ATHLETIC SPOUTS GAMES AND PLAYERS

Press, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 26396, 14 April 1951, Page 4

ATHLETIC SPOUTS GAMES AND PLAYERS

(By

MILES)

Behind the Times annual meeting ef delegates to the Canterbury Rugby Union .last month decided to hold a meeting about the middle of May to discuss the improving of Rugby football. It is hard to see what good can come of a meeting held after the competitions have been in progress for a month. The first move should be the rearrangement of the senior championship, with two or three of the lowest teams of last year relegated to a grade in which players will meet men of their own calibre. If any good is to come of such a meeting ft should be held long before the football season starts. Wellington has taken the Initiative and for several weeks the selector, “Dick'* Burke, has carried out a system of coaching that Is bound to have Its effect in the long run. On a recent Saturday 30 coaches attended a school presided over by Mr Burke, who used 16 well-known senior plsyers-to Illustrate his methods. Simple exercise* were concentrated upon, the kind which every team should be able to perform but which so many fail to do correctly. A feature was the use by the instructor of a whistle with which he would suddenly helt a movement so that positional errors could be pointed out immediately they were made. The whistle also made It possible to check the space required to perform such an operation as pawing the ball through the chain of backs. When Mr Burke found that 25 yards was being covered while the ball went from-half to winger, he expressed tire view that that was too fat. Jottings With few matches to go before reaching finality lor the season in the English bovcer competitions, several teams are trying hard to avoid relegation to the iowe.' grades, In the first division of the English League, Tottenham Hotspur t\eie leaning by .our points after games flayed on March 24. w,th Middlesbro ana Man.hester sesona with 4u points, ana Blackpool, Arsenal, and. Newcastle next with 41 points. The second division is headed by Preston, 50 points, and Cardiff city, 42 points. Women athletes in England must be of a hardier breed than their sister* in New Zealtna. Dominion women runners usually think 230 yards is a long race, and the entries for this event are always . ©or compared with the numbers Who oj the line for a 75 or 100 yards race. Mrs Joyce Heath won two titles at the English A.A.A. championships, the one mile fiat race and the 1600 metres walking race—both en the same. day. For this effort Mrs Heath won the Lord Hawke trophy for the year's outstanding performance by * British women athlete. Peter Mullins, the Australian field events athlete, who toured New Zeeisnd two seasons ago, is now a basketba 1 player for Washington State College in tire United State*. Mullins was sixth in the Decathlon et the 1948 Olympic Games, and is taking a physical education course in America.

M. J. Hourigan, the Wellington representative Rugby wing three-quarters and a crack sprinter, has been transferred to Auckland. It ia expected that he will play for Marist. He first represented Wellington as a wing three-quarter in two matches in 1947. He played for his province six times, including once as a rep'acement, in 1948, and also took part in the All Black trials for South Africa. A Police Miniature Rifles Club was formed on Thursday by members of the Police Force in Christchurch. It has an initial membership of 20. and will be competing in the Miniature Rifle Association's tompe titions. Edward Weeks, in "Town and Country,” writes: "I remember one*: r ski ng my uncle why he carried such a huge bag of golf clubs. ‘You’ll learn,' he replied, 't iat half the fun of life is in having mo e possibilities than you can ever use.’" M. Mu’lln, Wellington Rugby i epresentrtlve, has been tran-ferred to Dunedin. The Wellington Club and St. Patrick’s Old Boys’ Club hav* lost so many phyers that they will have to make complete new back lines in the Wellington Rugby champlonshins this year. The sensational Petone Soccer Club of 1948, which suffered e partial eclipse in 1993, is again in the field. The new goelkeeper Is M. O'Brien, who as an amateur was capped four times for Scotland. Des Lyons, Wellington Mariat, has been transfer-ed to Auckland. R. Hohaie, who played for the New Zeeland Maori team, has left Oriental (Wellington) to pley for Miramar League. New Zealand University Team

"Th* decision to send an All Black team to Australia early In June immediately after the Conclusion of the New Zeeland University team’s tour of the Cotrynonwealth has created an interesting position which should be considered when the New Zealand Rugby Football Council deals with the question of trials at its April meeting," write* G. A. Parsons, iecretary of the New Zealand University whtoh m^in be i~ve the University team, which will leave New Zealand by flying-boat on May 9 and return by flying-boat on June 7, will be unable to take part in the All Black trials towards the end of May. As it is desirable that both teams be at full strength, it Is essent'al that the University players receive full consideration when the All Black team is selected. It will not be surprising, therefore, if the 1951 All Black selectors follow the precedent set by the Australians in 1949 when they invited four players (BrOckhoft, Emery, Solomon and Garner), who had just completed a tour of New Zealand with the Australian University side, to return to the Dominion with the Wallabies. University players will no doubt be anxious to learn at an early date just what steps are being taken to ensure that their claims for inclusion in the 1951 AU Blacks wIU be fully considered.” 20-Year search for Cup The Chinese Cup—a trophy presented by Chinese residents of Taranaki to the Taranaki Football Association for senior competition. has been missing since about 1929. At the annual meeting of the association the loss of the cup was again discussed. The winning team in the year concerned, Hawera, did not receive the trophy because it was not on the ground at the time. Members said that inquiries were still going on quietly in the various districts, and it was decided to let those interested continue with the search. C. E. Malfroy to Return

C. E. Malfroy, former New Zealand Davis Cup representative, will return to the Dominion to take up a business appointment at Auckland. Malfroy is aboard the Rangitata, Which is due at Auckand on May 22. He won the national junior single* in 1925 and 1926, and the senior title in 1933. He has been in Britain since before the recent war, in which h* served in the Royal Air Force.

