SPORT IN BRITAIN

Evening Star, Issue 22895, 1 March 1938, Page 12

SPORT IN BRITAIN

[Frou Olr Correspondent.] LONDON, January 6. ATHLETICS. Our foremost athletes ean look forward to such a year as has never before been experienced. Directly our representatives at the Empire Games get back to the Old Country they will be plunged into competition, as the third indoor championships are to take place in the middle of April, 1 when the 10 miles track championship is also to be held. The British Amateur Athletic Board is trying to bring a German team over for an indoor international match, an entire novelty so far as this country is concerned. In the spring there will be the usual matches with Oxford and Cambridge Universities, while later, in addition to the customary French match, Norway will send a team to Britain for the first time. The big meeting on August Bank Holiday last year was such a success that the experiment is to be repeated. When one adds the county, the Northern Midland, and southern championships and the intercounty championship on Whit Monday it will be observed that onr leading runners and field event exponents are in for a busy time indeed. Writing of indoor meetings, both A. G. K. Brown and S. C. Wooderson have had to decline invitations to visit the United States to take part in indoor athletics. Wooderson has been racing and winning across country. It is doubtful. however, if he will be seen in any of the major paper-chasing events, as he will shortly be taking a rest prior to a strenuous season on the track. BOXING.

It is not always easy to follow the reasoning which dictates the decisions of the British Boxing Board of Control. It was mentioned recently that the board had refused permission to Frank Hough to fight for the southern area championship. The National Sporting Club is anxious to put on a bout between the Battersea boxer and Jock M'Avoy for the latter’s light-heavy-weight title. Again the controlling body has banned Hough and laid it down that M'Avoy’s opponent for the championship must be Leonard Harvey. This ruling would be all right but for the fact that Harvey has twice refused offers to meet the champion, his refusal being based on the ground that the purse was not big enough. Harvey’s decision cannot have escaped the notice of the 8.8.8. C.. or, perhaps, they wish him to tell them definitely and finally that he will not box M'Avoy. It is a little hard on Hnno-h, who is desperately anxious to reach the top of the tree. CRICKET. There are conflicting reports as to the. intentions -of R. E. S. Wyatt. A few days ago it was confidently stated that the famous all-rounder would turn out for Surrey, for which he has a birth qualification. Wyatt himself contradicts this, so it is still in- the lap of the gods whether he will again turn out for Warwickshire. He has rendered yeoman’s service to the Midland county, and if both sides can forget the friction which led to Wyatt being deposed from the captaincy there is no reason why he should not continue to render such service. SOCCER.

As ail the world knows, the advent of the New Year is far more a time of rejoicing amongst Scotsmen than Christmas itself. There is always a big list of football fixtures round about January 1. This year's matches have had a great influence on the Scottish League table, inasmuch as they seem to have disposed of the chances of Glasgow ‘dangers once more figuring as champions. On New Year’s Hay the team visited the great local rivals, Celtic, and suffered a crushing reverse by 3 goals to nil. An even more crushing blow was dealt Rangers the following afternoon, when the lowly-placed Partick Thistle visited Ibrox and triumphed by 3 goals to 1. Celtic, in the meantime, followed up their win with another at the expense of Queen’s Park, the only amateur club in the League. The other chief aspirant for the championship, Hearts of Midlothian, has registered five points from the last three matches and now have 36 points for 24 matches against Celtic’s 35 for 23. It is a long time since the Edinburgh club figured so prominently in Scottish football. It is interesting to speculate how much of their recent advance they owe to their English manager, who is none other than the Arsenal international goalkeeper, F-ank Moss. At the very height of his prweis Moss sustained an injury which put an end to, his career. Incidentally, when he had to leave his goal and play on the wing he scored a goal. ■ Moss was associated with Arsenal in the club’s halcyon days under the late Herbert Chapman, and may have learned from him some of the arts which bring success in league football. This coming Saturday followers of English football will be seething with excitement over the Cup. The momentary pause in the league programme sees the struggle for the championship with Brentford in command of a three-point, lend. The West London club, like every other for the matter of that, has special designs on the Cup, though it is universally recognised that a season’s league engagements provide a far better test of a club’s real strength. There was special interest in Brentford’s draw with Bolton, since the Wanderers are

