BOWLING.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 264, 7 November 1928, Page 17

BOWLING.

TOURNAMENTS IN VIEW.

THE GAME IN AMERICA.

THE HIGH DESTINY OF BOWLS.

(By TRUNDLER.)

The programme for the Christmas tournament is out, and competitors will need to think about making up their rinks, for the entries close in five weeks. The only striking difference from the conditions prevailing in recent tournaments is that a tie counts half a win, and is not played off with an extra head. This is eure to provoke criticism, but it is in line with the procedure in the pennant matches, where for the last three or four years ties have not been played off, and it was only decided upon by the almost unanimous vote of a meeting of delegates. Each side claims to debate the matter as one of principle, tout a decidedly practical advantage is that it -will help to make all the matches finish about the same time. Visitors Next January. The Adelaide "Advertiser" states that Mr. G. Harding, of the Cardiff Bowling Club, who was in the British team which toured New Zealand and Australia in the 1924-25 season, is on his way to the Dominion, "to take part in the international bowls tournament in January." He is breaking the journey by spending a few weeks in Adelaide. Mr. J. C. Redmond writes that the secretary of the Queensland association, advises nine bowlers and six ladies having nominated for New eZaland so far. In New South Wales eighteen bowlers and twelve ladies have nominated, with more expected shortly. Pennants Next Saturday. The first round in the pennants will monopolise the attention of most bowlers for the rest of the week, and the published lists of teams will be closely scrutinised. The time seems opportune to suggest that an alteration might be made in the method of deciding upon the draw, after the teams are fixed. At present it is usually done in one of two ways: Either the local match committee decides which teams meet, or else it is worked on a blind draw. Either method destroys the keen interest which manifests itself whenever a programme is printed, for the first thing the vast majority of competitors look for is to find what team they meet first. If this happens when they know perfectly well that they have to meet eventually every rink in the section, it suggests bow much more important it is to know this in the pennants, when each rink meets only one rink. There seems to be no reason why thjs could not be don* automatically, instead of by drawing or •electing. That is to say, the first rink in one club, as published, could meet the first rink in* the other dub, »nd so on. This is what is done in tennis, where the top man in one club meets the top man in the other, even if neither knows till reaching the court the order in which the opposing dub is going to place its men. This latter point does not arise in bowls, for the teams will be published to-morrow, and they would create infinitely more interest if all knew that they would meet each other in the exact order there stated. Oar Bowlers in America. In addition to bringing back the last of our bowlena from their world tour, tbe Aorangi brought a budget of interesting news from correspondents in Canada and the United States. The secretary of the Southern Californian Bowling Association, Mr. G. A. McCann, confirms the, impression gathered by Mr. J. W. Hardley during the visit to Los Angeles, that if a party cannot cone from that city for the coming Bominioj carnival, they will certainly come JatH on. What seems to be keeping them bade this year is that they are looking for* ward to a visit from a British touring party next January. Mr. McCann states, however, that the tour of the New Zealand visitor* will greatly stimulate the Same in America, where H is quite in its infancy, for they experienced a wonderful ten days, and learned very much about the Dominion. "Some of our Californian people will certainly be induced to visit New Zealand, if for no other purpose but to renew the friendships we have formed;" . I Our people were greatly distressed to find the strong antipathy towards Britain amongst a certain section in America. This does not exist among the bowlers, for at present they are largely Canadians or of other British stock, and they; apologetically explained that the population is heavily impregnated with recent Continental immigrant*, who hopelessly outnumbered the descendants of the Mayflower pioneers. An unfortunate feature admitted by one man was that at school they are taught to hate England, and this bad influence is fed by the all-powerful Hearst Press. -When our people were there they were horrified to see bow this malign influence was being exerted for political purposes, in misrepresenting the objects and scope of the Anglo-French naval negotiations, thus inflaming thoughtless Americans against their best friends, the British Empire. • It was with this wicked calumny in mind that Mr. Hardley exerted in San Francisco and Los Angeles all the powers of hie fervid and passionate oratory in an endeavour to exploit the game of bowls as a practical means of uniting in the common cause of peace and pros* perity the two great branches of ihe English speaking world. Of course, this was only to be expected, but it remains for all the bowlers of Xew Zealand to take it up, and keep alight the flame already kindled, never resting until Americans consider it quite an every day affair to visit New Zealand, where they will find a people more British than Britain herself. Very few in New Zealand can exert any influence at Geneva, but there is no bowler who cannot do his share in furthering the ideals expounded in California, even if this only takes the simple form of posting a New Zealand newspaper, to some; bowling club in America by every mail. The extra month spent to America, in order to visit California, exceeded the expectations of those who stayed behind, and it would be a great triumph if bowling were to become the means of overcoming the antipathy towards Britain which is so painfully warping the judgment of a large section of the American public, ; • ".'.'^..'^"^.