SPORT IN BRITAIN

Evening Star, Issue 21622, 18 January 1934, Page 3

SPORT IN BRITAIN

[From Our English Correspondent.] - RUGBY. LONDON, December 6. The English selectors are now concerned witli picking the team for the first Rugby international. The trial at Birkenhead Park on Saturday suggests that a good “ shot ” was made by the selectors, for the England side beat the Possibles by 34 points to 8. The England side was mainly Composed of players from the South and South-west, while the possibles contained a largo sprinkling of Northerners. The play showed the English pack to bo a very powerful one. and it was this marked superiority that led to the somewhat one-sided nature of the game. For the next trial, which will be Probables v. Possibles, H. G. Owen-Smith, of Oxford University, has been selected to play at full-back for the former. As may bo imagined, this has aroused considerable controversy, he being a South African, wlio has already played cricket for that dominion. This question of qualification is a very important one, and many sportsmen cannot understand the attitude of English selectors, not only in football, but in other pastimes. It certainly does seem inconsistent that natives of India and Scotland should he playing in a cricket test match for England v. Australia. Apropos of this subject, the International Ice Hockey Federation has recently decreed that qualification to represent q country shall be birth or five years’ residence. This will certainly “ shake up ” the English selectors, for we have seen ice hockey teams labelled “England” almost entirely composed of Canadians. The field of selection in England is a wide one, and if victory in test matches on the football, cricket, and hockey fields cannot be gained by natives the opposite result should he accepted. Surely it can be little honour to win by the aid of men from other countries. Some of the Rugby club matches on Saturday produced very interesting football. Although Gloucester were minus five of its regular team, the West of England city triumphed over Blackheath by 8 points to .3. The losers were alrf) handicapped in being without Novis, who was also playing in the trial match. SOCCER. Austria is making big strides in the Soccer game. First Vienna met Arsenal at Highbury this week and gave a fine display of. the short passing game. Though Arsenal led by two clear goals at half-time, the visitors responded well and scored twice after resuming. Assenal also got two more, Bastin making victory safe near the end. The Arsenal team is shaping well to again win the League championship. Over 50,000 people saw the team defeat its Liverpool visitors on Saturday by the odd goal in three. Alex. James was back in the home, team, and his clever passes had a lot to do with the success. The visit of Tottenham Hotspur to Manchester City provided the keen struggle, anticipated. The home team opened with great dash and also kept up the pace. Some critics thought Tothenham a ■ bit . unfortunate, but the City really deserved to win by 2 goals to 0. This was all the more creditable because both the centre forward and centre half were absent. Derby County is a team going well. A success over its visitors from Wolverhampton by ,3 goals to 1 on Saturday has brought the “ Peakites ” within a point of Tottenham, and that with a niateh in hand. BOXING. Len Harvey had scarcely won the heavy-weight boxing championship when he was assailed with challenges. The Cornishman does not waste words, and he says he will meet the challenger the public most desires to see in the ring. Harvey also suggests that he is entitled to »' month’s rest, which is a moderate “ easy ” to the periods _ demanded by some on winning a title. In all likelihood Larry Gains and Harvey will meet for the Empire, heavyweight title. This is hardly a good match for Harvey, for he is little more than a good middle-weight. What his match against Petersen revealed is that the Welshman is hot the heavy-weight hope many of his admirers thought. He is nbt heavy enough, and unless he can acquire the speed and timing which made George Carpentier’s punches so deadly he will not advance far as a heavy-weight. An interesting week-end had Archie Sexton, of London, and Eddie Pierce, of South Africa, as rivals. They met at the Blacklists Ring, and Pierce proved himself a very hard puncher. He has been likened to Joe Grimes, being a man of colour. Sexton .was down for a . long count in the fifth round, and Pierce won easily on points. Another of the Crystal Palace novice competitions is now in progress. Two of the young aspirants in D. Lee. of Yelverton, and Johnnie Rice, of London, made a very favourable impression. The former won a public schools boxing championship when at Blundells School, and he had been successful in his six competitions as a professional. In the competition under notice it only took him 30sec to knock out his rival in the opening series. Rice, a member of a well-known boxing family, also won his bout with a knock-out in the opening round. Apart from the novices there was an interesting contest of twelve rounds in which Jack London, of Hartlepool, beat Seaman Rowles on points. . ' . . v ATHLETICS. Cross-country running flourishes very strongly in the Birmingham district, upwards of 250 athletes turning out for the Everill Cup race on Saturday at Sutton-in-Ashfield. The race was over a five-mile course, and confined to men who had not won a race above one mile. G. Edwards, of Smethwick, finished a good winner in 32min 22sec. His club also won the team honours from the famous Bircbfield Harriers. Another race for juniors was held at Horsham, where the Sussex County Association brought off its junior championship. Individual honours went to S. G. Scarsbrook, who covered the fivemile course in exactly 33min. The team race (four to score) was won by the

Worthing Harriers, with Bexhill second. and Brighton and County third. The London University appears to have a very strong cross-country team, which' has won all its engagements this season. The latest success was against the Orion Harriers on Saturday, though it was only bv the narrow margin of 26 points to 29.' C. S. Edgington and _J. E.' Stephenson, of the winning team, finished together, covering the seven and a-half miles course in 44min. Another important interclub race was run at Hayes, in Kent, where the United Hospitals team beat a Blackheath Hamers’ team by 27 points to 36. YARIA. Tom Newman is trying to concede Tom Reece 10,000 points’ start in a two weeks’ billiard match. At the halfway stage on Saturday he . was still 5,125 points in arrears, in spite df two splendid breaks of 669 and 676. R. Fawcett, a well-known steeplechase jockey, was killed in a motoring accident when returning from the Haydock Park race meeting a few days ago. After serving in the war he took .up steeplechase riding as an amateur and joined the professional ranks in 1922. Since then he has met with many successes, and was very popular with his brother jockeys. Colombo has been given top weight in the Free Handicap and this splendid colt certainly stands first among the two-year-olds of this year. The English ice hockey team made an excellent fight of it when meeting the Ottawa Shamrocks at Hammersmith this week. It was only the end that the Ottawa team established a winning lead, finally prevailing by 4 goals to 3. The Cambridge University golfers put up quite a good show when meeting the Nineteenth Club in a series of foursome matches at Berkharapsted on Saturday. The victory finally went to the latter team by 9} to 6f. In the top match R. W. Hartley and H. G. Bentley defeated P, B. M. Wallace and W. E. Carrd.by. 3 and 1. Til ere is no champion of the secondclass cricket counties this year. A mistake was made iu calculating the table Yorkshire 11. being awarded too many points, and the match between that team and Norfolk has been ignored, and “ No contest ’’ called for 1933. It is clear that India has some great batsmen. J, Havewalla is the latest to distinguish himself, and his not ’ out innings of 453 in minor cricket is a record for India. Don Bradman’s not out innings of 452 is the record for first-class cricket. At the Newmarket sales this week Miss Paget bought Dorigen, winner of the Lincolnshire, for 6,600 guineas*