February 1, 2012
Thanks Sherro for the opportunity to reply to some of the "interesting" comment on the site regarding the General Abandonment last weekend.
I have been able to take much from the comments made, particularly those of Lenny K. I was beginning to struggle with my responses to the many calls and letters from aggrieved lower division north coastal ladies who regularly use hire buses to attend Tuesday morning pennant, due to their concerns with the heavy traffic and unseasonal weather.
Now the seemingly financially beneficial option of them piling into the back of their skipper's SS Ute and before you can say "two lemon, lime and bitters please", they are pulling safely into Safety Bay Road, will I am sure be a godsend to them. I am having visions of the movie Thelma and Louise.
To more serious matters.
There is no doubt that last week and the lead up to Saturday was according to many in the media a once off situation (at least not forecast since 1965). It required some considered thinking by the Match Committees and administration. The need to exercise caution in sending out a few thousand bowlers in extreme conditions was always foremost in our minds. It is perhaps easiest to answer your questions individually:
1. Our original and continued intent was to allow wherever believed feasible for bowlers to bowl. In particular we saw some anomalies in the Tuesday morning pennants, which relied solely on a prior forecast, which was often only reached well after play was scheduled to conclude. The last two Tuesday's have borne this out with full pennant rounds being played, whereas last season both week's would have been abandoned. Similarly this was the thinking behind the use of club thermometers and the supply of accurate information to umpires at the respective venues.
2. To allow (1) to occur we needed to build some flexibility into the system, where prior there was very little. In considering change we did not see the value in penalising clubs where conditions were entirely OK to play, because of other clubs where climactic conditions were not appropriate. A basic view was if it is 34C in Safety Bay, why should BWA cancel their fixture because it is 40C in the Valley – basic but you get the idea.
3. Contrary to some letters, the best available advice we can take is from the BOM and their duty forecasters. The clear advice to us on Friday was that there was very little chance of an "improvement" in the weather and that a temperature of 42C + was a high probability. Given the significant difference between 42C and 40C and therefore the length of time during the afternoon that the temperature would exceed our allowable maximum (40C) it would be very unlikely that any realistic play would be possible. Therefore to send pennant players to venues knowing full well that play would be highly unlikely and that the forecast was already 2C over our allowable maximum, seemed quite foolish if not dangerous.
4. The Friday Night Premier League game was a side issue and did not enter our thinking – I have already copped it in the neck from my club's Premier League players however !
5. Given a General Abandonment was called, hence the Round is abandoned. Any result would have been declared null and void.
6. I was in York with Pat Buller and Roger Barns watching the Inter Zone Round Robin Fours – with one eye on the forecast as it moved from 42C to 38C. (It was an ordinary couple of hours!) No doubt that we would have received further criticism if the temperature only reached 38C; however hindsight is a lovely thing as the alternative may have been that we waited until 11.00am, decided due to the reduction in forecast to allow play to occur and then watched as the temperature struck 42C with no play possible – frankly with all hell breaking loose. With respect if we are to take risks I prefer the former situation than the latter.
7. The General Abandonment called was under most unusual circumstances – I would doubt that the need would arise again; at least for heat reasons. If I had my time again, I would recommend the same decision being taken however.
8. The extra heat is acknowledged on synthetic surfaces, but no thought to have differing rules at this time. (Sherro – we don't want to confuse the issue!).
9. To be honest I am not sure what the temperature was at Sorrento during the Men's Final or if it reached over 40C during the game. If it did the Conditions of Play state the Umpire has the authority to halt play (over 40C) and thereafter recommence at their discretion. The scenario perhaps should have been the Umpire halting play (if it was over 40C), consult with the two players concerned and if there were no issues recommence play.
NOTE: this is not the policy in Pennants, given the number of players and games involved.
Sherro, hopefully this assists in taking some of the heat (sorry) out of the issue and no doubt we all look forward to mild days ahead.
Regards,
Ken Pride
Chief Executive Officer
Bowls WA
PO Box 123, Osborne Park WA 6917
Ph: (08) 9340 0800
Dir: (08) 9340 0808
Fax: (08) 9242 1866
Web: www.bowlswa.com.au Email: ken@bowlswa.com.au