SPORTING PARS.

King Country Chronicle, Volume XVIII, Issue 1776, 16 January 1923, Page 6

SPORTING PARS.

TENNIS

J. O. Anderson, speaking to a gathering of women tennis players in Sydney, stressed the necessity of cultivating the volleying game in Australia. "Our ladies," he said, "have a tendency to remain too much in the back of the court, instead of coming in to the net. Back-line play is much more tiring than playing in at the net, and gives your opponent too much time to make their shots, whereas a. winning volley or 'drop' shot can be often made if you are eiose to the net." Anderson dwelt on the necessity of coolness. "One of the worst features of our women's play," he said, "is their habit of rushing their shots too quickly, instead of taking their time and hitting the ball where they want to." In support of this advice, he instanced the style of Mile Suzanne Lenglen, "the champion woman player of the world." Mile Suzanne always endeavoured to keep cool, play her strokes with precision, and let her opponent do all the tunning about and make all the mistakes. "Don't play to the gallery," went on Anderson. "Any girl with a 'swollen head' wijl never get far in tennis, beoause the necessity for concentration oil the shots is too great. It is all very well to get in a pretty gallery shot, but what about the other 20 shots missed in trying to p?ay for show. It does not pay, and it does not win matches." In regard to service, Anderson advised his audience not to rush it. You have your own time in which to serve, so take it quietly, and hit the ball right at the top of its flight when you toss it up."

"I am going to give up the game for a, few months. I have been playing too much, and my arm is becoming tired again, under the strain of too much playing." These remarks were made by Gerald Patterson, the holder of the lawn tennis championship' of the world, on his return to Melbourne from Sydney.

Looking at Gerald Patterson after his return from England, one must admit that he has benefited by the change (says a Bulletin critic.) He is still inclined to net with half-court crashes, but generailly he is surer and less spectacular overhead, and he has perfected a. sliced backhand volley that adds greatly to his offensiveness in singles. His forehand drive, loaded with the overspin that gives it a disconcerting drop when it seems bent on a heacWong journey outside, is now more strongly controlled as regards direction, whereas a backhand shot of a like calibre is absent, with the result that he is still running round in the schoolgirl fashion to punch back a. backhand hall from the forehand_ position. Moreover, his had habit is becoming contagious, for one notices Hawkes performing the same feat, quite regardless of the fact that lie is laying up for himself a, store of trouble if he ever has to tackle the Yankees for the Davis Cup. This lazy avoidance of the backhand, conspicuous in Patterson, and sufficiently noticeable in Anderson, Hawkes and Wood to warrant misgivings regarding the future, has simply come about in Austialia through the inability of any man to exploit the weakness. If a player of the all-round brilliance of Tilden were to appear here, he would be a godsend to tennis, for he would compel the slack-banders to phig_ up the hole in their armour. As it is, none of our top-notchers worry about the backhand game, well knowing that there is no one in sight in Australia competent enough to win a match on it. Tilden, who, according to_ Patterson, is actually stronger on his backband than on his forehand, reckoned that all the Australians he had seen wore liable to "blow up" under the persistent backhand attack.

BOXING

Gunner Moir, formerly British heavyweight boxer, apparently has not proved an ideal father. A son of his left home, complaining of the treatment by the gunner. He went to reside with a Mr William Nelson, and as the outcome of a squabble over the matter, Nelson sued Moir for slander. A jury of the gunner's peers decided that he did slander Nelson, and assessed the damages at .CSOO.

Parisians are still angry over the affaire Carpentier. The Gallic mentality is peculiar. It has no sympathy with failure. But here is a secret. Carpentior was not, and had not been for some time, the "idol of Paris." The idol business, in fact, has been much overdone on the English side. As soon as "Carp." became a. popular figure in London, his stock went down in Paris. Was it jealousy P Possibly. Carpentier talked a lot about bis social conquest of Mayfair, and he spent a certain amount of money in London hotels and dance clubs which ought to have gone into Parisian coffers. A small thing, if you like, but—voila!

