SPOTLIGHT ON SPORT

Evening Star, Issue 25634, 7 November 1945, Page 8

SPOTLIGHT ON SPORT

Cricket Season Opened. The weather on the opening day of the cricket season might have been more summer-like; ou the other hand, it might nave been worse. The tlirefe jWickeis upon which the senior matches were played were also a bit less than perfect, showing ypots which caused tue ball to " pop " fairly frequently. Still, the great thing was that, in spite of a cold wind, a shower of rain, and a turf inclined to be " sporting," a start was made. It may be mentioned that in each of the other main centres play on the opening day was either impossible or was seriously interfered with. • In the case of Carisbrook A it was a very good start, and so far as may be gathered from this initial display, that team will take a lot of beating for the senior shield. It is particularly strong in batting; strong enough, one might suggest, to make up for any possible weakness in attack, with such proved run-getters as Hadlee, Fraser, Knight, Milnes, CaraduSj and McDougall, the A's should invariably score heavily. On the other hand, it must not be forgotten that, where extra points are allotted for straight-out wins, an ultrastrong batting: side which cannot dispose of its opponents cheaply might find itself out-pointed at the finish. Hadlee's Good Start; . W. A. Hadlee Wade-a splendid entry into Dunedin grade cricket, his 80, of which 56 were made.by, strokes to. or over the boundary (two 6's and 11 4's) being a delightful knock. His driving on both sides of the wicket and straight was clean and powerful, and his leg glances were nicely timed.. If there was a lack, it was in the direction of allowing. a large number of short balls to go unhooked. But Hadlee, used to fast wickets, is rather shy of the hook. With the ex-Canterbury man already in middle-of-the-season form, one may expect a continual spate of runs from his bat. Bowlers On Top.

It was strange that, while Carisbrook A was hitting up its 300-odd at one end of Tonga Park, Old Boys and the Grange-University combination were both struggling for runs at the other end of the park, struggling so desperately and with so little success that 20 wickets fell during the aifternoon for a total of 131 runs—Old Boys making 70 and their opponents 61. A wicket which had its, blemishes, and accurate medium pace bowling were jointly responsible for setting off the batsmen in procession. * A pleasing feature of this brisk attack was the success of George Lemin, who, before he went on'Air Force service, was Otago's leading bowler, his figures in first-class matches in 1939-40 being but little inferior to those of J. Coiwie, T. Pritchard, and D. Cleverle'y, who were then in top form. Lemiii on Saturday accounted for the first four Old Boys' wickets which fell, and finished with four for 15. He bowled with all his old-time vim and accuracy, and was well supported by Tom Freeman, who finished up the innings in good style by taking four for 34. \nd then, on the other side were A. W. (Roberts and V. McAuley, both right on the job. Roberts we know as a model of accuracy, and although

Toomey and Moir kept him out for a > while, once they left, the ex-Christ-church man had the rest in trouble, ' and came out with four wickets for 19 ] runs. McAuley will be remembered i as a most promising young bowler not 1 long from school when war broke out. i On Saturday he kept an excellent < length, and took four for 22, 1 the result .of the combined efforts of ( these two being that Old 'Boys, who ' looked certain to obtain a first\ innings' | fead, were at the end 9 runs behind Grange-University batted one' short, > and the fact that Payne was absent may , account for the side being eventually " pushed through the window " —to , use a colloquialism. " Digger " Golfers. < Very popular events in Dunedin be- j fore the war, the first "diggers' " golf day. since then is to be conducted by

returned servicemen members (and exmembers) of the Belleknowes Club on Saturday. About 40 are expected to participate in a single stroke competition for the It. Mclver "Digger v. Kiwi " Cup (which will probably be competed for annually), and in a Canadian foursome. There are to be some military stratagems devised to hinder progress from tee to green, such as sandbag obstacles across the fairways, and at one hole players will be compelled to play from the t€e wearing gas masks. Returned Men Do Well. It is good to see so many of the returned servicemen resuming their places iii the cricket field. One of these, J. Caradus, who put in the greater part of the war period in the Navy, has hopped right into form, his 77 for Carisbrook A against the Dun-edin-Carisbroolk B combination being a brisk and attractive knock of 80 minutes. When the A's had lost nine wickets for 250, Caradus and that solid clubman, A. C Proctor, got together, and, scoring freely off the tired bowling, added 64 for the last wicket, Proctor's share being 31 not out. Jim Caradus, it will be remembered, was

