BOWLING.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 305, 26 December 1928, Page 5

BOWLING.

TEST AGAINST AUSTRALIA.

COMMENCING NEXT WEEK

(By TRUXDLEK.)

On this day week the last of the 11G Australians will arrive in Wellington to play in the Dominion tournament, some having already arrived at Auckland and the Bluii'. Xc.vt day the lirst of the

series of three Test matches will be played, to be continued on Friday and Saturday, and the big tournament itself commences on the following Monday.

Naturally the selection of the New Zealand lest teams has come in for a lot of criticism, for all selections do.

But this time the principle appears to be wrong, and the action of the Dominion Council onlv invited trouble.

However, whenever there are two ways of doing anything, that august body al-

ways seems to choose the wrong way. First, they called for special nominations, instead of choosing from the whole body of competitors, which gave them the choice of over 000 players who would be in Wellington for the tournament. Second, they appoint the same 24 players for the three days, whereas there should have been separate rinks for each day. Third, they opened the door for one of the selectors to allow himself to be appointed one of the six skips. Xow, with all due respect to Allan Smart, and writing as one who played in the same club with him for five years, and has watched his doings for twenty years, nobody can get past the bald fact that in the biggest and most important match he ever played, the Dominion rink championship final, he was the loser and Arthur Parsons the winner. And yet the latter is chosen to play third for his victim! Auckland knows what a heroic game Smart played, but all Xew Zealand knows that Parsons won, and it is only inviting criticism when a selector allows himself to be put in such a position. It is not the first time this has happened, as those will admit who analysed ths results during the tour of Australia last Christmas, and the tour of the world a few months later.

A challenge is sometimes thrown out: Should the selectors never choose themselves? The reply is neither in the affirmative nor the negative, but that those who choose the selectors should never put the latter in the position of having to decide on their own personal merits. They should either choose selectors who would never dream of putting themselves in, like Messrs. Stone and Benzie, or else go to the other extreme and choose such a councillor as Mr. Pilking'ton for the North Island, whose position as a Dominion champion skip would have made it false modesty if die declined nomination as one of the six skips. The Auckland Centre executive adopted the latter course against South

Auckland a few weeks ago. It is under- { stood—writing without official knowledge t —that the selectors were Messrs. Wright ) and Clarke, and it would have been ab- , surd if they had left themselves out, ( but the executive further protected them from criticism by deciding on separate ■ teams each day." This the Dominion Council should also have done. The Dominion Council made such an unholy mess of the visit to Melbourne last Christmas—when the well-directed efforts of the Auckland Centre provided 18 competitors, and the ill-directed efforts of the council found three from all the other 10 centres combined —that one would have expected them to be particularly tactful over the return visit. They say that experientia. docct, but it only teaches when people are prepared to learn from experience, and unfortunately the council appear to have been more keen to uphold their own authority than to make up for their lack of knowledge by consulting where they could get all the nc-essary information, viz., from the Auckland centre. Teams for "Wellington. Subject to additions wlion the programmes i.rrivj, the following Auckland rinks will play in the Dominion tournaments: —C. i.. liardlcy, E. Needluin, 1. Clarke, \». Bieiniier (\Vest End); J. W. Hardli-y, K. Somervell, E F. Jones, A. Parsons (Punsoiiby); A. Hunt, J. Thomas, H. Hawke, U. ("lark (Mount Albert); T. Nairn, \V. Stephenson, A. H. Jones, H. Bain bridge (Mount Eden); E. Delamore, I. W. Turner, J. H. Trayes, J. Findlay (Mount Eden); A. R. Coltman, G. L. Cladding, W. Coltman, J. F. Hosking (Carlton); T. Wilson, W. Baird, H. W. Frost, M. J. Gordon (Carlton); J. C. Kissling,. Professor A. C. Paterson, E. E. Daniels, Rev. H. Ryan (Remuera); E. J. Lyell Neil, J. C. Duncan, C. H. de Launay, Professor .M. Walker (Auckland); F. .W. Johnstone, P. Bourko, R. T. Harrison. W. Ure (Auckland). At a recent meeting of the tournament committee of the Dominion Bowling Council, Mr. E. .1. Hill reported that arrangements had been made for the comI petitors in the Test match, Australia v. New Zealand, to visit Otaki on January (5, accompanied by their ladies. A "bowlers' korero"' will be held on Saturday evening, January 12. and on the following flay there will bo a general outing at Trent-ham for all those taking part in the tournament. A special committee was appointed to arrange for croquet games and other entertainment for the ladies during the tournament.! and for a theatre party on the night of the "korero." The president's reception will take place on the afternoon of Wednesday, January 10, and it is stated that this will take place "without interfering with the progress of the tournament." It is pretty safe to make this statement, for more thnuhalf the visiting competitors will make for home tlif previous evening, and uio-t of those who stay will be too much interested in th- third round of the rink intersection play to bother about receptions.