Spotlight on SPORT

Evening Star, Issue 25770, 17 April 1946, Page 4

Spotlight on SPORT

The Lesson of the Test. Cricket writers throughout the Dominion are stressing " the lesson of the iest." and some are publishing the opinions of -well-known players of the past. Needless to say, these opinions vary, but it is obvious to all that immediate and strong measures will have to be taken to build up a team for the iltour of England in 1949. Brown, the Australian captain, has said that we have only three players of test calibre —Hadlee, . Wallace, and " Cowie —and, judging by performances. (Brown is not tar wrong. It must be conceded that lack of ." big match" experience is a handicap, for players cannot be expected to show the same confidence at the wickets or at the bowling crease when they play in only two or three first class matches a season as they would if these contests were more frequent. In this connection an effort should be made_ to induce an Australian State side to visit lis, if'not everv season, then every second There might be some objection to this on the ground of interference with club cricket, but such'interference in any one centre would not be very great. Some of the critics, too, are advocating the employment of coaches, but, except in the case of schoolboys, who should be taught the rudiments of the game, the necessity' for stereotyped, coaching" is questionable, and nrofes-; sional coaching is generally more or les6 • of a mechanical nature. What is more j essential is to give players good wickets upon which to practise and to play. Mailey, Brown, and O'ißeilly do not! stress the necessity for strict coaching, i for they are aware of the fact; ihat j very few indeed of the a;reat AustJa- j Han cricketers ever had any coaciiing to speak of. As O'ißeilly says: " Plenty of practice, love of the g3me, watching I good players, and boundless entiiusiasm are the basic rules to follow." But our yoi.ngsters are_ handicappe.l, just as the more experienced players aie handicapped, by the Jack of a reasonably important programme of first class matches, for how can they " watch good players " and become enthused if such opp >rtunities are »ieni'3d them P In the meantime, an intensive search for young and promising players should be made with which to fill the places of those " stiff-backed batsmen and up-and-down bowlers in their thirties," whom (one critic says) the selectors chose to represent New Zealand, But our " heads " here in Dunedin should not, because of the tremendous public interest aroused by_ the visit of the Australians, take it for granted—as our good friend, Arthur Mailey, did—that Dunedin has suddenly become cricket-minded. A check to that idea was administered on -the following Saturdays, when the all-important senior club final was'being played and the attendance on the last and vital day was under 100. Still, jif we can give public good cricket to look at, and-—above all—if we can win our representative matches; the said public will come along. Nothing succeeds like success. - , In The; Swim.

" Lofty " Blomfieldi, who was a good senior Jootballer before -he took nip pro-fessional--wrestling, made the name of Blomfield well known thrbught New Zealand, and now another of the family, P. Blomfield, of King's College, Auckland, has made a name for. himself in,, a different sphere by winning the intermediate freestyle swimming' titles. This boy is a son of Dr W. A. Blomfield,< of ' Auckland, who is : a Cousin of. the redoubtable "Lofty." Must Go Home.

The New South Wales cricketer, S. G. Barnes, before leaving this country on his return to Australia with other members of the visiting team, made application to the Australian Board _ of Control for permission to stay behind for a few .weeks; Barnes. had made numerous friends in the four centres, and he was anxious to bring his wife and child over for a holiday at his own expense. The Australian Board, of Control, in replyj told Barnes that,he must travel home with the rest of the team.

Tennis Selection. A correspondent writes: " The remarks of your sports writer regarding Hutchison's, omission from the Otago tennis team will be endorsed by every fair-minded tennis player in this city. Hutchison is definitely No. 2 player in Otago to-day, yet he is not given a place in a team of 6. In a full season's play of interclub, Otago ladder ; and inter-association matches, Hutchison has never lost an umpired match. ■ Early in the season, when he had not struck his best form after re-

turning from overseas, he lost a very close match to Scott, but only because he is too good a sport,'in the absence of an umpire. Since that time his only loss has been to the Otago cham-pion-Robson, and her© again the score does '. not tell the story, because eyewitness accounts agree that Hutchison had it all over Robson in the second set, and it was only a broken string by Hutchison and the darkness that saved Robson. Given the opportunity, Hutchison will possibly beat Robson and will certainly beat every other member of the so-called Otago team. Why has Hutchison never been given that opportunity?

