BOWLING

New Zealand Times, Volume LI, Issue 11737, 26 January 1924, Page 15

BOWLING

I TO-DAY’S FIXTURES SENIOR PENNANTS TWO GAMES AT HOME AND TWO AWAY, Section A.—Seatoun v, Wellington; Lyall Bay v. Victoria; Karori v. Hataitai; Island Bay, a bye. Section B.—Hutt v. Petone; Johnson ville v. Thorndon-; Kelburn v. Newtown; Central, a bye. JUNIOR, PENNANTS. Section A—Central v. Jolmsonville (at Jolmsonville); Thorndon v. Victoria (at Victoria); Kelburn v. Petone (at Kelburn). Section B.—Dyall Bay v. Sfeatoun (at Seatoun); Island Bay "v. Newtown (at Newtown); Karori, a bye. CHAMPIONSHIP MATCHES. There have been no pennant fixtures played since Deoember 15tb, and the clubs should now be well advanced with their games in order that their representatives in the championship interclub matches can be selected. The first of these matches will take place on February 20th next, when the singles championship will be played, to be followed each week by the pairs and the rinks championships. These are probably the best fixtures arranged by the centre, as each club is only able to put in one representative, or one representative team, and the smaller club, therefore, has almost an equal chance with the larger one. These matches have been running for ten years, and no one club has a predominating number of wins. But still, the honours have been confined 1 to a few clubs only. In the rinks championship, Wellington dub has been successful twice, Newtown twice, and Hataitai also on two occasions; while Victoria, Petone, Te Hiwi, and Kelburn have won once each. The pairs championship has been spread in almost the same way, with the exception that Eastbourne and Dower Hutt have each had the honour of winning this competition. _ In the champion of champion singles, the honour seems to have been with the individual player as much as with the club he represented. T. Mayer has won it twice for Victoria, and H. G. Mayer twice for Eastbourne. Thorndon has. had two successful representatives in this competition (D. Munro and F. J. White), although the club has not been able to .win either the links or the pairs. John Brackenridge and J. M. Brackenridge have both won the singles for the Newtown Club: M. Routley for Kelburn; G. T. Crawford for Karori; and A. Coles for S’ctone. DOMINION TOURNAMENT. Most of the Wellington players who attended the Dominion tournament have now returned. They all apeak very highly of the management of the contests,, and they have apparently enjoyed tlieir holiday very much, although the weather conditions were somewhat remarkable. Christchurch experienced its lioitest weather for yenrs during the tournament, and also its most severe gale for a number of years past. On the whole, the teams from Wellington Centre have done remarkably- well. Bowlers here would have been very pleased to see Wylie (Newtown) bring back the banner, but that was not to be. The) final stage of the tournament, in which it was necessary for Wylie and Bremner I to meet on three different occasions before the ultimate winner could be I found, was very interesting. On the I first meeting. Bremner iron the game by a narrow majority. In the second game, Wylie scored a win, after being I several points down on the twentieth I head; and at the third meeting Brem- , nor seems to have retained the superior* position right through the game. Ho evidently was playing very well, ! and was supported by a good, strong : | combination. The other Wellington I rinks to get close in the finals were those skipped by Fielding (Hataitai), : Grey (Kelburn), and Stephens (Kel- | burn). In fact, Wellington teams oo- ! | copied the second, third, fourth, and | fifth positions. At the time of writing, ; Wellington still has representatives in the pairs and the singles matches. THE USUAD DISCUSSIONS. Tho usual discussions which take pi a co at tournament time again cropped up. There seems to be a number of players who favour the abandonment of the pairs and singles and confining the Dominion tournament to rinks contests only. It is probable that next season,, when the headquarters are moved to Wellington, a serious effort will be made to bring about a change in this direction ; and also, if possible, to fix a date early in February for the tournament, instead of a date so close to. the beginning of tho year, when the weather conditions are not usually so stable as later on. EDWIN FEATHERS AND HIED PINS. Tho Khandallah Club is having some share in the honours in the interclub matches, although it does not participate in the pennants'. This club held the Edwin Feathers for a. considerable time, until Central (Pfetlone) succeeded in getting the trophy. Since then Central has been able to hold the feathers successfully against a challenge from Karori. Khandallah, however, still holds the Hill Pins, which provide players with a mid-week game every- Wednesday. The club was successful in holding the pins against the challengers last week. DAWS OF GAME AND UNIFORMS. Some bowlers are anxious to make what they think an improvement in the game by urging the more strict observance of the laws of the game, and insisting upon competitors in tournaments wearing the uniforms and colours of the clubs they represent. Some visitors to Christchurch stated that the tournament committfre was not sufficiently strict in seeing that these two requirements were carried out. This, they say, was particularly noticeable so far as the laws of the game were concerned. The umpires were said to be very estimable old gentlemen, who were very solicitous as to the creature comforts of competitors, but were not so assiduous in carrying out their duties in regaid to checking those who wished to step off the mat or do a lfltle sprint up the green. The same critics also state that there was a large number of players who presented a very nondescript appearance 60 far as their uniforms were concerned. THE SMOKING CONCERT. The Dominion tournament smoking concert, when 600 were present and a splendid musical programme was provided, proved a great success It took place during the spelt when the weather conditions were not very favourable for the game, and bowlers were pleased to avail themselves of the opportunity to relieve the monotony by a night out. BOWIL TESTING. Before the meeting pf tho Dominion

Council there was considerable discussion in this centre in respect to the question of bowl testing. Very little is known as yet in Wellington as to what actually took place in regard to this matter. It is a fact, however, that the whole of the oight standard bowls were sent to Wellington from Christchurch to be tested by the official testers here over their table. It is probable that the howls will also be submitted to a further green test in Dunedin. Although- no official report, is available, it is almost certain that it will be found that practically hajf of the standard bowls in use in other oentres will not pass the standard adopted in Wellington. This may explain how it comes about that bowle whioh have failed to pass the test in Wellington have been passed at other centres without alteration.