The World of Sport

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 188, 9 August 1924, Page 1 (Supplement)

The World of Sport

I DOINGS ON TRACK AND FIELD. £

(From Our Special Correspondent

LONDON". June 19.

SOUTH AFRICANS LOSE THE

FIRST TEST.

Ever since they littvt! Wen in this lountry the South Africans have been niching f° r summer-like conditions, and it°was curious tliat the sudden disappearance of the rain clouds should have L ve d their undoing in the first Test match against England. On the Thursday the pitch hi Birmingham was under water, and when play was due to besin on Saturday the turf was still soft and dead. What would be the influence of ihc hot sun upon it? That was tlie question for 11. \Y. Taylor, the South African captain, to decide when lip won the toss. The decision, it is not too much to say, robbed the tourists of any chance they ujirht have had of winning the game. Bead at the start. . the "round dried slowly, an( i at "° time pave the bowlers any assistance. Thus England proceeded to hit up the highest score they have ever made against South Africa.

Oi course, Taylor lias been blamed, but it is easy to be wise after the etent, and no captain would have liked to make the decision lie was forced to take. Eesides, on one line of argument he was perhaps right. In the frst place, the pitch was bound to improve, and there was the possibility that the English bowlers would make far more use of the conditions than his own would be able to do. Taylor has at least the satisfaction of knowins that the wicket was better at the finish of the match than it was at the start. Moreover, the wicket was not the cause of their defeat. They lost because of the amazing collapse of the batsmen in the first inning's. Having to go in to face England's total of 435, caution should have been their watchword. The whole side, however, were rattled out in three-quarters of an hour for thirty. Of these runs eleven were extras. That is to say. the eleven batsmen between them hit '-> nineteen, and Taylor was top scorer with seven to his credit.

Tie debacle was due to really bad tatting, and the only possible excuse ■was that by this time the turf was faster than the tourists had previously played on. The total of thirty is the lowest ever made in a Test match in this country, and ties with the score made by South Africa at Port Elizabeth in 1895. Another record was the feat of A. E. R. Gilfean, the England captain, in taking six wickets for seven rims. He and Tate howled unchanged throughout the innings, and the latshare was four wickets for twelve. Gilligan howled faster than he has done before this season, and it was pace which beat the batsmen.

In order to strengthen their bowlins, the South Africans included G. M. Parker, a fast bowler engaged in the Bradford League. He had little experience of first-class cricket, but he thoroughly justified his selection. He fowled himself to a standstill, and near tlie end of the day had to leave the field owinir to exhaustion. The work ne accomplished will be realised from tae fact that he sent down thirty overs for six wickets and 152 runs. England's score was made up by excellent a '-round ' hatting Hobbs and Sutchffe oare the side an excellent start ty scoring 136. The highest batting of | We innings was by Woolley. who con- ' tributed 64, but when he went in the * d ge had been taken off the bowling. c A !l er the sens ational collapse of south Africa, the match was to all intents and purposes won and lost, but weryone was glad when the visitors ' adeemed themselves at their second attempt. They were, of course, made \ 10 JolJow on. but this time they stood UP to the fast bowlinsr of Gilli2an, and ;' m f the ball better. The result was . , theT made a preat rally and ! 390, R. H . Catterall playin? a y? Th ™ing S of 120. This meant !»!"«? at ~y an in ninp and 18 runs, thaf tt P"' o ™* l "* ws* so truly ? ood ;? at the y created the impression that Mt " e J m * t0 P"t up a far better ' % ! >t in the next Tests. Asain Gilligan \ ula \l Were the successful bowlers, ■ and they establish another record intafang a ll the wickets that fell in ™c match. Other bowlers were tried f>;,,. * one were effective. Altogether, rm, ga " / ismisse d eleven men for 94 and Tate eight for 115. i DUNCANS DAZZLING GOtF. pidS f having been out of the g° mn e C f ° r over a J car > George Duncan «S accomplished another performance the n rpaSSed brillia nce. In the final of inefc 1 • agles iloo ° tournament, he HifoiTn lnend and wrongest rival, Abe T^f* nd lt "** almost taken for gMi'-ed that the latter would win. He in •. +^ crc " lH ' ale 'i in tlus country mad T- V " six ''"lea match, and he had thoulh SS , ° f (lefeatin g Duncan. But W g lMltd ' ei l Played well enough to ,' c won nineteen matches out of opponent i WaS ovorwhelme d by an strp i c Who struck llis notSrious *£t Of f brilliiln ' , < , «t the first hole and _ ° l ,° n fr °m strengtli to strength. As *7 te J °i fact, Mitchell was as many thn, t , les down aL tho seventh, and forf g \ he , played iho next elev en in the j ° ke3 lle xvas Btill tive d ow n at tie end of the round. v a^ eneasles is a lon K course of 6500 10l - and there are Pitfalls at every v 7 including intimidating bunkers, oth w ks of hpatlle r and gorse" and • er flora, .but without play"S a bad shot Duncan went round in c astonishing score of H6. I think match was ronlly decided as early ** the first hole in the first round. \RfV., lon » e8t driver in the game, -utchell has pot into the habit of seeing by ,°P none nt play the odd. but Duncan, J aeaign and with the idea of produc-*-moral -effect, jpent-out to fWflfc ]thn J

