He says it has been inspired by the success of T20.
“It came to me at 1.17am one night,” Harris said.
Gary Lawson is a 14-time national champion. Photo / Stuart Whitaker
“It’s just a faster version, like there’ll be a little bit of music on the sideline – not that sort of head-banging music, but just to create an atmosphere that might make it enticing for a new generation of bowlers to give it a go.”
The Five in 25 concept is that competitors will play five ends in 25 minutes with a total of 17 bowls per player. It’s a singles format.
“On three of those ends, a bowler gets three bowls. But on two ends, which are predetermined – they have to nominate those before the game starts, they get four bowls,” Harris said.
There’s also a tweak to the scoring. While the system remains the same as traditional bowls, there’s room for a power play that rewards accuracy.
“If you hit the jack and you win that end, you get double the points that you would have scored on that end. If you hit the jack but lose the end, you at least get one point,” Harris said.
Ben Harris.
Lawson supports the idea of trying to attract younger people to the sport – a recruitment drive that has been successful across the Tasman.
“It’s a game for young people, but it’s a game that anyone can play. There’s a lot of young people playing now, but the more we get, the better.
“There’s probably a lot more young players playing in Australia, you look at their Under-18 [ranks] in secondary school tournaments, they get hundreds in it.”
Selina Goddard will compete for New Zealand in the women’s pair at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Gary Lawson says the format for that event will be sets play, which makes the sport “more viable for television”. Photo / Photosport
The new format will make its debut at an event at the Papanui Bowls Club in Christchurch tomorrow.
The first competition will be between club players but Lawson believes the speed of the game will appeal to more social bowlers – and is a sign of where the sport is heading.
“Everybody’s time’s becoming more precious and we’ve seen shorter versions of the game, with Bowls3Five a real success.”
Bowls3Five is a triples format played over two sets of five ends.
“A lot of the tournaments now are sets play, you know, in the Commonwealth Games, for example, it’s two five-end sets in the pairs, seven-end sets in the singles. It’s what makes it more viable for television.”
5in25 is a new lawn bowls format being trialled in Christchurch. Photo / Supplied.
If Five in 25 proves successful, Harris hopes to see events at clubs throughout Canterbury and New Zealand.
Mike Thorpe is a senior multimedia journalist for the Herald, based in Christchurch. He has been a broadcast journalist across television and radio for 20 years and joined the Herald in August 2024.