SPORT IN BRITAIN

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27057, 16 April 1949, Page 7

SPORT IN BRITAIN

COMPTON MAY RETIRE ARSENAL FOOTBALL CLUB NZPA Special Correspondent Rec. 9 p.m. LONDON, Apl. 15. Britain’s greatest all-round sportsman, Denis Compton, is considering saying farewell to Association football, and he may not sign on again for Arsenal when his contract expires in August.

Compton, who will be 31 next month, has decided that professional football is becoming too strenuous for him and that he will in future devote himself to cricket. This decision means that he may not realise his life-long ambition to represent his country in both cricket and Soccer internationals. He was capped for England at Soccer during the war, but this is not regarded as a " full cap.” It is expected that Compton will receive £20,000 this year from benefit matches arranged for him by the Middlesex Cricket Club. Golf Open

There is the possibility that because of the damage caused by flooding at Deal, this year’s British Open Golf Tournament may be held either at St. Andrew’s or at Royal Lytharmand St. Anne’s. The Open has not been played at Royal Lytham since 1926, when Bobby Jones won the championship. If the Deal course is not available St. Andrew’s will be the most probable second choice, but it will be difficult for the committee to fit the Open into what promises to be a very full season. One Eye—One Arm

A father with one eye and a son with one hand won their first round match in the annual Father and Son Foursome Golf Tournament held at Westhill, Surrey, this week. They were Field-marshal Earl Wavell, who lost his right eye in the Battle of Loos in

1915, and his son, Viscount Keren, who lost his left hand while fighting with the Chindits in Burma in 1944. Viscount Keren, who is 33, has a special ring fitted to the stump of his forearm. When using a golf club he fits this ring over his sound wrist and is thus able to produce a normal swing. He uses this “handcuff grip” for all shots except putts. Ryder Cup This year’s Ryder Cup match between Britain and the United States will be played at Ganton, Yorkshire, on September 16 and 17. The British Selection Committee this year will be three former open champions, Arthur Havers, Alfred Padgham, and Richard Burton, Charles Whitcombe, who has twice captained British Ryder “Cup teams, and the new chairman of the British Professional Golfers’ Association, who will not be elected until Julv.

Olympic Representative W. Nankeville, who ran sixth in the Olympic 1500 Metres last year and who is regarded as one of Britain’s most promising middle-distance runners, has announced that he will not be available for the Empire Games in New Zealand. Nankeville holds the present British Mile title, which he won last year in 4min 14 l-ssec. He has, however, taken—nearly a second off this time at subsequent meetings.