from the tee. Hitting his best shot, he got in front, but only by a yard or so. .Mitchell, however, had to play the odd, and he put the ball into a bunker by the side of the green. He got well out and actually holed the putt for a four, but Duncan in the meantime had placed his approach three yards from the flag and he too got down in one. Inspired by this fine start, Duncan secured another three at the second, and from this point until the seventh he went further and further ahead. There waa not much interest left in the match when the second half began, but seven thousand people followed the men. Again Duncan obtained a three at the first hole, and never giving his opponent a chance he settled the match at the twenty-ninth hole, winning by the hollow margin of eight and seven.

For the whole match Duncan"s score was an average of seven under fours, and in match play at any rate no one has equalled his feat since Vardon waa at his zenith. His success has come at a most opportune time. The championship begins at Ho3 T lake next week, and there is no doubt that his win will have restored his confidence. Indeed, he has at once become favourite for the chief event of the year, in which will be arrayed against him the cream of the American professionals.

KID LEWIS STILL FULL OF FIGHT. "We have the promise of what should be a really wonderful night's boxing at Albert Hall on July 3," writes Mr. "Eugene Corri. "Kid Lewis is back in town after a long ramble over the Continent, and, having (so I am given to understand) adjusted certain business affairs, he has commenced to train for his match with good Johnny Brown, the best welter in Scotland. Lewis, outwardly at any rate, appears to be just as full of fight as ever he was; and I do not think a better opponent than Brown could have been found for him. I have long had a very high regard for the Scot, -who, you may be interested to know, lias had much to do with the boxing , education of the young Marquie of Clydesdale. Brown is to do his preparation at home, and among Lewis' helpers will be Arthur Heke.

"On the same night we are to see these two in the ring, Phil Scott will be put up against Harry Persson. the Swedish heavyweight, who at different times has accounted for Jack Stanley, Guardsman Penwill, Spalla, and George Cook. He is certainly big enough for anything and anybody, for he stands two inches more than 6 feet high, and weighs full 14 stone.

SPANISH HEAVY-WEIGHT'S IK LONDON. "Anotner neavyweignt is also to be on view, the Spaniard, Paolino. He is to make his debut in London against George Cook. Major Wilson, who saw Paolino knock out Arthur Townley on a recent occasion in Paris, tells mc that the Spaniard is a tremendous puncher, and a heavyweight of high possibilities. He will certainly give a touch of novelty to the occasion, and we shall all welcome the reappearance of Harry Leach, the Doncaster lad, who put up such a sterling performance the other week against George McKenzie. Leach is to have a bout with Billy Palmer, son of the famous "Pedlar," and Jack Bloomfield's brother Joe. will engage with the Welsh middleweightf Arthur Heke.

"When last time out, we all agreed that Bugler Lake had regained his old form, and we shaaed the confidence of the little Plymouth fellow that it would not be very long before he was again installed as bantam champion. But last Monday night, against Johnny Curley, of Lambeth, he slipped back, and the verdict was given against him. There was precious little in it, and the referee's decision did not meet with entire approval, but the fact remains that Lake did not pull out his best form.

"I was very sorry to hear of the tragic death of Bill Brennan, whose acquaintance I made when I went over to the Denipsey-Carpentier fight. He was a big, likeable fellow, and a very brave one. Had he been so disposed, he might -have remained much longer in the ring, and made quite a lot of money. (Continued on Page 4.)

