BOWLING NOTES

Evening Star, Issue 22577, 19 February 1937, Page 4

BOWLING NOTES

[By Draw.]

Club secretaries, or those in charge of the social activities of their clubs, aro invited to send along notices m reference to any club events. Inquiries relating to the rules of the game will be welcomed Correspondence addressed to “ Draw ” must reach this office not later than noon on Tuesday each week. Fixtures. March 6.—Leads and seconds’ tourney (commences). , March 6.—Otago v. Southland (Harraway Shield), at Dunedin. March 6 and 8.— Champion of champions singles. March 11. Dunedin v. Central Otago, at Dunedin. March 13.—Adess Shield, rink chamPl Maroh rT—Dunedin v. South Otago Centre, at Balclutha. March 13.— Dunedin v. North Otago, at Dunedin. . , , , , , March 13.—Finals leads and seconds, at Dunedin. _ March 20—Otago v. Canterbury (Bedpath Shield), at Christchurch. March 25 to 30.—Easter tourney, Dunedin Centre. Questions and Answers. “ Single ” asks has a lead the right to replace the mat after his opponent has failed to throw the jack properly ? If lead A should fail to throw the jack according to the rules of the game lead B (his opponent) has all the privileges at his disposal that were available for lead A to use, and B may shift, the mat to any position defined by the laws of the game. No lead may place the mat more than 20ft up the green or less than 6ft from the ditch, nor may he place it.further up the green than where the jack lay at the conelusion of the last head. Of course, if B should fail to carry out his throw according to the rules all the privileges would again revert to A. Your second question is one entirely for your club to decide, so I will not comment on it. Many thanks, however, for your good wishes. • ■ , “ Test Player.”—The mterpro.vmcial match Otago v. Southland will be played at Dunedin on Saturday, March 6 and Otago v. Canterbury at Christchurch on March 20. Any player in any centre in the Otago district has the right of being nominated for a place. The selectors are Messrs b. Oeveroux, W. Connor, J. J. Read, and W. T. Henaghan. Adess Shield Competition. Owing to Anniversary Day falling in Easter week, the centre found it necessary this year to arrange the first three rounds of this competition by evening play. A start was made with the first round on Monday, four games being played) at Kaituha and three games at the Caledonian, the rest or the clubs having byes . Balmacewen defeated Taieri, hairfield defeated Opoho, Caversham defeated Kaituna, Kaikoxai defeated West Harbour, Anderson’s Bay defeated St. Clair, Tainui defeated Mornington, Dunedin defeated 1 ort Chalmers. , . Next Monday the second round will be played, and the following teams will meet:— Otago v. Green Island, Logan Park v. St. Kilda, Balmacewen v. Anderson’s Bay,. Fairfield) v. Tamm, Caversham v. Dunedin; Kaikorai, v. Leith, North-east Valley r. Caledonian, Outram -v. Roslyn, The third round will be played the following week, and at the conclusion of it four clubs will remain, and the two gamee necessary to complete the competition will be • played on the afternoon, of Saturday, March 13. It was most unfortunate that last Monday evening was so unsuitable for bowls; rain showers had! fallen during the day, and it was thoright by many who were interested in the games that they would be put off until the Wednesday evening. However, the Match Committee decided to carry on, and though rain fell just prior to the start of the games, a few , minutes after 5 o’clock, there was. practically ho rain during) the two and a-half hours of play,. Both the Kaituna and Caledonian greens were in excellent order, hut the damp .conditions and a gusty high wind made) play very difficult, at times. The .writer is of the opinion that a competition such as the Adess rink championship should only_ be played under favourable conditions.. The season has been a very broken one, and perhaps after all the Match Committee thought it would be unwise to postpone any of the games unless forced to do so. by exceptionally bad) weather. Saturday Competition. February 20 and 27 are' the only dates available for this competition.: At the present time Logan Park lead the field) with a total of 84 points, closely followed by West Harbour with 78, and'it looks as if these two clubs will fight out the finish for first place. Notes, The foot on the mat rule is still being broken by many players, and ; it was remarkable the number who offended in the Adess Shield games.’ Why players- who - should know better persist in breaking this yule is beyond the writer’s comprehension. • • The Wellington Centre is apparently going to enforce the question of bowling clothes on the green during tournaments. ■ It has decided to draw attention on posters that the rule in reference to bowling dress will in the future

