BOWLING NOTES

Evening Star, Issue 22804, 12 November 1937, Page 14

BOWLING NOTES

[By Draw,] Club secretaries, or those in charge of the social activities of their clubs, are invited to send along notices reference to any club events, > Inquiries relating fo the rules of the game will be welcomed. Correspondence addressed to “ Draw ” must reach this office not later than noon on Tuesday each week. Questions and Answers. “ Critic.”—Thanks for your interesting note. The special point raised by you in reference _to the markings on the discs of bowls is of special! interest to all bowlers. Just recently I referred to this same question and pointed out “ that if a person plays in a section in the Saturday competition without the disc of his bowls being properly marked, and a protest was made, his side would be liable to lose the section, if not the whole game in which his club was taking part.” Unfortunately, a few players still play with bowls not properly marked on the discs, though their bowls carry _ the proper test stamp. Yes, the liability is on the player, not the tester. The tester is not to know that the owner may or may not play in competitions. I agree with you, however, that a law prohibiting the tester to stamp a bowl which does not comply with the disc rule would • ho a move in the right direction. Notes.

The conditions prevailing for the shield matches so far this season have been ideal, but most of the greens would be improved by a little rain. The rain of Tuesday evening and of. Wednesday last would no doubt help, but what is wanted is about an inch of rain over a period of two days. These conditions would help our greens considerably. The playing, of a bowl with one foot wholly on the mat at the time of delivery is still being disregarded by some of the players in this centre. _ It is up to the clubs to provide legislation to stop this state of” affairs within their club and deal drastically with those persons who deliberately flout the laws governing the mat rule. _ The writer has on many occasions pointed out the vast amount of damage which is done by. those, players who, persistently play with their hind toes ’ overhanging the mat when delivering. Bowl testing is now in full swing in the Dunedin Centre, and each fine day will find the tester at work on the special green at the Dunedin Club. Those players who have bowls requiring a test stamp to meet the latest conditions should not waste time in getting the work done—a last-minute rush may find themselves unable to get a stamp to allow them to take part in the important tournaments. Any b;.wl With a stamp older than 1932 is not now in order. Is'it a fact that one at least of the centre’s playing areas is not quite fit for koine of the main competitions? If this is so, then the Greens Committee should do its duty. With additional rinks being played by some of the cluibs in the Saturday competition, quite a number of the younger players are now being devoted to higher positions in the game and'some of them have shown quite good form as thirds and skips. One skip I noticed last Saturday gave an instruction to his third player to drive at the head when his side had only one bowl in a decent position. The result was to take out his own bowl and leave the other side with five shots. There are times to drive'at a head, but this occasion was not one of them. However, experience is a good teacher. The British Team’s Visit.

Though this party is still classed as unofficial, it will probably receive just the same consideration in the Dominion as if’ it was official. The party will consist of 36 —20, bowlers (12 with their wives), and four other ladies. The itinerary has been slightly altered, but’the party will be in Dunedin on Saturday, December 18. Australian Bowling Carnival.

The dates for this carnival have been slightly altered. 1 Rink play will now commence on- January 17; singles on January 20; and pairs on January 24. The reason given for making the alteration is to alloy all finals to be played simultaneously and thus effect a saving of time. (They seem to be very confident that - no player will be in more than one final.) Any player in the southern district who to take part in the A.B.G. carnival must make his entry with Mr Hanning, 1 Dowling street, not later than November 15. Three players from Central Otago district are definitely going to Sydney.. They are H. T. 'Wit, kinson/'W. A. Harlow, and Dr Austin. They ■ want another player to make up a, , rink, ■ so here -is an • opportunity 'for some good, player. , . ,

Altogether' there will be approximately 50 players from the Dominion taking part in the Australian carnival in Sydney, and from these players the teams to represent New Zealand at the Empire Games will be selected. Some of the combinations from other countries are very strong. It will be interesting to watch the result, particularly of the British players and their methods as against the more bustling tactics of the Australian and New Zealand players. South Africa will have Horace Harvey as its singles nominee. He is the reigning South African singles champion, having won the title at this year’s tournament at Kimberley. He thus enjoys the unique distinction of succeeding his father, Andrew Harvey, who was South Africa’s representative at the last Empire Games in London, where he put up a wonderful fight as runnerup for the title to Robert Sprott (Scotland), the many times Scottish champion.

