RANDOM REMINDER

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29909, 24 August 1962, Page 18

RANDOM REMINDER

THE YEAR OF GRACE

An article in a recent issue of the “New Zealand Listener” discussed the remarkable lack of bearded sportsmen in this country, while beards are being worn by so many who do not take part in sport. The writer mentioned one classic example of a bearded athlete of some years ago—the wrestler “Whiskers” Blake, who, it was alleged, used his beard as a temptation to opponents. When they succumbed and seized it, he was able to apply any one of several unmentionable devices which left them broken, beaten, and only just able to engage in a return bout next evening. But we know of another bearded man in sport. He is an academic type, and he was invited to play for a Rugby team

which, in one of the lower Christchurch grades, has acquired this season a bizarre reputation for its light-hearted approach to an earnest business. He made only one appearance in this team, in the front row of the scrum, and it was a memorable occasion. He had a pair of running shorts, but that was where his sporting wardrobe began and ended. However, he found a long-sleeved pullover of several violent colours which did for a jersey, a pair of nylon socks, and sandshoes. He played well. It is strange, however, that there are so few beards on the playing fields. A prop forward might find a Van Dyke beard a useful weapon against a ticklish opponent. Beard* might be

difficult for billiards players, although they would help keep the cloth clean, and a golfer with sensitive tresses, lining up a putt in the now-familiar hands-on-knees attitude, might acquire some useful knowledge on nap and texture. Swimmers would find beards a drag, and they’ could be dangerous for archers; but if there is one place a beard is really needed, it is in cricket. Canterbury will need a new captain next season, and the candidates for the post should be cultivating their beards now. A Canterbury captain with a smallish cap, a vast beard, and a highpitched voice would be half-way to winning the Plunket Shield before he had sharked out a single batsman.