SPORT IN BRITAIN

Evening Star, Issue 22956, 13 May 1938, Page 11

SPORT IN BRITAIN

[From Our English Correspondent.] LONDON, March 24. ATHLETICS. We are still very much in the dark on the two main questions affecting the Olympiad and Great Britain, mainly whether the Games of 1940 will, after all, take place in Tokio and, if so, will this country take part in them? On the surface everything is proceeding according to the original plan, and the twelfth Olympiad will be held in the land of ' the Rising Sun. Everything in connection with last week’s meeting of the International Olympic Committee at Cairo is strictly confidential, and we shall probably not know how the voting went in China’s protest against the Games being held in Tokio and Japan’s proposal! that the date of the meeting should be late September and early October. A great deal may happen in the ensuing two years, and even if the Sino-Japanese war be concluded there will probably be a great volume of opinion in this country against our taking part. The final word rests, not with the governing bodies of the invidual bodies of the sports that are represented, but with the British Olympic Association, who may decide, for the sake of avoiding a break in the continuity of the Games and as a gesture to encourage harmony in international sport, to send a team. There, however, public opinion may step in. It will probably require something like five figures to equip, transport, and maintain the team, and in the present state of British feeling it is doubtful if the 8.0. A. could collect as many shillings. Meanwhile everybody is waiting. An attempt was made at the annual general meeting of the Amateur Athletic Association to draw the president, Lord Burghley, to a definite pronouncement. But the old international advised his questioners to wait and see. The resignation of the honorary secretaryship of the A.A.A. by Mr D. G. A. Lowe had nothing to do with the committee’s recent resolution not to support the Games. It is true the old 1 Olympic champion resented certain | criticisms, but one imagines his re- i

linouishing the post which he had held with such distinction for the past seven years was due to his increasing practice as a barrister and his acceptance as a candidate for parliamentary honours. BOXING. At last there seems to be a prospect of London’s promoters being able to show us something more worthy of the metropolis than the boxing shows we have seen these many months. It comes about by the possibility of Tommy Farr returning from America. The Welshman’s American manager, Joe Gould, is throwing out feelers to the National Sporting Club with the German, Walter Neusel, and the South African, Ben Foprd. The most casual! student of the ring needs no reminder that Farr has beaten both these men. That was, of course, when our champion was establishing his claim to be a contender for the world’s heavyweight title. How far his morale has been sapped by his defeats in America remains to be seen. The fight between Neusel and Foord next month will determine which of them is to be invited to come to London to box Farr. [Neusel beat Foord.l

CRICKET. ■ From now to the end of August the goings and comings of our Australian visitors, who sailed for the Old Couni try this week, will fil as much space I in our newspaper columns as the ways |of Hollywood’s film stars. Already we I have > news of what is described as the 1 tourists’ first casualty. The great Don | Bradman is laid up aboard ship with a sore throat. May this be the worst j misfortune to overtake him and his gal--1 lant band during the next six months. , The writer was talking the other day with a veteran who can recall , every test match since those days in ; the early ’eighties when the Australian I skipper, W. L. Murdoch, replied with 153 not out to the immortal W. G. Grace’s 152, thus saving the game for Australia, The tourists’ victory by 7 runs in 1882, England’s triumph by one wicket at the Oval in 1902, and the Old Country’s triumph on the same ground 12 years ago, when Wilfrid Rhodes, then over 50 years of age. was brought back into service, and Collins and his men were put out in the fourth innings for 126. All the old enthusiast hopes j is that at least one of the coming tests may have just as exciting a finish and j that he may be there to see it.

SOCCER. No politics in sport is a matter religiously adopted in this country, and the Football Association is not likely to take exception to one of the results of Germany’s absorption of Austria. For years the Austrians wore the strongest of the Continental sides, and a few years ago were only just beaten by England at Stamford Bridge. With Austria’s eclipse as a separate nation it is almost certain that some of the team will be included in that which will represent Germany when the England eleven is met at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin in May. So far as one is aware the F.A. has not been approached on the point, but they will certainly fall in with any suggestion for playing Austrians in the German side. Aston Villa, too, has matches in Berlin about the same time, and will duly make the journey. Arsenal are not so lucky. They have had to cancel the match with Austria at Vienna, and a game at Budapest has also been cancelled because the Hungarian police will have their hands full with a religious congress. Wolverhampton Wanderers seem to be losing the grip they had on the league championship. One point from three matches, two of them on their own pitch, is not championship form, and now the Wolves are a point behind Arsenal with only one game in hand. They were unlucky to lose to Middlesbrough by the only goal of the game—a very precious goal to the visitors, for it kept them well in the running for the leadership, for which four clubs—Arsenal, Wolverhampton, Preston, and Middlesbrough—have almost equal chances. The struggle to avoid relegation is equally keen. Portsmouth, despite a smart performance in drawing at 3 goals all at Leicester, cannot get away from the last place. They and Manchester City have 27 points each, but last year's champions have a better goal average. The City again disappointed their supporters by on their own ground to Preston North End. There is still time for the badly-placed clubs to redeem themselves, for Leicester City, who stand eleventh, are only 4 points ahead of Portsmouth. Aston Villa can go into their semifinal cup tie with Preston next Saturday with an easy mind as to their league position. A win over Bury, coupled with a defeat of Sheffield United at Chesterfield, brought the famous Midland Club to the top of the second division again. Though it is only on goal average that they lead the United.