Rev. Blamires in Cricket. The Revi K. 0. Blamires, who was mentioned in the news last week in connection with his resignation as organising secretary of the Bible-in-Schools League, will be remembered as a first class cricketer, who has represented Wellington and Otago, as well as other centres, in that field. He assisted Otago for about four seasons, most of the time as captain of the side, and it was during his period that this province won, in 1924-25, the Plunket Shield for the first time. He also took part in that memorable match with Wellington, when, at Carisbrooik, the then second highest aggregate for a first class match anywhere was compiled. This amounted to 1,905 runs, Wellington making 560 and 465, and Otago 385 and 495. Otago's 495 was at the time fourth highest total for a fourth innings. Since then, 1,929 was scored in the match between New South Wales and South Australia in 1925-26, and Victoria made 518 in its second innings against Queensland in 1926-27, and Middlesex 502 for six against Notts in 1925. While a representative of Otago, " 0.E.," as he was generally referred to by his team mates, played many fine innings, included in which were 35 and 133 against Canterbury in the diamond jubilee match; 117 against Wellington in 1925; and 74 .and 62 against Auckland in successive seasons. His one appearance in a test match was not a success. This was against New South Wales, in 1924, and " 0.E." made " a pair." He was not alone in that inglorious role, however, for the other Otago representative, R. de R. Worker., also failed to trouble the scorer in either innings. Worker made many big scores before and after that performance. Blamires occasionally went on to bowl, but his " donkey drops " were rarely effective. Triple Champion. A few days ago there died at Wellington, Johnny Summers, whose record is one of the most striking in the history of boxing. For Summers was, in his day, champion in thre. separate divisions —feather-weight, light-weight, and welter-weight, and held the Lonsdale Belt, the symbol of British Empire boxing supremacy, in each. . He was champion at a time when, England could boast of such great fighters as Jimmy Wilde, Jem Driscoll, Freddy Welsh, and Pedlar Palmer. Summers lost the welter-weight title to Welsh on a points decision alfter ?0 furious rounds, and the light-weight belt to the aptly-named Johnny Basham. He was 63 years when he died. " Stiff-backed Batsmen."

This is what Mervyn Fenn, one of the newspaper correspondents who travelled with the Australian cricket team on its recent tour of the Dominion, sent back to the ' Sydney Morning Herald ' after the match against Canterbury:—"The value of the Australian eleven's tour to New Zealand cricket is being wasted on too many untalented near-veterans. Stiffbacked batsmen and up-and-down bowlers in their thirties are cluttering the provincial teams. The experience should be going to youngsters still able to learn. New Zealand selector, J. Kerr, says there are. no good young 1 players. They could not do worse than some who are said to be experienced. "In four matches against the provinces Australia will meet only four young players. Three are wicket-keepers. The provinces are losing a great opportunity to get the best out of the tour by not choosing -a few keen-minded youngsters. .If they only showed promise .:;and ability rtp, learn, 'their selection Would' be justified. The Australians are helping with lectures at schools. O'Reilly, Hassett, Toshack, Tallon, and other have aroused the enthusiasm of? hundreds of boys." Cricket Snobbery Going. Old traditions die hard in this couutry, but I really believe we are about to see the disappearance of the ageslong distinction between amateur and professional cricketers by the placing of th.eir initials in the one case before, and in the other, after their names (writes our London correspondent). The secretary of the Gloucestershire club, for instance, tells me that this Reason there will be no such or any other distinction on the match cards printed, and sold on their grounds. Once the ball is started, I have no doubt it will be rolled along in the same way by other counties. A professional player, Stanley Worthington, has been appointed vice-captain of Derbyshire, which is also a sign of the times

Representative Tennis. . Although Otago defeated Canterbury by a substantial margin, plenty of bright and interesting tennis was witnessed in the matches iplayed at Logan Park last, Saturday afternoon. N The Otago team has played three major .representative matches this season, f,nd finishes the season with the excellent record of having won 63 matches to their opponents' 6. While it is admitted that the Canterbury team was not its strongest, the team which played here included many of the province's leading players. The members of the Otago team showed that on hara courts they can more than hold their own with players from other provinces in the South Island. It must be many years since there have been so many outstanding local players capable of the standard of tennis seen in the match against Canterbury. With the present talent available, and given the opportunity for play on grass there is no doubt that Otago players could hold their own with the best in New Zealand.

