SPOTLIGHT ON SPORT

Evening Star, Issue 25357, 13 December 1944, Page 8

SPOTLIGHT ON SPORT

Otago v. Canterbury Cricket, Analysing the field of choice from an Otago cricket selector's point of view, one realises that it is a very narrow one so far as the batting department is concerned, so that the apparent weakness in that respect which characterises the dozen chosen to make the trip to Christchurch at Christmas is explainable, Batsmen, indeed, have had a poor spin this summer, and of this Otago side only A. W. Roberts, C. Toomey.F. W. Bellamy, and perhaps V. McCarten have shown consistent, form of a nature to entitle them to be classed as representative batsmen. L. Smith shaped impressively at Inyercargill, but has done very little apart from that. As to the bowling, whosoever leads the side—presumably it will be Toomey-*-will have plenty of talent at his command, elbeit much of it is of the same type, medium' pace. Of .these, A. W. McDougall is, at his best, a class bowler—one always on the attack. Virility is also a featare of the bowling of the other right-handers, A. W. Roberts and T. Freeman, while the lefthander, E. Kruskopf, is one of the most promising of the newcomers. R. Harwood is another left-hander, but of slower pace, and L. Smith's left-hand googlies may add variety. F. W. Bellamy appears to have lost his effectiveness as a bowler, but the ex-Canterbury man is full of runs. A. N. Lawson, who shapes well with the gloves, comes in as wicket-keeper, G. H. Mills not being available for the trip. D. Murdoch's selection must have been based on last year's form,: as the University:man has not done anything this year •to warrant his inclusion. C. Overton is. twelfth man, and the post of sawdust carrier seems a poor reward for ibis 11 Otago wickets for 34. runs at Invercargill. The; fielding should be good —as it i is ' reported ■■ to have been: against Southland—and, taken all ■round, the combination may be regarded! as' not at all. a bad o.ne,T especially when viewed- in the light of team-building for the future. Regattas, , This seasonpromises to be more successful than previous ones, as all. promoting bodies are endeavouring to sponsor their usual events. Local oarsmen are being repre-' sented at Bluff on New Year's Day, the North End Rowing;Club is sending a junior crew, while Port Chalmers will also probably be starting. The programme for the Otago annual regatta is now avialable, and food rowing is anticipated for the South sland championship titles;. Southland crews will probably be represented there, and the Avon. Rowing Club, of Christchurch, is likely to compete if travel facilities permit. The Dunedin • Regatta Club's fixture for this season - has - yet to be announced.

Rapid Progress. Three years ago young Noeline Carstenson was regarded as a'sort of mermaid down Stewart Island 'way, where she used to sport in the waves of Balfnioon Bay, even in the chilliest weather. Then her family changed its domicile to Dunedin, : and Noeline joined the famous Kiwi Swimming Club, and was taken in hand by competent coaches., She, developed so rapidly; that she is now one of the leading lights of that club, and'at a recent tournament won half-a-dozen events in impressive style. It seems clear that her early experiences at the island had imbued her with a love of the water, and laid : a foundation of stamina 1 upon which the coaches were able to build the necessary skill. This, then, is the tale of the Stewart Island mermaid, whose, progress has been on such a. scale that she is inevitably " iri the • swim " at carnivals. ■

Hardy Nelson. > ■ Harold Nelson, formerly of Otago and a provincial and New • Zealand - champion runner, has lately, somewhere in the Pacific, been displaying the " V for Victory " sign pretty constantly, winning races from halfmile upwards against well-known American performers and under shocking track conditions or in intense heat. On one occasion he fell twice during a mile race and still finished third, while in the two-mile he ploughed home through the mud a lap ; or more to the good. Another time, running in rubber-soled shoes and with the thermometer away above the • century, he won the mile in 4min,47sec; and the half-mile in 2min 16sec.' Nelson is hardy, all 1 right.' ; Stuart Falconer Cup.

