Bowling

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 148, 19 December 1929, Page 33

Bowling

SENIOR PENNANT RESULT OF THIRD ROUND POSITION TO DATE ' ' (By Number Two.) Tcr Total wins Games. Wins. cent. Per cent. Kustbourne i 3 75 57.5 Xowtown S 7 57.5 81.23 Hiitiiltai 10 7 70 75 Upper Uutt 4 3 75 OS.7H Tliormlou 12 10 83.33 CB.7G Karon 10 3 50 65 Iliitt 10 3 r>o 50 Kelburn 12 1 55.33 SO Petone S 3 62.5 50 Wellington ..:... 16 7>,i 46.57 48.13 Island Bay 12 5 41.60 47.91 Jolmsonvillo .... 4 2 50 37.5 Victoria .-. 10 2 20 37.5 Central 10 3 30 32.5 Wobufn 4 1 25 31.23 Lyall" Bay 8 , 3 37.3 31.23 rilmmerton ..... 2 1 50 25 Seatoun 8 3 57.5 25 Kliandallah S 1 12.5 21.87 Owing to wet weather the second round was postponed. Owing to wet weather, the second round was postponed. Champion of Champions Rules. Some controversy has been going on in tho Thoriidou Club about the manner of selecting the rink to take part in the Centre Champion o£ Champions competition. The method which has been adopted is the selection of a rink which has to be beaten twice in succession by some other rink before it can be eliminated from further consideration. This has given rise to some' feeling, and the matter ivas brought up at Tuesday's meeting of the centre. Delegates generally took the view that the rules for the competition were fair enough, but the suggestion was made that it might have been preferable to makes two wins out of three games the deciding factor. With this view "Number Two" agrees. Under Thorndon's present system the selected rink, after winning one game, might come up against a weak team in the succeeding challenge mid have another win, but would still be able to go on its way rejoicing, even if it succumbed in the third game. To have to bo beaten twice in succession is a fairly safe position for an admittedly strong skip like Naylor to be in. Would it not have been better to have nominated half a dozen skips who could have selected thenown rinks and fought the tiling out between them? Another alternative Would have been to do as some other clubs have done—selected eight or nine strong rinks and conducted a competition to decide which fink should go forward fof the Champion of Chainpiong contest? The centre took no action in the matter, delegates being loth to interfere iv the domestic affairs of clubs, provided they select their rinks in a reasonably fan- way. "Number Two" is of the opinion that to gilai'd against such controversies in future tho centre should lay down definite conditions as to how rinks are to be found for the Champion of Champions competition. A Knotty Point. A correspondent asks: "If the kitty during the course of a head is shifted by the wind, what is the position? Should the kitty be replaced?" This is a query which does not appear to be provided for in the rules. If a bowl is blown over or blown away by a gust of wind, it is still alive unless it rolls outside the boundary ■of the rink, but it cannot be replaced iv the position in which, it originally lay. Many a "counter" has been lost in this way on greens exposed to violent winds. I'resumably what applies in the case of a bowl would similarly hold good in the case of the kitty. Rule Co says that "if the jack be interfered, with or displaced otherwise than. by. the effects of, play, it is burned," but rule 67 (b) lays it down that when the jack while at rest is burned by a neutral person ... it shall be replaced, provided both sides agree as to its (original position, otherwise the head shall be dead. It is difficult to see how a sudden gust of wind can be defined as a "neutral person," therefore rule 67 can scarcely apply. Rule 65 may consequently operate, in which case the head would be dead. But can a jack shifted by" the' wind be justly considered to have been displaced by the "effects of play"? The question is a real "poser." Rule 68 says that if a bowl be interfered with, or displaced other than by the effects of play, it is burned, but a bowl blown away by the wind is held to be alive if it remains in the rink. The problem is one which authorities on the rules must resolve. Barnett Tiki Match. A very ready response' was received to the request for names for the Barnett Tiki match with Christchurch in Christchurch on 10th January.. Enough entries were received to make up fourteen rinks, but as seven is the limit which could be selected the remainder will probably be accommodated in friendly games. The seven rinks which have been chosen should give a good account of themselves, but in any case all who go to Christchurch are sure of having a great time. Dominion Tournament. The entries for the Dominion tournament have closed, and can only be described as fair (says "Jack" in the "Otago Daily Times"). Some of our clubs have hardly done their duty in respect of the support accorded, but it may be that members found it difficult to obtain leave at tho playing period. The fact that only ten rinks are coming from the North Island should silence any future criticism about the support Otago gives to the tournament when it is held in the North. Auckland's defection is very marked, as three rinks from the centre with double the number of bowlers in Otago is a poor responsel Compared with 1926, when the tournament was last held in Duuedin, the entries show a big falling off,- and also when compared with it when held at Wellington lafct January. The following shows the disparity in each instance:— D'dn. D'dn. Wgtn. 1930 1926 1029 Singles ........ 168 256 264 Pairs 170 232 224 Kinks 90 134 130 The small entry will have, however, the advantage that players will be fairly sure of the games being played on the best greens, and therefore are likely to be i more enjoyable, and they should give rise !to some close and exciting play. Though diminished in quantity, judging by names of the competitors, the quality is quite up to the high level of this tournament, and though several well-known and popular players from the north will not be taking part, their absence is made up by others equally as good. It may be well to mention that all bowls prior to play in this tournament will be inspected to see they bear the recognised stamp of 1925 or later years, but this inspection will riot relieve players of their responsibility for seeing that their bowls are properly stamped. Any unstamped or obsolete bowl played will mean the losing of the game to the player or team. About the Rules. There is a tendency to read into the rules and regulations of sport too drastic a meaning. We should be, individually and collectively, not too ready to see the beam that is allegedly in the other fellow's eye, but be prepared to exercise some of the charity that is more or less contained in the malce-up of each one of us, writes "Boomerang" in the Sydney "Referee." Rules for the protection and dignity of sporting bodies are very necessary, but there is no sport in the world that approaches bowls for cleanliness in its personnel. Practically the whole of the evening was taken up at the monthly meeting of the New South Wales Bowling Association in an endeavour to interpret various rules affecting the game. That the law is an ass, ordinarily, we have no doubt, and it %vould seem that the laws governing bowls is a full-blooded relation. Thn bowls parliament of the Commonwealth, the A.B.C. to wit, makes the Jaws, but, unlike the civil parliaments, docs not appoint judges to interpret them. Hence, when any; intricate question 'comes