ROYAL ASCOT. It came near to being a really Royal 'Ascot, writes "Centaur," your racing correspondent. The weather turned all of a sudden to brilliant sunshine, and enabled the pageant to have .an appropriate setting and had the Kings horse Weathervane won the Hunt Cup for the second year in succession, everything would have been perfectly splendid. And how close the horse was to a dual triumph! He ran in the gamest possible fashion, but just on the post he was caught and beaten by a neck by the rank outsider—so to 1 in fact—Dinkie, I who was ridden by an unknown JNew * market apprentice named All'ord. A more stirring iinish to one of the most popular handicaps of the English racing sea-son could not have been desired, but I the thousands of excited spectators would rather have had the horses placed the other way about. Dinkie had quite a good record last year. ■ He was one I of the .trio, the others l;ein<* JJumas and i Marrex which took part in a remark- ; able triple dead heat at Windsor, and i later on lie beat the 1923 .Lincoln winner, White Bud. This year he lumseli was fancied for the Lincoln, but he was an abject failure, as be was in several subsequent races. So that he was sent to Ascot by his owner. Mrs. Jeffrey, the wife of a bookmaker, and by his trainer, Walter Earl, the ex-jockey, merely as ! a forlorn hope. . I ! The favourite wna the disappointing Sloekbridire colt belonging to the Duke of Westminster. Twelve Pointer. He had failed to do himself justice in the Jubilee, but the excuse then made was that he had not properly recovered from an internal complaint. Now he was produced looking Ins best and with a magnificent jockey like Carslake on his back it was thought he held an outstanding chance. Xiceas, one of the Aga Khan's that had previously raced exclusively in France, was sent across the Channel with other French horses, that were making an unprecedented 1 raid on Ascot and so was Irish Hope, a i four year old that was brought from Ireland, where he had enjoyed fair success last season, by Mr. A. K. Macomber". the Franco- American owner of Parth and Rose Prince. Both these candidates were well backed. But the next to Twelve Pointer in chief demand .was Torlnnia. reprcsontnig the SansoI vino stable— incidentally the Derby winner looking as strong and as fit as at Epsom had scored easily enough in a , 1 1 mile race on t!ie opening afternoon i of Ascot—and then came- Minority, a three year old owned by Mr. C. F. Kenyon. a Lancashire millionaire, and Mink who had run third in the Oaks ! after winning a minor Epsom race., I Thundercloud IT. another French horse. I ! was in the field, but was neglected and neither did Donoghue'a mount, Robert Espagno. an ex-Frenchman, now the property of Mr. James White, attract. The Aga Khan also ran a three year old ! named« Frater who is with his other F.nglish horses at R. Dawson's place at j Whatcombe. The start was a good one and on breasting the rise it was seen that the i 'Manton three year old. Caravel, was in front, followed by Weathervane, Frater, Irish Hope, Mink and Dinkie. Halfway, that is about four furlongs, Mink raii into the lead from Weathervane, Twelve Pointer. Frater. Torlania and Dinkie. Weathervane then made his

bid. for victory and people began to shout from all directions, "Lift your hats gentlemen —the King wins!" Several bookmakers, even, began to exhibit signs of unusual gaiety—frpm a sense of patriotism, of course, because a victory for Weathervane could not have meant a good book for them. The joy was short lived, unfortunately, for Dinkie, riden with wonderful, judgment and coolness by the boy Alford, swooped down on those in front of him and his run carried him first past the judge, a neck to the good of AVeathervane and one and a half lengths in front of Twelve Pointer. When it was realised the Royal colt had been beaten there was a hush of. disappointment for a moment and then one could hear "Oh, bad luck!" going up all over the place. The assembly in the royal enclosure had been as excited by the prospect of the King's victory as any other part of the crowd. Men waved their silk hate in the air as Weathervane went into the lead and the ladies flourished their parasols and handkerchiefs, shouting "The King! The King!" His Majesty, naturally was disappointed at the actual result, but was nevertheless highly proud of the horse that went so near to creating a Royal Hunt Cup record. Later in the afternoon Mumtaz Mahal was once more produced in public and although it had been given out after her defeat in the One Thousand Guineas that she would only in future be raced over sprint courses, she was to tackle the Oaks winner. Straitlaee, over a mile, the mile in this case being considered an easy one with a turn. "Muraty" looked a picture, but again it was proved she is a non-stayer for soon after five furlongs she was done with and Straitlaee went on to capture a further valuable prize for Sir Edward Hulton. "Mumty" did not finish in the first three, but when Hulme saw the task was hopeless he did not persevere with her. So far, the Aga Khan has had a bad Ascot. He has not won a single race —a strange contrast to last year when he practically carried all before him. But I may have a different story to relate in my next article.