ON THE BOWLING GREEN.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIV, Issue 90, 11 December 1912, Page 3

ON THE BOWLING GREEN.

The following will represent' the colts’ rink against the colts from Fitzroy to-morrow: —Mullens, R. Masters, Bond, Jackson (skip). Visitors and ladies are specially invited to be present at the green. Afternoon tea will bo provided. THE BANNER COMPETITION. The following fixtures have been arranged for the northern district in the Taranaki Association’s banner competition. A blank date, January 23, has been left in the event of any of the fixtures not being played on the proper date:— FIRST ROUND. December 12.

New Plymouth v. Waitara, at Waitara. Stratford v. Fitzroy, at Stratford. Inglewood v. West End, at Inglewood. December 19. New Plymouth, v. West End, at New Plymouth. Stratford v. Waitara, at Waitara. Fitzroy v. Inglewood, at Fitzroy. January 16. New Plymouth v. Inglewood, at Inglewood. Stratford v. West End, at Stratford. Fitzroy v. Waitara, at Fitzroy. SECOND ROUND. February 6. New Plymouth v. Stratford, at New Plymouth. West End v. Stratford, at West End. Waitara v. Inglewood, at Inglewood. Fitzroy a bye. February 13.

New Plymouth v. Fitzroy, at Fitzroy. Stratford v. Inglewood, at Stratford. Waitara v. West End, at Waitara. February 20. New Plymouth v. Waitara, at New Plymouth. West End v. Inglewood, at West End. Fitzroy v. Stratford, at Inglewood. February 27. New Plymouth v. West End, at West End. Stratford v. Waitara, at Stratford. Fitzroy v. Inglewood, at. Inglewood. March 6. Now Plymouth v. Inglewood, at New Plymouth. Fitzroy v. Waitara, at Waitara. West End and Stratford a bye. March 13. West End v. Fitzroy, at West End.

HINTS TO BOWLERS. In the Dunedin Star a few days ago something was said about the habit so many skips have of following their bowls up, but this does not appear to have borne any fruit, for in the match between Wellington and the South Islanders this bad habit was much in evidence. It was indulged in _by quite a number, some of them being experienced players who should certainly know better. In particular two well-known Wellington skips were very bad offenders in tiiis respect, following up every bowl almost to the jack." It is high time some action was taken to stop this illegal method of play, which is tedious in the extreme,' and means additional wear and tear on the green. The difficulty is in finding the proper method of enforcing the rule. Except at a tournament there is no referee, and even he could not be here, there, and everywhere, thus the skip is left to do very much as he likes. This should, as in golf, make him very punctilious in sticking to the rules. Possibly if the opposing No. 3 were to stop the offender’s bowl it might bring matters to a head, although I am afraid it would cause unpleasantness. Another way would lie for the executive to caution known offenders, and if this warning was not acted on the rule breakers could be left out of subsequent pennant and other matches. The matter wants to- bo handled firmly, and at once. Another abuse which has grown up is the partial ignoring of the mat. This useful article is meant to stand on, a fact which a considerable number of players appear to be ignorant of. I would like to sec a rigid adherence to the principle of “both feet on the mat.” If this was so the green ends would be saved and would last much longer. Neither would such a common sense plan injure anyone. On Saturday afternoon those who played with both feet on the mat were in a minority, while here and there I noticed offenders in both teams who were

right off the mat when they delivered their bowls. Such bowls should have been burnt, but who is tjiere to take the responsibility of doing it? In bowling it would seem that rules are only made to be broken. It is quite time the matter received attention .from the executive of the association. THE BLACIirOOL TOURNAMENT. The great annual professional tournament on the Talbot green at Blackpool has been brought to an exciting close for the fortieth successive year. The number of entries was limited to 1000, as in the two preceding years, and the prize money totalled £468. It took six weeks to decide the event, playing every day, and enormous attendances witnessed the several stages, culminating in a record gallery on , the final day, despite the advanced admission charges. Hundreds wefe unable to gain entry on October 10th, when beautiful weather favoured the final heats. Speculation was very heavy throughout, and some remarkable victories were recorded. For instance, in the third round. Fred Threlfall, famous as a footballer for Manchester City and Fulham, and winner of the event last year, was .eight when his opponent stood at 16, but Threlfall reached the requisite 21 without his opponent scoring again. Another celebrated player in W. H. Law, who was successful three years ago, won his third heat by three after Ids opponent led 15 to 4. Favourite after favourite went down, till the final was left to Birchall and Wilson, and a magnificent contest resulted. The former was most fancied, and scores were level at 4,5, 7,9, 10, 13, and 17, from which point Birchall drew out and won amid a scene of intense excitement. The winner is only 26 years of age, and hails from North Ashton, a mining village near Wigan. He is one of the most promising of the younger professional school, and though he reached the last 16 for several years, he had decided not to enter this year’s tournament, but to stick to his trade as a cabinet-maker. His father, however, sent in his name, and Birchall played a great game from the start, though not supported to win anything like so much money as on previous . occasions. The first prize was £SO and the champion cup.