BILLIARDS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1162, 24 June 1911, Page 12

BILLIARDS.

i [Br Marker.] Mr. George Eeid, manager for T. Iteece, has issued-a challenge on behalf of the latter to play a.match; against F. Lindrum > ; "under more equitable condi? tions" than those which operated in the' game which concluded last Monday in Melbourne. The following are the new conditions:— "Tom"'Eeece is willing to play -Fred Lindrum a match of 16,000 up on level terms, for. .£IOO aside, providing the Australian champion agrees to some ' restriction or limitation of the.losing hazard, stroke. "... ,:;,-.. Eeece will "play Lindrum -. on. ,-th'o saiuo terms, as' above, iind allow the Australian unlimited use of his red ball stroke, if the latter will agree to the removal of tho 25 ball to ball cannons restriction. . Mr. Eeid says.-.that there, is'a consensus of opinion that tho greater exponents of tho all-round ganio in the world havo no chance of- coping with the player who travels exclusively over.tho all-red route. The recent achievements of the wonderful boys—l'. Lindrum and G. Gray—emphasise that opinion, but, when (ill has bean said that can be said on that point, tho fact remains that a majority of thosbwho, "pay tho piper and call the tune" would much prefer to watch a match whero botli contestants avoided the all-red route, as they would the plague. Well, Eeece, or any other billiardist, has had tho same opportunities; of; .exploiting . the all-red• route, just the same as.he had in,perfecting the cradle cannon. If tho' latter stroke were worth wasting time 'over, surely the losing hazard has equal claims in this respect. However, there isia code of rules governing tho game of billiards, and these rules should never be varied or altered, except by those whoso business it is to frame and administer them. It is not the duty of individuals to make new rules,' but to conform to those which have been formulated to govern tho game of 'which they are exponents. A later challenge has been issued on behalf of Eeece to play under tho proper rules, excepting that the pockets be reduced in size from 3|in. to 3Jin. Lindrum states that he will play Eeece under the condition that no more than 100 points 1m niade at "one stick" off the red ball. In tho following list of records, it will be seen that Australia is well up in the break list under tho existing B.A. and B.C.C. rules :-G. Gray, 2190; F. Lindrum, 1239: C. Dawson, 823; J. Eoberts, 831; H. W, Stevenson, 802; E. Digglc,' 791; T.' Eeece, G93.

In view of the controversy which arose over the match between, George Gray and Melbourne Inman, it is interesting to note that the parties played a friendly"game of GOO up, level, on May 7, which Inman won comfortably by 200. The game, however, was played on an old standard table, with 3in. pockets, which would be all to the disadvantage of Gray. At the Billiard Association meeting in Sydney last week, it was decided to invito representatives of tho New Zealand and Queensland Billiard Associations to take part in tho forthcoming Australasian amateur championship. As an inducement to compete, the amateurs are prepared to pay a portion of tho New Zealanders' expenses to Sydney. If Muir or Chavannes could be induced to cross cues with Australia's best amateurs, some exciting contests would no doubt result.

At a meeting of the General Council of the Billiards Control Club (England), held on May 4, tho following alteration in Kulo i) was made, and it now reads as follows:—"A player may not make two misses in successive innings, unless ho or his opponent scores after tho first miss, or a double baulk occurs. Any miss given when the striker is in hand, and thcro is no object ball out of baulk, does not count as one of the two misses which constitute a foul stroke."

The figures of the recent game between Lindrum and Receo aro stupendous, anil for the former to defeat a plnycr with tho credentials of Recce by such a largo number of points is indcod a remarkablo performance. The story of tho gamo is succinctly told in tho following figures:—

How they Scored. Averages. Lin- Lindrum. Itcece. drum. Recce. 1. Monday ... 1334 022 ... 55.G 38.1 2. Tuesday ... 1334 1-171 ... 35.1 38.7 3. Wednesday 984 IliU ... 31.7 53.7 4. Thursday ... 1(185 GI3 ... 1-10.5 49.5 5. Friday 1335 41) ... 33.7 12.2 G. Saturday ...: GGG 500 ... 51.2 38.4 7. Monday .... 1333 13 ... CGG.S G.G 8. Tuesday ... l.'W5 512 ... G3.5 24.3 9. Wednesday 1333 750 ... 53.3 30.0 10. Thursday ... 1333 893 ... 83.3 55.8 11. Friday ...... 1331 GGO ... 78.3 38.8 12. Saturday ... ' 885 780 ... 30.1 45.9 13. Monday ... 1333 1234 - Total 10,00010,010 ' Breaks. lindru.n: 1239,810,830,501,553,512, 4.18, 380, 330, 318, 291, 282, 274, 274, 274, 238, 232, 209, 157, 177, IG3, 161, 155. 155, 152 147, MO, 138, 138, 135, 132. 140, 134, 127, 127, 124, 124,,111, 110, 101, 103, 101, 172 (unfinished). Recce: 260, 215, 238, 221, 21S, 21G, 20S, 195, 180, 181, 183, 180, 179, 162, lfil, 15G, 113, 113, 111, 138, 133, 130, 130, 124, 121, 121, 118, 114, 110, 101, 101, 100, 100. Averages for tho Whole Game: Lindrum (11.5 Reece 38.7