Coventry City, who registered a fine win at Bradford, and Manchester United hang on to the heels of the other two, and are only a point behind them. He would be a wise man who could forecast the winners of the northern section of the third division, where only two points cover seven clubs. Scotland has reached the semi-final of its cup, and the clubs to qualify are Glasgow Rangers, Kilmarnock, St. Berj nards, and East Fife. It is extraordinary clubs like East Fife and St. Bernards getting so far, but both deserved the success that has come their way. RUGBY. Scotland has emulated England’s example in the 1936-37 season and carried off the triple crown, a distinction accorded to the national fifteen which defeats all the other three home nations. Most people are satisfied that the Scots have shown themselves the best team of the season, although Wales will think her fifteen ought not to have lost to Scotland. The interest aroused by the meeting of England and Scotland grows every year, and Twickenham would have held an even bigger crowd if they could have been squeezed in. Let it be said without stint that Scotland were better than England. The latter undoubtedly had the pull in the forwards, and the followers of English football had many unhappy moments when after the pack had got the ball out by splendid shoving on quick heeling it was wasted. Perhaps the English halves were not to blame .though Giles might have been a shade prompter in Sartiug with the ball, and eynolds, at stand-off half. The most potent factor in spoiling the English attack was the sliced and dash of the Scottish halves and centres. The superiority of attack over defence which lias marked most of the inter-, national matches this season was again in evidence, as Scotland crossed the England line no fewer than five times. The heavy scoring this year lias delighted the herds of those who had begun to fear that the spoiling tactics so much indulged in last year were going to reduce Rugby to a farcical stalemate. There is this much to be said of Saturday’s game. If the Scottish attack had had the services of the English fowards we should have seen scoring that would have surpassed that seen in the remarkable game at Dublin between England and Ireland. Frankly, the English three-quarters were failures. Nicholson was badly missed, and not one of the four was

the equal of his Scottish vis-a-vis. The hero of Scotland was her captain, R. W. Shaw, whose leadership and play so delighted his fellow countrymen that they carried him from the field shoulder high. GOLF. It was a shock for the fancied Cambridge team when their Oxford rivals were only one match down at the of the foursomes. Some of the Light Blues had shown form quite unworthy of their reputations, _ and _ they must have approached their singles with considerable trepidation. Yesterday the Cambridge men soon found themselves, though the incapacity of their opponents played into their hands. Truth to tell, the standard of play all round did not reach the average of the interuniversity match, and none of those taking part played golf suggesting that a place in our Walker Cup team was assured. There, was no cause for this indifferent display, for the weather was brilliant and the course at Westward Ho in splendid condition. The margin of 10 games to 4, with one halved, in favour of Cambridge is no criterion of the relative merits of the contestants. , Henry Cotton has taken the earliest opportunity of showing the form we are likely to get from him this year. Two brilliant rounds of 69 each gave the open champion the leading place in the qualifying round of the southern section of the £2,000 tournament. This was a fine achievement, but in one respect was eclipsed by S. L. King, who won this particular tournament last spring. The young Knole Park assistant had a bad round for him (76) in the first day. He fully made amends in the second by going round in 67. a record for the Ashridge course The final is to be played at Gosforth Park, where King will have the opportunity of repeating the two strokes victory he gained over Cotton in 1937. LAWN TENNIS. The worst fears of the pessimists have been realised, for H. W. Austin has declared that he will play no more Davis Cup lawn tennis. To be brutally frank, this makes Great Britain’s chances of recovery of the cup absolutely hopeless. It was the skill and endurance of Austin and F. J. Perry that brought the cup to England. We have no players within a very long distance of two such experts, and, what is worse, there seems nobody among the younger players who look like bein o- able to fill their places. Adequate coaching may, of course, do something to lessen the gap that exists between our best and players like Donald Budge, but the outstanding man is born, not made, and our juniors have not up to the present shown any inborn genius. RACING. One cannot recall a flat race season that has opened in such remarkable weather as has graced this country during March. In the south, at least, we have had something like six weeks without any considerable fall of rain, and the temperature is that usually associated with the month of June. The drought has affected the going, though little fault could bo found with the state of the course at Lincoln when operations began on Monday. Bookmakers have often had cause for rejoicing over the Lincolnshire Handicap, but that was not the case yesterday, for Mr K. Esmond’s Phakos, sharing favouritism with Allegiance, won handsomely after a fine race. His cofavourite finished last.