his club's secretary before he joined up with the Navy He is a son of " Boss " 'Caradus, whom old-timers will remember as a Morniugton stalwart in the days when that club was prominent in local cricket—Caradus. the Haigs, " Duke " McFarlane, Holderness were some of the others who kept the hill team going. Primary School Sports. The programme for the Otago State primary schools athletic championships, which are to be decided at the University Oval on December 4. has been issued. It is of a comprehensive nature, and includes track and field events for boys, and sprinting and skipping for girls in the championship section, also " tabloid " event 6 for pupils who are not considered of championship standard. Entries for all events close with the secretary, Mr Leo S. o'Snllivan. n+, the Caversham School, on November 15. Nine Races in Day. It is questionable whether a school boy athlete should be permitted to compete in anything like nine races in the course of a day, yet this was the experience of J. S. (Stewart) Clark at the recent Otago High School sports Certainly there were only three finals involved, five of the races being heats and the other a "leg" in the relay. Clark put up a great performance bywinning every heat and final in the lOOvds. 220vds. and 120vds hurdles, and was first to hand over in his leg of the relay. He was too exhausted to take part in the 440yds. The races were al 1 handicap events. Clark being a few davs too old to qualify for the intermediate championship section. This lad is 16 vears of ase. and is a member of tbe school cricket first cloven and of its Soccer first eleven. He captained the Otago junior (under 16) cricket team last season, making 47 runs.

Interclub Tennis. Although interrupted by rain for half an hour, the mixed A grade match between Kaituna and University was completed on University courts, and tue lormer team registered a good win. In contrast to most club courts, the University courts are ui a bad state of repair, the run-oack at one end being ail loose gravel ana very dangerous to play on. ine use of a broom and a little work would Have Cleared an open drain at the back of courts and saved the balls from being immersed in water. While the men of both teams were fairly evenly matched, the Kaituna ladies played steadier and better tennis than tlieir opponents, and were largely responsible for their team's victory. An excellent'match was seen between G. Laidlaw and J. Robson, the latter taking full advantage of his opponent's errors. Luiaiaw has not yet regained his pre-war form, but a mouth or two of hard practice should see him more than holding his own .with most Dunedin players. Radford, the ex-South-land representative, had an opportunity to win against Green when he led 7-2, 'but he missed several easy shots., The University men played doggedly to win out at 9-8. McKenzie was too accurate for Mackinnon, while Grey had to play; a marathon match to defeat Bayley, 9-6. The Kaituna ladies evened the match by -winning three of their singles, Miss <L Colquhoun giving a display of good-length driving to defeat . Mrs :i Tilbury by the odd game. Some excellent tennis; was: witnessed in the men's doubles. Robson and Green made the error' of not taking the net position when the opportunity offered, and by giving their opponents too many opportunities for kills with short lobs. In the second double.the Kaituna pair had the advantage, in the earlier stages, but their opponents gained confidence as ■: the match progressed, and with forcing tactics scored a good ' win. It. was in the mixed doubles that Kaituna gained the .greatest advantage, winning all of these matches

Victory Tennis Tournament. Good entries have been received for the McMillan Cup mixed doubles tournament to. be played at Logan Park next Saturday afternoon. Play commences at 1.30, and, given a fine day, this should be a most successful tournament. Players who have not yet entered should hand their entries to Mr E. S: Wilson as soon as possible.

Wilding Shield and Nunneley Casket. The challenge for New Zealand's premier lawn tenuis trophies bv Hutt Valley against Wellington resulted in the,former winning the Wilding Shield and Wellington retaining the Nunneley Casket. Included in the Hutt Valley team was 0. Bold, who played here in. 1943 and partnered J. Robson in doubles last season, while C. Fenwick, who played for the United team in Dnnedin last season, was No. 3 in the Wellington ,team. The surprise of the Wilding Shield match was R. Robb's defeat of V. Edwards, the 1939 New Zealand champion. Harry Gunthorpe in Town. A visitor to Dunedin just now is Mr Harry Gunthorpe. This may mean very little' to the younger generation of cricketers, but those who were in the game or following it 35 to 40 years ago will remember Harry as one of our best club bowlers. He played for Dunedin,. and was a coin sistent wicket-taker. Harry Gunthorpe left this city 35 years ago, and after residing for about 10 years; in Balclutha,. went to the far north, where his home now is. He is finding keen enjoyment, in meeting and chatting with old friends. • Golf Title at Belleknowes.

