BOWLING

Evening Star, Issue 16033, 9 February 1916, Page 2

BOWLING

[By Meastoeb.} ' hi the early morning of Saturday last it seemed that there must be a postponement of the interclub fixtures, but the weather cleared, and all engagements were got through comfortably. It has been a very fine season so far. There were no very, startling results. Dunedin Club seem to be getting a firmer grip of the champion banner as the weeks go by, winning the majority of their games. On Saturday they got away with two out of three from Cavorsham, who are now patting some strong rinks into tho field; and they were victors in one event against Port Chalmers and drew in the other. The Port men have had to default once or twice’this season—pressure of work prevents them keeping their engagements regularly—but they gave Dunedin a good go last week. Kaikorai snook Roslyn up by. winning two of three games, Which shows that the younger club are coming along nicely. Fairfield were back to form, and’Balmacewen did not have a look in with them. The latter had a win and a loss against Green Island. Otago, who do not seem to be going quite as strong as at the beginning, only won a single event against Kaituna. Wakari scored a good win against St. Kilda. The latter defeated Mornington, and got home in two of three against North-east Valley. Caledonian had a. win and loss against Taieri, and won easily from Outram. The second round of the Holmes Feathers is proceeding merrily, and every .now and then a fancied rink gets a great surprise. The sectional system adopted this season makes for greater interest in the competition. A record worth mentioning stands to the credit of a rink skipped by E. Harraway. For the Mercer Gold Stars, a challenge rink contest. Harraway has competed 24 times during the past three seasons, and he has won on 23 Occasions! He has had' the same men with him for the last 18 games, the full team being J. Smith, H. H. S. White, H. Williams, E. Harraway (s). Caledonian Club are making good progress with their ties. In the champion singles (two-life system) those who have not yet lost a game are D. Cormack, W. Foster, C. Tillie, and J. Scott. In the doubles Foster meets the winner of J. Scott and D. Smith; in the handicap singles Foster meets A. Walker in the semifinal. Foster is much in evidence. The Final of the rinks contest was decided last Ahlu'ay night, when J. Offen, W. Latham, ■J. Keddington, and C. Tillie, (s) 24 defeated C. Latham, W. Hendry, W. Henighan, and D. Scott (s) 14. _ The game was a good one, but the winning team had the better of it all through. The last few heads were played in a "bad light, and it seems a pity that arrangements cannot be made for a- real contest under proper conditions.

Dunedin Club are also well on. The actual winner of the handicap singles has been found in J. Logan, a player of promise, likely to become prominent by and by, when bowling is his only outdoor exercise. The singles champion is W. M. Hogg, wdio had to fight hard for his position. Ho met H. C. Foster in the final game, and 50 heads were played before the necessary 21 ooints were obThe score was. 20 all, and Foster, with his last bowl, just failed to remove the shot against him. In the game before Hogg had a hard tussle with E, Harraway, whom he defeated by 2 points after playing 29 heads; and before that again A. Black, jnn., put up a great fight, being beaten by a couple after 28 heads. Hogg deserved bis win. as he has been consistently well all the season. The rink final lies between teams led by H. C. Foster and A. Black, jun. Williamson and Grant won the doubles, defeating Grindley and Swift in the last game. Several of the St. Hilda Club events are also nearing their end, though none is actually finished. The championship singles, played on the two-life system, is well advanced. A. Cooper is the only one who has not lost a life. The rinks final will be between the teams led by J. White and A. Morrison. The doubles final lies between W. Fail and J. White (s) and A. E. Fish and D. M. Stuart (s). One of the jokes on the Queenstown Green this year is the fate of a trio who made a good fight up to the 19th head, the score at that stage being 15 all, and then got outed by 50 to 15. The other three—Manson, M'Kinnon, and Stevenson all from the South—put on a 7 and followed it up with an S. The ‘Evening Star’ Club added another notch to their belt when on Monday evening they defeated handily Speight and Co., old and friendly opponents of theirs. The game was much enjoyed, and talk of a return match is indulged in. Caledonian Green was the scene of the encounter, and all parties are indebted to the Caledonian Club for their courtesy in this respect. Gales, have a name for genuine hospitality.

Though Christchurch Centre have tried several systems to popularise interclub play, .still dissatisfaction is expressed. I would recommend them a careful study of our system, feeling sure that good results would follow. The Christchurch ‘ Sun ’ writer says:—■“ The merit of the interclub competition on its present lines does not seem to bp outstanding. There is something lacking, and until more of the competitive idea is introduced it is not likely to be_a success. The problem of-devising a satisfactory scheme lias been exercising the centre for some seasons now, and probably the executive will give it further consideration in tne light of this season’s experience.” _ “Until more of the competitive idea is introduced ” sums the thing up. Whatever attitude some clubs may take, the general idea is for competition, and the best system of regulating competitions should be our aim.

One of those visits which are always welcome (there should be more of them made and returned) was paid last week by three rinks from Lawrence Club, who met Dunedin on the latter’s green. With that persistency peculiar to them, the local men won the match. They were down in two rinks by 6 and 2, but'M‘Laren’s team got a 10-point lead, and the Lawrence men were defeated by a couple—66 to 64. The following suggestion has been made by a correspondent to “Jack,” of Christchurch ‘News,’ and as all new ideas are worth consideration, if not adoption, I pass it on:—“ Something should be done with a view to a change being made in the method of play. The present arrangement is that the leads on the start of a game toss a coin, and as a rule the winner orders the loser to start the pkv. It is generally understood that this is* done so as allow the last bowl to be played by his side. But there is another view to bo taken. It is well known that some rinks prefer short heads, whilst others prefer long heads. The winning rink usually adhere to their favorite length, only altering it when the other side get the throw. The suggestion is that this method is wrong, and a more equitable system would be for the lead to be taken alternately, quite independent of which side Scored the bead.”

The actual profit realised for the patriotic funds by the'recent tournament at Christchurch was £219 9s 9d, which is certainly very good, even though heroic measures had to be resorted to to raise it. The howlers of tho Dominion are not backward when duty calls. Indoor bowls on an extended scale is played at the Alexandra Palace, North London, where two full-sized rinks are laid—i.e., felt over the floor, and ordinary cocoanut matting spread over that and maintained taut.