BATEMAN NEEDED AGAIN AT NATIONAL BOWLS TOURNEY

Press, Volume C, Issue 29415, 18 January 1961, Page 14

BATEMAN NEEDED AGAIN AT NATIONAL BOWLS TOURNEY

Press" Specuu Service AUCKLAND, January 17. But for a pair of socks, white, bowlers, for the use of, there might have been little special to remark in the New Zealand bowling tournament in Auckland today, other than the defeat of a number of prominent players while the fields in the pairs and fours championships were being reduced to 17 and 64 teams respectively.

To be sure the defeat of the defending pairs champions, E. W. Taylor and T. T. Skoglund, of Carlton, was important and in the actual circumstances was extremely dramatic.

Moreover, it was both important and dramatic that Skoglund, M. R. Buchan, G. A. Crowley and M. J. Squire should be put out of the fours, for all, except Buchan, had won the title at least twice, and it was important, too, that there should have been a resumption of the tournament after the loss of a day and a half because of rain and a violent easterly gale which mercifully blew itself out this morning. But it was still a little diverting that Taylor, than whom no competitor in the tournament has been more immaculate, should scarcely have begun to play pairs with Skoglund against V. Smytheman and W. Bayliss, of Papatoetoe, before an umpire made the horrifying discovery that he was wearing socks, natty socks, certainly very nicely cloaked, but still grey socks, and as such an offence against King’s Regulations, articles of association, and other odinances governing what a bowler should, and should not, wear upon the green.

Taylor’s explanation, when official displeasure was discreetly conveyed, was that he had rushed to the Carlton green from his office—for the battering of wind and rain confined play to the afternoon—and, by a misfortune, had neglected to pack white socks with his kit, did not wring a tear from tournament headquarters to which the matter was presently borne. The austere tidings that, having offended the canons, he might have to knock off and go home to change, caused him to send a messenger posthaste to the Newmarket store and. presently, in a pair of socks, much too thin for a sport of so much standing about, he was once more the very model of a modern tournament bowler. Taylor was crustily humorous about the incident. "I can see old Joe Bloggs over there in a pair of brown socks," he said. “I’ve a good mind to put his pot on.” The change of socks brought no luck to the Taylor Skoglund house. First they went down together to Smytheman and Bayliss. Then, separately, they were removed from the fours in which each had looked to be strong enough to go a long way. Difficult Day

It was not an easy day. either for players or management, because of the loss of time caused by the weather. The ninth round of the pairs and the first round of the fours were put on at Carlton as soon as decently practicable—about 1 o’clock in the afternoon. Carlton was extremely heavy on each of the three greens used and for a few heads at least the bowls were little better than skittles with every man punching his delivery up the green almost as hard as he could By mid-afternoon, with the pairs completed, 128 teams of fours took the field at Carlton. Remuera. Rawhiti, Auckland, Mount Eden and Epsom. Carlton and Mount Eden were still pretty heavy, but the other greens had made a remarkable recovery, and in match after match, especially at Remuera, one saw bowl after bowl drawn to tightlypacked heads. Epsom wrung the tribute from W P. O’Neill, a bowler of vast experience, that it was as good a green as he could remember playing on. and, indeed, the club has been blessed this year with serenely even surfaces. Skoglund and Taylor departed the pairs, though they were 13 to 8 on the fourteenth end. Hereafter. Smytheman and Bayliss took control of the jack, and after scoring three singles and a brace of twos up to the nineteenth end they darted into the lead. 1513. with only two ends to play. On the twentieth. Smytheman. a perky, neat and efficient lead, played three perfect counters, and the dice were heavily loaded against Skoglund when he needed five on the last end to tie the score. To get the five he had to push the kitty back three or four feet, and with his second bowl he made hearts stand in mouths by connecting, but he could trail the jack only a couple of feet —too short a distance to score —so, with his last bowl he must try again, and if his bowl had been treated beforehand with a couple of coats of varnish, he must have succeeded. It was as close as that. Deserved a Mark

Smytheman and Bayliss played so well as to deserve a mark, and a heavy one at that, in the form book, but nothing would dissuade one old hand—fully 50 years in the game, so be said he had been—from declaring that the team which beat M. G- Borich and G Nichol of Hamilton, would be the one to win the championship Even the sight of R- McDonald and R Milat. of Ellerslie, bowling their way to a most comfortable victory to retain their two lives, could not alter the veteran’s opinion, and be may be right «t that, for Nichol was an even more consistent lead than Smytheman. and praise could scarcely be higher. No match in the fours, which. incidentally. were played over 21 ends, was so full of sound and fury as the battle of drive and draw plaved by A L Rivers, of Otahuhu Railway, against J I PirreL of Tuakau, at Remu-| era. 1