Ideal weather last Saturday • afternoon favoured, the Stuart Falconer Cup ladies' and men's doubles tournament .at Logan Park, and this well-conducted fixture, which drew a very- large , entry, proved very enjoyable. . The winners'of the men's doubles proved to be Bennett, and Bast, of Macandrew Bay, while the, final of the ladies' event has to be played off by Miss Kerr and Mts ; Rawlinson and . Mrs Gray and Mrs Cameron, of Pine Hill. , . Both from ■ a ; playing, point of view and on >the spcial side/ -the tournament vwas highly successful, and,the standard of performaces,/especially among the younger competitors, was very pleasing. The handicapping worked out remarkably well, and it was significant that in the' majority cf the matches the winning pairs' final . advantage was only' a few points. Jensen and Craik, court winners in .the A grade, played well in their first three matches, and gained their best victory when ttiey accounted for Falconer and Sherriff. The latter gave, their best display when they accounted for Robson and Scott. Ferguson, and .Holden, Sawyers Bay, played consistently well throughout the day,' and deserved their victory in the B grade. The final of the men's event between Bennetts and East,and Ferguson and Holden was one of the best handicap finals seen at Logan Park. AIL four- players showed excellent promise apd, every point was keenly contested; The. winners are both young players, 18 years of age, and on their performances last Saturday; they should both have £ bright future in the game. Bennetts /smashes and drives strongly, while his forehand drive is his best shot. . Both would , benefit ■ considerably from coaching. East has a tendency to walk when serving, 'and in tournament play ' would be trequenly foofcfaulted by anv umpire. " ' In. their final match, the Macandrew Bay pair were .placed on- owe -10, and their opponents on scr. Ferguson/and Holden more, than held their own in the early stages of the. match,. and.. ; actually led 20 to ±O. Good play and the "ability to iurn many of their opponents' best shots into winners enabled Bennetts > and East to eventually*take the lead alb 28-27, and from this stage they made no mistake about the final points, t Mrs Rawlinson made a welcome reappearance in Dunedin tennis, and with Miss Kerr, showed 'that she is still the best doubles player in ■'" Dunedin to • win through to the final of the ladies' doubles. : Miss Scott and Miss, McKenzie, of St. Clair, both played good, steady tennis, and in their- semi-final match against Mrs Rawlinson and Miss Kerr, they gave a good display. ■',. , ....■.'.' Rowing Club Races. The Otago Rowing Glub's first club race lor three seasons, the Matheson Fours, was decided on Saturday last. This race is for new, members' and non-regatta men, and always provides close contests. Three crews raced, and \the event was decided, in two heats. In the first heat a crew stroked by G. Porter gained a close decision by half a length from a crew stroked by A. H. Brent. In the row-off- the crew which hiad a bye, consisting of, J. N.. Metcalfe (s.),N. Kinnaid, C. George, R. Allen,(bow), proved to be easy winners for the 1944 season. This is the -first club race of the season, and will be followed by the Thompson Fours next Saturday, /December 16, at 2.15 p.m. All,members are eligible for this event, as crews are selected consisting of two senior oars and two novices. New Zealand Junior Tennis Championships.

Otago is to be well represented at the New Zealand- junior championships, •to be held at Auckland in January. , Players who have signified their..intentions of going, and who have been nominated by the Otago Association, are Miss Rudd and Miss Lenlin (Kaituua), A. Scott (Cosy Dell), and B. Hellyer (Macandrew Bay). Bowlers Shine.

KxceDt for two or three good bowling performances, there was nothing outstanding in Saturday's senior matches. J. Mattingirv's eight for 76 in 22 overs was a good fiffort for North-east Valley against Univer «itv. which is easily the best team in the B section. G. Stanley's six Air Force wicknts for 37 was another excellent effort in the same section. In the A section T. Freeman staged another impressive performance with the ball, claiming six Albion-Y.M.C.A. victims at a cost of 39 runs, while E. Kruskopf's five for 52 against Kaikorai, and the consistent A. W. McDousall's four for 45

against Old Boys were also commendable efforts. Slow-bowler Mattingley is doing big work for North-east Valley this season. Already be has taken something like 25 wickets for a single-figure' average. If it was not for. Mattingley with the ball and F. W. Bellamy with the bat, Valley would 'cut a very poor figure indeed. As it is, the team, like Dunedin in the A section, has vet to win a match. Batsman Obstructs Field.

