ATHLETIC SPORTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9220, 24 November 1888, Page 6

ATHLETIC SPORTS.

FIXTURES. AQUATICS. November 24—International Regatta, Melbourne. November 27—Oeacb v. tianlan, Parramatta River, .toOO a-side. November 23— Amateur Sculling Championship, Sydney. December 5— World's Sculling Carnival, Brisbane. December 15—Auckland Rowing Association's Annual Regatta. December—>V. ijoach v, Haulan, sculling, Sydney. ATHLETICS. November 24 — Auckland Amateur Athletic and 'Cycling Club's Spring Meeting. In regard to the Amateur Athletic Sportswhich had to be put oil' last week because of the soft state of the ground, the postpone, meat is sure to have made some considerable ange iu the condition of the various competitors. .Many of those who were " cherry ripe" and fit to "run for a kingdom" last week, will to-day, if they have not been handled very judiciously during the last few days, find themselves a little bit stale, and probably not do as good work as they would had the races come off as originally intended on the 17th instant. Those, however, who were short of work will certainly have benetited by the week's delay, and will likely have a better show than they otherwise could have expected. However, from all that 1 can learn there are but few who will not be in good fettle, and the races are certain to be well contested; indeed, several who have been carefully watching the training in the Domain expect that the tunes for the several events will be a good deal faster than those that have been made at previous meetings. Concerning the probable winners, the work done I during the past week has not been such as to cast any additional light upon the subject, and in the main I do not see much reason to alter the tips given in this column last week. In the "JIX) Yards Hurdles, however, the reports that have come to my ears concerning r. Gould arc such as to cause me to think that his chance of annexing this event is a really good ono, and I shall look to him to win, and the places filled by Lusk, Somerfield, or Owen. To those whom 1 put down as likely to face the starter in the final for the 10) Yards—Upfill, Farquhar, H. B. Lusk, Leahy, McManus, Major, Moresby, and Wright—l will add H. H. Davy 's name, and from these, to furnish the ultimate victor 1 prefer the chances of Moresby, Farquhar, and Lusk, in the order given. When tipping those whom 1 considered good for the Mile last week, Atkinson's name was purposely left, out owing to his having a bad foot, out as lie has now quite recovered, his show is certainly inferior to that of none, and I expect the race to finish —Atkinson 1, Ifwerson 2, Heffernan 3. As previously stated, the running in the Half-mile is greatly dependent upon which of those entered reserve themselves for it in preference to the quarter, which closely follows it. Given a start, however. I consider that Speight, Poulsen, and Tizard will compose the first flight, though Bailey might cause a "boil-over." Moresby is the one whom I fancy most for the 21X> yards, as lie is in splendid form, and Baxter and Upiill are likely to be near at hand. The Quarter-mile will doubtless be one of the greatest struggles of the day, and many who run fairly in their heat will find a second trip too much for them, but I see no reason to alter my tip of last Saturday, which read—Tizard 1, Baxter 2, R. B. Lusk 3. The Maiden Race seems to me to lie between H. B. Lusk and F. Lewis, and I like the former the best. In the Mile Walk, Makgill will make them all go, and should be the. winner, but O'Meura anil Bea'ie will probably be close up. I must confess my inability to pick the winners of the wheel races, but as I learn that Buchanan is in first-class form, and has also a new light machine, backers should be wary how they overlook him in the 3-mile event. AQUATICS. Though the meeting held on Tuesday evening last for considering the best steps to take in regard to the popularising the annual regatta did not do much actual business beyond appointing a provisional committee of four gentlemen, I am pleased to notice during the week that the low state into which the Regatta Club affairs had dropped has been engaging considerable attention among those who take interest in aquatics. It is to be hoped that all club men and others will, for the sake of the honour of the port, turn up to the general public meeting to be held on Wednesday evening next, and not be afraid to take an active part in the work and trouble that is inseparable from any wellconducted venture of a similar kind. In some former remarks upon this same subject I advocated that, in the present depressed times when money is so difficult to raise, the Champion Whaleboat Race prizemoney should be reduced to i.'V), but I learn that the great and special attraction of this event, coupled with its heavy entrance fees, has always made it self-supporting, so that it would perhaps be a mistake to reduce the allotted amount, especially as such a course would tend to cause outside crews to give up competing. The new shed of the St. George's Club was opened on Thursday night with a pleasing little entertainment, in which not only the gallant oarsmen, but " their sisters and sweethearts and wives" participated. The Club have reason to be proud of their new boathouse, for it is a substantially-built structure, with enough accommodation for more boats than the Club will likely possess for a year or so. The upper storey is fitted with bathrooms, and will shortly have clothes lockers for members, while a neat little balcony facing the beach affords a splendid look-out over the waters of Judge's .Bay. By the Manapouri, which arrives from Svdnoy on Tuesday next, the City Rowing Club expect to receive a new string test gig and sculls. If she comes to hand two or three crews will at once be put in training for some of the gig races at the Rowing Association's Regatta, on December 15. Both the Ponsonby and West End Clubs have a large number of crews in training for the various races, and every morning and evening, not to mention Saturday afternoons, both Shelly Beach and St. Mary's Bay present quite an animated appearance with the going out and coming in ot the various crews. Each has a crew for the Champion Gig Race, concerning which I will speak more anon. CRICKET. During the present week the secretary of the A.(J. A. received the following letter from Wellington :—" The Hon. Secretary, Auckland Cricket Association. Dear Sir,—A rumour having reached us that vour Associi ation intend sending a team South this year, my committee have desired in to commun'- j i cate with you for the purpose of ascertaining | if the report be corree\ If I remember j correctly, you owe us a visit, and I neer' not j say how gladly we would welcome your j team, and do our best to make hei> trip a ; pleasant one. Kindly let me know at your j earliest convenience if rumour, for once, has i ; spoken the truth, and if so, about the time i I when we may expert you. If you will let ; ; me know, I will gladly make the necessary ' arrangements for accommodation, &c.—l am, > &(,*., I s . Mclntyhk, Hon. .Secretary W.C.A." I The Committee of the Cricket Association, ! however, replied to the effect that there was i no likelihood .of an Auckland "rep." team I being sent South this year.