A study of the individual results of the Otago-Canterbiiry match shows that nine of the 22 matches won by Otago went to three sets, and in,only one case did an Otago player lose a three-set match. The mixed doubles matches were played first, and in most of these events the visitors had • difficulty in adapting their play to asphalt, and they did not "produce their best form. In the men's singles, S. Watson, a hard-hitting player, with a very effective, two-handed backhand, fully extended J. Robson in a match in which both had difficulty in maintaining a reasonably good length. One of the best matches of the day was witnessed between G. Laidlaw arid E. D. White. Both players drove confidently throughout, and the Canterbury man appeared to have the match won when he had a match point at 5-3 in the third set. A daring drop-shot played by Laidlaw from the back of the court saved the point, and he went on to win a welldeserved victory.

Playing against Mrs D. Donnithorne, I Mrs Rawlinson gave one of her best fighting displays to come from behind to take the final set. In the match, Otago versus Maniototo, C. Hutchison played solid tennis to defeat the hard-hitting Maniototo player, S. Leaslk. V. Donnelly, the runner-up in this year's New Zealand junior championship, was a member of the Maniototo team, and won all his matches. While his style of play is not as to watch as many of the Dunedin juniors, his hard and accurate game is very effective. A j heavily sliced forehand, hit very hard, usually paved the way for his advance to the net, where he volleyed strongly and accurately for winners.

Easter Tennis. The draw for the South Island and Otago Championships, to be played at Logan Park commencing on Friday, shows that an excellent entry has been received for all events. A total of 160 players are talking part in the various events and, given fine weather, the tournament should be the most successful ever held at Logan Park. The present holders of the Otago titles, which were last competed for in 1940, are:—Men's singles, K. Bryan; ladies' singles, Miss D. Miller; men's doubles, J. Paterson and E. G. Boddy; ladies' doubles, Miss D. Miller and Miss R. Wilson; mixed doubles, K. Bryan and Miss R. Wilson. University Easter Tourney. Eighty-five competitors will represent the University of Otago at the Easter tournament, which will be held this year at Christchurch. The four university colleges and the two agricultural colleges will be represented in lowing, swimming, athletics, boxing, women's basketball, tennis, and shooting. Although the Otago personnel have shaped well at faculty trials and the interfaculty sports meeting, serious competition is expected from northern competitors, particularly Auckland, where six records were either hroken or equalled at the interfaculty meeting recently. The eight which won the interharbour annual race recently will represent Otago in the rowing section, and supporters are confident of a triumph in this department at least. Among the athletic contenders are R. Mara, J. M- Gray (who covered the mile at the interfaculty meeting in only 3. 3-5 sec. slower than Lovelock's university record), J. Sinclair. A. W. Beasley, and D. F. Tracey. Swimmers include T. H. Logan, a Taraiuilki champion, W. -T. Jarvis, and Trevor Wilson, while j. E. Robson, a name well known in lawn tennis circles, will contest the singles and doubles titles. Anglican Harriers. The Anglican Athletic Club opened their winter season last Saturday from the St. Clair Baths, a fair muster turning out under the harrier captain, Scott Moody, who is again out with the club. Those who were prominent during the run included the Mitchell brothers, Jack Caradus, Doug. McCall, and Jim Hyslop, all of whom were very, promising members prior to the war. A new runner in E. Potter also showed distinct promise. All members were very pleased to see Walter, Norman out. Unfortunately Walter's running days have been curtailed by war service, but his enthusiasm for his club still remains. Another of the older brigade out to the opening on Saturday was Duncan McLennan, a j past winner of the Port Road Race. I

Old. But Tough. Most sports have-their Peter Pans; men who refuse to tcrow too old to take an active part in the particular hranoh they love. Two instances in connection with rowing have been noted recently. At the Ngaruawahia regatta, the single sculls was won by Peter Brough, who is 64 years young, and who attributes his remarkable fitness to clean living, and a lifetime devoted to farming activities. Then, up in Christchurch is another ancient waterman, H. Adkins, who was a member of the Avon Club crew which was narrowly defeated in the final for the four-our contest for the Sugden Cup. Mr Adkin's admits to having reached the so-called " allotted span," but he still intends to go on pulling his weight so long as he is allotted a place in the boat. Junior Cricket Notes.

