WELLINGTON’S two main skittles leagues are facing a bleak winter because of Covid-19.

The Wellington Ex-Services Skittles League, which consisted of 32 teams last season, are holding an outdoor committee meeting later this month to discuss the situation.

“We have a few teams who are not keen on re-starting,” said secretary Dave Bright. “There are so many aspects to think about. We cannot do anything until we know when the pubs will re-open. Then there’s the two-metre social distancing and hygiene. Sticker-ups are very often young people. They have to handle both the pins and the balls.”

Six members of the committee will be holding an outdoor meeting in the back garden of league treasurer Darren Sparks in Burrough Way, Wellington, on Saturday, June 20.

The league had been thinking of holding a video meeting but that was not possible.

Jo Luckhurst, secretary of the Wellington Ladies Skittles League, said: “We need a date when we can go back in the pubs. I would like to think something will happen soon, but I cannot see that. I am not very optimistic.It is the uncertainty which is the biggest problem. If you have a date, you can plan ahead.”

This is the biggest crisis faced by skittles since the days when pubs were closing on a regular basis.

Local leagues have managed to survive and the Victoria Arms in North Street and the Conservative Club in High Street have installed second alleys in recent years.

Efforts to try and complete the past season, which ended abruptly in March for both leagues, seem unlikely. It looks as though the forthcoming season will only take place with a reduced number of games, if any at all.