SPORT IN BRITAIN

Evening Star, Issue 22619, 10 April 1937, Page 26

SPORT IN BRITAIN

OLYMPIC PROBLEMS [From Our Correspondent.] LONDON, February 25, ATHLETICS. Lord' Burghley took advantage of the annual general meeting of the British Olympic Association to say something about our preparations for the next Olympiad. The famous international hurdler made no reference to the wild idea, which is in the hands of one or two of those connected with the control of athletics, that we should abstain altogether from the great meeting at Tokio. On the other hand he urged that we should begin at once to get our men ready for August, 194(3. It was wise counsel, but, with all the will in the world, those responsible will be hard put to it to carry it out. The trouble is almost entirely financial. It is true that, of the £8,877 collected by the 8.0. A. for the last Olympic Games, only £4,264 was expended in sending the team to Berlin, so that, with the balance it had before the appeal was issued a fair- sum lies at the- disposal of the 8.0. A. But it is not nearly enough. The greatest need is coaches. A capable coach for athletes cannot be obtained for a penny less than £SOO a year, and to cover London and, say half a dozen prominent provincial centres, would cost a minimum of £3,000 a year Jfor the next four years, and then the job could not possibly be as well done as in the United States, where every college and school has its accredited coach. Bo sure, also, that if coaches were appointed for athletes we should have the swimmers, the cyclists, and, in fa.ct, those who practise each of the spoi-ts represented at the Games clamouring for expert tuition. One fears the ultimate cost is far greater than the British public is prepared to face. Nevertheless, something can be done. Let the 8.0.A.’ go on appealing in season and out of season for funds, which should then be devoted to giving all possible help to those who desire to figure as Britain’s chosen when the long journey east comes to be taken in 1940.

Lord Burghley also had something to say about the Empire Games at Sydney next ■winter. That, too, is in, a measure the responsibility of the 8.0. A., though England, Scotland, and Wales 'will have separate representatives. Funds will also be required to send our athletes to Australia, and the size of our teams will depend on the generosity of subscribers. With the country more prosperous than when we sent a team of more than 60 athletes to Hamilton, Canada, for the first Empire Games, there is no reason why there should fail to be a ready response to the call for financial help. BOXING. One cannot doubt that the British Boxing Board of Control’s policy of insisting on eliminating contests, instead of all and sundry being allowed to meet the champions for their titles, is a good one, even if it does occasionally create a certain amount of irritation amongst those who fancy they have established a right to a bout with tho reigning monarch. Two men met in an eliminating fight last Monday to see which should be put up against Jock M'Avoy for the middleweight championship. They were Jack Hyams, of London, and Dai Jones, of Wales. The former, who is a taxidriver, has not suffered a reverse for 18 months. On this occasion he outboxed Jones, who, although he managed to go the full 15 rounds, ah ways looked as if he were depending on one lucky punch for victory. Young Peter Kane goes on from victory to victory. In his latest bout he made short'work of Paul Schaefer, the German. So pronounced was the Liverpool man’s superiority that he had his opponent down and out in the very first round. The more one sees or reads of Kane the more obvious it becomes that (Benny Lynch will have al 1 _ his work cut out when he faces the Liverpool youngster for the fly-weight title of Britain and the World. Lynch’s title, by the way, has been causing a little friction of late. The British 8.8. C. decreed, it will be remembered, that Kane and Phil Milligan must meet in an eliminating contest, the winner to challenge Jim Warnock for the right to challenge Lynch for the championship. Now the Scottish branch of the 8.8.8. C. has sanctioned a bout between Warnock and Lynch for the latter’s title on June 2. The edict of headquarters is law and it is hardly likely that they will, give way and approve the Warnock-Lynch affair. CRICKET. As the accounts of our county clubs appear, it is clear what havoc the dreadful summer of 1936 played with tho finances of cricket. Kent and Notts are the latest to report losses of four figures on the season, and even Derby, despite their success in climbing to the top of the championship table, finished on the wrong side. A nice little sum has been raised in the Midland county to present each member of the Derbyshire team with a memento of their victorious season. Each will receive a gold wristlet watch, and the _ professionals a sum of money in addition. We must look forward to the visit of New Zealand, whose touring team is now complete, to add spice to next season’s doings and so help to replenish empty treasuries. Even then a fine summer is an absolute necessity. Otherwise some of the county clubs must put up the shutters—a fact already knocking hard at the door of Leicestershire. ASSOCIATION FOOTBALL. It is an axiom that a club wants more than a bit of luck to win the cup. Everton must assuredly think so after their experience against Tottenham Hotspur. In the first meeting Dixie Dean, of all people, missed a penalty, and in the replay two days later Morrison, the Hotspur centre, was allowed to score from a position which, almost without exception, the onlookers considered off-side. Even then Everton led by a goal a few minutes from the end. The delight of the Tottenham supporters _ can be imagined at then seeing their favourites clap on two goals and so qualify to entertain another Lancashire side, Preston North End, in the following round. In spite of their good fortune, the ’Spurs deserved the highest congratulations for their fine display, as well as their grit in retrieving what looked like a lost game. Their performance was perhaps the best of the round, if one excepts Millwall’s defeat of Derby County* by the odd goal

