BOWLING.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 15764, 15 May 1913, Page 10

BOWLING.

Notes by Jack. • It is to bt- regretted that the council of the Now Zealand Bowling Association felt ic incumbent on them to decline the application of the Auckland Association, to have the championship tournament held at Auckland next season in connection with the Industrial Exhibition in the northern city. At the same time, it is difficult to see how the council could have acted otherwise without a mandate from the affiliated centres. It was a condition of the amalgamation negotiations that the first tournament should be held in Dunedin, whero the headquarters arc to be for the first year after amalgamation, and the council having given way in almost every respect to the northerners, they naturally did not 'feel themselves competent to give way on the only remaining point on which tho southerners were to be advantaged—as per the glowing promises when amalgamation war, first mooted. All the same, it may bo taken for granted that a big tournament will be held in Auckland during the Exhibition season, even if the amalgamation proposal is thereby wrecked. The final match between Kaituna and Green Island, to decide which club should have the honour of flying the Dunedin Centre's banner for the best record in interclub matches, provided a most interesting contest, and a finish as sensational as it is possible to have, the result being in doubt until tho last bowl of the day had been sent up. Considering the amount of rain that fell during the week, tho Caledonian Green (kindly lent for the occasion) was in surprisingly good order. Keen it could not be, but it was far from being heavy, and every rink appeared to be us true as a grass rink can be made The totals throughout were remarkably' close, two or three points only being the difference in the figures. Green Island, as a whole, put up a fiplendid fight, and /or n time appeared to have a winning position. But the 19th head proved disastrous to the Greens, as in one rink 5 points were put on against them, in another 3 points, and in a third 2 points.

The two rinks that wore the last to finish were Council (Kaituna) v. Sloan (Green Is'andj and T. Sanders (Kaituna) v. A. Smellie (Green Island). The latter rink ceased play to watch the finish in the jioiglibniiriiM,' rink, the head ending in Conncll's favour, the honours being even in the rink, with 19 all. This left Smellie to score 2 to tie and 3 to win for Green Island against Sanders. The position vac not at all favourable for the Greens as t.ho skips changed ends. Had the green been really keen and the light Rood, it might have been good genera'ship on Smellie's nart to have ittomptod to burn the head in the hope that, if successful, the next he:id might have <riven him a better chance of bringing off a coup. He miprht have drawn the shot with his last bowk but that would not have saved the situation, so lie had nothing left but to attempt to trail the jack with a fu'l draw through a port. He plavod a beauty but missed the jack by about an inch, and T. Sanders's goneralshin proved successful, Kaituna winning by 5 points. The fact that Green Island had i> lead in three rinks and tied in the fourth showed what a sterling game they played. W. T Smcllio ftceoiU!t"d for J. Sanders,; \Y. M'Ponald br"t F. Smith. A. Yo"titr beat C. Payne, and. as stated, Sloan and Connell tied. A Smellie's team struggled manfully against T. 'Sanders and his men, but they could not make up the leeway in the early stapes of the eime. and finished un 9 points to the bad. But. as has been stated, in fairness to the Green Inland team, it is quite pesvhlo Smellie could have drawn the shot with his last bowl, if he'bad only his own score to consider, and thus reduced his deficit to 5 points. The match was really 'nst to Green Tsland in th° game between Gale and M'Mvllin.- The Kaituna Aip and hv, nier were all playing remarkably well, each one of them invariably beating his man, drspits 'lie fine play of the Green Islanders. M'Mullan, the usually reliable, was right off on the day. He put in some really good shots, but ho also played some really poor ones, and especially at the crucial I9th head, when he was short with live shots lying against him. Of course, it is tasy for the bankers to critio'ee; and probably no one tried harder than M'Mullan to avoid mistakes. But there are days and hours when .nothing will go right, and when iu striving to avo'd one error a player fai's in some other direction. A minority of 17 points decs not really represent the true form of the Green Island team.

