GAMES AND PLAYERS

Press, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 26605, 15 December 1951, Page 4

GAMES AND PLAYERS

ATHLETIC SPORTS

(By

MILES)

Moynihan In Form The all-round ability of Des. Moynihan, the former Canterbury representative cricketer, has been extremely useful to his team, West Old Boys, in fee second grade A competition this season. Last summer Moynihan scored nearly 400 runs at an average of almost 50, and took 24 wickets at an average cost of about 16 runs. This season he seems certain to improve greatly on these good figures. In spite of a bad start in the first match, when he made only six and 14, he has already scored just on 300 runs, averaging about 50, and his bowling has brought him 26 wickets at an average cost of 8.4 runs. Moynihan is still a young player, and his undoubted ability might have brought him further recognition had he been in a senior team. His action in remaining with West Old Boys when the club was relegated fi*om senior ranks can only be commended, but Canterbury does not have sufficient good cricketers to spare one as good as Moynihan. Rowing at Akaroa

The future of the Akaroa Boating Club is causing concern in rowing circles for reports say that the club is to be wound up and the assets disposed of. It will be a great pity if a club with such a fine record and so long established should fall by the wayside, although it, like every other sports organisation, has had its lean years. The Akaroa Boating Club produced one of New Zealand's greatest rowers in George Whelch who won three \ New Zealand championships, including the single sculling championship in 1904 and 1907, and still proudly wears the club’s red blazer. Other members of the club whose names appear in New Zealand records include N. G. Kearney and L. Ditley, pairs 1906, J. Woodill, who with George Whelch won the doubles in 1907 and 1908, and H. R. Newton and F. R. Westenra 1912 and 1913. In recent years the Reid brothers, Kingston and Rhodes have kept up fee traditions of the club. It seems that* a revival of interest by keen rowing men might yet save the Akaroa Club from extinction. West Indians’ Tour

The West Indian cricketers have not lived up to their reputation so far on their tour of Australia. Of six first-class matches completed they have lost five and drawn one. The opening batsmen, A. F. Rae and J. B. Stollmeyer, have been disappointing and neither Worrell nor Weekes have yet shown his best form. The middle batsmen have been solid. R. J. Christian!, with . 354 runs in nine innings, heads the batting averages (39.33). He is followed by C. E. Gomez, 327 runs, for an average of 36.33. and E. D. Weekes (203, 33.83). The averages of the other leading batsmen are: J. D. Goddard, 33.63; C. L. Walcott, 32.18; R. Marshall, 31.56; F. M. Worrell, 29 22; J. B. Stollmeyer, 25.25; K. Richards, 23.4; A. F. Rae, 18.8. A. Valentine (23) has taken most wickets. The leading bowling averages are: F. M. Worrell, 23.7; G. E. Gomez, 25.27; R. Marshall. 29.00; A. Valentine, 29.43; P. Jones, 36.00; S. Ramadhin, 54.08. Answer to Correspondent Midland.—ln cribbage four fives give 20 points. Dress on tfte Bowling Green When the capabilities of umpires were discussed at this week’s meeting of the Christchurch Bowling Centre a representative of the Umpires’ Association said that some good might be done if the clubs would send some of their members along to the association. Not enough interest was being taken by the active players. Good umpires were few and all bowlers should be thankful that so many offered their services to do a very onerous job. A member said the authorities were getting too tough. There were too many rules, as there were in other sports. Some umpires were going too far. One umpire had stopped a game when he saw one of the players wearing braces instead of the regulation belt. Another member said the testing of bowls every Saturday was farcical. The bowlers did not offend and if the correct uniform wag not worn offenders should be reported. Father and Son For the first time in the history of the club a son had succeeded his father/ in the position of club captain, said the retiring captain (Mr O. A. Y. Johnston) at the annual meeting of the Christchurch Golf Club. Mr Johnston was referring to the election of Mr C. J. Ward as club captain, a position his father, the late Sir Cyril Ward, held for several years. Sir Cyril Ward was president of the club when he died. Professionals Regain Status R. H. Glading and J. H. Weir, two former members of the New Zealand Professional Golfers’ Association, have regained their amateur status, acording to a decision of the New Zealand Golf Association. They will be reinstated as amateurs from January 1, 1952. A. D. Brown May Coach Again A. D. Brown, a former New Zealand tennis singles champion and coach to the Canterbury Lawn Tennis Association, may start coaching again. Early last season Brown regained his amateur status, but because of personal reasons has decided not to continue playing as an amateur. Brown intends to return to his previous employment in the Public Service, and to do only part-time coaching. Touring Cycle Club Formed

