SPORT IN BRITAIN

Evening Star, Issue 21544, 17 October 1933, Page 13

SPORT IN BRITAIN

[Fkom Oun Ekgush Correspondent.] LONDON, August 29. FOOTBALL AGAIN. The Association football season opened in England last Saturday, when a blazing sun made tlio renditions more suitable for a sun bath at the seaside than playing; and watching a hard game. In spite or the unsuitable conditions, great crowds attended the big fixtures, and the popularity of the dribbling code is undeniable. Arsenal opened very badly. As League champions, the Highbury Club claim wide support, and, with plenty of money available, a team of all the talents is possible. It is just as well, because .James and Hulme, two of the star players in the Arsenal ranks, were crocked during the match against Birmingham, .lames wrenched an ankle dining one of his swerves, and he will be kept out of the team for some time. How badly Hume was hurt remains to bo seen, but if he is also on the shelf for any length of time Arsenal will be sorely handicapped. The Birmingham men made full use of the opportunities, and shared the honours, Bradford's goal off-setting the one scored by Jack for the, Arsenal team. There were fifty thousand spectators at Highbury, another illustration that London has taken well to Soccer. One of the big shocks on Saturday was tho defeat of Aston Villa when at home to Leicester City. Tho Aston Villa scoring machine is not yet working smoothly, so that tho visitors were able to score three goals to tho brace put on by the homo side. One, of the biggest "gates" was at Newcastle, where 55,000 people saw the home team draw against Portsmouth, each scoring twice. Generally speaking, it was a day when visiting "teams did well; another example of this heing tho success of Sheffield Wednesday when playing Manchester City, the Yorkshire Club prevailing by tho odd goal in five. 'The famous Tottenham Hotspur signalled their reappearance in tho first division of tho league by sharing the honours in a non-scoring match at Sheffield United. Even better was their effort when visiting Wolverhampton Wanderers on Monday, victory resting with tho " Spurs " by four goals to nil, a most impressive performance. Aston Villa also showed improved form when visiting Sheffield Wednesday on Monday, taking the honours by 2 goals to 1. NOTABLE CRICKET. Continued good batting by Mead has led to the Hampshire veteran passing Hammond in tho batting average list. He had scored 2,556 runs when last week's matches ended, his average being G 9.08. Hammond's figures read 66.88, whilst Ames has dropped hack, with 58.41. Headley, the star batsman in tho visiting West Indian team, is well to the fore, with an average of 66.46. C. F. Walters, tho new Worcestershire star, has improved his position, and with an average of 50.69 ho ranks seventh among English batsmen and as tho first amateur, just in front of It. E. S. Wyatt. Either is good enough batsman to claim recognition in an all England eleven. Verity is well on tho road to his two hundredth victim, his record being 174 wickets, average 11.43. Freeman will soon be past the 250 mark, ho having taken 239 at an average cost of 14.85, a great feat for the Kent veteran. HUMBLING YORKSHIRE. Yorkshire again stands out as tho champion county, but Sussex can well remember tho two matches against tho northerners this season. It was the Sussex team which inflicted the first defeat on Yorkshire, and Kent followed tho example. In the return with Sussex, which was played at Brighton, the Yorkshire men were very keen to square matters. Tho homo side had other views, and the bowling and fielding was so accurate that the Yorkshire first innings only yielded 125 runs. Five bowlers had a hand in this, Jas. Langridge taking threo wickets for 24 runs and Bowley three for 17. Sussex responded with 249, and with such a batting side Yorkshire had hopes of pulling the game round. Again, however, tho Sussex bowlers proved too good, largely on account of the variety of the bowh'ng. Langridgo again did well, getting three wickets for 14, whilst Pearce was very securing five wickets for 34 runs. With the total stopping at 111, tho Sussex men won with an innings to spare. Some sensational bowling was seen in tho Hampshire v. Gloster match at Bournemouth. The home side could only total 93 in the second innings, Goddard taking ton wickets for 64 runs. The Gloucestershire batting was also good, Barnett (131) and G. W. Parker (111) being prominent, GOLF. The future of amateur golf in Britain looks brighter to-day than at any previous tiirfe. Some of the famous stalwarts are dropping out, notably Sir E. Holdenhurst und Roger Wethered, whilst Cyril Tolley cannot be expected to " hold tho forte " much longer. As an offset to this Scotland has an amateur in J. M'Lean, who may reach great heights. Walter Hagen thinks very highly of this young Scott of twenty-two, as well lie may. When they tried conclusions at Hays ton tho Scott was seven up on Hagen in the first round, M'Lcan's score being 07. llagen's wonderful fighting qualities enabled him to wipe- out his rival's advantage during the second round, and ho finally prevailed by 2 and 1. The great American player was very pleasod with M'Lean's golf, and if plans do not go wrong it is quite possible the young Scott will go on tour in the United States, taking part in flomo of the big tournaments, which are such a feature of the game in Florida and California. Hagen strongly advises M'Lean to embark on this with a view to his gaining experience to put him right in the front line. M'Lean will have a further chance to prove his ability when the annual international matches are decided shortly, when he will bo opposed by the leading amateurs of England, Wales, and Ireland A PROMISING YOUTH. The youths' championship at Carnoustie this week also showed how well Britain is off for young talent. There was a fairly strong foreign challenge", the United States, France, and Germany being concerned. All the visitors did well, but eventually went out, <uul when thb last eight players were known Scotland had seven representatives left to one Englishman. This pointed to still another Scottish success, but P. 13. Lucas, tho solitary English survivor, proved equal to his task. Ho met W. A. M'Laehlan in the thirty-six holes'final, when the home youth putted so wonderfully in the morning round that they went in to lunch all square. Lucas showed his superior form in the afternoon, and he made a big impression among the critical gallery following. He finally won by 4 and 3, and during the afternoon played golf of tho highest quality. Ho is a left-hander

