When is a bowl dead?

Under law 17 of the Laws of the Sport of Bowls (Crystal Mark 4th edition), a bowl is dead if:

• it is not a toucher and ends up in the ditch;
• it is not a toucher and rebounds onto the rink after hitting the bank, or the jack or a toucher in the ditch;
• it comes to rest less than 14 metres from the centre of the mat line (straight-line measure to its nearest point);
• after being moved by play it passes completely outside the rink;
• in its original course it goes outside a side boundary on a bias that can't bring it back; or
• in its original course it stops outside a side boundary, even if touching a jack lying on the boundary line.

A bowl is not dead if it:

• is carried by a player inspecting the head;
• went outside a side boundary but finished inside the rink;
• is a toucher that rebounds off the bank onto the rink; or
• is a toucher resting on the jack or another toucher in the ditch.

The skips (or singles opponents) decide; if they disagree, the umpire decides. A dead bowl is removed from the rink as soon as it is declared dead.