Some curious little tricks seem to occur in the cricket-field now and then, and one of them formed the ground of a protest lately before the Cricket Association. In the A.C. and Grammar School v. Alpha 11. match, the latter had in the "first innings considerable difficulty in raising an eleven, but started to bat short after causing their opponents some delay. In the second innings the same thing was repeated, and worse than that, a man who was engaged in another match was, it is alleged, " rung in " to bat for Alpha. Another little freak was, that as one of the players on the first day was absent, a substitute was put in his place under his name, and took his second innings. Had it not been that the protest was received beyond the specified time the Association would have given the match to the A.C. and G.S. team, But as it,was, I believe, a pretty stiff reprimand was administered to the delinquents for their practising such unsportsmanlike tricks. Jason. DOMAIN GRAMMAR SCHOOL SPORTS. The annual sports of Mr. C. P. Newcombe's Grammar School pupils were held yesterday in the cricket ground, and notwithstanding several showers of rain, passed ofT very successfully. The fields in all the events were large, and the races were gamely contested, many of the juveniles showing quite as much experience and judgment in their tactics as " children of an older growth." Mr. F. Newcombe acted as starter, and Mr. A. M. Huxtable and the Rev. H. M. Livens were the judges. The School Cup of three distances was won by J. S. Winks with a score of 13 points, J. Vercoc being second with 11. The same pair were also in front for the medal given to the largest prizetaker, which Winks carried off with 31 points to Vercoe's '24. The details of the several events were :— Throwing Cricket Ball: J. Vercoo, 83 yards, 1; J. Winks, 2. Open Quarter-mile : Winks, scratch, 1; Vercoe, 3 yards, 2; 11. Worsp, scratch, 3; time, lmin Ofsec. Eighty Yards under 12: P. Kenderdine, 1; J. Talbot, 2. School Cup, 100 yards : Winks, scratch, 1; Matthews, 3 yards, 2 ; D. Hales, 1 yard, 3; time, 1.1 4-Sth sec. Long Jump : J. Vercoe, 13 feet 1 ; W.Goldie, 2. High .Jump, under 14 : F. Wilson, 3 feet 11 inches, j 1; Patterson, 2. Open Half-mile : Vercoe, scratch, 1; Winks, | scratch, J: C. White, 10 yards, 3 ; time, 2min 30sec. Senior Tug-of-War : Winks' team won. i School Cup, 440 yards : Matthews, 12 yards, 1; J. Winks, scratch, 2; D. Hales, 5 yards, 3 j time, lmin lsec. Kinking Football : H. Worsp, 44 yards, 1 ; i Winks, 2. 100 Yards, under 13 : Ash ton, scratch, 1; Kenderdine, 3 yards, 2. Open 150 Yards : H. Worsp, scratch, 1; Winks, scratch, 2 ; D. Hales, 1 yard, 3 ; time, l7sec. Senior High Jump : H. Worsp, 4 feet 6J inch, 1: J. Vercoe, 2. 100 Yards, under 16 : R. Horton, 5 yards, 1; D. Hales, scratch, 2; time, lljsec. Junior Tug-of-war : Patterson's team won. School Cup. 220 yards : Winks, scratch, 1; Matthews, 6 yards, 2 ; time, 26Jsec. Sack Race : W. Goldie, 1; C. White, 2. Open Mils: Vercoe, scratch, 1; Matthews, 30 varus, 2; time, smin 35sec. 100 Yards, under 15 : Brett, scratch, 1; Ashton, scratch, 2 ; time, 13 l-6sec. Ladies' Bracelet: W. Goldie, 2 yards, 1; J. Winks, scratch, 2. 120 Yards Hurdles, under 16 : R. Horton, 2 yards, 1 ; O'Halloran, 3 yards, 2 : time, 22sec. Siamese Race : F. Wilson and R. Horton, 1. Half-mile, under 15: G. B. Main, 7 yards, 1;A. Brett. 2 yards, 2 ; time, 3min 7sec. Old Boys' 120 Yards Hurdles: W. Wilson, scratch, 1; D. Hales, scratch, 2. Consolation Race, under 15 : Hammond, 1; H. Phillipps, 2. old Boys' 150 Yards: Hales, 1; W. Wilson, 2; time. l(3sec. Senior Consolation Race :D. Hales, 1; Jackson, 2. At the conclusion of the sports the pupils assembled at the cricket pavilion, where the prizes, which consisted of a varied and valuable assortment of things dear to boys' hearts, were landed to the winners by Mrs. ('. P. Newcombe, each victor being greeted with applause as he received his award.