A SPORTSMAN’S DIARY

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 242, 9 July 1938, Page 10 (Supplement)

A SPORTSMAN’S DIARY

(By

QUIDNUNO.)

ACCOMMODATION AT TEST MATCHES

Crowds Turned Away At Lord’s

’‘The gates at Lord’s were closed at 10.45 a.m. . . . there was a record attendance . . . thousands were unable to gain admission. These are extracts from a message referring to the second cricket Test Where, might one ask, could such a Gilbertian situation exist save in’dear old England? Another message stated that, despite the record attendance at Trent Bridge, the scene of the first Test, it was unlikely that greater accommodation would be provided as such crowds gathered once in four years only. The aggregate takings for the Test at Trent Bridge were just over fSOOOTa record. During the final Test at Melbourne in 1936, a world’s record crowd for a Test match of 87,798 paid £7405 on one day—nearly as much as for four days in England. It. is admitted that there is more room for expansion on Australian grounds than at Home, but England’s accommodation problem could be solved in a similar manner to that adopted in all congested areas —by going skywards. Accommodation could be extended, at Lord’s at any rate, •by putting double decks on to the stands. Surely such a. contention that these crowds gather once in four years only should not be allowed to prevail. Following this to .its logical conclusion, one would expect that accommodation to be no greater 20 or 50 years hence. It'is a sad commentary on the management of cricket at Home that thousands of cricket-lovers should be turned away, deprived of seeing on their own soil such champions from “down under” as Bradman, McCabe and Co.

Arne’s Misfortune. ■ Prior to the second Test, in which he had the misfortune to break a bone in his finger, Leslie Ames, England's wicketkeeper, had the ill-fortune to be involved in a fatal collision. The evidence at the inquest showed that Ames, when driving a car, collided with -a /cyclist, though he did his utmost to avoid him. A verdict of accidental death was returned, the jury exonerating Ames from blame and adding that the cyclist was acting improperly by riding without a light The inquest was originally set down for June 27, the third day of the second cricket Test, but was adjourned, the coroner stating that he did not want England to have to play a man short. When Ames did appear, he had his left hand bandaged as the result of his injury in the Test. Amateur Billiards Records.

Nothing in the history of amateur billiards has approached the figures set during the recent Empire championship at Melbourne by the winner, R. Marshall (West Australia), or the runner-up, K. Kennerley, the 1 English champion. In the final between this pair Marshall averaged 2213 points a day. On a fortnightly basis this average would work out at 26,500 points, which would make him a difficult opponent for leading professionals. His average against Kennerley, however, was due to his dominating the game and not having to sit out long periods while his opponent was at the table, and would hardly be maintained against the professionals. The following table shows how the contestants fared : —

In the series Marshall scored two breaks over 400; five over 300; five over 200. Kennerley’s 472 was the highest break recorded in an Empire tournament.

English Soccer Team. The English Soccer team wound up its short Continental tour with a fine victory over France, 4-2, bringing the record for the tour to two wins and one IOSS. England beat Germany 6-3 and France 4-2, and lost to Switzerland 2-1. England’s victory over France was a feather in her cap, as the French national team had not lost a match this season, their victims including Switzerland, whom they beat 2-1. It also enabled the Englishmen to avenge the 5-2 defeat received by the last English team to play in Paris seven years ago.

Brews and Lecite. A feature of the present golf season tt Home will be the £SCO-a-9ide match between the South Africans, Brews and Locke, and Henry Cotton and. another. Locke recently turned professional. A group of Johannesburg sporti-men is assisting the tour of Brews and Locke financially. Among them is believed to be Robert Erleigh, a young former Cambridge financier, who made more than £1,000,000 in Rand mining within three years. Erleigh was Locke’s first sponsor and employer until Locke turned professional. ( Brews was runner-up last year to Cotton in the British open. Recently, Brewu and Locke played 14 matches on championship courses. Brews averaged 70.4 shots a round, and yet won only one of the matches. Locke's average for these 14 36-holes matches was 69.4 strokes.

Pity the Poor Bowler. The “Manchester Guardian,” in a leading article, says; “If we retain the batsman’s paradise wickets, which The Oval, Trent Bridge, and Old Trafford have produced regularly since the war, the Test matches must have no time limit; but if .the matches are still limited to four days, we must get back to wickets which do not give the batsmen an undeserved overwhelming advantage.” We fee! that such a course would tend to lower the standard rather than raise it. If the quality of bowling has slumped while batsmanchip has attained greater heights, there seems no reason why wickets should be “doped” to even up matters. Has it been forgotten that bowlers have already been catered for by the introduction a few years ago of larger stumps?

