BOWLS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LVI, 1 September 1923, Page 8

BOWLS

GREAT TEST MATCH

NEW ZEALAND V. QUEENSLAND

DESCRIPTION OE THE GAME

FINISHED BY CANDLE LIGHT

The following interesting account of the memorable test match between New Zealand and' the Queensland bowlers is written by Fred. Gould in the Mid-Week Sports Referee:— Queensland bowlers have never been so well trounced as has been the case during the last couple of' weeks by the visitors from the land of the “moa. Match after match local teams have been beaten, and our players have gone down before the visitors like ninepins; and, bitter though *it may be, we have got to admit defeat at the hands of better men. Possibly Queensland could have made a better showing with a more careful selection of players, but the’ New Zealanders are built of the stuff! that would give any side pitted against; them all they wanted in any department; of the game; and it is quite on the cards i that any team we could liave selected! would have bben given its quietus, so it* is no use blinking the fact that we have j .been soundly thrashed. Still (and this! is only intended for the powers who. had. the arranging of matters in regard to, matches and methods of selection), wo never gave ourselves much chance. Our methods were wrong. From a picnic point of view, everything was lovely, and highly desirable. From the point j of view of Queensland howling, ourj methods of arranging matches and se-i looting players were hopelessly at fault. 1 However, it is no use this point; the lesson has been learnt. So the only thing for us to do now is to ( take our defeat like men, and wait for) another opportunity to redeem our lost! laurels.

What a glorious opportunity was lost through not having three test matches, and thereby making the visit of tho Hew Zealanders a memorable and epochmaking one. Had we had three tests instead of one. every bowler —man, woman, and child—in Queensland would l ave been agog with excitement over the winning of the rubber. Now Zealand playing Queensland at bowls would have heated tlie blood of all Queenslanders, and from one end of tho country to the other, in this sport-loving land, tho topic of conversation would have been bowls and the merits of the respective sides. “Picnic” games are all right; 1 have nothing to say against them in their place, but there is nothing in them to warm the blood or fire the imagination, such as there is in the bigger game; and when we have a team coming from so noted a. place, for bowls as 'New Zealand, we naturally expect “big” bowls. The reason, or the fault, for not having the three tests lies entirely at our own doors, and if wc have missed anything wc have no one to blame but ourselves.

Of the one lest match played, it must he said it was a great game. Queensland had a good side, though, in the opinion of some, it could have been improved upon. Be Jhafcas'it may, it was a, strong side, and gave a good account

