BOWLS.

Clutha Leader, Volume XL, Issue 71, 13 March 1914, Page 3

BOWLS.

AUSTRALIANS' IMPRESSIONS. The whole of the party of' Australian bowlers who toured New Zealand with the exception of Messrs George llaffan and Walter Denver returned by the Moeraki yesterday (writes "Jack High" in the Sydney 'Referee' of February 25). Mr S. Clark, of Lismore, who had the management of the tour, had much to sav of the hospitality showered upon the team and the evidences of goodwill to Australia which were given in every centre visited. He gave the palm to the Devonport green as the best in the Dominion, to We.lmgton for the best pavilions and green appointments, to the South Islanders for using the best drawing bowls, but in the matter of the entertainment of the team all centies did everything possible for their enjoyment and instruction; in iact, dur.ng the whole trip only once did the team have one afternoon to itself, and that ua>i in Wellington. Asked if the proposal for the Dominion to come on to the A.B.C. had been urged, the manager (Mr Clarke) said the point had been brought forward in every centre, but lie doubted if the New Zealanders wothd ever jo.'n in. They were a self-reliant oeople in New Zealand and preferred to stand on their own bottom, just as they 13 years ago declined to join the Australian Commonwealth. They boasted over 12,0(0 players affiliated w.'th the Domin on Association of New Zealand which now governed the game in the North and South Islands, and were content with their present standing, for it did not require this visit to assure them they could play the game well, "Was the suggestion of the affiliation badly received r "Ino; quite the reverse, Thev were very grateful to the Australian Bowling Council for sending the team, and are very anxious to have Uniform rules and conditions of play in New Zealand and Australia. We' found their style of keeping oWe foot oil the mat} While they stretched out the length of the body and the Aim to get round a blocking bowl, a great hanct.cap over our two feet on the mat rUle-. This eiiab ed those 'with straighter wood thaii ouis to draw round a block which our bigger drawing bowls delivered from the mat could not negotiate. They have realised the disadvantage the men playing under Australian conditions suffer, and have passed a rule banishing the one foot on the mat system of play, but so far they have not enforced it. 1 '

"Do their bowls draw as well as Australian woodsP" '"On the Dunedin greens their New Zealand bowls drew as much as ours and fully 25 per cent, more than those at Auckland. That is another point on which they wish to confer with the Australian Bowling Council, so as if possible to* get a uniform test." "What testing apparatus do they use there? At Dunedin the green test is used—a long shoot down which the bowl receives its impetus for the run along the green. It is the same sort of apparatus as was used here before the adoption of the table test." 'The Referee' correspondent mentioned that the New Zealanders would come over for the A.B.C. carnival in Sydney next year. Do you think that will come about ? "There is no doubt about it. It is on the cards that some of them will enter for the carnival events at Brisbane at Easter, an invitation having been voiced by the Queensland members of the party during the tour. The Dominion Association proposes to send over two accredited delegates to confer with the A.B.C. on various bowling matters, and representative sides will be sent over toparticipate in tEe wmvaLia Sydney." A