’ so as to play across the line of play from the previous week. Some greens however are not square but rectangular, so the width of the green prevents turning the green around.

A mat is placed on the rink at least 2m and not more than 25m from the ditch edge, white markers on the side ditch edges depict these limits. The mat  must be centred using the numbered rink markers placed at either end of the rink. The jack and bowls must be delivered by the player having at least one foot on or over this mat.

The jack is delivered (cast) and must come to rest not less than 2m or not more than 25m from the opposing ditch. If the jack comes to rest more than 25m from the ditch or lands in the ditch the jack is returned. If the jack comes to rest less than 2m of the ditch it is placed at 2m from the ditch. Once the jack has come to rest it has to be centred using the numbered rink markers.

A bowler from each team, in turn, then bowls to the jack. Play in each direction across the green is called an ‘end’. The team with most woods nearest the jack (‘shots’) wins that end.

Play then continues back across the green, with the winning team having initial control of the jack, and thus the distance the jack is set to.

The team with the most overall ‘shots’ over a predetermined number of ends wins the game.

The lawn green game is very different to Ten Pin Bowling which uses pins, as a target, and should not be confused with ‘crown green bowls’ which is played on a slightly domed surface.