CHAMPIONS' MEETING

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22949, 29 January 1938, Page 24

CHAMPIONS' MEETING

LAWN TENNIS AND CRICKET DONALD BUDGE AND BRADMAN Donald Budge, champion tennisplayer, and Donald Bradman, champion cricketer, met for the first time during the recent cricket match between Vic-

toria and South Australia. It was a happy thought to brine them together, says a writer in a Melbourne paper. Each is at tho top of his particular sport, and each has to depend otj flectness of foot, flexibility of wrist, keenness of eye, knowledge of pace, anticipation, concentration, determination and. stamina, but how different the.v are in appearance.

The American Don is more than six feet tall, red-headed and angular. He is built on largo lines, and when ho fills out will be a big man. His hands and feet aro large. The Australian Don is six inches shorter, a perfectly proportioned little man, with tho hands and feet of a woman. Those who were present when they met toll mo that each summed the other up in a moment, and were quickly at their ease. Champions are usually vory simple people, and these two champions certainly excel in modesty and gentleness. Each is a personality, and, strange to say, each would sooner plav a record on a gramophone than face a crowd. More than 30 years ago I introduced two champions to one another at Menzies Hotel. They were Mark Hambourg, the champion pianist, and Tommy Burns, the champion boxer. It was in 1908, when Burns was going to Sydney to meet his Waterloo —his disastrous fight with Jack Johnson. As they shook hands each grasped tho other's right hand with his left as well, and examined it. Xb<3 pianist's hands and wrists were knotted with muscles, the boxer's hands and wrists were as delicate as a woman's. Mark Hambourg's forearm seemed strong enough to swing a sledgehammer; Tommy Burns' was. like a shaft of' refined steel, capable of making a rflpier thrust. It was remarkable not only to note tho differences, but also to see how much these two champions were impressed with each other.