Most of the spectators remained to the very end. despite tho cold. Those on tho banks were for the most part impartial, and applauded any good piece of play. A few there were who were inclined to make themselves a nuisance to others by criticising shnte played, and displaying their knowledge (really the lack of it) of the gamo by insisting that some other kind of shot would have been the correct • thing. On the w'hole, however, there was an absence of anything like barracking. Despite the fact that the "fortunes of war " have been against them 6o frequently this year, the members of., the Duncdin Bowling Club are as enthusiastic as ever, and entered heartily into the closing game on Saturday. This took tho form of a match President (Mr \V. Burt) v. Vicepresident (Mr W. A. Scott), and a very enjoyable game ended in a victory for tho President's side by a margin of 25 points, the president himself playing a fine game. Mr Burt left no stone unturned to make the afternoon an enjoyable one; and. in addition to a nice afternoon tea., excellent music was provided during 'the game, and lioth were much appreciated by member? and visitors. At the close the president, in a. neat speech, thanked the members and friends for their attendance in such large numbers in response to his invitarion. He felt a little sorry that tho club had had such a poor year in the way of winning inter-club matches, but iic was sure that with so many very promising young players entiling along the record would bo considerably improved next year. He paid a wellmerited tribut" to the ladies for their excellent work during tho season, the afternoon tea provided each Saturday materially adding to the pleasure of the game. The president and secretary of the Ladies' Social Committee were specially thanked for their generous efforts. To the greenkeeper (Mr Taylor) the club were much indebted for the un : formly excellent condition of the green. In Conclusion, Mr Burt thanked his committee for its hearty cooperation and assistance throughout 'tho season, and wished bis successor an equally pleasant term of office. The drainage of the green has been f-oub!ing the committee of the Kaituna Club, and so the matter has been taken in hand, and alterations are being made which it is anticipated will effect a great improvement next season; in fact, the committee believe that they will liavo a playing surface second to none

I liavo received a communication from " Skip B" with reference to an incident connected with n club tie. which was recently commented on. " Skip B" writes that while appreciating these notes ho thinks it is to be regretted that anything was allowed to appear until the matter had been decided by the centre. No amount of newspaper controversy, lie adds, will settle the matter, and though he feels that the members of the centre are above prejudice (he wrote, of course, before the meeting of the Executive of the Centre), yet until the result of the game is finally settled, which I presume will be done on the evidence of the players concerned, it wonM have been better if the matter ha<l been held in abeyance. The Executive of the Centre, at its meeting on Monday, decided that the matter in dispute should be settled by the jVlomington Club itself, and therelore referred the correspondence back to the club. As the matter is unsettled I will not at present refer further to this portion of the communication from my. correspondent.

"Skip B" then deals with the reason which led to any reference being made to this matter at all—" Skips should know the rules of the game before undertaking 6itch aposition." On this "Skip B" says:_" Now, Sir, I hold that we take up bowling for nlctisure and to obtain recreation from the worries of business, where the one who knows the most fine points is usually most successful. We go on to the green for an afternoon's enjoyment. We are appointed skips by our Selection Committee, and as such wo should each do our best to win our games. But even though every skip should make himself conversant with tho general rules, it can hardly be expected that we should have a thorough knowledge of all the fine points that may arise during the play, and if all skips agreed to undergo an examination on the fine points I feel that many of us would fail." On this point I join issue with " Skip B," and say that with bowls as with other games the player who has not a very fair idea of the rules of the game, while he may himself get an afternoon's enjoyment out of it. is more or less a kill-joy if his opponent does know and observe the rules. Who would think for a moment of playing a game of chess, draughts, cards, dominoes, etc. without a fair knowledge of the laws of the game? Any person who did so once would find he would not be asked to play a second time until he had gained the necessary knowledge. Why then should this not apply also to a game of bowls? Rules are made to cover points which arise in the course of play, and where the rules are known and observed friction cannot arise, and all taking part enjoy themselves. When, however, a game is played and tho rules arc not observed trouble is bound to arise, and someone getting warm on the subject, the enjoyment which should have been derived from the game is gone.