WITH THE DOMINION TEAM.

Press, Volume LXIV, Issue 13095, 21 April 1908, Page 7

WITH THE DOMINION TEAM.

THE THIRD MATCH AGAINST VICTORIA.

VISIT TO SOUTH AUSTRALIA

(SPECIAL TO "THR PRESS.")

ADELAIDE, April 13

The third match against Victoria was played on the Carl ton- Green, Melbourne, tin t'ho presence of a fair number of specUTtons. It ie to us o- somewhat surprifinp: fact that tho pooplio of Melbourne take very little interest in "the gmine. There are many greens and a Tory large number of bowlers, a.nd 'the mumber of both is increasing, so that it would naturally be. expected that tho gumos would bo witnessed by a few hundred people, and yet at none of the matches have there boon .more thaji a hundred onlookers. TJio Now Zealand Selection Conim-itteo decide*! to include these .players 'who on tho previous two days had been gracing tho bank. This was done because tJio rubber had boon won. and conic of the Maorilandere had not taken pajt in any of tho games.

Johnston changed iplacee with. Allnut es skip, and trLed conclusions with Le Couilliard. The game was remarkable for the very low ecorjjig, sixteen of five heads producing only singles. The St. Albans man is proving to bo the Hfe of the party, and always manages to gather a small group round the particular rink on which lie is engaged. Hds play, too. is very good. Witu about four ends to go ho was nine poini.6 down, hut then 'liis men cam© away with some good shots, and when the last end -was finished lie-was only ono down. Bishop lied a doso game against W. W. Stephens, one of tho Victorian champions, and a yory eloso game resulted in a win for Victoria by 4 'points. Stephens has a fine, free, easy delivery, and on many occasions received hearty applause for tho excellent •mamKW in lvhiclh lie saved what seemed to 'bo a bad situation. Bishop, too, was playing well, and at no time wore there more than three pomts 'between tho two rinks until tho final head. Ham was down e,<rain to moot •Syd Smith, another Avon dial© player. The fjcore at the fourth end was against him, and then the Invereargnllsuffered disaster. With Ham's last bowl to s°, Smiiffch wee lying five shots, and in attempting to save, Bain bumped on a bowl right on the draw, and helped the enemy to another. Smith drew the seventh. After this Ham's team had tho beet of tho play for a considerable part of tho game, and ran on to 16 beforo their opponents moved from 10. Then came Smith's turn again, and he went to the front, and the game finished wkh Now Zealand 3 points behind. At tho nineteenth head, Smith's third player, Gravill, drew the jack to the very edge of the ditch, and lay alongside, but Findlay, witli one of the most effective shots of the tour, rested on the shot just sufficiently to put it in tho ditch, and lkiy on tho jack. The skip of the Victorian team, 8. Smith, is ono of tho most popular players in Melbourne, and from what I have seen of his cheery bonhomie and skilful play, it is not surprising that it is so. One finds great pleasure in meeting him. All the Victorian players I have seen have much tho same style of delivery as we aro accustomed to see in Now Zealand. Waxman has a fashion peculiar to himself. He picks up his bowl, and then apparently without deliberation takes two short quick stops forward on. the mat and sends down his shot. He plays with wido drawing bowls, which weigh only 31b 2oz. In this match he was drawn against Goldstone, and at ono time it looked as though ho weie in for another defeat, but ono or two good shots helped him to pull up. and with two ends to go. the gamp was ievel. Colt ma n was the man of the hour. Time and again he came to the rescue,, obeying the instructions of his skip to the letter. Waxman scored 2 at the twenty-fourth o<nd, and at tho twenty-fifth when Goldstone was lying 2, a brilliant fluke—a drivo which was running a yard wide—brought a Victorian bowl into a safe position, and Waxman got his first win. Bently had a poor loam with which to meet Harrison, and he wont under by 10 points. The Dunedin player has been showing good form up to tho present. The South Mel!)ourno match took place on Friday, when the New Zealandere were the guests of Mr Skinner. Allnut was in fine form against Slatter, who has not 3<xst a rink match this season. Findlay changed places with Ham, and Scoular with Bentley. and in each case a good win was secured for New Zealand. The visitors were able to test the hospitality now proverbial of the president. Mr Skinnor, and thoroughly enjoyed it. getting home hv 15 points in spite of the lavish hospitality. On Wednesday Mr Richard Ham. of Melbourne, invited his brother, the manager of the New Zealand team, to 'unch. and ornong tho=<? present were Mr Alfred Deakin, Prime Minister of >he Commonwealth, and Sir A. Peax>:>k, Chief Secretary of the Bent Cabinet. They hnd many ouestions to ask rrrardi'n? New Zealand, and tho raaaiisier and Messrs A. E. Cohen and A. G. Smith, who wore also invitod, spent a most enjoyable hour. W_hat we expressfd ourselves properly shocked at was the fnot that wither Sir A. Peacock nor Mr D-eakin knew that there «r<? a Blackball strike on! The team-visited Ballarat on Satuiday. whore the warmee* welcome and the hottest game of the tour, so far,, waited us. There are five clubs _ in Ballarat and , each picked it^bos^rrnk'

CABLE NEWS.

to bring about the downfall of Nev, Zealand. Well, we nearly got home. With only three ends to go, New Zealand was 10 points to the good, bm at the same h-?ad in their different rinks Ham and Bishop each had 5 scored age-inst them, and the leeway could not be made up. The ladies were driven about t-he city in a drag, and enjoyed the sights immensely. On arrival at the railway station the whole party was taken to the Town Hair, and 'there received by tie Mayor. The match in the afternoon, was enjoyed by all, as the Central green was ill good order and all the players were in the best of spirits. Tho general verdict was. "The best of the tour "

Now we are in Adelaide, where we are experiencing the hospitality wo have, hoard so much about. We were received by his Worship tho Mayor at tho Town Hall, and tho room was fairly filled with bowlers and their ladies. Yesterday (Sunday) the ladies of Adelaide turned out in force to accompany Those of our party to the hills. All are enjoying the stay in Adelaide, and aro heartily glad at having come. We were driven to Penfold's this morning, and were shown round the works, and then treated to refreshments. Mr Hyland, the proprietor and managor, is a champion bowler, but will not bo able to play against us.

Now Zealandcrs will bo sorry to hear that Jack Cress well is very ill, and is not allowed to leave his room, but Clarence Moody says that doctor or no doctor, ho rather thinks Jack will struggle oat to see us to-morrow. Tho bowling spirit is very much alive hero, and our party feel that everything is getting better as tho time goes on. Ballar.'it and Adelaide come easily first so far as the social element of tho trip is concerned. Wallace, Fmdlay, Coltman, Scoular, Bunting, A. Martin, and R. C. Bishop have remained bohind, so the team for to-day is comparatively weak, but it is astonishing how well the others play at a pinch.