When is a bowl or the jack dead?

The skips (or the opponents in Singles) decide whether a bowl or jack is dead as soon as they realise a decision is needed, even if bowls have since been played. If they cannot agree, they must ask the umpire to decide (laws 17.3 and 19.3).

Dead bowl (law 17.1). A bowl is dead if it:

• is not a toucher and comes to rest in the ditch;
• is not a toucher and rebounds onto the rink after hitting the face of the bank, or the jack or a toucher in the ditch;
• after completing its course or being moved by play, comes to rest less than 14 metres from the centre of the mat line (measured in a straight line to the nearest point of the bowl);
• passes completely outside the rink boundaries after being moved by play;
• in its original course passes outside a side boundary on a bias that would stop it re-entering the rink; or
• in its original course comes to rest outside a side boundary, even if touching the outside edge of a line jack.

A bowl is not dead if it is carried by a player inspecting the head, comes to rest within the boundaries even though it passed outside during its course, is a toucher that rebounds from the bank face onto the rink, or is a toucher resting on the jack or another toucher in the ditch (law 17.2).

Dead jack (law 19.1). A jack moved by a bowl in play is dead if it passes completely outside the rink boundaries, comes to rest in a hollow in the face of the bank, or comes to rest less than 20 metres from the centre of the mat line. A dead jack makes a dead end, which is replayed. It is not dead if it rests on top of a toucher in the ditch or on bowls at rest within the rink.

For domestic play a Member National Authority can change the 23 metre jack-delivery distance to 21 metres. If it does, the 20 metre dead-jack distance becomes 18 metres (law 10.5).