of itself. The game was fought out with great determination on both sides, and was remarkable for the evenness of the aggregate scoring all through the game. At no period was there a difference of more than six or seven points, in individual rinks the margins were greater; but while one Queensland rink (Gowis) was lagging behind in the early stages, Colledge’s rink equalised matters by getting a bulge on Jenkins, and so on. The Gow-Kiigour game was a fine contest, and, perhaps, the best bowls of the day was seen in this rink. For the New Zealanders Kilgour was a. host in himself, and over and over again converted a losing position Into a winning one by an absolute draw or a trail of the kitty; while for the home side Bob Brown and “Foley” Evans did great things. Aftetr being badly down, to finish only losing by one point was no mean performance for Gow, who camo with a rattle at the last and got in somo lino work. The game that ran this one very closely in order of merit was the Bouchard-Hutchinson game, which, owing to five dead ends in the early stages was finished in absolute darkness; the last three ends being played by candlelight. The hero of the Queenslanders in this game, especially in the earlier portion of it, was Vallcly, who played beautiful bowls until the green got heavier towards dusk. Bouchard was called upon to do some heavy work, too, for lie was up against it often, and was responsible for four dead ends when his opponents were lying hatfuls against him. Later in the day he got somo fine work in also. He played two magnificent shots on the 22nd end, drawing the absolute shot round some timber with his first, and with his second howl pushed an opposition howl through with a yard on shot, and got five. If I were asked to express an opinion, I should say that the rink lie was up against eras the strongest on the New Zealand side. Dee is an ideal leader, and one who can he depended on to give his skip plenty of support at all times. Ho lias been most consistent in all his games. Spencer, a sound No. 2; while Daniels, the No. 3, is a player fit for any position, a player of sound judgment, a fine touch, a very tower of strength to any side. And of the skip, Hutchison, I have no hesitation in saying he is one of the safest players I have ever seen. No fireworks about him, and no gallery player, but one of the soundest and safest it has been my pleasure to know. It was a pity this game was finished in the dark, because it leaves an unsatisfactory air about it. Not that one would have had a different finish to the match as regards the totals, hut players cannot he expected to play bowlers when the light fails. The visitors scored nine points during the three last ends, and finished winning by six, and thus saved the match for their side. The Jenkins-Colledge game was a victory from start to finish for the Queenslanders. With the exception, perhaps, of the skips, the visitors were outplayed. Austin, on the day, was the best of his side, and played fine bowls, William Moore got in good work, too, and helped his side materially, while Becker and Colledge did their fair share. Jenkins had a hard row to hoe, but battled gamely. A fine player, Jenkins, with plenty of allots in his' locker. Had he been better supported, a, different tale might have been told. His men were not at their best, and left him too much to do, and no skip can he expected to do the impossible. The SapsfordBroad match fell below the standard of the others in point of good play. Tile green appeared to he a hit too keen for the players. It was in beautiful order, fast and true, but apparently a bit tco fast for some of the players. A lucky six, the result of a wick on the part of New Zealand, made the difference between a win and a lose in this game The visitors were up two. The match ended in a, draw, 96 points all; but the honours of the game were with New Zealand, who won on three rinks out of the four; Ceo. Colledge’s rink saving the situation for Queensland

VISITORS ALL GOOD

The visitors are tho best lot of howlers that have come to these shores for many a long day. It would be hard to find better bowlers anywhere 'than men like Kilgour, rugged type of player though he be; very much like our Bouchard in style, and just as effective; or the more graceful Daniels; a player whose style is full of poetry and Hutchinson, the quiet, unostentatious, safe 'player, wild gets there all the time. And little Jenkins, the left-hander, so quiet you hardly know he is on tho green, but who is a foeman worthy of any man’s steel. Parker, who is a better skip than a No. 3, Broad, and Blackwood, and Sneddon, all men of The right type, and sound players. Crane and Dee, two fine leaders; Coutts and Spencer, Grant and Smith and Davis, all able to keep their end up in the best, of company and hard to beat. What more does a side want, or what worthier foemen conkl Queensland wisli to meet?

The visitors taught us one or two filings; _the first and foremost thing u>mg, “Lever take a side too cheaply. ’ Tiie next is the value of playing with a moderate drawing bowl —a thing that I have been trying to impress upon cur ; players for years back. One thing that j should have gono home to us more than anything else was the fact that all the New Zealanders were playing with wood that had been turned out of Taylor's factory in Glasgow, five, ten, fifteen, and twenty years ago, and had never been altered from the old original bowl. If some of our men got hold of them they would tell us they were full of faults, and would want to cut, them down and load them up with lead, make cart wheels of them, or do some other nonsensical thing with them. The one great outstanding fact which should go right home to Queenslanders, who are pestered so much witli high crowns and low crowns, wide treads and narrow treads, and heaven knows what else, is that, though UTo New Zealander’s bowls might have had a.hundred faults, it did not stop them getting near to kitty; proving once again that, after all, it is not tlie bowl that matters so much as the man behind it. . And, furthermore, a. player may have the most delicately poised howl in all the world to play with, hut put him on a green full of hi- j equalities, and he finds his beaiuifally poised howl is no more effective than the rough and tumble bowl of tho odier fellow’s. Tlie important thing is to get n bowl that suits you, and then to slick to it—if the tabic-testers will let vou.