of three. The New Cross Club will have a sterner task in the next round. Having been drawn at home in five successive rounds, their next opponents are Manchester City, who have developed a wonderful ability to win away from their own enclosure. Last weekend they defeated Bolton Wanderers at Bolton by 6 goals to 0, and, what was a much bigger feat, overthrew Derby County at Derby on Wednesday in the league by exactly the same score. The City and Preston are the only Lancashire clubs left in the competition, whereas London has three. Arsenal simply swamped Burnley (the score was 7-1) at Burnley, and so proceeded a step further towards that elusive double event, the cup and the league. Their chances in the latter competition were not enhanced when they dropped a point to Charlton on Wednesday. Arsenal are still two points behind Charlton in the race.

Six of the eight clubs now left to light for the cun have previously won the trophy. Millwall are one exception, Sunderland the other. In the earlier ’nineties, when Sunderland carried all before them in the league, they never could land the cup. They will not be strongly fancied to clear the next hurdle, which is a formidable one v for they have been drawn to go to meet the Wanderers of Wolverhampton on the latter’s ground. As the Wolves are in great scoring form—they beat Grimsby on Wednesday by 6 goals to 2 after a draw on Saturday—the prospects of the Wcarsiders do not appear too hopeful. RUGBY FOOTBALL. Those who remember the game when “ Rugby was Rugby ” frequently complain, and not without reason, of the manner in which play is spoiled by the tactics of the forwards. Many an international match of recent years has lost a good deal of its charm by these tactics. Now an interesting experiment ha~. been made in the annual game between East Midlands and Barbarians for the Edgar Mobbs memorial fund. No player will bo allowed to advance beyond the middle of the scrum when his own side has lost possession until the ball has been heeled. This will give the scrum half a chance to get the ball on the way to the threequarters. We should therefore get far more attacking play than we see in most matches to-day. Many older followers of Rugby condemn anv change in the_ rules and maintain that if the game is played ilfc the spirit intended there is no need to tamper with them. Last week-end many games were considerably marred by a boisterous wind. Both universities should be pleased with the talent they are likely to have at their disposal next autumn, for Cambridge beat Blackheath by 13 points to '8 and Oxford defeated the Harlequins (who had scarcely justified the position they held of being the best club team in London! even more substantially, 14 points to 3. In provincial centres the feat of Swansea in overcoming Leicester on the latter’s ground by 23 points to 5 was perhaps the best of the day. Those age-old rivals, Newport and Cardiff, met once again, a stern fight going to the Monmouthshire fifteen by 8 points to 3. LAWN TENNIS. We have gone a long way from the time when lawn tennis was sneered at as “ pat ball.” To-day even players of moderate pretensions train for their matches, while the top-notchers train as rigorously as any Olympic athlete. Perhaps because of the splendid service he rendered to Perry and Austin in their preparation for and during the competition for the Davis Cup last year Whittaker, the Arsenal F.C. trainer, has been asked to attend at Wimbledon during the > All-England tournament. Whittaker is something more than a skilled masseur. Nobody knows better than he how to deal with the strains and other ailments that are ‘-wont to afflict our vigorous sportsmen. Incidentally, he might never have become a trainer if an accident on the football field had not cut short his career as a player. RACING. During the past week we have seen most of the leading steeplechasers in action, and the results have been a little bewildering for those who have wagered or want to wager on the big events under National Hunt rules. _ Golden Miller simply made hacks of his opponents in the Selby Steeplechase at Birmingham, and the countless admirers of Miss Paget’s horse are talking of his wiping out his two failures in the Grand National. Reynoldstown, on the other hand, came a cropper at the last hurdle when leading in the Stayers’ Handicap Steeplechase at Birmingham; while Drinmore Lad, who has been second favourite for the National, ran a most disappointing race at Newbury yesterday. The tumble of Reynoldstown was almost without precedent in his career. It is possible that Major Furlong’s horse was not thoroughly wound up, and the week which will elapse before he meets Golden Miller in the Gold Cup at Cheltenham should improve his condition, and we may therefore still expect a battle soyal between the two best horses in training.