Mr L. J. Coughlan, of the Christchurch branch of the Physical Welfare Department, is well pleased with the attempt to revive the Christchurch Cycling Touring Club which was very active two years ago. The inaugural meeting of the reformed club, which was held last week, was attended by 20 keen touring cyclists who, under the guidance of the Physical Welfare Department, hope to gain many more recruits and enjoy many tours. The first outing will be to Kairaki to-morrow when it is hoped to spend a part of the day there at softball, swimming and volley ball. Later it is expected that longer trips will be arranged and contact made with clubs at Timaru and Waimate, after which still longer trips will be made, taking in the youth hostels in different parts of the South Island. Senior Matches To-day

St. Albans, which was runner-up in the senior cricket competition last season, will have another chance to improve its position in this season’s -competition in the match against East Christchurch today. At present Lancaster Pa,rk is in the lead, with 26 points, followed by East Christchurch and Ricearton, with 21, St. Albans with 16 and Old Collegians 15. St. Albans will have to win this match to have much prospect of catching the leaders. East Christchurch is in a similar position and this match, to be played at Lancaster Park, should be very keenly contested. Lancaster Park will play Old Collegians at Elmwood Park, and this is another game with an important bearing on the competition. Ricearton will meet Sydenham at Hagley Oval, and the fourth match is between Old Boys and West Christchurch. Is it True?

A football trainer once dreamed that he was in heaven and in charge of the greatest team of all time. He trained his team for several months and then realised that he had nobody to play against. This difficulty was soon resolved by a telephone call from the nether regions. Satan himself was on the line. “Hear you’ve got a team up there,” says he. “How would you like to play my team?” “Sure,” said the trainer, “if you’re willing to have the socks beaten off you. You know, of course, that I have the finest team that ever lived up here with me.” “Maybe so,” laughed the devil, “but I have all the referees!”—Tatler Two in the Ballina "Herald.” Prospect for the Games

The performance of Lionel Cox in beating Russell Mockridge in the 1000 metres. St. George grand prize at Hurstville Oval impressed New South Wales cycling officials, says the “Sydney Morning Herald.” They expressed the view that the performance was good enough to earn Cox Olympic selection. Cox would be an automatic selection if he repeated the effort in the Australian championships in Adelaide in February. Victoria had considered Mockridge, the Empire Games champion, certain to_be chosen for the Olympic sprint. On Saturday night Cox beat Mockridge by half a length, his time for the final furlong, 12.7 sec, on a bitumen track, being equal to 11.4 sec on a board track. Cox holds the Australian one mile championship and the N.S.W. one-mile and all-round championships. Black Pullovers for Golfers Canterbury representative golfers will wear black pullovers with a red and black monogram. The question of representative pullovers has been under consideration by the Canterbury Provincial Golf Asosciation for some months. Some time ago a resolution was passed deciding on black pullovers, but Mr C. J. Ward gave a notice of motion to rescind the resolution at the last meeting of the association on Monday night. The motion was lost. When the pullovers would be first worn was also discussed. “If we have to wear black, let it be as soon as possible,” said Mr Ward. Golf Club Finances

A comparison of golf dub finances with 1905 and 1951 was given by one of the retiring vice-presidents (Mr F. S. Taylor) at the annual meeting of the Christchurch Golf Club. In 1905 subscriptions amounted to £462, whereas this season they amounted to £3768. The total income for the club in 1905 was £7OB, compared with £6245 this season. Another interesting comparison was the allocation of £l2 for prizes in 1905, compared with £lB6 this season.

