BOWLING NOTES

Evening Star, Issue 23100, 28 October 1938, Page 4

BOWLING NOTES

Club secretaries, or those in charge of the «ncU> activities of their clubs, are invited to send along notices in reference to any club events. Inquiries relating to ire rules ol the game will be welcomed. Correspondence addressed to '* Draw ’ must reach this office not Hler than noon on Tuesday each week. Questions and Answers. “Old Coat.’’—The condition in reference to bowling costume reads: In association and/or centre tournaments, competitors shall not be permitted to play except in recognised howling costume (white or cream trousers, full length, white or cream shirt, and club colours). The above is regulation 6 of conditions governing play in tournaments. The charge for testing a set of bowls is usually 3s ; with a small extra charge for alterations to bowls. The test stamps for this season are 1932 to 1938, inclusive. Club Openings To-morrow, Fairfield (president, Mr George Ross; secretary, Mr A. Bowie) ; Portobello (president, Mr F. E. Bayne; secretary, Mr T. Ellison). These two openings will complete club openings in so far as concerns clubs in the Saturday competition, which begins on November 5. North-east Valley Club. The official party of the Dunedin Centre which visited this club’s opening consisted of Messrs S. Devereux, J. J. Davis, W. Richards, and W. Connor (immediate past-president of the New Zealand Council), and there was a very good representation of members of sister clubs. Mr “ Pat ” Boulton, in his speech as the club’s president for the season, made reference to the work of the centre, and to the wonderfuj help which had already been given him by the ladies and the Social Committee of the club. There is no doubt the ladies did a fine piece of work with the decorating or the pavilion; it looked lovely, and reflected great credit on those who were responsible. During the day Mr and Mrs Boulton looked) after their visitors and club members in a manner which was appreciated by all. A string band was also in attendance, and assisted in making the club’s 1938-39 opening one that will be pleasantly remembered. A dance was held in the evening. Saturday Shield Matches.

To-morrow week, November 5, the first series of these matches will start, and the competition will continue every Saturday until Christmas. After the holidays these games will be continued as from January 21. Players should note that white, cream, or grey flannel trousers must be worn, together with club colours. Thirteen matches in all will be played, the concluding game being set down for March 18. It should be remembered that if the weather conditions prevent any series from being played on the day set down for it, that round is cancelled. All games must commence each Saturday not later than 2.15. .The centre’s fixture book is now available, and players should provide themselves with a copy, which is obtainable from club secretaries. The new law books are now to hand, and players should read the laws up carefully. One point that should be watched by all players is the throwing of the jack, which is given under law 45, and reads; In all ends the jack must be thrown from, a position on the mat, and it -must be thrown to a point not lessl than 66ft from the front of the mat.; : AVhen it comes to rest, if it is not in a straight line with the number discs, it must be so placed, if it be thrown nearer to the ditch than 6ft, it must be moved out to that distance. If it be thrown less than 66ft from the front of the mat or into the ditch, or outside of either of the boundaries of the rink, it shall be returned, and the throw shall be taken by the opposing player, who may shift, the mat into any position in which the winning side of the previous end could have laid it, as provded for in law 11, before throwing it anew, but shall not play first. If, however, he_ fails to throw the jack correctly, the privilege of replacing the mat shall revert again to the opposing player, who shall then throw the jack. If any end be drawn or made dead, the jack shall revert to the original lead. In the event of a tie in a game and an extra end or ends are required to be played, the right for the throw of the jack for the ensuing end shall be decided by the toss of a coin. Central Otago Notes. The Clyde Club opened on the 15th in good weather. Mr Lopdell. the president, welcomed the members and visitors, after which the green was declared open for the season, which, by the way, is the twenty-fifth opening. Rink games, which occupied seven rinks, were played, and it is pleasing to state that the green is looking very well.

