BRITISH TEAM AT AIRPORT

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30044, 31 January 1963, Page 14

BRITISH TEAM AT AIRPORT

Experience Main Object

The experience gained in a tour of New Zealand and Australia should prove very valuable, and it was mainly for that reason that they had been sent, Roger Taylor, aged 21, the eldest member of the four-man British lawn tennis touring team, said in an interview art Christchurch airport yesterday afternoon. The team, which arrived at Auckland on Tuesday from Australia. made a brief stop at the airport before going to Timaru. It was met at the airport by the president of the Canterbury Lawn Tennis Association (Mr A. M. Hatch).

On February 5. the team, which consists of the most promiefag material Britain has to form a Davis Cup team of the future, will return to Christchurch to prepare for the second of three unofficial teste to be played at Wilding Park on February 17 and February 18. The first unofficial test will be played at Dunedin on Friday and Saturday. The team consists of Mark Cox aged 19, Taylor, Stanley Matthews (son of the famous English soccer player), aged 17, and Graham Stilwell, aged 17. Cox and Taylor are both left-handed players.

“Reasonably Saccessfal’* Taylor, who acted as spokesman for the team, said that they had had a reasonably successful tour of Australia. They bad played in five state tournaments and had ak.o made two exhibition country tours. Several members of the team had been quite prominent in the tournaments.

.Cox bad loot to one ot Australia’s leading players, Martin Mulligan, in the final ot the Manly tournament, StHwell had reached the final of the Australian junior boys* singles championship before being beaten by John Newcombe, and Stilwell and Matthews had been beaten in the final of the Australian junior boys’ doubles championship. He (Taylor), together with the Australian, Margaret Smith, had won the mixed doubles championehip at the Tasmanian tournament. The EogMah players were jomed at the airport for their flight south by New Zealand’s three top-ranked players, L Gerrard. I. Crookenden and J. Robson.