SPORTS TOPICS

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 59, Issue 38, 24 November 1938, Page 2

SPORTS TOPICS

ITEMS OF INTEREST. CALENDAR OF COMING EVENTS (“By Flagpole.”) Saturday. County Ilaeing Club’s Summer Meeting. Cricket Competitions. Tennis Competitions. Bullock Pennant. Bowling at Rakaia. Monday. Technical School Swimming Sports. Friday, December 2. Boxing—Foster v. Adams. A New Track. 'l'he new cinders running track at New Lynn, which should be completed before the end of the year, will he the first to be -constructed in the North Island. The South Island has had one for some considerable time. The trade is being made by the Lynndale Amateur Athletic Club which is one 'of the strongest organisations in Auckland. Footballer Retires. News from South Africa announces the. retirement of J. White, Springbok centre-three-quarter. Known to his team-mates as “Jimmy the Killer,'’ because of his vicious tackling, White was recognised as the sheet-anchor of the Springbok backs during the 1931 tour of England and the 1937 tour of Australia and New Zealand. He did not win a place in the South African test teams against the touring British side this year. Invitation Declined. in a letter to Mr J. H. Phillipps. chairman of the Wellington Cricket .Association, Maurice Leyland, one of England’s leading test cricketers, states that lie was invited to accompany Sir Julien Calm’s team to New Zealand, but had to decline as he was keen to recover from the effects of several minor injuries. He indicates 1 is keen interest in New Zealand, and sends good wishes to all his friends here.

Banquets Not Wanted, “While the banquets given Australian elevens in England are appreciated as gestures to Australia, it would materially assist us to get our team fit if they were curtailed,” said Don Bradman recently. “Starting at noon they go on often until 3 p.m. and it is a great strain on the players. This is not meant as a criticism of these functions, merely an assertion that the hospitality 'is rather overwhelming,” Bradman added.

One Arm Better than Two. The customary order was reversed recently, states a Sydney writer, and it was a case of one arm being better than two, when W. K. Hunt carried off the Royal Canberra Coif Club’s championship lor C grade players. Hunt, who is an officer of the Department of the Interior, and the club’s one-armed Digger player, was greatly cheered by the win which came his way after three years’ hard trying and regular play in competition events. Death in Rarotonga. ’ T. Pickering, a former well-known athlete in Canterbury, Otago and Wellington, died recently in Rarotonga. Pickering ran second to S'. A. Black in the New Zealand quarter-mile championship at the Auckland Domain in 1932. A Post and Telegraph employee, Pickering was transferred to the Cook Islands , and in 1934 lie won the 220yds, 440yds and SSOvds Island championships, besides finishing second in the 100yds. He leaves a wife and two young children. Outstanding Form Shown. G. L. Hogben, the Auckland Rhodes Scholar at present studying at Oxford, recently showed outstanding form in the Oxford Freshmen’s trial hockey match. The “London Times,” commenting on the game, states: “Some promising players were seen in the trial. Warren, Bristol and Worcester and Hogben, Auckland University and New College, <it right-back, were particularly good, and Hogben might do even better in the halfback line.” Hogben has since been elected an Occasional. The Occasional are selected players from whom most of the University Blues are chosen.

Locke’s Prediction. In an article specially written for the “Herald” prior to the commencement of the New Zealand golf championships at Dunedin, Bobby Locke, the young South African professional, who eventually won the open title, said he would lie surprised if 70 was broken many times, and that a. score somewhere between 280 and 290 —nearer the latter figure—would win. How true was his prediction ! Only twice was 70 bettered, Locke himself carding 69 in the second round, while I. A. Kwen, the Hutt amateur, returned a 68, also in the second round. Locke was the only one in the field to better 290, his four rounds taking him 288. A. J. Shaw and 15. J. Smith, junior, each with 291. were the next best scorers. Te Hurinui-Apanui Shield. The Hangitaiki Rugby Sub-Union, which has held the Te Hurinui-Apanui Shield, the premier trophy in Bay of Plenty football, for over five seasons, is considering a proposal to return it to the Bay of Plenty Union. Last season the club competition was disorganised and only two or three matches were played, and there is a possibility of some of the constituent clubs seceding to other sub-unions if the position remains the same next season. The suggestion has been well received and, when the opinion of all the clubs is known, a meeting will be arranged with the Bay of Plenty Union. It is suggested that the first holder of the shield te chosen by ballot from among the other sub-unions, and that Hangitaiki be given the last challenge game of the season with the holder.