BOWLING

Evening Star, Issue 19410, 19 November 1926, Page 13

BOWLING

[By Measoeer.] Hard luck again last Saturday. Halfway through a heavy shower stopped play in inierclnb games, moat of which were abandoned. The rain seems to have' been heavier on some greens than on others, and the followinig clubs completed their games:—Green Island woii a section and lost one against West Harbor; Leith won and lost against Port Chalmers; and St, Kilda won all four sections against St. Clair. Taieri won a section against Anderson’s Bay on the Bay green, but were. unable to come to a conclusion at Taieri in the other section. With the weather so unfavorable it is difficult to for rn an opinion as to the different clubs’ relative strength. St, Kilda players are shaping well for a start. Their win against St. Clair was decisive. A St. Kilda team which found the new green at St. Clair to its liking was, that skipped by J. D. Cameron, the score in his favor being 29 to Foster’s 7. On St. Kilda green Claridge, for the home side, sco *1 25 to Hancock’s 9. A. noticeable feature in this game was the phenomenal leading of P. Edwards for'St. Kilda. His opponent, though playing well, was completely overshadowed, tor Edwards was seldom more than a. foot,,away from kitty. Pope, third for Hancock, was in his best form.

The four-rink championship. games have started, and the interest in them is sustained. The good they do is arguable. For them is a strong case. The “ classy ” players have not a fair chance of getting together or in opposition in the ordinary interclub games. They are then, properly enough, distributed over the club’s average strength, and the more skilled the skip the weaker are his colleagues. But the four-rink contests give a chance for the best sixteen men of any club to show what they can do. This is one side of the argument. The other side is the absence ot agreement as to who are the best sixteen men. Much heart-burning occurs over this question, and the selector’s lot is made still more flint-like. However, the fact remains that the four-nnk competition is full of interest. On Monday evening several four-rink games were decided. Kaituna and Kaikorai met, and there was a really good go. T. Sanders (Kaituna) scored 13 to Morrison’s 13; J. Sanders (Kaituna) scored 15 to Masterton’s 13; and Shepperd (Kaituna) scored 12 to M‘Gregor’s 13. This was close going, but F. Smith (Kaituna) settled matters _ Inputting on 16 to Armit’s 9, and Kaituna won 55 to 48.

Green Island and St. Kilda was another close contest. There was good .play all through, but the Islanders generally had th© better of it. M’Curdy, for St. Kilda, did well by scoring 15 to Walker’s 8; but . for the Green Island side L. Miller led Brackenridge by 16 to 15, A. Smellie beat Stuart by 14 to 12, and Sloan scored 17 to Claridge’s 11. The Green Island men won by 55 to 53. Dunedin defeated Balmacewen by 7o to 62. Bennie’s rink was the only one up for Balmacewen. This was a specially meritorious victory, for tho opposing rink was a strong one led by E. Harraway, which went down by 14 to 9. The other results were (Dunedin names first) -Stewart 16, Buchan 15; Bentley 23, Lambeth 17; Hutchison 27, Malcolm 16.

Caledonian had by no means an easy victory over St. Clair on Wednesday evening. This is proved by the fact that with three heads to go St. Clair was only 3 down. A little luck at the proper time might easily have meant a win for them. The figures in this game were interesting. Each side had two rinks ahead and two down. For Caledonian, D. Scott had the big load of 26 to Seddon’s 7, and Isaac prevailed over Fastier by 17 to 8. In these two Caledonian rinks the strength lay in their consistency, each player doing his full share. Given this, any rink is hard to heat. The reverse side of the picture was the effort for St. Clair by Rodgerson’s and Dr Shore’s rinks. Here again it was the all-round work of tho players which enabled Rodgerson to score 22 to Foster’s 9, and Dr Shore 19 to Amtman’s 14. Tho doctor was in special good form. lam told that some of the St. Clair men “ chuffed ” at their own new green as being tricky. This trickiness is only what might have been expected; hut the Caledonian players gave the unspoken reply by gripping the green at onoe, and got the weight hatter than the St. Clair men.

Roslyn had to do its very best to defeat West Harbor. . As a matter of fact, the Harbor men were ahead' in two rinks and tied in another, and it was only the big lead that Campbell obtained over Veitch—23 to B—that gave the hill men a win on the total by 63 to 55. For West Harbor, Mullinger led Jones by 16 to 13, W. Connor was ahead by 15 to 14 against 0. Anderson, and Silver and A. Barnett were level with 13 each. So there was not much in it.

North-east Valley had a lead over Otago of a dozen points at the finish--66 to 64. For Valley, Tonkin had the substantial advantage of 20 to Watt’s 7, Strang scored 21 to Robson’s 12, and Marshal just bad the pull over Falconer by 15 to 14. . For Otago, C. Owen did his best to put down his old olubmates by chalking up 21 to Sneeston’s 10. Once again I have-bcen asked to state clearly the rule appertaining to . the laying of the mat for each Head in . a match game. There should be no mistake about it. The leader of the rink which has scored on the preceding head has the right to lay the mat for the next head. It is mistaken politeness for the other leader to do this for him. There is a possible advantage in laying the mat. If a short head has just been decided, and another short head is. desired, the winning leader has the right to lay the mat anywhere behind where the jack last lay with its front up to 20ft from the ditch, not more. An opposing lead might lay it 6ft from the ditch. The rule is clear enough. Section 3 of Rule 111. reads:— “ The winners of the head may place the mat in the centre of the rink between the point where the jack lay and the ditch, provided that the front of the mat shall not be more . than 20ft nor loss than 6ft from the ditch.” In ordinary friendly games it is a gracious thing to do for the losing lead to lay the mat for his opponent; in a competitive game it savors of impertinence. By favor of Mr Wm. Dali (of Dunedin Club), who has just returned from his usual winter holiday in Sydney. I have bad a look over the ‘ Bowling Carnival Souvenir ’ published in connection with the great Australian bowling carnival held in Sydney at the beginning of this year. It is a wonderful production of 235 pages, splendidly printed on art paper, full of views and photographs, the latter including portraits of Messrs H. F. M. Mercer and R. Hanning. The full history of bowls in Australia is set out, and the book should be in every bowler’s collection. ,

“Boomerang,” in the Sydney ‘Referee,’ is made to say: “ New Zealand will be pleased to learn that the premier duo, St. George, will not run a rink tournament at Easter on the twolife system.” Why should New Zealand be pleased at .this ? Perhaps it should have read “ will now run.” The same writer says that no fewer than twelve different 'clubs are.advertising competitions by electric light in Melbourne. They take the form of rink tournaments, and most of'the clubs run two in the season.

A recent issue of the Birkenhead ‘News,’ published in the North of England, gives particulars of the draw in a £I.OO handicap. The total’entries for this competition amounted to close on 3,500.

Parramatta Club (N.S.W.) has had only five, presidents _ during the fortyeight years.of its existence. Clubs forming the Victorian Bowling Association now number 153—69, in Melbourne and suburbs and 84 in the coun-