and tho first of that character to win the event. Ho is captain of both tho Rugby anil cricket teams at Stowe School, and therefore stands out as a line all-round player. ATHLETICS. The Middlesex championships at Ponders End provided good sport at the week-end. It was a misfortune that illness prevented J. V. Powell defending his title in the 440yds, and this British representative in tho 800 metres race at the last Olympic Games has had an unfortunate season. In his absence J. A. Cooper scored a double, running well to win both tho 440yds and 880yds events. D. G. Luxtoii, of Enfield, managed to retain his title in the furlong, his time being .22 2-.ssec. Perhaps tho most impressive win of tho afternoon was that of B. C. Eccles, of Southgate, in tho “ mile.” He set up a new county record when winning in 4min 25aec. and, being a newcomer, this performance suggests something better still next season. The high jump of Cft lin by J. F. Mitchio was also a new record for the Middlesex County championships. CYCLING. A team of English cyclists rather surprised a crack Italian team of amateurs at Herne Hill on Saturday. In a series of four matches the home men won three and shared the honours of tho fourth. The tests were at 550yds, 1,000 metres time trials, a four-lap pursuit race, and a twenty-lap team event. It was in the last that the points were equal, but in the. whole scries England won with 37 points to 32 by Italy. Another notable event at the fixture was a live-mile point to point race, which W. Marvel, of Poole, won. It may he recalled that lie was one of Britain’s representatives at tho last Olympic Games. Dr P, D. Callaghan, the Olympic Games hammer-throwing champion of 1928 and 1932. had a very successful afternoon at Dublin last Saturday. In the interprovince championships ho scored three wins, taking the shot putt, the discus throw, and the hammer throw. His 177 ft in the latter was his best effort. As ho also got second in the long jump, the big Irishman had a successful outing. J. S. Doyle’s mile in 4min 24sec and J. J, O’Connor’s Itmiu 47sec in. the three miles shows that Ireland is well off for athletic talent.