BOWLING.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 3, 5 January 1931, Page 14

BOWLING.

THE CHRISTMAS FINAL

A GREAT STRUGGLE.

THE TEAM AND THE SKIP,

(By TRUNDLER.)

The warmest congratulations are due to the Grey Lynn team, F. J. Baildon, W. Uincham, W." Liversidge, and H. Whittle, on their great win in the Christmas tournament, for they favoured the crowds of spectators who watched their last few games with an exhibition of howling which has probably never been surpassed. As so often happens, they met their final opponents three time?, and after seeing all three games one is inclined to support the verdict of the runner-up, Mr. H. C.Clarke, when he admitted in his address that the better team had This will he generally accepted as literally correct, for to an onlooker the prominent feature was the team work of the winners. Looking back over a quarter of a century of bowling, it is hard to recall a number three who played such useful games in the finals as Liversidge did, his success in following the directions of his v skip being quite uncanny. It may not be generally known that the final became like a family gathering, for his father happened to be over from Melbourne on a short visit, and his little son, the mascot of the team, was also watching the game most intently. The latter will have something to remember all his life, in the triumph of his father in a most important tournament, modestly accepted as due to his chief, the skip. Baildon and Mincham did not reach the same consistency, for that was hardly possible, but they generally gave position, the former often a bit over, and the latter often a hit short, and it 'was one of these that eventually won the game, by being turned over. Whittle himself played the game of his life, and showed strategy and execution of a type that was a most enjoyable object lesson , to the spectators. The Losing Skip. * Clarke personally came out of the final ordeal with flying colours, and without any question he was the dominating factor in each of the three close games. By a strange fatality no member of his team played up to the form that they had shown on numerous occasions, and Clarke was left to do it all himself, time and again. He never tired, but kept it going to the end, the skip on the losing side and the- team on the winning side being thus responsible, for the tense struggles that were such a treat to watch. The Automatic Draw. 'Reference was recently made to a compliment paid to the bowlers of Auckland by the howling critic of the Wellington "Post," in that he stated that the automatic draw was understood by the rank and file in Dunedin and Auckland, hut not in Wellington. So he explained its principles, one being that as soon as the draw was made the byes went automatically, without any further draw. Apparently, however, this is only correct in theory, for during recent years it has been done in four different ways, and if it was automatic one would expect it to be done in one way only. Pairing off from the bottom in the orthodox way, the top man gets the bye if there is an odd number.. If he has already had a bye, it goes to the second man. If he has had one, it goes to the third and so on. All that is quite plain sailing, the doubt arising when three are left in, all having already had a bye. Unfortunately, this is by-far the most important bye, for nobody appreciates one in the earlier rounds, as they .-go to a'tournament to play bowls, and not to sit on the hank. But when there are only three left it is quite different, for the bye has a distinct value, in that the one who gets it is at once assured of being runner-up at least, drawing "second money," as they would say at Ellerslie, even if he- fell down. And yet this is just the very place where the automatic falls to pieces. In one tournament it was given to the team who had the bye first. In another all three names were put in the hat. On another occasion the first two were put in the hat, and the last left out, the contention being that if he drew the bye his turn would come twice. Last week this point was not- taken into account, and it was given to the one who had had it last—without even a draw! Nobody cares very much how it is done, so long as everybody knows beforehand what system will be followed, but if there is a similar occurrence in ■ the Dominion singles next week, and somebody invents a fifth way, and if it happens in the rinks the following week, and somebody invents a sixth way, we shall simply make ourselves the laughing stock of the whole Dominion. It looks as if the tournament committee should get it definitely settled ibis week, and officially announce what will be done in the event of three being s!eft in, all having had a bye. Probably the fairest way, considering that a bye in the early rounds is virtually useless, would be to let it come round again to the one who had it first, but, as already suggested, that is quite a minor point compared to the advisability of making it so clear beforehand that if a bye is. necessary everybody will know in advance who will get it. New Year Tournaments. It was hard luck for the New Year tournament at Remuera, the largest tournament conducted by any club in Auckland, that it should strike the only three showery days in an otherwise exceptionally fine Christmas holiday season. However, it turned out quite fine on Saturday afternoon for the final, victory going to Fookes (Carlton), who had with him Wicksteed, Josey and Turner. The latter is the same J. H. Turner who did so well in the Christmas tournament, his rink surviving until the sixth round of post-section play. These New Year tournaments are a great convenience to bowlers who are engaged in business between the holidays, and it is rather surprising that there are not more of them, as they seem to be rather easily filled. Most of the Australian bowlers who are to compete in the Dominion tournament, commencing next Monday, are expected by the Unimaroa on Wednesday. The rest are coming by the Niagara, due next Monday. • Mr. Herbert Harraway, Dunedin, is starting on his journey home this evening. He will oblige by taking to the . bowlers of that city a message of goodwill from Auckland, coupled with the hope that the sixteen who are coming "here next week will have an enjoyable tour. ' i