Arsenal’s opponents in the Cup. Arsenal had little on which to pride themselves in their victory over Everton, the most pleasing feature being the debut of a new centre forward,- Lewis. This youngster of 17 is a Londoner born and bred. Already he has shown that with time and patience he may develop into as useful a servant of the club us the regular centre, Drake. Everton also had a boy centre forward in Lawton, but he, although only a few months older than Lewis, has already had nearly two seasons’ experience with Burnley and Everton. Inasmuch as Wolverhampton Wanderers are only four points behind Brentford and have played three games fewer,, the Midland club may be said to be better placed than the leaders. On Saturday they dealt another blow to Manchester City, winning on the latter’s ground by 4 goals to 2. This was a less surprising result than the victory of Leicester City at Derby, for the county club had been playing much-im-proved football. The two most lowlyplaced clubs, Blackpool and Portsmouth, both recorded splendid wins, the seasides defeating Huddersfield by 4 goals to 0 and Portsmouth triumphing at West Bromwich by the odd goal of three. Portsmouth have the best record of any club in the division since the beginning of December, and are playing so well that it looks ominous for the four Lancashire clubs —Blackpool, Manchester City, Everton, and Liverpool—immediately above them, it is a sad season for the County Palatine. Only two of Its teams, Bolton Wanderers and Preston North End. are making any show. How different from the early days of professional football, when most of the talent was to be found in Lancashire. To-day the talent has moved south principally to the metropolis. In Brentford. Charlton, and the Arsenal London possesses three clubs any one of which may carry off the championship, while Chelsea may stage a revival and figure near the top.

What a battle royal it is in the Second Division. By dint of a draw at West Ham Aston Villa straggled into the leadership, but it is only a superior goal average that' places them ahead of Sheffield United and Coventry City. The United sacrificed two points unexpectedly to old rivals in Nottingham Forest, and Coventry just overcame unreliable Tottenham Hotspur. Coventry have played one match fewer than the Villa and two fewer than the United. We are also getting frequent changes in the leadership of the two sections of the Third Division. Rotherham United have never threatened to be champions of the northern section before this season. At the moment they lead another Yorkshire club, Hull City, by a, point, with Tranraere Rovers one point further away Queen’s , Park Rangers show the way in the southern section. With 28 points they are just one point ahead of Notts County, Cardiff City, and Watford. RUGBY. It is always difficult to estimate the value of the results of trial games. Take last Saturday’s matches as instances. In the English trial at Twickenham England just beat the Rest by 13 points to 11. At Swansea the Welsh Probables beat the Possibles by 32 points to 11. Comparing these scores, it may be argued that England is strong not only in her first fifteen, but in reserves also, and that Wales’s Probables ran up such a winning total because the next best were so weak. On the other hand, one might hold the opinion that because the Rest came so near to beating England the national fifteen must be very moderate, while the Principality was so strong as

to quite overwhelm the best opposition that could be found. Only the big at Cardiff can prove the matter The English selectors could not have been too happy over what they saw. The forward play and that of the eight three-quarters was highly satisfactory, that of the backs tolerably so, but not one of the four halves really distinguished himself. A good deal had been expected from the association of J. L. Giles and J. R, Auty. Both disappointed and never gave the attack the passes it should have had. Hence, when the 15 chosen for England was announced the names ol both \

were missing. At stand-off half the selectors have called upon F. J. Reynolds, who is an Army officer who has not long returned to this country from service abroad. For the moment the scrum half position has not been filled. For a lack ol a better the selectors may have to fall back on Giles, whose form last Saturday was too bad to be true.

At wing-three quarter H. S. Sever makes a reappearance. It has been asserted that the stalwart from the Sale Club was losing his speed, but he did not show it at Twickenham, where he had Obolenski in his pocket throughout the game. Peter Craumer keeps his place, and his attacking powers seem better than they were last spring. He will have as his partner at centre E. Nicholson, Harleouins, who fairly earned his place by las display in the trial. We still need to be at our very best v to overcome the flower of Wales. For'a part of the game at Svyanse* the Probables’ play was brilliant in the extreme. What a three-quarter line the Principality can put in the field— A. Bassett, W. Wooller, V, G. J. Jenkins, and W. Hi Clement. If this quartet, particularly those two great centres, Jenkins and Wooller, get the service they can expect from the halves, W. G. Morgan and Cliff Jones, the English defence may _ be in for serious trouble. Optimistic follower* of English football say that what our fellows did last spring they can de again this. They forget, perhaps, two .things. The. Wales v. England match of 1938 is to be played before a vast crowd of Welsh enthusiasts and, what is even more important,, that Cliff Jones is back in the Welsh fifteen The old Cambridge Blue is always a" possible match winner in himself. , It will take all the smartness and dash of the English forwards to smother his sudden raids on his opponents’ line. [Wales won by 14 points to 3.] ROWING. The year 1938 opens with a noteworthy change in the bedrock of tha Amateur Rowing Association. Ever since it was formed it has excluded from participation in rowing conducted under its auspices the manual' worker. It was this barring clause that prevented the crew of Australian policemen that came over to compete at tha Olympic Games from taking part in Henley regatta, ft will be interesting to see if any of the less aristocratic rowing clubs now express a wish to appear at Henley. Manv years ago they formed the National Amateur Rowing Association, which, by the way. is recognised by the Olympic Council as the governing body for rowing in Britain. These clubs have, of course, their own regattas and, for a time, at all events may be a little shy of entering for Henley, which, as everybody know T s, is. quite as much a society function as a competitive meeting. Perhaps one may be allowed to congratulate the Amateur Rowing Association on recording a cominon-sense decision. In these democratic days th* ‘.‘gentleman amateur” definition ia out of place: The Amateur Athletio Association abandoned it when it wa' founded nearly 58 years ago.