Rugby Tours.

International Rugby tours, for the next 10 years are as follow: Next year Australia will send a team on a tour-of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and most likely Canada. In 1940. the All Blacks go to South Africa.. . Great Britain's representatives will visit Australia and New Zealand in 1942. Taen follow: 1943-44, South Africa to Home countries; 1945, Australia to South Africa; 1947-48, New Zealand to Home countries; 1948, South Africa to Australia- and New Zealand. British Women’s Gold Team.

The women’s golf team to. represent Great Britain against the United States in the Curtis Cup match at Massachusetts, U.S.A., on September 7 and 8. is as follows: Miss J. Anderson (Craigie Hill, Perth), Miss P. Barton (Royal MidSurrey), Miss E. Corlett (Royal Lytham and St. Annes), Mrs. Garon (Addington), Mrs. A. M. Holm (Troon), Miss C. Tiernan (County Louth), Mrs. J. B. Walker (Island Malahide) and Mrs. Wallace Williamson (Gullane), captain. The team will leave for Boston in the Franconia on August 19. The last match was played at the Gleneagles course, Perthshire, in 1936, and was halved, each side winning four matches with one game finishin"' level. The United States held the trophy at the time. The match is decided by three foursomes and six singles. Mrs. Holm is the present English champion. She defeated Miss Corlett in the. fi- ’! 4 and 3. Five of the eight players chosen for this year’s match figured in the contest at Gleneagles two years ago. They are Miss Anderson, Miss P. Barton, Mrs. Garon. Mrs. Holm and Mrs. Walker. It was Mies Anderson who saved the match for Britain when she holed from nearly ten yards to beat Mrs. J. N. Cheney on the last green. Several of the players are well known in New Zealand. Soccer Ranking List. Following is a Home ranking list of English Soccer players for the 1937-38 season: — Goal: 1, Woodley (CheLeea) ; 2, Mapson (Sunderland) ; 3. Holdcroft (Preston). Right back: 1, Male (Arsenal); 2, Sproston (Leeds United) ; 3, Redwood (Manchester United), and Callaghan (Aston Villa) (tie). Left back: 1. Hapgocd (Arsenal).; 2, Beattie (Preston) ; 3, Harley (Liverpool). Right half: 1, Willingham (Huddersfield Town) ; 2, Shankly (Preston) ; 3, Crayston (Areonal). Centre half: 1, Smith (Preston); 2, Young (Huddersfield Town) ; 3, Cullis (Wolverhampton) and Vose (Manchester United) (tie). Left half: 1, Welch (Charlton); 2, Goslin (Bolton) ; 3, Soo (Stoke). Outside right: 1, Matthews (Stoke); 2. Nieuwenhuys (Liverpool) ; 3, Weinand (Huddersfield). Inside right: 1, Mutch (Preston); 2, Robinson (Sheffield Wednesday) ; 3, Hall (Tottenham) and Bowden (Newcastle) (tie). Centre forward: !. Dougal (Preston); 2, Broome (Acton Villa) ; 3, Fenton (Middlesbrough) and Lawton (Everton) (tie). Inside left: 1, Goulden (West Ham); 2, Doherty (Manchester City) ; 3, Starling (Aston Villa). Outcide left: 1. Bastin (Arsenal); 2, Hobbits (Charlton) ; 3, O’Donnell- (Preston). There are six Preston North End men in the lis-t. Smail wonder, then, that .Preston, winners of the Football Association Cup, are almost unanimously voted the team of the season. The English team which toured the Continent are mentioned in- the above ranking list, the eleven which met Germans’ and Switerland being :—-Woodley (Chelsea); Sproston (Leede). Hapgood (Arsenal): Willingham (Huddersfield). Young (Huddersfield), Welsh (Charlton): Matthews (Stoke). Robinson • (Sheffield- Wednesday), Broome (Arton Villa), Goulden (West Ham), B.astiu (Arsenal), For the match against France. Cullis (Wolverhampton Wanderers), replaced Welsh. Drake (Arsenal), replaced Robinson in the forwards.

Points Highest W. L. For Ag. Break Marshall (Aust.) 6 0 17,626 9,253 427 Kennerley (Eng.) Cleary (Aust.) Moses (N.Z.) 5 4 2 1 2 4 14,536 8,543 6,727 11.638 8.578 10,049 472 322 105 Begg (India) Albertson (N.Z.) 2 1 4 5 6,685 6.005 9,574 9,591 111 107 Burke (S. Africa) 1 5 5,993 7,425 119