By "No. Two"

up it develops into anybody's fight, and all go in with their shillalaghs, metaphorically speaking. A letter had been read from the secretary of a leading club, asking for a ruling on the following points: A dead bowl had been left lying in the ditch, with which the kitty subsequently came into contact, after being struck.. It was stated that the "deceased" bowl prevented the kitty from running out of the rink. The second question raised was whether, in the event of a jack driven iv the course of play, it was dead or alive after having struck a mat left lying on the green, even though it would undoubtedly have gone out of bounds but for the obstruction. The third point was whether a jack was dead or alive after admittedly striking a bowl lying in the ditch, out of bounds, and running back into play, inside the outer peg. In the days of W. F. Corbett, "Jack High," to say nothing of years covered by myself, these questions have been answered time and again, and it is remarkable that it should be necessary for a body of delegates to' have to debate upon them. When John Scott gave what he considered a proper interpretation of the three (and in each case a correct one), the delegate for the Northern Rivers (Mr. B. Matthews) inquired: "Are those rulings going to be the law in future?" "Yes, I rule to that effect," answered the president. Regarding the answers to the various queries, it might be as well to repeat them, in case some similar happening may cause a riot at a future time, A dead bowl left in tho ditch is very often the cause of much trouble, and it is a simple operation to remove it. The jack striking such an object remains where it subsequently lies, as long as it is within the boundary pegs, and even though it rebounded back on to the green. There is no penalty for a side neglecting to remove' a dead bowl, although one would be useful. . . Similarly, if the jack strikes a mat left lying on the green, or over the ditch, the. jack is alive, as long as it remains within the boundary pegs. If it should strike a player, the rules provide for quite a different interpretation, certain options being available. The third point raised needs little comment. It matters' not what a kitty strikes, once it goes outside of the boundary pegs, it is dead, and there are no options. But this point must not be overlooked: If an opponent is struck, or allows himself to be struck, by accident or design, even though the kitty was ap-. parcntly going out of tioUnds, options can' be claimed. A Dry Green. Those of us who grumblo at our rainfall might consider tho other side of the situation, as stated in Sydney "Bowling Life": —Tho Godladong dam being dry, the local bowling club is hard put to it in its endeavour to keep the green "green." At present water is being purchased and carted to the green, and distributed over the playing area by means of a hand pump and spray. In the past the committee has mado an effort to strike water by means of boring adjacent to the green, but without success. - However, it is having another try, and is optimiatic regarding the chancos. Bowls in Britain. Mr. James Hartley, secretary of the Amateur Bowling League, at Preston, England, at the opening ceremony of a new green at Ashton-on-Ribble, had something to say about the growth of the game- in Great Britain: "During tho last decade- in Great Britain the game has gone ahead by leaps and bounds.' There ar enow over two million organised bowlers in this country, more- actual participants in the game than in any other British sport. This does not exclude either football or cricket, for, although you may get as many as 20,000 spectators at a football match, there are only twenty-two players on the field. In the game of bowla, although almost all its votaries take an active part, I am pleased to observe that we in Proston have shared in the general progress that tho game has made. We have now ten municipal greens, and more than twice that number of hotel and club greens. In Manchester there are- seventy municipal greens, and some sixty-four in Glasgow, and in both places those number are far exceeded by private and club greens."