Saturday Shield Competition, Last week-end Fairfield, Logan Park, Green Island, Taieri, North-east Valley, and Anderson’s Bay registered full shield points (12), while Brighton, Outram, Tainui, Portobello, and Dunedin failed to add any points. The surprise of the day was the defeat of Dunedin in all six sections. Since the introduction of the “ Balk ” system ever a quarter of a century ago, this is the first occasion that the Dunedin Club has failed to secure points. It is true that, owing to illness and the fact that many players had “ business ” appointments in Christchurch last week-end, the playing strength was considerably weakened, but even with these drawbacks to contend with the selectors of the old club did not expect a clean sheet. No doubt Dunedin will make its presence felt before the season is much older. Kaituna supporters must have, felt disappointment in its club’s endeavour, as it lost four out of five sections. St. Kilda won three out of six, going down in both sections against Logan Park. It appears as if the Parkites will again make a big bid for top position, as they and the Fairfield Chib are the present leaders, in the competition, each having collected full points so far. North-east Valley, which now plays five i sections, won all its sections, four against Tainui and one over Brighton, both young clubs. Some good margins were registered in the games—namely, Johnston (Opoho) 30-13 against Peters (St. Clair), Morgan (Opoho) 33-15 with Scholten (Portobello), Best (Otago) 28-14 against O’Connell (Roslyn), Crawford (Otago) 30-10 with Phillipps (Roslyn), Anderson (Roslyn) 29-11 ’against Callender (Otago), Silver (West Harbour) 36-16 with Hanna (Kaikorai), Boulton (North-east Valley) 33-15 against Pearson (Tainui), Gemmel (North-east Valley) 28-9 with Laurie (Tainui), Ireland (Mornington) 33-8 against Will (Caversliain), Boyd (Roslyn) 30-9 with Wilson. (Port), Carswell (Taieri) 34-15 against Smith (Kaituna), Hutchison (Logan Park) 33-8 with Skinner (St. Kilda), Stark (Logan Park) 31-9 against' Summerell (St. Kilda), Campbell (Anderson’s Bay) 30-12 with E. Harraway (Dunedin), Results of Saturday’s Matches.

Central Otago Notes. Last Saturday saw the beginning of the bowling season in the Central, when the “ Diggers ” played off to find the first holders of the Diggers Cup, presented by .Mr Excell, of Nightcaps. The Roxburgh Club, unfortunately, was uiiable to send a rink, and Middlemarch had. only two men available, and at the' last minute Miller’s Flat defaulted, making it necessary to arrange a scratch rink to make up eight entries. The rinks were divided into two sections,. so each . rink got three games. (The competition was played on the Alexandra green, which was in good order. The rinks taking part represented Naseby, Ranfurly, Alexandra, .Clyde, Cromwell, Bannockburn, Wanaka'. , Bannockburn won one section right out, and Alexandra, Clyde, and Naseby tied for the other, which was won'by Clyde in the play-off. In the final game Bannockburn defeated Clyde by a good margin. The winning rink consisted of T. Crabbe, S. Wills, W. Young, and A. Stuart (skip). In the evening a reunion of Diggers was held, at-which there was a large attendance, those present including Messrs W. Bringans (Mayor of Alexandra), Jas. Ritchie (vice-president), J. Davidson (secretary), W. Hewitt (members of the centre executive). The principal toast was that of the donor of the cup, Mr Excell, who, unfortunately, was unable to bo present, but ho sent an apology, in which he stated that he was a native of St. Bathans. Mr A. J. Milne responded on behalf of the donor. It is hoped that next year every club in the Central district will be represented in this competition, and that there will be even more Diggers at the reunion, which was voted one of the most representative held in the district.

The first challenge of the season for the Captain Jolly Memorial Cup was played, the holders (Alexandra) defeating Ranfurly after a great tussle by 31-26, four points being scored by the holders in the last head. The Alexandra Club’s annual tournament is set down to commence on Christmas Day with the singles competition, to bo followed by pairs and rinks.

S ■S « 1 § .9 ’o ,SA Fairfield 1 0 12 24 Logan Park ... 2 0 12 24 Green Island 2 0 12 18 Taieri 2 0 12 18 N.E. Valley ... 5 0 12 1G 4-5 Kaikorai 2 1 8 16 Otago ... ... 2 1 8 16 Anderson’s Bay 4 0 12 15 Momington ... 2 2 6 15 St. Clair S 1 9 15 Caledonian ... 3 2 7 1-5 14 2-5 Brighton 0 1 0 12 Caversham ... 3 2 7 1-5 12 Kaituna 1 4' 2 2-5 12 Outram 0 1 0 12 West Harbour 1 2' 8 12 Dunedin 0 6 0 10 Roslyn 2 3 4 4-5 9 3-5 Balmacewcn ... 1 . 3 3 9 Tainui ... ... 0 4 0 9 St.. Hilda ... 3 3 6 8 Opoho 1 1 6 6 Port Chalmers 1 1 (i 6 Leith 1 3 3 3 Portobello. ... 0 1 0 0