BOWLING.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 127, 1 June 1927, Page 14

BOWLING.

PLAY IN THE WINTER.

A COMPLIMENT FROM AUSTRALIA,

(By TRUNDLER)

B.nvlers are always optimistic, as witness the fine effort often put up by a rink which is twelve down and only two heads to go. It looks as if they will want all their optimism to anticipate fire- weather on Friday, but a verv com-

forting argument has been put up: As it rained and blew all day last Friday, the law of average requires that there must be brilliant sunshine next Friday.

Accordingly the tournaments have filled up very -well, especially as Carlton have pulled out for this year, in order to give their green a rest. Yesterday, however, there were still two or three vacancies at Dominion Road, .and anyone who has not yet secured a place could probably get in by telephoning this evening. The Dominion Road team to play Mount Eden for the Edwin Stars on Saturday will comprise: W. Jone?, K. Sessions, B. Ramsey, W. Denison. Imitation is the Sincerest Flattery. The New South Wales bowlers hare paid rather a neat compliment to New Zealand, according to recent reports from the other side, for they have-adopted our rule requiring the skip.-to be held responsible for seeing that all bowls played by the members of his rink are stamped in accordance with: the rules- This rule was introduced in the Dominion tournament for the first time in Wellington in 1925, and has been carried out ever since, but the Auckland centre introduced it

in their previous Christmas tournament, doubtless with the knowledge that it was to be a Dominion rule thereafter. Prior to that time it was .customary- for the. umpire to examine the bowls, bet the new procedure is now embodied in the model set of rules .which the Dominion Council printed tost .year, and several of j the New South .Wales touring bowlers were presented with a copy when they were here in March. It will be" interesting to see if they adopt any more of our rules, for even this on* instance proves that they are broad-minded, and that when they see a sound rule, even in a little place like New Zealand, they are wise, enough to take it up. In this they show a pleasant contrast to the attitude taken up recently in a certain part of New Zealand, where a suggestion wae turned down purely on account of ite source. - If the suggestion is a good one, it should receive just as much consideration if it comes from the bowling club at Matamataharakeke or Kaukapakapa, as it should if it is sponsored by Wellington or Dunedin. Surely in this year of grace our bowlers should have got over the old idea: "Can any i good come out of Nazareth?" In fact one might go further, and advise the closest scrutiny of all suggestions, wherever they come from. For instance, there is the classic example in that ridiculous new rule, which, if taken literally, makes it compulsory to follow a bowl. Quite a number of bowlers have been talking about it, explaining that it is a miss-print. This is incorrect, however, for the alteration from the previous correct wording of the rule was brought in on the strength of a remit from Wellington, and the Dominion Council took it up, apparently accepting the reputation of its sponsors as sufficient justification for adopting the new wording. Drawing the Teat. Reverting to the action of New South Wales in copying our rule, neither country has yet followed it up .sufficiently closely to make its purpose effective, for it is not the mere stamping of a bowl that matters, but that it should draw the test. A'ew Zealand bowlers know from experience that these two qualifications are not one and the same,! although they should be, and if half the work over the former was transferred to the latter, there would be no more "pokers." As the elimination of pokers is the only object of testing.and stamping, ft is very strange that in Australia they block people from challenging a bowl, as a deposit has -to accompany a challenge, whereas a continual struggle « going on with regard to stamping. Just at present a battle royal is ra<Mn~ all over Australia in regard to stamping and yet the whole thing is a farce, for a man can play a poker, so long as it is officials, unle.B his opponent puts up a deposit with a challenge. On the rare oceas.ons when this is done the chal lenger getß himself disliked 'amongst a certain circle, whereas he ought to«et a vote o thanks for exposin/a man" who seeks to get a personal advantage over good sports by not "playing the game." People in New Zealand are also reluctant to challenge, but we have got over that difficulty by also conferring the right upon the umpire or any official, and thev ought to do it as a matter of protection to those who scrupulously comply with the regulations, instead of winking at it and wasting all their effort on the'useless provision of stamping. One tremblee to tnink what would have happened at the finals in January, if any of the bowls had failed t«, draw the test, and some of them were dangerously close. If thev had failed, a very awkward position would have confronted the committee for all who had been defeated by the •traight bowls would have harboured a grievance against the committee for not carrying out their own rule empowering them to challenge such bowls. It is not much use arming the committee with power to get rid of pokers, the bane of every tournament, unless they use those powers. The Annual Meeting. This is one of the many knotty points which could be profitably discussed at the annual meeting of delegates to the centre, to be held eome time this month, for if public opinion does not back up the committee in their effort to get rid of jx>k*rs, the rule might just as well be expunged, as it in a bad principal to retain any rule which it is not intended U> enforce.

Unfortuiuitely the ueual experience is that by the tin*, tbe n*w executive is elected it i*. i<w.i#te j» the evening to much else. argmnwitn, «JH»PWt the claim that the .Wftp «Hould meet laore oftew th«n 0,. W ;i flr * ,««^ u e every garter