BOWLING.

Otago Witness, Issue 3672, 29 July 1924, Page 55

BOWLING.

Jack.

Bf

An important motion, notice of which has been given by Mr H. Smeaton, will bo discussed at the first meeting of delegates ?ext week of the Dunedin Bowling Centre or the 1924 25 season. Mr Smeaton will move*

(a) That in all centre tournaments the skip of each rink or double will be held responsible for seeing that all bowls played by members of his rink or double are stamped in accordance with the rules. In the event of any unstamped bowls being played the rink or double so offending shall be disqualified, and the game awarded to their opponents. (b) That in the event of any member of a link playing unstamped bowls in the interclub matches, the side so offending shall he disqualified for the section in which they are competing, and a win awarded to their opponnets for that section. There is certainly not the slightest excuse for players appearing in official contests with unstamped bowls. There have been glaring breaches of late in Dunedin of the rule governing unstamped bowls, and the carrying of a motion on the lines proposed by Mr Smeaton should act as a wholesome deterrent. Quite a feature of the annual meeting of the North-East Valley Bowling Club was the remarkable number of “I beg to declines'’ when the election of office-bearers was in progress. It was only after a good deal of difficulty that members consented to take office at all, and a secretary could not be found at any price. The general committee was finally assignee! the responsibility of capturing a minute taker. The honour conferred on Mr J. A. M‘Kinnon at the annual meeting of the Taieri Club was one which was thoroughly deserved. Mr M'Kinnon has iust relinquished the office of secretary and treasurer of the club after 20 years’ service, and the strong position at present occupied by the club is largely due to his energy and financial ability. For Dunedin bowlers there is no more popular mid-week trip than a visit to the Taieri, where a good green, a hearty welcome-, and, unless the visiting comibnation is above the average in strength, a solid drubbing awaits the visitors. All that is necessary is a telephone ring to Mr M'Kinnon, and everything is then plain sailing for the city bowler 3.

At the conclusion of the annual meeting; of the North-East Valley Club the following awards were made: Championship singles—J . Tonkin 1, C. Owen 2 ; colts’ singles—F. Silvius 1 ; doubles —J. Laing and E. Hinkley 1, J. Carmen and H. J. D'uncan 2; most successful skip, C. Grace; third, H. J. Duncan; second, G. Grant and G. Sherriffs (a tie); lead, J. Scott. The Otago Bowling Club, which was formed some 17 years ago, has just been regi stered as a limited liability company. The property, consisting of the present green and pavilion (together with an area of land 15Cft x 85ft, situated immediately behind tVie green and facing Elm row), was recently offered by the trustees for the estate to the club on very easy terms. The company obtained a continuation of the lease on the original terms ior a further period of ten years, with a purchasing clause enabling it to acquire thereafter the freehold. The capital of the new company is fixed at £2OOO in £1 shares, and about half of these have already been taken -ip. The additional area of land acquired fronting Elm row will add very greatly to the value of the whole property. Speaking at the annual meet inn- of the North-East Valley Club, Mr J. C. Rigby said he thought the club should extend a helping hand to the recently formed Ceilh Valley Bowling Club. lie did not think there was any chance of the new club’s green being ready for play until the season was well advanced, and he thought it would be a courteous thing if the Valley Club allowed the Leith Club members the use of its green until such time as the new green was open for play. In fact, he w T ould put his suggestion in the form of a motion. There would, of courso, need to be reservations. For instance, the Valley Club would naturally require the sole use of its green on Saturday afternoons. Mr Rigby’s motion found several supporters, _ but the following amendment, to the following effect, moved by Mr J. Rhodes, was carried by a substantial majority:—That members of the Leith Valley Bowling Club be invited to join the North-East. Valley Club as honorary members, thus entitling them to the use of the Valley green until the Leith Club's green is ready for play. THE LEADER’S JOB. A writer has laid it down in one of the Adelaide papers that “the leader who, against good company, puts both his bowls around the kitty, is only looking for trouble.” Experienced players will be very reluctant to agree with this view. He also says that the other leader “may have two bowls behind, and these ‘rotters’ may count through the efforts of Numbers 2 and 3.” What skipper is there who would not prefer the leader who gets on the jack consistently, with either one bowl or two, to the leader who gets behind? Get on or around the kitty with both bowls, and leave the skip to finesse with his No 2, is the slogan for all le-aclers. His province is to beat his man with both bowls, and while the other skip is trying to get the position away from him, he is placing his other men

in the danger spots. And there are not always danger spots. A skip is often in the happy position of having the shot and position as well. Leaders who can put one bowl on the jack and another in a place where he wants it, have yet to be born. It takes a leader all he knows to beat his man. and when ho does beat him, his turn is not, long coming to take second fiddle. WOOD OR COMPOSITION. The following is the opinion of a Sydney writer on composition and wooden bowls “You cannot achieve bowling glory without being equipped with tne best in bowls. Last season the number of bowlers in New South Wales increased by approximately 1000. To accommodate these recruits about 2000 additional pairs of bowls would be brought into action, and it is quite on cards that a number of ‘dud’ bowls have been resurrected. One has never yet seen a champion bowler whose bowling implements did not reflect character, and the novice is advised to procure his bowls under the guidance of experienced players. The prejudice against other than lignum vitoe bowls is rapidly vanishing, and whereas 10 years ago composition bowls were practically unknown, to-day the ‘compos’ share the green with their brother ‘woods.’ The main reason for the increasing popularity of the composition bowls is that each year it has become increasingly difficult to obtain seasoned lignum vitae bowls of satisfactory weight. To secure a weight of, say, 51b 4oz, one is forced to play with a bowl that is really too large to be handled comfortably, and to use bowls that you cannot grip thoroughly without undue discomfort is fatal to bowling success. Many a nromising player’s progress has been retarded through ignorance as to this prime essential to success in bowls. To secure increased weight, many players have had their wooden bowls loaded. In this connection New South Wales is fortunate in possessing an expert, who has transformed light, characterless woods into howls that on prefect greens are almost ideal. On rough heavy greens the loaded bowl is far from effective, and the possessor of such a class of bowl is heavily handicapped. The opinions of a large number of foremost players have been sought as to what they consider the ideal howl. Singularly enough the opinions were practically unanimous—a narrow grip bowl, full three bias. 5 l-16th. weight 31b to 3ib 4oz. Composition billiard balls have quite, superseded ivory, and whether composition bowls have come to stay it is difficult to forecast. Still, it is gratifying to know that, composition bowls equal to the world’s best can b> nrodneed in Australia.”