N.S.W. TENNIS TEAM

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 142, 13 December 1923, Page 11

N.S.W. TENNIS TEAM

THE CANTERBURY PROTEST

REPLY FROM ASSOCIATION.

A reply Has been made in Wellington by Mr. M. E. Dennistpn, chairman of the executive of the New Zealand Tennis Association, to the telegram which was published n "The Pest" yesterday from Christchurch criticising the itinerary of the visiting team. The Christchurch president stated that the local association thought the itinerary the most absurd thing ever drawn up. Mr. Denniston said the executive had the matter before it some days ago, and Christchurch was given full reasons for the itinerary. It was the custom in international tennis to play interstate matches before the local championships. The committee wai largely influenced in its decision by the fact that the Australian team in Auckland in 1920 was very plain in its statement that it did not feel it reasonable to play an inter-State match after a hard championship as wai dons on that occasion, and the. committea was bearing this point of view. Regarding seeding, it was well known in Canterbury and elsewhere that the draw in the New Zealand championships would be seeded, which meant that six of the visiting players and six leading New Zealand players would : not -.i be called upon to play hard matches' iri.ihe first two rounds of the championships. The management had mo intention of delaying the tournament until the Test match was completed.- Some players did not have sufficient time at their disposal. The executive had endeavoured to look at the position from a New Zealand standpoint, while Canterbury was parochial. The alternative offered by Canterbury meant that the Visitors would travel from Wanganui to Dunedin in two consecutive days," playing the day after arrival in Dunedin on hard courts, to which they were not aocustomed. and then return to Christchurch to play on grass courts for five days in the championship, two days in the Test match, and two days against Canterbury. The management committee did not think this a reasonable request to make of the visitors, as it considered the members were human, and not machines. As guests of the association, it was not reasonable to expect them to indulge in such hard travelling and such strenuous tennis, apart from the fact that it would be manifestly unfair to expect the team to play in a championship match with very . littl* practice on grass courts after coming off hard courts. In the past, Otago h.Rtl been most reasonable, and the association had succeeded in ita endeavour to give them a Saturday with a day's rest for the visitors before they left, which, under Canterbury's itinerary, would have been impossible. The chairman of the Match Committee at Christchurch was reported to have said that he thought the itinerary the most absurd thing ever drawn up. That , was not the' view held by the affiliatea associations, as they had practically unanimously approved of the dates and places as arranged by the Management Committee. The fact that Canterbury, in addition to the matches already arranged, would probably have one, if not two, Anthony Wilding memorial mat ches should, Mr. Denniston concluded, recompense them for the loss of a match against the visitors.