Leading Cricketers R. W. G. Emery, who made 220 not out two weeks ago, has the highest batting aggregate in the senior competition at present—34B. He is followed by A. G. Duckmanton 287, F. B. Smith 246, J. C. Saunders 244, J. G. Leggat 243, L. Newman 228, F. P. O’Brien 211, and M. K. Lohrey 208. The leading averages are Duckmanton 74.2, Emery 69.6, Saunders 40.7, Leggat 40.5, Newman 38, I. B. Cromb 36, O’Brien 35.2, and Smith 35.1. F. Dennis has taken most wickets, 29, and next in order are R. F. Cook 22, J. A. Hayes 20, M. P. O’Malley 18, D. Newton 18, P. H. T. Alpers and A. R. Mac Gibbon, 16. Cromb heads the bowling averages with 7J, with Newton next 7.8. After these two come Saunders 9.5, Alpers 11.0 b, Dennis 11.17, Lohrey 11J, Mac Gibbon and D. Cederwall 12.6. K. McNlcholl (7), R. Hill (7) and J. Harliwich (6) have taken most catches. A. E. L. Britton and R. Davey, each with 11 wickets, are the leading wicketkeepers. The Spectator Pay*

Visitors to the Olympic Games to be held at Helsinki next July will have to be well provided with cash if they intend to see the majority of the worlds champions in action. Here are the prices: Athletics (July 20-27), 7s 3d (standing) to 71s 6d; basketball (July 25-August 2). 7s 3d to 35s 9d; boxing (July 28-August 2), 14s 6d, 25s and 50s; canoeing (July 2728), 7s 3d to 255; cycling (July 28-29-31), 7s 3d to 28s 9d; equestrian (July 28-Aug-aust 3), 7s 3d to 71s 6d; football (July 29-August 2), 7s 3d to 28s 9d; gymnastics (July 20-24), 7s 3d to 50s; rowing (July 20-23), 10s 9d to 21s 6d; swimming (July 25-August 2), 7s 3d to 50s; weight-lifting (July 25-27), 7s 3d to 255; wrestling (July 20-27), first two days 7s 3d to 14s 6d, last six days 14s 6d to 50s; opening ceremony (July 19), 10s 9d to 71s 6d; closing ceremony, 7s 3d to 71s 6d. N.Z. Footballer Criticised “The Times” says the Cambridge fullback, T. U. Wells, of Auckland, had a singularly bad day in the annual Rugby Union match against Oxford last Tuesday. Oxford won 13-0. Wells, the only man on the field honoured by a place in an international trial this season, was criticised for his kicking, and also his slowness in shaping for a kick. He was twice charged down when he had plenty of time in which to clear. Wet Weather Affects Sports

Bowls and cricket competitions on the West Coast have been affected by bad weather for the last 10 weeks. There are now more than 650 men bowlers in the 10 Reef ton, Hokitika and Grey district clubs. Besides their regular club championship and handicap series, these clubs have numerous inter-club fixtures to fulfil. They will all participate in the Kells Buttons challenge games on December 22 and on January 20.. There will be a oneday fours tournament at Greymouth on December 29, at Cobden on January 6, and at Hokitika on January 26. Reynolds Badges challenge matches will be played on February 3 and 16, and one day fours tournaments at Runanga on February 10 and at Blackball on February 17. Similar tournaments will be held at Blaketown on March 9, at Dunollie on March 16, at Reefton on March 23, and. at Dobson on March 29. The annual West Coast championship fours tournament will commence at Greymouth on Friday. February 22. Handball at the Games

Rugby football, originally planned as one of the two demonstration sports in the 1952 Olympic Games, has been superseded by handball, which will be played by teams from Denmark and Sweden on July 30. The Frepch language only will be used on the Olympic scoreboard, but results will be announced in Finnish, Swedish, French and English.