RINKS BOWLING.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 26, 1 February 1937, Page 16

RINKS BOWLING.

TOURNEY RESUMED,

RCTORUA NEXT WEIK. |1 PLAYERS FOR EMPIRE GAMES, j (By TRL'XDLER.I Bowlers had another perfect afternoon ° on Saturday. n|>prcei.iteil ::!! the more 0 utter the eoakinu rain which cancelled all the fixtures for Anniversary Day. includ- r ine one-day tournaments of record size. The fourth postponement of post-section 1 play in the Christmas tournament on c Friday \vn.« specially disappointing, for !■' iinly tlirne rounds could be played on Sat- t inilny. anil the remaining two roinuls will * have to ho hrlfl up until after the two ' Kntiirua toiirnamciits. The present inten- f tiiui is to play them on the afternoon of ' Saturday. March 6, one of the two days * reserved for any pennant postponements and the linal. P Rinks Popularly Fancied. a In the meantime it was. noticeable how f evenly divided was the preference towards j tho three rinks who survived Saturday's a p'a.v. There was a natural wish for Ham- s ilton to win, for they deserve something for the hundreds of miles they have a already travelled, and Pilkington won this t event with a different rink 13 years ago. t Then there was an equally strong wish that Keatley might win this event at last, ( for he has competed very regularly, and r lias nearly always qualified, but has never I actually won, although he was in the rink who were runners-up to Findlay (Mount a Eden) in 1919, the personnel being: Koatley. Bain, Ellisdon, Wakerley. That c was the season in which he first won the i championship of the club, starting his I, remarkable success of 11 club champion- s whips, followed by the champion of chain- V pions twice and runner-up twice. I | Finally there was the good impression treated by Hessey (Devonport). for the n-ixlest fashion ill which he extricated his Nam from awkward positions secured the .ilniiration of a jjood band of spectators. People can eay what they like about the drawn shot, the very foundation of bowls, i but the fact remains that it is the trail 1 or the drive that attracts the crowd, and ( Hessev seized every opportunity ..to exploit both shots. There will be no other match ( to claim attention when he again meets ( Pilkinjrton. with every determination to turn the tables on the veteran. .. .. j Off to Rotorua. , .. < There will be the usual trek to Rotorua next Saturday, for 32 of the 55 rinks corn- • oetinc are from the Auckland Centre, the rest being from, 'Wellington, Wanganui Taranaki, Hawke's Bay. Gisborne, Bay of • Plenty and South - Auekland, with one ( specially welcome rink,-from Jiji. Ine • last-named includes Fred Clapcott as *o. ( . 3 and a good many old bowlers will recall i the name, feven though he has probably ; ••hanged in appearance since they knew him in the hardware trade in Queen Street and High Street over 40 years ago. The names of the skips were published ( a few weeks ago, but after perusing the nil programme it is impossible to make a ■jtuese as to the probable winners, with juch an array of talent. All the winning -inks of recent tournaments will be there, (often with only one change in the perjonnel, thereby indicating the popularity 1 of this great ' holiday tournament, chal- . lenged only by Cambridge every Easter. It is understood that the pairs tournament, to commence a fortyii«shs la.ter, is already pver-eubucribed. rand will ha*e to* b* done kbout tbie, for the Rotorua tournament ie w. national asset, and Jfot merely a dub affair. As it was my pleasure to initiate the scheme, in 1919. which, put an end to the disappointment experienced every year by.' intending, players who were shut out,, a further ■cheme will be submitted in due course. One must again take the opportunity to congratulate the Rotorua match committee on the excellent draw that they tee. It surpasses any draw in any other j tournament that has come under notice. , its great merit being that as soon"' as j players know the rink they meet in the first round all the rest follow in numerical order, with the bye to take the plac? of their own number. For instance, tike j the winners of two years aao, Little, Jen-1 kin, Higgott, de Launay (Carlton). This; year they are No. 5. and meet No. 9 in i the first round. After that they must meet 10, 11, 1, 2, 3, 4, bye, 6, 7, 8. Faults In the Programme. In contrast with the up-to-date draw, it.. is surprising to see a rule- quoted which limits to 15 feet the distance a player may. follow-his bowl, for; this was,the 1928 limit,'whereas in the 1931 rule*-, the limit was increased to 20 feet. Furthermore, i the number is given as Part 111., Rule 7. j N.Z.8.A., whereas was a D.N.Z.B.A. y rule, giving the limtjfc' y lo feet, and ttie 1928 extension to lSfeet;ir?tt also a D.N.Z.B.A: rule, but 13, th'e presentN.Z.B.A. rule, makinft it 20 feet, being numbered 14. A club like Rotorua ehould not be , eix years behind in ita rules, should it perpetuate the useless sign (e) after the rinks. A good move was made in cutting it out when listing the pairs, and the same is wanted in the rinks. Far more* important is the failure to study geography in drawing the .sections. Thie vwas i.jmt about'i,perfect ;i in the Dominion tournament of recent years; in contrast with the' previous .practice whereby some. local flayers met no ▼kltors, and in Wellington last month it was most obvious . that the match committee aimed at giving each section a fair proportion of Wellington, -Auckland, other North Island, Chrietehurch '■ and other South Island rink* , . ..■;' This makes it of maximum interests to; all, but at Rotorua section B is almost a repetition of the Christmas nineiof the eleven being from Auckland,, thus meeting only two rinke from whereas in C and £ the AucKlanders eech meet six rinks from other districts. Nothing would be easier than to equalise, them on the Dominion sy stem, arrangement, the results'. will be of absorbing: interest whole of next week. ■''''■■''.'y ■- "s*>'"■■■■■<- •* ! -^-' Great efforts are bejng made ip. the South to get a levy on the 16,000 bowlers in the Dominion to pay the expenses of a team for' Sydney, probably encouraged by the circular, from the executive council. Instead of asking for the opinions of the centres, the circular mention* "the fact that the, services of many, or possibly all, of New-Zealand's champion bowlers -may., be lost through their inability to meet the expenses." How wholly thif tf?at variance with tlie "f*St" w known to Auckland bowler*;- for seven champion* had confidentially told me of their intention to nominate before the Auckland Centre voted on the question, dead against a levy, and their winnings include Eight Dominion championtnips, : arid eighteen club championships. The number hae now grown to 18 players, with a further long string of championshipt to their credit, and these all propose to play in the ordinary Australian carnival— rinks, pairs ° and , they "j are chowm for-the Empire Game* or not. In addition a rink will play.in the carnivW just •before the- Empire Games, but ] not nominate for the latter. It «<s*m* about time for the agitation fpr $%*L m * pt •?*'>?*'%* K die a natural death, in ipitir of-the -reported utterance i Hon - Perry, M.L.C., Ys&B&u2Ltl& ««>c'«>tion. that the council have taken'the bull by the horns," and not troubled to consult the centres. ■ , ■ ■ '■{ j •