On the 22nd the Cromwell Club held its opening under perfect conditions. The green is in good shape. The Roxburgh Club also held its twenty-fifth qpening, and the president, Mr Dunlay, in the course of his speech, referred to the fact that Mr F. Laloli, one of the club’s original members, had been in the rink which had won the Central Otago championship. Mr W. Hewitt, on behalf of the Central Centre, congratulated the club on winning the championship, and presented certificates to members of the rink, which comprised R. Bennetts (lead), F. Laloli (2), T. Dunlay (3), and S. Crossan (skip). Next Saturday the Bannockburn Club will open, and, as this is the centre president’s club, there are sure to be a good number of visitors in attendance. During the last few days J. H. Hinton and E. Longworth. of the St. Kilda Club, have been staying in the district, and have had a game or two on the green at Alexandra ; and a new member to the club is A. Moore, late of the North-east Valley. J. H. Timmings. a well-known Central player, is now in Dunedin, and I understand he is joining up with the Otago Club. My correspondent says that he has a copy of the new laws of the game as supplied by the New Zealand Bowling Association, and expresses disappointment that law 29. which now reads, “No player shall be permitted to change his bowls during the progress of a game, except with the consent of the opposing skip,” does not provide for a clause which would allow a player who may have had one or more of his bowls damaged during a game, to have the service of another set Perhaps readers will remember a player in the Dominion tournament, hold at Dunedin during January, having one of his howls considerably damaged, and it is stated that he was refused permission to bring in a new set, though permission was given for him to replace the damaged bowl. My friend goes on to say that in a casesuch as quoted the umpire should have authority to deal with such a case (Perhaps it is unfortunate that the law has no provision for replacing damaged howl or howls, hut I feel sure that law 29 is intended to stop a practice that

was once in vogue, that of changing a set during a game if certain conditions prevailed.—“ Draw.”) The fact that an Umpires’ Association has been formed in Dunedin meets with the approval of many people in the Central, and they trust it will be a means of giving players a- better knowledge of some of the Jaws of the game. Bowl Testing. “ Driver,” in the ‘ Weekly News,’ writes:— One apparently small change, however, will affect every bowler in the Dominion at one time or another—the matter of bowl-testing. Hitherto it has been customary to push forward the legal date of the test stamp at irregular intervals, with consequent inconvenience to hundreds, and sometimes thousands. of players. Probably the most awkward instance occurred last year. The previous year’s annual meeting defeated a proposal to push forward the 1928 legal stamp to 1932, so all whose bowls were tested during or after 192 s would feel quite safe. Suddenly, last year, without any warning of what was afoot, a proposal to that effect was carried. This required that all whose bowls had been stamped during the four years from 1928 to 1931 inclusive had to bo tested again in the three or four months before competitive play began in November. As this was a physical impossibility, it made a farce of the new regulation. This has been stopped by adopting the Australian law, that no bowl with a stamp older than seven years will bo allowed The consequence of this is that anyone who has bowls stamped in 1934, for example, knows already that his stamps hold good until 1941. and no longer, so he has good notice to get them stamped again as soon as the otiicial tester has the 1942 stamp. This will hardly suit “Boomerang, for a tew weeks ago, in the Sydney ‘ Referee,’ he was claiming the superiority of an Australian custom to that of New Zealand, and gave up the hope of it being adopted here, despairingly sayino': “To point to Australia for New "Zealand’s benefit is like dropping a roll of scarlet to an infuriated bull. So far from this being the attitude of Dominion bowlers to our nearest neighhours, the New Zealand Council adopted this Australian law nearly two months before his charge was made. Not only so, but other Australian customs, laws, and expressions were adopted bv the council on July 7, some of them after being under consideration by the various centres for more than a year. Now is the opportunity for Australia to reciprocate, but so far nothing has been done except to adopt the New Zealand term “director” for the plaver in charge of the head, usually the skip for the first 12 bowls and the measurer for the remaining four. So satisfied was the council with the use of this 1 term’ to place responsibility on one man, instead of leaving it open, that- 5 it appears several dozen times in the haw-.code, whereas it was used only once in the previous code —in law 39. , ; r,This. only, a sample of the effort to make everything, definite, instead of leaving ambiguities that required an appeal to Headquarters for a ruling. All bowler's will be very pleased with the new code when they see it, and they need not hesitate to send a copy to any specially critical friends overseas. Apparently the new rules will come into force at once, thus applying to club competitions and centre tournaments. Scots on the Green.

It would appear that Dunedin is not the only place where Scottish bowlers are numerous, for even in Auckland 84 Scots nominated for the annual reunion of former Otago and Southland bowlers, although in the end the numerous club openings kept several away. Before play began there was the usual procession round the green at Balmoral, an appropriately named club to entertain such a gathering. This was headed by two pipers in kilts, again led by Mr W. J. Campbell, chairman of the Auckland Education Board and a member of the Auckland City Council, who . has been tacitly accepted as a kind of permanent patron of the institution. Everything was carried out in proper form, even to the tam-o’-shanters.

During an adjournment for afternoon tea the club president. Mr K. W Batey, warmly welcomed the Scots, and the Scottish president, Mr I). C. Eraser, replied, and at the same time nominated as his successor Dr J. Hardie Neil, who was duly elected.