Bowls: New Games format excludes fours

A radical format for bowls at next year's Commonwealth Games in Melbourne will have a major bearing on the national sides to be named this week for the annual transtasman series next month at the Games venue, Darebin.

Bowls New Zealand chief executive Kerry Clark said yesterday that each of the national sides for the Games would be reduced to six bowlers rather than the traditional seven because fours would not be played in Melbourne.

The Games format, which would also be used in this year's tests against Australia, would be singles, two-bowl pairs and two-bowl triples. There would be no fours.

Matches will be played over two sets of up to nine shots, with a two end tiebreaker for drawn sets.

Clark also confirmed that as well as the transtasman series, this year's inter-centre finals would also be played according to the Games format.

Another innovation will be re-spotted jacks, effectively nullifying killed ends.

Clark said the new format was designed to tailor the sport more for television and spectators.

It would not apply at national championships and there was no question of fours being phased out.