Italian View of cricket A description of cricket written in an Italian newspaper, and quoted by Herbert Vivian in his book "Fascist Italy," might not receive the full support of . the M.C.C., but it gives a fair indication of the mystery the gam* must hold io many foreigners. “At each end of a space of 20 metres there is a gate known as a wicket, surmounted by two movable bits of wood that are of enormous importance," the writer says. “Hither come two men with coats of many colours and whitetrousered legs and defended by armour like that worn for hockey. These are the strikers, and it is part of the ritual for them to approach with deliberate slowness. There ar* also two arbitrators, as in football . . , the cor re -t name is umpires. Their lives are distinctly dangerous, as will be seen from ih-» rapid leaps they make into the air to escape being killed by the great leather meteorite which constantly menaces them . . . there is never a gesture of, rage or a dispute. Everything proceeds smoothly. The umpires snooze, the sun (when there ts any) illuminates the very green field, tea or beer is being sipped in the chalet, the laziness which lurks in every Englishman is displayed, but no one ever questions a decision or yield* to excitement, for the game is the expression of the British temperament . . ." A New Boxing Star

A group of Sydney sportsmen is prepared to finance a trip to South A rlca for a new boxing star, Jimmy Carruthers, and his manager-trainer, Bill McConnell, if Carruthers can secure a contest for the world bantam-weight title. McConnell said that if it Were found impossible to get the world champion, Vic Towell, to come from South Africa to fight in Australia, he would be willing to take Carruthers to Tbwell's own Country.

Dr. J. G. MeGirr, a regular patron of Sydney Stadium fights, and a vice president of the Sydney university Boxing Club, said: “Ten of us, all great admirers of Carruthers's ability, are prepared to put in £lOO each, and I know other sportsmen are willing to help. There would be no question of repayment. We would simply put up the cost of the fares of Carruthers and McConnell, and also their expense* for at least a month in which they would be acclimatising in South Africa. We have great faith in Carruthers as a world 'prospect,' and we think it "is impractical to wait for a champion -to bring his title to Australia. We aft know that Dave Sands has to take hi* Empire middle-weight title back to England to get a championship fight.”

Rugby League New South Walea members at the Australien Rugby League Board bf Control WIU consider two proposals to accommodate crowns at the Sydney Cr.cKe. Ground test matches against France this season. The proposal* are:—that the two testa should be "all . ticket matches." That the main grandstand accommodating MW should be used as a reservation block. If there is an ”aU ticket" decision, a safety limit will have to be agreed upon among the League, the ground trust, police, and other authorities. The ground record attendance is 7u,419, at tne maten New South Wales v. England, last season. A safety limit of 75,800 may be proposed by th* League. If that figure is accepted, the League, after allowing for approximately 13,000 member* expected to attend (bawd on League test figures last year), plus schoolboy and other complimentary tickets, would have to dispose of between 55,000 and 60,000 tickets . Boom Days Past The bumper benefit matches of the post-war cricket boom are believed to be Over. This boom resulted in Cyril Washbrook drawing £14,000 for hi* benefit. Denis Campton just over £13,000, and Len Hutton £9713. It is stated that in future the professionals won’t be so lucky. The chief reason appears to be tr.e rising costs of staging the matches—they include players' wages and expenses, uragires, gatemen. printing, publicity, and isurance against bad weather. All this adds up to something like £BOO., Mei patton Probably only Mel Patton himself can remember now that he ran a furlong in 3?.2sec in May, 1949. Last December the figures were approved as a United States record. They are also the world's best, but whether they have been or will be accepted by the International Federation, no one knows. Jesse Owens, with 20.3, Is still listed as the official holder. Patton now has both American sprint records—the 100 yards at 9.3wc, also the recognised world mark. Cricketers In Insurance

When the annual conference of the New Zealand Insurance Institute opened in Christchurch this week, the dalesstcs included an extraordinarily high proportion of men well-, nown in Chr.scchurcn cricket. Among them were Mr O. Gorrie. a member of the New Zealand Cricket Council, and a former Riccarton senior player. Mr D. A. Burt, a senior Player in Wellington for many years. Mr R. G. Condllffe. a senior player in Christchurch, Mr W. Morley, a South Canterbury representstive, Mr J. T. Eltoft, well known as captain of the Old Boys’ Club’s second eleven. Mr H. Duncan, a Wellington selector, and Mr V. G. Hill, a senior player In Christchurch a few years ago. and now of Auckland. A notable absentee was Mr J. Cowie, the New Zealand fast medium bowler. Old Rivals te Meet

In what should be one of the dec * dt " g games in th* Canterbury Football Association's senior competition, two old rivals Western and Thistle, will meet at English Park to-day. Last season, in championship matches. Western had four goal margins against Thistle, although both drew their games against Wigram. Today, Thistle may win, if the form shown against the weaker teams o* the «*de last Saturday is any indication. Western has been forced to introduce its best reserve men in its policy of g" ad^ a ' ly T ,Y.!.Vir drawing its veteran elenient, but Thistle has strengthened itself by introducing tried senior players. The match should be decided in the last 10 minutes.