BOWLING NOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19218, 6 January 1926, Page 12

BOWLING NOTES.

THE CHRISTMAS TOURNEY, CARLTON TEAM'S VICTORY. TRUSCOTT IN GOOD FORM. BY SKIP. Although five days of strenuous play in bright sunshine were beginning to tell on the finalists in the Auckland Christ- j mas bowling tournament, the fixture was ' undoubtedly one of the best ever held locally. There were many outstanding games and incidents but most thrills and excitement accompanied the progress of the ultimate winners. As usual, the banks were well lined with enthusiastic spectators during the two days of inter-section play, and they were rewarded with many periods of bright and exciting play. Truscott,_ the successful Carlton skip, was seen in a different light compared with his display against tho British team in the Test match. The game on that occasion was not suitable for his forcing tactics, but during the tourney he was in his element and a fine all-round display was the result, Truscott's team has been playing together for about three years with varying success, and the latest win is easily first in importance. While it may be true that they were rather lucky during the tourney—indeed, few successful teams in a tourney are without some measure of luck—the good individual play of each man made the victory well-deserved. Their recovery against Hills (Onehunga) when they scored a six on the 19th head, was remarkable, especially ■ in view of the strength of the Onehunga team. An Irresistible Display. Truscott was in fine form in this game as well as in the succeeding game against Buckley (Grey Lynn). The latter by no means played badly, but the Carlton skip was irresistible. One head is particularly worthy of note. Buckley lay well and Truscott missed with a fast drive. With his second bowl he elected to drawn, apparently with the idea of saving a few points, and the task of getting the actual shot was very difficult owing to a blockade of bowls. However, Truscott found an opening and his bowl curled around behind tho kitty for shot. A peculiar coincidence was that Truscott and Wright met in the first round and again in the final. The two meetings!' were under different circumstances. The first time they were on equal terms but in the' final Truscott had two lives as against Wright's one. Wright is to be congratulated upon his consistent and determined play. It is wonderful how he retains his form. Decision on Last Head. The Laurenson-Parsons game was somewhat sensational. Laurenson early established a large lead but a variety of circumstances caused the scores to be equal at the last head. Josey, No. 2 for Laurenson, gave a very fine exhibition of drawing, his wide bowls making the feat all the more spectacular. He was of invaluable assistance to his side. Walker's Auckland combination was defeated by Wright, whose veteran lead, Kennedy, was particularly steady. Schnackenberg really played the winning shot by trailing the kitty back when the shot was against him. Walker's two tries for shot were very good and he almost succeeded with his second bowl. Kilgour played well throughout the tourney but luck was against him on one or two occasions. One of the pluckiest fights was that of Buckley (Grey Lynn) against Wright, fully six heads being burnt before Wright triumphed. The Dominion Tournament. Tho importance of the Dominion tournament opening in Dunedin next Monday is increased by the entry of tlm British rinks and Pilkington's crack' Hamilton rink. Twenty-eight British visitors will take part in the singles, whiles seven rinks are engaged. The rinks seem to be made up on a national basis, that is, representative of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. Another feature is the presence of a large contingent of southern players. It will be interesting to note the results of their games against North Island men. The present Dominion champion, Best, is reported to be in good form. Notable absentee skips are Wylie (Newtown) and Carswell (Taieri). Wylie appears to be playing as No. 3 for an Island Bay team, and Carswell is competing in the singles. J. Lowry, formerly of Carlton, is No. 3 for Gray (Kelburn) and will very considerably strengthen the team. On present form Kilgour should do well. He has a mixed team at his disposal but the members are all tried warriors. Remuera Club's Tournament.

Not the least enjoyable of the many Now Year events was the Remuera Club's tourney. The greens were in fine order and the tourney would have been ideal but for a strong wind which was disconcerting to the players. The final resulted in another of the surprises so frequent nowadays. It was rather a coincidence that two Epsom teams should be the contestants and still more so that the Easter skip, T. R. George, should find himself in opposition to Richmond, who, as his No. 3, assisted him on that occasion. Richmond made a remarkable recovery to get within eight of his club-mate with two heads to go, but still more noteworthy was his feat of getting the winning points at that stage. His shot, which ran tho opposing bowl out for five, was a great effort, and one that was extremely difficult. It seemed that George would have done better had he cracked the head and so reduced tho score instead of drawing to save. However, he might* have driven and missed, and then it would have been asked "Why did he not draw?" Pennant and Four Rink. Next Saturday the fourth round of the pennant and four rink championship competitions will come up for decision. There will probably be some surprise results on this occasion, as some of the clubs will not be at full strength on account of the New Zealand tournament and local holiday attractions depleting their ranks. Tlio play will, no doubt, be very keen now that the majority of members have had the benefit of the many tourneys during tho holidays. Another factor which will make for greater uncertainty is that the greens wm be much keener than they have been auting the first three rounds. AUSTRALIAN BOXER. GEORGE COOK'S PROGRESS. Fortune has favoured the visit to England and America of George Cook, the former heavy-weight champion boxer of Australia. In spite of the fact that he was easily beaten on points by Phil Scott, he is matched for a second contest for £SOO a side and a purse of £2OOO, to be divided, probably, in equal shares The fight is to take place in England, and will be for the championship of the British Empire. Since his defeat by Scott, who is a much taller boxer, Cook twice defeated Paolino, who, in Spain, succeeded in knocking out Scott with a body blow. Cook was outpointed for the second time by Young Stribling on November 7, but. he considered that had the contest been 15 rounds, instead of 10, he would ha»,-> had an even chance of winning. He is negotiating for a match with Gene Tunney, and this will probably eventuate in America if ho beats Scott. i