BOWLING NOTES

Evening Post, Volume CXXIX, Issue 15, 18 January 1940, Page 18

BOWLING NOTES

(By "Kiwi.")

The games Jn the Centennial tournament are now nearing their closing stages, post-section play in the singles, pairs, and rinks being the order of the day. The bowling carnival has been a most interesting one, and it will be long remembered with pleasure by those fortunate enough to have taken part in it. There has been a wealth of incidents about which much could be written if space permitted. At the time of writing (Wednesday) the tourney had been continued with practically no interruption as regards weather, the only variation from this being when the heavy rain the previous evening prevented fours play on the Hutt Club's greens being commenced until after midday on Monday. The wind on Friday, the first day of the fours competition, caused play on occasion to be a matter of speculation, but players made the best of things. The writer happened to be in section I (Woburn, Hataitai, Thorndon, and Johnsonville), and a most friendly section it was. The greens in every case were good, the umpires tactful and helpful, and the morning and afternoon tea arrangements most satisfactory. ■ The umpire's job is a thankless one, particularly in such a large tournament as the present one, and those who undertake it get little praise. Critics, especially bankside critics, are quick to point out any apparent laxity or fault on the part of such unpaid and self-sacrificing officials, although the' said critics maybe have avoided undergoing the ordeal themselves when appealed to for assistance. When complaint was made at the Bowling Council's half-yearly, meeting by two or three councillors about umpires' shortcomings, Mr. M. J. Casey, the association president, made a spirited defence of those officials. The published reply to .such criticism by Mr. J. J. Roberts, chief umpire, pointed out, too, that players themselves were in duty bound to bring under notice certain breaches of the rules made affecting them, and that councillors also had a similar obligation cast on them. There are now bowling umpires^ associations in Auckland, Christchurch, and Dunedin, and action is being taken to form one in Wellington, and this no doubt will tend "to strengthen •• the status of umpires and bring about a uniform application of the laws of the game. The sensation of the tournament period was, of course, the blowing of the Wellington Bowling Club's safe. The intruders, however, got little for their pains. This was the third occasion in three months that the premises were bj^rgled.' . Most of the specially interesting games played have already been described in print, although some which j occurred on suburban greens may not have come under notice. For instance,; at Johnsonville on Tuesday, in section: I of the rinks, Dr. J. D. Marks (Christchurch) in the eighth round gamel; against. Roberts (Woburn) put up a' brilliant shot at! the turning point of! the game; which he required to wins arid eventually did so, to qualify as S six-games' ' holder "for post-sectional play. Woburn, on the forehand, had the shot on the boundary /line, the kitty lying six inches straight behind this bowl. Dr. Marks, with a beautiful draw, came round outside the kitty and moved it half an inch inside the boundary, with his bowl resting on it. ..■.;•■;■■■ --.■■,■ Then there was' the quaint tale of the field mouse and the bee. When McKelvie's 'Wellington Club fink was playing in the fourth round on Hatai? tai green against O'Connor (Newtown) a field mouse suddenly made its appearance on the space between McKelvie's game and the adjoining one. The frolicsome little creature then darted across the rink and made for the ditch, where McKelvie's lead caught and uplifted it by its tail and transferred it to a place of safety. The mouse certainly brought no good luck to the rink in question, for it got the' father of a hiding. At Johnsonville the same rink was playing its final section game on Tuesday. McKelvie's lead, on picking up his bowl, found that apparently: in the previous end it had run over a bee and killed it. for a portion of its body was adhering to the bowl. Here again dire disaster fell on the rink, for it got soundly beaten. That lead in future will keep clear of field mice and bees when playing. Two -kitties at least were broken in play during the tournament: W. R. Fleming (Taihape), playing in the pairs on Thorndon green, whilst driving, shattered a kitty into a thousand fragments. A. Burt (Westport), in rink play on the Wellington Club's lower green, broke a kitty, in half, and was giveii permission to retain the broken kitty as a memento of the occasion. . No self-respecting man will accept charity unless forced to do so through sheer necesstiy. Yet in bowls it is not unknown, even in the present tournament, for players who have suffered severely to allow the scoring card to be faked so that the adverse total may look more respectable. During the fours play this week two prominent skips from the same centre met and one was beaten very badly. Spectators who had closely watched the game and knew the exact state of things were therefore surprised to see that the registered score showed but a small difference between the two totals. A player should have backbone enough to allow his bad defeats to be publiclyknown, and be prepared to stand criticism from his fellows on his failures. The officials are-helpless in the matter; they - must accept the respective totals on the scoring cards handed in as correct, unless they are offered strong presumptive evidence to the contrary. ' Law 45 requires that in the event of a tie in a game and an extra end-or ends are required to be played,, the throw of the jack for the ensuing ,end shall be decided by the toss of a coin. This law, to the surprise of the spectators, was not observed when the1 semifinal game to find the green winner at one club was being played. The law should have been well known to the contestants, as they are experienced players. At the afternoon tea interval on the last day of section play in the fours on the Johnsonville Club's green, Mr. F. Jacobs (on behalf of the club president) conveyed the club's appreciation and pleasure, at the presence of the competing teams. The club valued the good opinion expressed by them about its green. He also thanked the umpires for their unselfish work. During the course of the fours game in the last round of section play on Tuesday, on Wellington lower green, between McKittrick (Hataitai) and Pilkinton (Pahiatua) three touchers rested on the jack, two belonging to one side, with a fourth half an. inch away. ■ The third of these resting touchers had had only room to press itself into position alongside those already there. As the measurers could not separate the lying touchers, the end was declared, a tie and the same totals were carried forward. Apropos resting bowls: A game was being played on an Australian green recently when each side had a bowl resting pn the jack. "Umpire" was loudly called, when out came Dan with his string arid gadgets. "Both touchin'," said Dan, and out they went. "Yes,',' said one of the contestants, "but mine was the closest"; and, believe it or not, he was serious. : Umpires don't argue, but the twinkle in Dan's eyes and the grin, on hig face showed what he thought.