Golfers are of Spartan breed, used to playing in cold and windy conditions, and perhaps during showers, but certainly not through the entire, duration of Sunday's unrestrained downpour. How-ever, it was not through choice, but because of the necessity, for observing the rules of ■ the game that the final of the Belleknowes Club championship was contested in such wretched weather. When J. Byers and A. Murray started off on their journey over 36 holes, they were optimistic enough to hope that the threat of rain would be that and no more. But they' and their caddies, and the select gallery following them round both in the morning and the afternoon, were in for a soaking shortly after the match commenced. At the end of the

morning round, Murray, who was defending his title, was 2-tip on the more stylish Byers, and covered the first nine holes in 31. Early in the afternoon round. Murray established a commanding lead, mainly through accurate work round the greens and uncanny putting. Byers was inclined to he erratic' and appeared to be more perturbed than Murray by the conditions, his short approaches lacking their usual accuracy. Considering the' exceptional rain, the fact that mist obscured, the fairways on occasions, and that some of the greens were like miniature lalkes, both finalists gave first-rate displays, with Murray producing wet-weather form that was linked to some almost uncanny shots. Murray, who won 5 and 3, has an intimate knowledge of almost every blade of grass on the Belleknowes course, and despite an arm injury, seldom breaks 70. This is the fourth occasion he has won the' title. Batting Under Difficulties. Wickets and ground conditions at Bishopscourt on Saturday were definitely bad. and'.'before the rain came which subdued a little the " nastiness " of a putty-like pitch, the Albion-T.M.C.A.-North-east Valley combina'tiori (which appears to an unduly liberal allocation of hyphens). who batted first, had rather a sticky time. They did well, in the circumstances, to accumulate 183 runs. One of the Valley representatives emerged with the respectable total of 55 runs. Lankford Smith, displaying refreshing enterprise, hit up 44. A newcomer to Dunedin. in the person of E. Cameron, a young Christchurcb left-hand medium-pace bowler, created a favourable impression. He sent down 26 overs, of which 10 were maidens, .for 52 runs and five wickets. In New Colours. To the constant follower of cricket in Dunedin who attended the matches at Tonga Park on Saturday it must have seemed that Alex, Knight had mistaken the wicket at the north end of the ground for that at the south end It was strange indeed to see this player,' who had for some 30 years been a. consistent run-getter for Grange, now opening the innings for Carisbrook A. Alex, was not fated to get very far on the occasion of his introduction into new company, for, after making only 8 runs, he was caught in the slips off a bumpy ball from Kerr This early failure, however, is unlikely to upset an old campaigner such as he Ravensbourhe Boating Club. The opening races, of the Ravensbourne Boating Club will be held on j Saturday next. Though the tide will not be of the best, it is hoped that '

as many yachtsmen as,possible will be present to compete in the two events which the club intends to stage that day. These races will be'for 13lft and under, and an all-comers over 13ft; The Bowie Cup and Shamrock Cup wili be at stake.' and those who wish may enter for the sweepstake money.' Unappreciated "Sixer." ■.-■ To the players, and the onlookers, W. A. Hadlee's " sixer " off A. Kerr on Saturday, which sent the ball clean, over a high fencer was a lovely hit, but the tenant of the dwelling, into the back yard of which the ball landed took a different and it was some little time before she could be persuaded to hand back the ball, which, it appears, narrowly missed making a mess of the glass in her kitchen window. Cricket balls at war-time prices, however: are precious possessions, and this no doubt was pointed out to the lady in sufficiently diplomatic fashion. Anyhow,, the ball was recovered, and subsequent"sixers"—and there were three of them—were scored from hits to other i parts of the ground.

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