BOWLING

Evening Star, Issue 15909, 15 September 1915, Page 2

BOWLING

[By Mhasobbb.] "J.J.S.J."—Report,must have been mislaid- Any information re club' matters welcome. The lovely weather we have been experiencing of late is creating a feeling of unrest in the minds of bowlers. They are beginning to wonder if it is wise to have a definite, fixed period for beginning the game, and to miss such opportunities as have presented themselves these past few weeks; This feeling grew so strong with the St. Clair men that they were tempted (I am informed) to have a roll up last Saturday, and they found the green quite decent. The majority of the greens are looking Al, and as far as can be seen the coming "Seasbn should be successful in every way. Morhmgton Club's social last week (given by Mr W. Neill, president) was quite a success. The club are strong in entertainment talent, and the programme was much enjoyed. The club have a ladies' champion, now—Mts J. Kennedy. A sale of work in aid of the. funds is to be held next Friday and Saturday evenings. Mornington Green is reported to be in fine condition, and the present intension is to start play on the first Saturday in October.

The Centre Executive, at their meeting on Monday night, set? aside the second •Saturday in January for an elderly bowlers' match. This gives official patronage to the excellent idea introduced by Dunedin Club last year (mainly by Mr Mercer's efforts), and is likely to become a permanent fixture.

About a dozen members of St. Hilda Club went to Green Island last night, and were well defeated in a billiards contest. A merry evening was spent. Australian bowling clubs are making great efforts in the way of providing funds for wounded soldiers. New South Wales alone aims at a total of £10,000! This seems possible, as some items will show Ashfield Club £603, Balmain £3o2,>Marnckville £367, Parramatta£6oo, Hamilton £l5O, Randwick £750, Warringah £SOO. And there are many other clubs to send in yet. It may be remembered that some time ago in this column it was suggested that it would improve the game if a paid coach were appointed by the Centre or a number of clubs. The necessity for coaching is also urged by the Sydney 'Referee' writer, as follows.:—"There a're a number of young players—and old, too, for the matter of that—who. prefer the spectacular drive to the more useful promote or trail, but it does not help their side to win matches. This brings us back again to the absence of any attempt to coach young players or correct the mistakes of those who have taken up the game. In one rink on Saturday was a player who was using very big drawing bowls, and managing them very well. I asked him how long he had been playing. ' This is my third season. I used to play a little at King's Park, Perth,' he said. Hooked at the card—Aaronson. He was after my time, but the opposing skipper said to me afterwards : ' That Aaronson plays a fine game.' Yet the only shots the new member attempted were a dead draw and a yard on; but in the West they coach the young players in these shots, and Aaronson is ample evidence of the value of such coaching. It is principally* because there is no attempt made here to give the new players a right start, together with the dreadful mistakes in training that accrue from the system of pairs play, and the almost entire absence of directions, that the game is making no progress." W. H. Austin has just won the Singles Championship of Queensland. Despite threat of referendums, the Australian system of compelling players to keep both feet on the mat, which was adopted by the Dominion Association amidst much protest from certain sections of New Zealand bowlers, seems a reform that is becoming appreciated in New Zealand (says Sydney 'Referee'). At the annual meeting of the influential Dunedin Centre it was agreed, on the motion of Mr Hade, that it be a recommendation to the association that the rule in regard to having both feet on the mat be put strictly in force in all games. The game is played in parts far away, and in countries outside the Empire. Mr Walter Denyer, an Australian, has been telling his friends of games in distant lands. At Suma, in Japan, he played with three other Australians on a private green 150 ft square, sown with bamboo grass and without ditches. At Shanghai he found a lovely green, perfect in every respect, crowded with enthusiastic bowlers. Mr Denyer says Australians have a fait to learn from the Shanghaians in the matter of laying out their sports grounds. The bowling green was but part of a general scheme. An area has' been reserved for sports, and there may be seen three cricket grounds, in addition to separate ovals for football, baseball, lawn tennis, polo, and racecourses, each with its own pavilion and conveniences.

A sober estimate of the number of devoA n e nno° f , h °Z h I ° n l a Saturd ay would be 60,000 for England, and when the season is in full swing (writes a correspondent of the Glasgow ' Herald') double that number; while Scotland has 50,000, and Wales and Ireland a contingent of 5,000. Literary men, though they can' sometimes lav themselves beside the "jack," are not always to be looked to for a true description of the ideal green. Douglas Jerrold, writing from Putney inviting Dickens to a cut ot Jamb and a game of bowls, eulogised his turf m terms which the expert would reprobate: "Our turf is coming up so velvety I intend to have a waistcoat sliced trom it trimmed with daisies."