A correspondent, " Interested Supporter," sends in some notes concerning a few members of the Carisbrook Intermediate team which finished second to North-east Valley in that grade. Eight of these members had played in senior cricket and most of them are still fit for that grade if room was available for them. J. C. McArthur, who headed the batting averages, and Jack Fraser who finished next to him, are both really good bats, though the latter is not always in high scoring mood. Jim Cameron is another sound run-getter. J. Harwood, a slow left-hander who gives the ball plenty of air, stood out as the most promising howler. He took 46 wickets during the season. Of the other bowlers, W. Valentine, Ritchie, and Fraser performed well. Tooth Extracted During Match.

It is not only during a cricket match that stumps are drawn. Over in Sydney recently while a water polo match was in progress between New South Wales and Victoria, Roger Cornforth. a New South Wales player, was hit in the mouth by the ball in the first half of the game. Play was held up while a doctor extracted one of Cornforth's front teeth and tended a nasty gash. Cornforth resumed his place to score two brilliant goals, and New South Wales, after two extra periods had been played, won by 6 goals to 5. Souvenir for Cowie.

Jack Cowie, who by his splendid performance in the otherwise disastrous test against Australia established his reputation as the only bowler of test match calibre in the Dominion at the moment, also, during the season, obtained his one hundredth wicket in Plunket Shield matches. Both these feats are to be recognised by the Auckland Cricket Association, which is having a plate attached to the ball used on the second day of the test and having inscribed thereon the fact that Cowie took six Australian wickets for 40 runs. Cowie's feat of taking six wiokets in an international match was not his first. He did it twice with the New Zealand touringteam of 1937. In the one-day match with Ireland he took six for only 3 runs in the second innings, and missed the hat trick by one ball. Ireland scored only 30 runs. A more meritorious performance was the Aucklander's six English wickets in the second test at Old Trafford for 67 runs. Cowie climaxed his grand bowling on the English tour by getting Don Bradman's scalp in the game against Adelaide on the way home. He had him caught behind by Eric Tindill for 14 runs. Stand-in. Heavy-weight boxer Lee Oma has been proposed as an "insurance alternate " for the., world championship fight in June between Louis and Co'mi. Tex Sullivan, Oma's manager, recalls that Tex Rickard, who was Mike Jacobs's predecessor in the fight promotion field, kept Jack Sharkey in readiness when Jack Dempsey was preparing for his second fight with Gene Tunnev. Sullivan said Sharkey was paid £3,125 to stay in training until the fight, in case anything happened to Dempsey. £5,000 To Stage Snooker Final. Joe Davis has always believed that professional snooker could be put over to the public in a big way and now he is to have his theories tested, says our London correspondent. He has been looking for a hall in London for months in which to stage the world championship final between himself and Horace Lindrum and had almost decided to throw in his hand and play the match anywhere, when good news came over the telephone. Mr Bob. Jelks, a furniture manufacturer, rang him up and told him that, the Royal Horticultural Hall, Westminster, was vacant from May 6-18 and that he would put down £5,000 to stage the match there. So, if we except a couple of preliminary heats in the championship which were played in the suburbs London is to get its first big snooker for more than six years. The hall will be planned to hold 1,200 people, which compares with 177 who used to see the championship finals at Thurston's before the war and the match will extend over a fortnight and consist of 145 frames. Joe made his 196th century break at Manchester last week and is quite likely to reach his 200th luring the championship final, if he doesn't do so before. In any event, the experiment of snooker as av top-line public attraction will be watched with the greatest interest, not only by the professional players, but by the big sports promoters. I know that Arthur Elvin, head of Wembley Stadium, was intrigued by the ideawhen Davis put it up to him and would have been prepared to take a chance and give it a trial had his hall been available.