BOWLING.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 136, 10 June 1926, Page 11

BOWLING.

ENCOURAGING BEGINNERS. A SUGGESTED SCHEME. (By TRUNDLE R.) I An experienced Auckland bowler, who I has taken part in a great many tourna--1 ments, usually a= a skip, sends along the following interesting suggestion: — "I should like to create a discussion ! j concerning what may seem a new eug- ! and to the true lover of sport for sport's sake .-hould Unci many advocates. .Simply stated it is this: ,n all matches -inj tournaments players should only play in the position in which they are classified by the club they belong to. The result would be to prevent teams, in some cases composed of four skips, from going "tuft hunting" as it is often called. At the same time it would make it possible for many more very able bowlers to take part in tournaments who are nowbarred from playing because all die skips in their own club arc playing in two teams good skip< an.l thirds are not too plentiful in any club, and therefore I think the innovation I propose would create finer club rivalry. It should also lead to better play amongst r ho-e who are considered is only mediocre, as they would then oe striving to improve and become fit to be included in tournament teams when more proficient. In all matches the be-t man or men should win ( leaving out the fifth man i, but if by slightly handicapping we can make a better match, by all means do so. Xo proper <port care- for a walk-over, and I can honestly say the game I most enjoy i? the one when teams are a tie on the twentieth head. The packed team, ou: for the trophy, receives very little sympathy when it breaks down, but :bo "scrap iron"' combination is cheered to the echo when it comes out victorious. Why shouldn't tiie racehorse always win, as long as he can continue to >lo so? Not much: The "sports" prevent him by little bits of lead. Th.-y only want a fair race —therefore, they level up the competitors. Let the same principle be applied to bowling. I will not bring in any more comparisons, although I could quote handicaps in many more instances besides horsaracing. I simply want to introduce the idea, in order that it may be discussed by the powers that be. as well as amongst fellow bowlers, and in the near future I hope to hear many besides myself expressing agreement with my suggestion, in the interests of what I cail true eport and fair competition." How the Teams are Picked. This matter of picking teams according to grade, has often been discussed, without any finality being reached, and all sorts of schemes have been adopted, in an attempt to bring about what very many people regard in theory as a very desirable system. As for '"the powers that be." it has never been discussed by the Auckland centre, for they always delegate their powers in this connection to the executive, and the executive then delegate their power; to a selection committee Whateve- the executive may think of it individually, it i= fairly certain that collectively they will have none of it. for on the last important occasion when they had to select four teams —to play in the test match against the British visitors—fifteen of the sixteen selected vere skips. If anyone feels incline! to push the matter, it would be quite easy for any club at its annual meeting to request its delegate to bring it up at the next meeting of the centre. It will get a good hearing, but it is doubtful if it will get much support, as a feasible scheme on which to conduct Centre tournaments. Of course in the Dominion tournaments it is out of the question. All the other teams will be picked on championship lines, and If weaker teams from Auckland were to he selected it would he just like putting up ninepins to be knocked over. This is on the a-=s'imption that four skips are stronger than four graded players, an assumption which it would be very hard to disprove. Feasible in Club Tournaments. Probably tlu best way to experiment in this scheme would be in club tournaments, and it has already been tried there, but not sufficiently exhausting to prove anything. Many a club committee is faced with the likelihood of all the mediocre members being left out in the cold, and the difficulty is usually met by accepting single entries, the committee to make up the teams. But another difficult; then presents! itself: If single entries are invited from other clubs, none will enter; if team entries are invited, one of them is sure to run away with the prizes. The weakness of the local teams i= further accentuated by eight or twelve of the members making up rinks to visit some other club, and thus the very object of accepting single entries is destroyed. The Theory is Sound. From the point of view of equity to all the members, the proposal i= sound | in theory, but the difficulty is to carry it out in practice, and if anyone will suggest a workable scheme it will be a | pleasure to give it publicity. To show how it is recognised as theoretically sound, it will be recalled that this was one of the arguments put forward in proposing the four-rink championship last year. It was urged that when sixteen of the best players in each club were picked -ut to play in this competition, others would have a chance to play as skips and third* in the pennant who might otherwise never be selected. Whether this really happened or not, it is for each club to estimate, but this is probably the first and only occasion on which a concerted effort has been made to recognise the rights of the mediocre players, although they pay just as much to the funds as the champions do, with little or no hope of ever getting a prize. However, now that the subject is opened, it is well worth discussing, in order to see whether the rank and file can ever get any more opportunities than they now get in such competitions as the percentage fours.