A Century of Bowling - Royal County of Berkshire Bowling Association

KENNET LEAGUE.
The League was formed in 1972 by Hungerford, Newbury, Thatcham, Abingdon,
Faringdon, Hagbourne and Tilehurst. The games consisted of three triples, the points
available being ten, four for the match winners and two each for the rink winners.
Didcot joined the league in 1974, but a year later numbers were back to only four teams as Abingdon,
Faringdon, Hagbourne and Newbury dropped out, and the future looked bleak.
A year later numbers were back to seven, as Hungerford fielded another team and Wantage
together with Prospect Park joined in. By the end of 1976 the County took an interest in the
league and created three sections – Eastern, Western and Central, with triples still being
played.
1977 attracted 100 spectators to watch the County League final at Trentham, with
Hungerford winning on the day, and County Officials were very pleased with the success of
the new format. In 1978 Marlborough and Mortimer joined the Western Section with the
final taking place at Hungerford in front of another very good-sized audience. By 1980 the
format had changed to four rinks.
With an increasing enthusiasm for competitive bowls, the demand for more games grew, and
by 1988 the KLX League was introduced for those over the age of 60, and these fixtures were
played on weekday afternoons, so as not to clash with the well established evening fixtures of
the Kennet League.
Within 12 years demand had created The Conference League, again aimed at the over 60
age group and this fitted in well with the weekday afternoon schedules in Clubs.
The Kennet League has come a long way since its early days of formation in 1972, and now
provides The Royal County with a well run, highly competitive league structure catering for
the competitive bowlers in our Clubs.
Without doubt the League has improved the standard of bowling but its success brings its
own problems, in as much as there is a greater demand for places in the leagues, than there
are places available.
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