be strictly enforced. White or grey flannels may be worn. One-day tourneys are quite a feature in the North island, but down this way they are seldom thought of. The St. Kilda Club was, I think, the last club in this centre to hold one. Why they should not be more popular in this district is hard to understand. The New Zealand Bowling Association has under consideration a revision of the rules of the game, as well as the revision of the constitution. Our rules are not so bad at present, but the constitution does honestly require some amendment or reconstruction. This, however, is a matter for the majority of the bowlers of the Dominion to decide. The question of the way of running our New Zealand championships is a matter that does require some serious consideration. There is a movement on foot in Invercargill to try and establish another green, this time in the vicinity of llugby Park, and it is possible that before another year passes something in this direction will have been accomplished. “Jack High,” in the ‘Southland Times,’ makes reference to the fact that the South Otago Centre received 68 entries for its rinks tourney, which was held last Saturday. This writer draws attention to the fact that the Southland tourney drew only 42 entries (a record), whereas South Otago received 26 more. This is easily explained. The Dunedin Centre does not hold any matches on the day arranged for the South Otago tourney, and consequently there is plenty of freedom offered to the Dunedin Centre players to take part, and the figures prove that this centre does avail itself of the opportunity of a trip into the southern part of Otago. Southland players also assist the South Otago Centre in this respect, but our Southland friends should remember that the South Otago tourney is just a “ oneday one.” Speaking of the South Otago tourney reminds me that more than one competitor at that tourney said that the playing of bowls on water-logged greens is not quite a fair deal. It can easily bo understood that the _ South Otago executive was keen to give the visitors a game. But a game without enjoyment is a thing not worth having. . A note from the Invercargill district states that a minor sensation was caused on the North End green when the supervisor challenged untested bowls. All players, have had sufficient notice about bowls being tested and having the proper engravings on the discs, but remarkable to relate we find still a few players who turn up to take part in important matches with howls that are not properly engraved and in some cases not carrying the proper test stamp. Why players who do most things correctly tolerate these players in their midst is beyond the writer’s understanding. The man who will not adhere to all the rules of the game should not he tolerated. Furthermore, his club should be disqualified from taking part in the main competitions If something drastic like I haye mentioned was done we would soon find a full 100 per cent, acting in accord ance with the rules and spirit of the game. I say “ out the man” who does not comply with the rules. He is a poor sport. Central Otago Notes. The following are the scores for the shield ■ matches. On account of the bad,weather on Wednesday the Clyde, Alexandra three-rink games did not take place:—-Gardner (Alexandra) 10, Parsons (Bannockburn) 32; ■ Hamilton ( Alexandra) 30, . T, Crahhe (Bannockburn) 13; Mafslin (Alexandra) 26,. Campbell (Bannockburn) 19; E, Jolly (Cromwell) 24, Stuart (Millers Flat) ■l4; Wilkinson (Cromwell) 28, R. Campbell (Miller’s Flat) 8; Austin (Cromwell) 37, Henderson (Roxburgh) 14; Fraser (Cromwell) 27, Toms (Roxburgh) 15; L. Jolly (Cromwell) 26, Dunlay (Roxburgh) 11; Nicol (Cromwell) 25, Sedan (Roxburgh) 20. The position of the clubs, with three rinks to play by Clyde and Alexandra, is: Miller’s Flat, 66 points; Cromwell,. 62; Alexandra, 60; Clyde,/54; Roxburgh, 40); Bannockburn, 32. The South Otago tourney was attended by two Alexandra rinks, and although the conditions were anything; but pleasant the warmth of the welcome by the South Otago players and officials more than made up for this. . The championship matches are _ being steadily brought forward. Hamilton, 21, heat R. Hewitt 18; R. Hewitt- 21, beat W. Russell 12; W. Hewitt 21, beat J. M'Nish 8; J. Watt 21, beat W. Hewitt 19. ‘ An Alexandra rink (W. Russell, G. Mitchell, J. Gardner, and T. Sunderland), played at Bannockburn for the Captain Jolly Memorial, and was successful in lifting the coveted trophy. The ■ holders were weakened • through the absence of W. Young and J. Rit-' chie, whose places were taken by T. Lawrence and R. Robertson. The final score was 25-18 in favour of Alexandra. The next challenge is from J., Davidson (Clyde). Four-rink Championship Final. This game took place on the Caledonian green on, Wednesday evening, and though the period of play was dry the high wind made things a little difficult for the competitors. The actual result of the game, was a tie, 80. points for each side, and the umpire (Mr Devereaux) decided. that the rinks skipped, by G. Claridge (St. Kilda) and G. Nelson (Dunedin) play an extra head, arid this resulted in the Dunedin rink obtaining the advantage.- Rule 7 of the competition reads: “Method of scoring on points: In the event of a tie in .the aggregate number of points, the last rink to finish shall play an extra head.” Some of the onlookers and also some of the players were of the opinion that all the four rinks should play an extra head, and perhaps this idea would be better than the present rule. However, that is only a matter of opinion. It will be remembered that St. Kilda and Dunedin Clubs played off the final of the four rinks last year, and on that occasion the winner coudl not be found until the last bowl had been played, St. Kilda winning sensationally by two points. There is no doubt that this competition is very popular with the clubs; but to the writer it appears that this important event should be played on Saurday afternoons, either as a separate game or in conjunction with the present Saturday Shield matches. No doubt this point will be up for discussion at the annua! meeting of the centre in July next. There appears to be no special reason wliy this contest should not be played on Saturday after-