BOWLING NOTES

Evening Star, Issue 23726, 6 November 1940, Page 9

BOWLING NOTES

[By Draw.]

All communications for publication in this column should reach the ‘ Star Office not later than noon on Tuesday. Questions and Answers. “ Onlooker ” writes: “ Would you give tho usual procedure in drawing up the first, rounds of a competition. The point I wish to make clear is that ray club holds its championship in two lives .and t.’.e draw i.-, made in two separate sections called A ami B. Do you think it is correct for any two players to be drawn against each other in the first round of each competition r 1 would be glad if you would ?ay if tins is correct and explain the nicllu.d ftdopt&d to prevent such a ot affaiis. —lt is unnecessary to have players meeting one another in the early rounds ol the two-scctiou draw. A simple method is, say that the entry is 48—in the first chart (A) the numbers would simply run troni 1 to 48, but in the other chart vou would start with 1, then 6, 12, 18, 24. '36, 42. 48. 2, 7. 13. 19, 25, 31, 37, 43, 3, 8. 14, 20. 23, 32. 33. 44, 4,9, 15, etc. This system separates the players in the B chart as compared with the A chart. The exercise of a little care will ensure a fairly good protection. With 48 nlayers it would be necessary to have 16 byes in each chart. These byes are all made for the first round so that in the second round there will be 32 players, then 16, then 8, then 4, and finally 2. With a little arranging the byes can be so made that no one person would have two byes.

Bowl Testing and Stamps. The new test bowls are now available, and in a few days, perhaps Friday of this week, will see a start being made with local bowls. The new test bowls, numbering 20, were presented by Messrs Hensel and Co., of Melbourne, and were made to a special design to meet more recent requirements in connection with the game in this Dominion. The new bowls have been put through the test by the official tester, and have given satisfaction to those in charge of this . department. Players who purchase new bowls often play with them before having them tested. This is a state of affairs that should not be allowed by club or centre officials or by skips of teams. No excuse can be offered for playing with unstamped bowls or bowls carrying an out-of-date stamp. Saturday Interclub Matches. The weather conditions fast Saturday afternoon for the opening game of the season . were ideal for bowling, and the great majority of the greens were in firstclass order, and it is pleasing to report that all the sections in the competition were played. The centre officials are to be congratulated on the arrangements which were mado to facilitate travelling to the small clubs on the outskirts of the city. St. Kilda, playing seven sections (21 teams of four each), put up a fine performance by winning the three sections •gainst West Harbour and three out of the four against Mornington. The “ Saints ” are strong both in numbers and players.

Caversham (five) won three sections out of four against St. Clair and the one section against Otago. The section against Otago provided a unique position, as each team tied—Forster 18 v. Best 18, Scott 21 v. Callender 21, M’Dougall 19 v. Sharp 19 Regulation 4 governing this competition reads: “All games shall be of 21 ends; in the case of a lection tic the last rinks to finish shall play an extra end or ends to decide the winner. Since the present system of play has been in vogue section ties •re not uncommon, but the game mentioned which produced - a tie after each aeries of four had actually tied appears to have set up a record. In the play-off for the section between M’Dougall and Sharp the former won, thus giving a win to Caversham. . . , Dunedin, which won the interclub competition last season, started off well, winning four of the Dve sections played with Kaituna, and also accounted for Brighton ia a one-section game, so Dunedin’s five out of six must be classed a good performance. In the section lost to Kaituna there ■was only a margin of two points. Of the 18 games played by Dunedin it lost only two of these. Anderson’s Bay accounted for Leith in four sections, but lost to Portobello, the scores being 70-93. It was an unfortunate day for Leith, as it lost its fifth section, which was against Fairfield (a one-section club). v Opoho '(three sections) had a win and a loss with Taieri and lost also to Iloslyn. Balmacewen (five) won three of the four sections played against Roslyn, and also defeated Taieri in one section. The Taieri Club this season is playing three sections and lost two of them on Saturday. | North-east Valley and the Caledonian Clubs, both of which field five sections, had a straight-out fight, and in one of the sections four teams played instead of the usual three in a section. Valley won 10 of the games, Caledonian five, and-one was a tie, the total points being 336-287 m favour of Valley, which won four of the five sections. Kaikorai (three) won one and lost one against Otago, and won the odd section against St. Clair. The latter club won only one section out of the five played. Scores in 21 End Game. The writer has watched many a game of bowls as well as playing in many also and whether a spectator, or one engaged in a competition, enjoys a low scoring keen game. In many games one finds scores that indicate a looseness of play nr n want of judgment in building up the heads. When tno reads of the scores of 50 and in a few cases of over 60 being totalled by both sides ho cannot imagine such games being interesting to watch'. In last Saturday’s iuterclub matches at least half a dozen teams failed to reach double figures—O’Connell (Iloslyn) 26-8, Cowie (Tainui) 19-9, Beecroft (Dunedin) 21-9, Laurie (Tainui) 31-7, Keilar (Kaikorai) 30-8. These results, in my opinion, give an impression that though the losers did not score to any great extent, they nevertheless show that the losit-g skip controlled his side by putting up a good defence. I mentioned this matter b* a result of hearing a well-known player state that most of our games had developed into banging competitions, ami that careful building of heads was now a lost art. The answer to this was ston forthcoming by another player who expressed in no uncertain terms that (ho endeavours of clubs to provide games for “ new chums ” had had a depressing effect on tho quality of flay generally. Patriotic Funds and Bowling Clubs, On Saturday a special collection was taken up on all tho greens to assist the Navy Queen. The bowling fraternity, besides assisting with the collection, lias at all times taken a keen interest in the various methods employed in raising funds for the many wortbv projects which have been placed before tho people of New Zealand over the last 14 months. Unfortunately an overlapping has not been in the best interests of some of the funds. The bowlers in And around Christchurch have been doing good work in raising funds, and the Canterbury club has collected over £1,300, and other clubs have made donations of £2 2s to £lO 10s, while the Christchurch centre has donated £25. One thing is certain, that the local clubs have not entered into the raising of war funds ns was the case in the time of the Great War. The writer has received the following letter from a member of tho Dunedin Club: “ Apart from what members of the club did as citizens to assist in bringing victory in the fight for freedom and justice, they felt bound to associate the Dunedin Club officially with the fight for freedom. The club subscribed £l3l to the Queen Carnival. It raised £230 for special bowlers’ effort. It endowed two cols in the Montecillo Home, and with other bowlers ass’sfed in raising about £2OO for other patriotic purposes. The proposal raised by the Caledonian Club at the monthly meeting of the Dunerdin Cent-e will bo further discussed at its next meeting, and it might be in the interest of the patriotic funds if the suggestion of tho club was confined to the Otago district instead of making it a national one. One sports writer was unkind enough to refer to the action of tho centre in postponing the proposal of the Caledonian Club as less than generous. The writer has never found the bowler or their executives ungenerous.