An incedent probably unique in the history of New Zealand cricket occurred at Eden Park in a senior match, when a batsman was given out for obstructing the field- Facing a total of 374 made by Grafton-Y.M.C.A., the Middlemore batsmen were kept on the defensive for most of the afternoon. The last pair, D. C. Cleverley, a former New Zealand representative, and T. JR. McArthur, were making a gallant attempt to out time. In an endeavour to take the bowling, with only five minutes to go, Cleverley patted the last ball of one of C. Burke's overs into the air, a little on the on side. As the fieldsmen dashed m fqr a catch, Cleverley, who had commenced to run, kicked the ball on just as it was making contact with the ground. There was an immediate appeal, and the umpire concerned, Mr O. R. Montg#mery, had no hesitation in giving Cleverley out.. It appeared that the fieldsmen had no chance of effecting a catch, but Cleverley may have been run out. The incident created much discussion among officials and players, none of whom could recall a similar occurrence. Mr H. C, Watson, 1 a former .English county player and, Carisbrook groundsman, and now' groundsman at Eden Park/stated that he: : had i seen once. only. during his. 50.. years' experience a, batsman . given out for obstructing the "field. This was in a Lancashire league match, ' when the ball was hit high in the air and the batsman refused to move in order to giye the fieldsman, a clear (chance to "catch t the ball. Questioned after the match, Cleverley said he acted on the spur, of the moment at a tense stage of the game. Realising that he could not ,be caught out, he.found the ball in his path as he ran, and he just kicked if on. He knew immediately that he had done wrong, and regretted his action. He Got Through the Day. In view of the statement by Mr W. J. V. Hamilton regarding the reprimand given to a young bowler for" hurrying too much because he "would never last out the afternoon by taking as little time between the deliveries," it is interesting to note that J..C. White, a member of the English team of 1928-29 and by no means a young man, in successive innings in test matches at Melbourne, Adelaide, and Melbourne, bowled 57, 56, 60, 64, and 75 overs, an average of more than 62 overs per innings. Of these 512 overs, 109 were maidens. White was a slow bowler, of course, but he " got through the day " all right. Barnes for League? &. G. Barnes, one of Australia's outstanding batsmen and regarded as a postwar test certainty, is likely, to go to England after the war to play in Lancashire League. Lancashire League one-day matches have proved a profitable avenue for many dominion, and especially Australian cricketere, and it is the type of cricket that would appeal to Barnes and suit the brilliant, aggressive, and quickscoring batsmanship he can produce when occasion demands fireworks. Barnes at 28 is still : young in the cricketing sense. Woman Champion Runner. Stella Walsh, of. Cleveland, Ohio. U.S.A., must rank as one of the greatest woman athletes of all time. Recently at the age of 33 she won, three American track and field' titles on one day. They were the 100 metres in 12sec, 200 metres in _ 24.65ec, and the broad jump at 17ft 11 l-Bih. Miss Walsh was born at Stella Walasiewicz, in Poland, and has divided her athletic career between her native land and the United States, of. which country she is now a citizen. Twice 6he has retired, but after two or three years the lure of the track always brought her back into competition. Since 1930 sho has won over 20 • American championships, and now, holds eight American and four world records.' - • Patron With Wide Interests.

Dr T. H. Pettit, of Auckland, who ■ has just-been elected patron of the New Zealand, Council of Sport, has received ..an honour richly deserved, as his interest in sport covers a wide and varied field. In his younger days Dr Pettit represented Nelson at Rugby football and played for the Otago University- first fifteen for three years. He also Nelson and Auckland at the New Zealand water polo championships. Swimming and life saving have'received particular attention from Dr 'Pettifc,. who'in 1937 was elected Jife governor of the Royal Life Saving Society,. England. He is at present vice-patron of the New Zealand branch of the Royal Life Saving Society, past president of the New Zealand Amateur Swimming Association,patron and past president of ,the Auckland Swimming Centre, and has been president of the Auckland branch of Surf Life Saving Association since 1932. Deep-sea angling, water polo, and sofLball also come within Dr Pettifc's sphere of-activities, and, he is Auckland's representative on the National Council of Physical Welfare and Recreation.