Pirret’s men growled in their beards when his attempts to draw to four heads in succession cost him a lead of 10 to 5. and put him several points in arrears, but they could make no complaint when the famous former singles champion later started blazing away. It was the last match of the day to finish, and Rivers hung on like a limpet, to get the verdict 23 to 22. Champion Material E. P. Exelby, of Frankton Junction, looked a champion in the making at Remuera as he won another resounding victory, and there was not much wrong either with the form of A. Govorko, the Rotorua Dalmatian, of Rawhiti. J. H. Rabone, the singles champion, had tidied up his team so much that it was always ahead of Milat but, at Auckland. Dalmatia had a turn at bat when M. Pivac won from M. E. G. Davis, of Rewa, by a point after scoring a 5 on the 19th end. Here, too, J. Kosovich played fine bowls, in spite of the worry of a team which seemed to leave the main burden to him a little more often than he deserved. And back at Carlton, Skoglund ranged the gamut of histrionic gesture as the valiant team led by B. C. Hart, of Tauranga South, having secured a lead of 15 to 11 on the 15th end pressed on to stand 7-15 with one head to play.

Skoglund had his hat off by now, and every now and again his icy calm looked to be coming to the boil as he cajoled his team to play exactly the shot he desired. On the last end, needed 3 to win, he persuaded C. Pentecost, his No. 3, to play a perfect trail, which gave him two shots, and then, wonder of wonders, he himself proceeded to play a lovely shot which gave him a third counter but which also provided Hart with a target anyone could have hit. So Hart, who had played extremely well, put the kitty into the ditch to win the game and the experts busily asked each other why Skoglund had not laid a block and changed his arm on an extra end. Shorter Gains The Remuera and Carlton greens are to be requisitioned for the continuation of the fours championship tournament, beginning with the third round on each green at 830 a.m. Altogether four rounds of 17 ends each are to be played during the day, and, as and when possible, the pairs championship will be continued. The effect of the shortened course, to which the administration has been driven by necessity, will be that, all being well with the weather, the fours championship at least will finish on Thursday afternoon as first intended. The results of the ninth and tenth rounds of the pairs were:— Ninth Round Two-lifers: R. McDonald (Ellerslie) 24. I Kostanich (Helensville) 11: M. Vulinovicb (Oratia) a bye. One-liters: G. A James (Central Cambirdgei 24. C. Simon (Hutt) two-lifer 10; R W. Clevely (Bernampore) 19 3 W Shirley (CarlIon) 18; W. L. Bayliss (Papatoetoe) 19 T. T. Skoglund (Carlton) 13: C. Nola 'Oratia) 19, R. Handrup (Mt. Albert) 12; J M. Coltman (Carlton) 26. J. N S. Flett (Pt. Chevalier) 18; M. G Borich (Hamilton) 21. A L. Hawkey 'Kia Toa) 15; R. J. Andrew (Onehunga! 23 B. T. Belcher (Auckland) 1; K. Boland 'Onehunga) 17. A Davis (Rewa) 13; C. Holloway (Carlton) beat J Hall (Elmwood) bv default: T H Purdie (Vogelmorn) 25 G H. Jollv 'Ueithi Spurdie (Waitara) 21 C. H. Hain (Hutt) 19: J o

