NEW ZEALAND BOWLING ASSOCIATION

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 11, 12 July 1912, Page 4

NEW ZEALAND BOWLING ASSOCIATION

■ -TO THE XDITOB. Sir,— Now that the principle of amalgamation. of the three New Zealand^ associations has been agreed upon, on the basis of a conference held in Christchurch in August, 1911, it behoves all bowlers who have the interests of the good old game at heart, to see that the articles of the proposed new association are based upon sound and sensible rules and conditions that are workable in both islands. Although it ie already possible to see "breakers ahead" of the proposal, I sincerely trust they will be skilfully navigated and the proposition successfully launched for the common good of Dominion* bowlers generally, yet at a meeting of the New Zealand Bowling Association Council, held in Dunedin on 25th June (see Otago Daily Times, 26th June, 1912), I noticed a very lengthy discussion took , plac«, re bowl testing. Several -motions were put and lost, although it was finally Tesolved that the suggestion of the Northern Bowling Association and the Auckland Provincial Bowling Association, re the table bowl test, be rejected and that the green bowl test be adhered to. Other matters re amalgamation were discussed, some agreed to, some rejected, but as bowl testing has come prominently under my notice during my travels in the North and South Islands, I feel it my duty to place a few facts before my bowlingbrethren, so that a little enlightenment might be of assistance to the northern centres. First : It will b« remembered when the proposed amalgamation was placed before the South • Island Centres,' the Dunedin -Centre voted against the. 1 proposal, and was only brought into line after it discovered that Canterbury and Southland favoured the proposal and outnumbered Dunedin in voting power. Second : It will be noticed that, aj; the Dunedin's Council's meeting, on 25th June, they were not unanimous re bowl testing. Some favoured the green test, while others favoured the table test, although the meeting eventually agreed to adhere to the principle of green testing for bowls. ' ./ „ V Third : Through" 'my own knowledge, by coming into contact with most reliable and experienced tournament players, in Christchurch, Dunedin, andInvercargill, who have played numbers of sets of bowls/ after being through the green testing machine, each and .a^l strongly condemn this method as unsatisfactory. They do not hold that th 6 table test is perfection — far from it — but contend that any surface that is open to climatic sudden "changes cannot be satisfactory. The principle adopted by the Dunedm testor, Mr. Scofct, in placing the bowl and running a heavy sandpaper roughly over part of the' crown surface, is distinctly contrary to the views of the world's manufacturers^, viz. , , Taylor, Laurie, and Jacques, who hold that the running surface of a bowl after leaving the makers' hands, should not be interfered with, as the removal of a coat of varnish will add 2 feet in 80 to the draw of a bowl. When in Dunedin some months ago, I went fully into the matter of bowl testing with a mechanical gentleman, who has given the much-debated question more consideration than any bowler in this Dominion, and he (Mr. William Dall, brother of the well-known Wellington i bowler), unhesitatingly condemned thepresent method of altering the bias of bowls. Another point the northern bowlers must bear in mind is, that the wide drawing test bowl of the .South would be almost unplayable in the North when the greens -are keen. I have placed only simple facts before our northern bowlers, so that t the .matter of "testing" might be thoroughly ventilated before amalgamation is finally arranged. — I am, etc., W. C. MARTIN. ' Christchurch, sth July, .1912..