BOWLING NOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20309, 17 July 1929, Page 15

BOWLING NOTES.

THE DOMINION COUNCIL. DISCUSSION ON THE RULES. A "LIVE" OR "DEAD" JACK. RY Skil\ The had weather conditions on Saturday morning s-x'n put the question »<f f)iay in the afternooti i.<»yon<J doubt. Hie one disappointment uas that, many intending >.jM»c-tiitoi-s weii» unable to watch the struggle between the Portsonby and We.-t Etui teams t«.r possession of the Edwin Stars. The aimu.d meeting uf cositicdlois of (lie Dominion Hooiing Associai ion was held in Dunedin last, week, when a full programme of business was discussed. .Much oi the business was puiely routine, but. the introduction <if the matter of a fresh he: of ruie> ius something out of the oidinaiv. and. being a contentious ;terri, man rally provoked smite discussion. I'he Auckland Centre- was responsible for ;i draft 1,1 rules neiim submitted to the as a basis to work «.m. The draft coj.iy ;nrhuies a list <»f 98 separate ridings and a feature is thai -üb-vimws liave ivcpn reduced to a minimum. thereby 'ending to a convenient and qu:< it reference. The irtrtirp* •ration of 'he Au-ttaiian and lutcrnali"!iai Bowlitiaf Hoards rules should have the effect, oi bringing about a uniform standard. Interest in 2ule. Par.ieular interest centres round the proposed rule No. 2. which his some bearing on the recent controversy whether a ja< k driven beyond the end limit, of a rink and coming to rest at a point above the bottom of the ditch, but not above a point in line with the surface o: the crreen, is "alive - ' or "dead." In this, rule :t. is recommended that the bank be no: iess than 18in. in height. tvth an ancle ir«ni the green of not more than 120 degrees. The effect of ;iiis rule is to define the bank as that part from a. point :ri line with 'lie level of the green upwards. The ditch tlift-more comes about as a natural result and would be as everyone umu-r-----tand? :t. There ««'uJa he ihen no question whether a jack '"as "alive" 0 r "fiend" as m 'Tie tr-cen: case, because, being clearly v.,thin the hunts of the ditch, it would op "aiivc. " Hov.T-v.--r. ;n the case under review one must work on the rules in force, and, although weighty opinions hav*» been given in favour of 'lie jack being "dead." the writer is of the opposite opinion, and in support thereof the following is the line oi reason.ng w hereby such opinion is Justified:—

Rule 37 r>xy- that tiic* kerhine -»f The „-reen -hail he : he* end limits of ihe rink lor howls thai aw "touchers." K«>r ti:r- ;ack ;u;(J " '.oui !i^ >•?■." the limits shail rw» the portions of ;l/e >iitih u-itijui the ;os.

Thii; the end of r» r.nk i>. the koii l ': -uC ->r.d >.n>-c ;» jack or how 1 |Mu>ses it huiiy i,»»y.iir3 the k#-ri'iri2 it jwuat assuredly co into the ditch, sinless, hs, ruie 45 provides, where any hovri is prevented irorn faiiint: into she ditch oy reason of its. resting on a "toucher"' therein it shall he alive, provided such howl is not wholly i.»erond the side bouttdary of the rink." Definition o! Ditch.

Here in tins latter nils the suppniters of jhe opposite contention maintain thai particular significance applies to the ditch definition as wholly arid solely the. bottom thereof, quite forgetting that the bowi ran only be prevented from falling intci the ditch at one point only, and that is at the edge oi tlie kerbing. It would be utterly impossible for one bow! 10 sit on top of a ''toucher'' unless supported by something else such as the kerbing of the creen. T<> my mind rnie £3. to be •Tierativp. muai find the bowl resting '.m a "toucher," tjot beyond the kerbing of the green, and such a ease could only occur with the existence of a shallow ditch. It could not possibly happen with a ditch deeper than the height of a bowl where the bowl would simply roll on top of a toucher, but would still be resting on the kerbing.' which is within the rink limit.

Summed up there, can be no doubt where a bow] thai i? not. a toucher has passed beyond the kerbinjr of the rink, althoaeh that bowl ;s prevented from reaching the base ui the ditch either by a toucher "r some obstruction, it is clearly in the dittii limns. There!ore tiie reading of rule cannot by any stretch of imagination be concluded to have a definite bearing on the dennition oi a dinh.

was decided at the annual meeting of delegates to the Auckland Centre recently an effort is being made to secure an early response from those dabs which intend to compete in the forthcoming season's pennant competition. It is to he hoped the officials concerned will expedite matters in their various cluhs and so let the information be available for the centre executive to work on. By an early publication of the pennant programme the way will be cleared for the after details, such as inter-club matches and mid-week tourneys. In connection with the latter it is hoped to have more satisfactory arrangements in the allocation of dates. It- might be just as well io mention a matter in connection with the pennant competition and that is :n relation t-o the minimum quota. Not only during last season's play but also in former years there has been a strong feeling against clubs competing with hut two rinks, us it has been feltthat four rinks should be the absolute minimum. This certainly is a moot point as there is no doubt, that the lowest- possible number lias a tendency to bring about io a certain extent what might be termed a farcical position. It is said that if a club cannot account for more than two links it should !>e debarred from competing. On the other hand, it is pointed out that thai is the beauty «>f the competition, by reason of a very small club being enabled to compete with a club with. say. 20 rinks. It seems the higher minimum would be preferable and £iYCi grctii.4?r satisfaction.

DAVIS cur SURPRISE.

DEFEAT OF BRITISH TEAM. The defeat of the British Davis Cup tram bv Germany came as a great surprise. particularly after the fine showing of Austin, Gregory and Collins at Wimbledon. Tfae loss of both sin pies on thefirst day proved lo be too great a handicap, although Gregory and Collins won the doubles comfortably. It is worthy of note that onlv on two occasions in the history of the Davis Cup has a 2—l lead been overcome on the third day s play, and this was what faced the British team. It is difficult to reconcile the easy defeat of Gregory b\* Prenn and of Austin by Moldenaner on the first day's play with the fine fiijht the British players put up on the final d3V, when Grecoiy defeated Moldenaner in three straight sets, durinir which he took eleven games in n row. while Austin extended Prenn to the limit. In the face of the scores it looks as if both Gregory and Austin failed to reach anywhere near their true form on the first day's plav. Had they done .so Great Britain would surely have secured one of the binaries.

It was t.he first, day's play only that was disappointing from a British standpour.. the standard except for i his tearing out the improvement indicated at Wimbledon. Great Britain this year has made a big advance and next year should see her again contesting the European zone final, tvith even' chance of victory.

Germany will now meet America in the inter-zone final and the winner will play France in the challenge round.