Thompson (Shirley) 19, R. S. Eves (West End, New Plymouth) 11; P. Day (Newtown) 20, R. Butler (Whakatane) 16; V. Ranin (Palmerston North) 26, D. Hessey (Onehunga) 14; E. Henham (Mt. Wellington) 21, P. R. Bryers (Otorohanga) 16: G. E. Cole (Mangakino) 22, L. W. Henley (Remuera) 16. Tenth Round Day 26, Rankin 15; Henham 22, Cole 17; Simon 19, Kostanich 12. The results of the first two rounds of post-section play in the fours were:— First Round N. Donaldson (Auckland) 17, P. Williams (Browns Bay) 15; W. J. Langlands (Tahuna) 22, T. Morrison (Te Papapa) 13; M. Parkinson (Grey Lynn) 23. W. L Grace (Rawhiti) 13. Second Round M. J. Squire (West End, New Plymouth) 23, E. J. Flavell (Arapuni) 17; D. A. Fox (Claudelands) 20, W. R. Fleming (Pukekohe) 19; G. Dustin (Henderson) beat Cvitanovich (St. John's) by default; E. P. Exelby (Frankton Junciton) 35. A. McLaren (Hillcrest) 9; G. M. Crouch (Pukekawa) 20. M. A. Marinovich (Oratia) 15; J. T. Lyes (Otahuhu) 20. J. Drummond (Glen Eden) 17: J. R. Trayes (Carlton) 23, R. K Wilson (Rawhiti) 13; A. Govorko (Rotorua) 29, J. Pearce (Grey Lynn) 10; M. Pivac (Misson Bay), 22, M. E. G. Davis (Rewa) 20; C. Walker (Manawatu) 18, T. C. Vinson (Mt. Albert) 17; H. Wilkinson (Papakura) 17, J. O. Thompson (Shirley) 15; N. Unkovich (Waharoa) 23. H. V. Reed (Whangarei) 9; C. N. Dick (Grey Lynn) 21, W. M. Frew (Putaruru West) 17; W. H. Hampton (Naenae) 24. C. Cusack (Otahuhu) 11; D. A. McQuillan (Ruawai) 17, P. Petersen (Carlton) 16; J. Kosovich (Kaikohe) 19, A. B. Ross (Auckland) 16. K. Emmerson (Frankton Junction 23), G. A. Crowley (Gisborne) 15: P. C. Skoglund (Wellington) 21, C. A. Burrows (Mt. Albert) 15: W. F. Morris (Takapuna R.SA.) 17, R. Stewart (Mission Bay) 13; H. Cowen (Maungakaramea) 18, F. J. Lawrie (Warkworth) 11; A. Rivers (Otahuhu Railway) 23, J. Pirret, jun., 22; W. G. Petersen (Mormsville) 24, A. K. Lees (Rawhiti) 22; R. E. Pilkington (Wellsford) 28, A. Watson (Papakura) 10; I. A. Murray (Opotiki) 22, J. A. Young (Miramar) 13; R. J. Andrew (Onehunga) 26, W. E. A. Smith (Mount Eden) 14; R. Dibble (Birkenhead) 21, C. C. Robinson (Takapuna) 15; B. W. Grieve (Remuera) 32, N. R. Vause (Howick) 12: L. L. Winter (Roskill) 21, J. Worthington (St. Heliers) 10: L. Marwood (Morrinsville) 21, C. V. Evans (Hillsboro) 10; K. Boland (Onehunga) 24. L. Goodman (Te Papapa) 18; E. C. Hart (Tauranga South) 17, T. T. Skoglund (Carlton) 16; N. Donaldson (Auckland) 32, R. W. Cleveley (Berhampore) 17. M. Parkinson (Grey Lynn) 20, W. J. Langlands (Tahuna) 14; G. H. Jolly (Leith) 27, H. W. Neal (Albertland) 14: M. G. Borich (Hamilton) 21, J. C. Taplin (Pt. Chevalier R.S.A.) 16; S. Baddeley (Mount Eden) beat J. D. Tizard (St. Johns), by default: H. E. Powell (Kahutia) 31, R. Randrup (Mount Albert) 9; D. F. Kerr (Mangere) 25, E. W. Taylor (Carlton) 12; G. W. Hewitt (Okahu Bay) beat S. T. Cossins (Khandallah) by default; A. F. Needham (Pukekohe) 24, J. H. Walker (Onehunga) 21. G. A. James (Central Cambridge) 26. H. Wotton (Pukekohe) 10: R. R- McMurchey (Maungaturoto) 16. F. C. Young (Maungatapere) 13; F. Griffiths (Onehunga) 24. R. McK. Cameron (Remuera) 14; C. Nola (Oratia) 20. F. Firth (Mount Albert) 19: C. Holloway (Carlton) 23, H. Gribble (Mount Eden) 11; W. Tumilty (Omarunui) 22, A. Tordoff (Walton) 21; L. T. Smytheman (Papatoetoe) 17, G. Ross (Balmoral) 12: E. Wiggins (Hauraki) 16. T L. Williams (Paeroa) 15. J. McCullough (Rawhiti) 21. K. Murtagh (Paritutu) 14; A. Connew (Carlton) 29, W. E. Scott (Hawera) 15: K. P. Tompkins (West End. New Plymouth) 21. K. B Potete (Devonport) 19: H. N. Orange (Balmoral) 20. C. B. Buchan (Khandallah) 11; S. O. Skelton (Tauranga) 23, E. D. Grattan (Whitiora) 21: A. W. White (Remuera) 28. T. L. Seator (Kelburn) 18: J. F. Brown (Onehunga) 24. L. E. Manning (Te Puke) 20; W. P. O'Neil] (Carlton) 21 F. A. Collie (Papakura) 11. M. Yugovich (Beckenham) 21, M. R. Buchan (Tui Park) 18; A. R. Gorbey (Mount Albert) 21, M. J. O’Connor (Mount Wellington) 12: J. H. Rabone (Auckland) 23, D. Milat (Ellerslie) 17: R. Grinlinton (Pukekohe) beat J. Bed’ngfield (Miramar), by default: I. S. Vella (Onehunga) 27, C. Howe (Patumahoe) 18: N. C. Potter (Hillsboro) 23. D. Fitzpatrick (Balmoral) 13; P. McD. Lawson (Northcote) 26 R. Compton (Whangarei) 15; T. Henshaw (Parnell) 28. A. C. Kirkham < Carlton) 18.