Joe Lynch, bantam-weight champion of the world, according to tho latest edict, will not be permitted to l)ox at Madison Square Garden, New York, until he has atoned for his execrable showing at the Richard arena against Kid Wolf and has re-estab-lished his prestige by a satisfactory fight at some of the smaller clubs. In other words, a New York boy is denied the privilege of engaging in a bout in the very ring in which he first won his title. He subsequently regained the bantam-weight honours at the New York Velodrome, where he defeated Johnny Buff. Tex Richard sounded the New York Boxing Commission on the point of a. title bout between Joe Lynch and Joe Burman. tho Chicago bantam, and the noted promoter got a. shock that almost deprived him of his cane. Rickard was advised that Lynch would not be recognised as a, fitting card for the Garden until .he had restored himself to good standing by giving a satisfactory ring account of himself at some other club.

Now that Carpentier is down, come the kicks. The latest is that when Carpentier was training for the match against Dempsey, Silas Greene, who was in his training camp, walloped the handsome Frenchman by hooking him the Lewis crack on the chin. He was nearly fired for the liberty taken.

Joe Beckett, whom the authorities in England prevented from fighting Siki, rejoices in the sobriquet in America of "Canvas Kisser Joe." Certainly expressive!

The opinion seems to be gathering strongily that Jack Dempsey is doing his best to side-step the negro Harry Wills. And so Mr Jack Dempsey turns to wrestling, and the report comes that a match has been arranged with "Strangler" Lewis, the famous wrestler. The match is not to come off for some months, so "Wills is thus pushed further away from a trial with the white champion.

Mike McTigue, the Irish-American, by knocking out Johnny Basham in the third round, probably lias ended Basham's career in big fighting. Basham opened with a lot of his old-timo speed, but his blows did not carry much weight. After using his left as a feeler in the first round, McTigue sailed in in the second round, and he knocked out the veteran with a right to the jaw in the third.

CRICKET

A Wellington writer has compiled a list of double century scorers in that city's first-grade cricket, and the total is eight. All but one have been made in recent years. The list is:— W. A. Baker, 254 (1918). W. A. Baker, 241 not out (1915). J. S. Hiddleston, 240 (1918). W. S. Brice, 228 (1922).

K. H. Tucker, 221 not out (1898). F. S. Middleton, 217 (1918). B. Marres, 212 (1917). H. E. Burton, 203 not out (1921)

"R. H,. Tucker, practically at the beginning of his career as a. senior cricketer, established a record score for Wellington, which stood for 17 years in championship matches. As a matter of fact, it was the best tally for all games played in Wellington until 1915, F. A. Midlane being the first to top it with a score of 222 not out for Wellington against Otago. F. Joplin, now a master at Wellington College, had a bit of ba,d luck in scoring 199 not out in 1914. All the batsmen mentioned in this paragraph, Avith the exception of Midlane, are still playing cricket in New Zealand. Middleton and Burton are in Auckland, and the rest in Wellington.

According to a Durban paper, J. W. Zuleh, the great Transvaal batsman, is not available for the tests between England and South Africa, as he cannot spare the time necessary from his business. Zulch has played a. great part in South African cricket and his retirement will be generally regretted. He was one of the four men selected without any demur to play in the test matches against the last Australian eleven, the others being H. W. Taylor, A. D. Nourse. and J. M. Blackenberg, and they were being looked to to provide the backbone of the teams to meet the Englishmen. He was one of the most successful South African batsmen in the team that visited Australia in 1910-11, and made a couple of centuries in the test matches.

Freak bets are made at big cricket matches. Who will score next? Who will get the next wicket? Who will hit the first four? While the last English test team was playing on the Sydney Cricket. Grorjnd (says a Sydney paer) one sport bet another that Macartney would enter the ova) first after Warwick Armstrong. He did on three succeeding days. Macartney has a habit of hustling in on the heels of his captain. The loser in his anguish turned to' Arthur Mailey, and implored him to beat Macartney into the field. It- was the closest of' close finishes. Mailey got there by the width of his belt. Recouping his losses, the sport declined to bet against the snappy little Macartney any more.

A. P. F. Chapman's innings of 183 for the M.C.C. team v. Canterbury was the most delightful seen in Christchurch since the late Victor Trumper scored 293 for Arthur Sim's Australian team against Canterbury in the 19131914 season.