BOWLING.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 116, 22 June 1914, Page 2

BOWLING.

THE PENNANT * _,v . vus. Specially written for ttBE - Some considerablediscussioni >\feaga i taken place among boi?lerS ; lately* as ,! to 1 the wisdom of continuing Pennant ' matches, which /have been the main feature of. competitive bowling for.r^ v good many years past. ChristchurQh;,-, bowlers are not singular ins their perplexity 'ovei' this matter,' as/in nearly .Centre the form, of thieSe coni L: ' • petitions is, the. .subject- ,of one Centre seejins haj>:<e. jlejised, ,ia scheme which will give" universal sat- ' isfaction, and therefore the easy way out of the difiicaltv-'—by a system already approved by experience—is not-open. The Centrp/vyill ; have, to come to some conclusion before the ne£t season opens, and it should be the aim of every bowler to help the Centre to decide aright. There was a time when bowling was the simple recreation of elderly men, who found their enjoyment in friendly games among their Own club mate&. ! • ■■• The attractions of the game• grew, ami with the passing of years' its -sphere of influence extended. Now the great majority of bowlers are men who, though not in their husky youth, are- ■still ''voung men,'' in : the prime of their physical and mental powers. • This in- < vasi'on introduced the strong competitive element which distinguishes the u ine to-'dav, and which is so-often be- / wailed by "the older generation* The , fact, remains) however, that bowlihg is now a more vijgorous and popular. game than ever it was before.- • Competition l is the life of games no less than it is the life of trade; If the* competitive element were removed tha game would languish. It is only by competition that a champion ean • *be>' - found, and what is true of the -in* m dividual is true of the club. Any.' idea, of altogether abandoning competitive .> games between clubs,, and substituting * mere '' friendly" games, should' l not 'be tolerated for a moment.- Friendly games :> are entirely pleasant functions in- their .1 way, but they represent the social side J far more than the playing strength of j clubs. ! iEvery bowler knows of the fran-t. j tic. efforts made on these occasions to > rake up; "a few; more' players,.'?that every visitor-will be accommodate*!:; with a game. Spectators* > hava > never had- a: bowl in their ihand&i *=a9tt:> taken in;•■■and a good player iniay ihaTeo the exquisite pu-in ■of an afternoo« !

spoiled through the innocent incompetency of his novice partner. In every branch of sport, in every game, the one rule obtains, or should obtain —the best players should be picked to represent their club in its serious competitions against other clubs. The very idea of such a rule not being applied in connection with golf, "tennis, cricket, or football, is grotesque. Why should an exception be made in bowls? Because bowls is an eminently social game, is the reply so often advanced. If* you select four or five rinks to play, a competition match, you leave ..as many others on the bank. This con-; tention has only to be examined briefly to make its speciousness become apparent. There are five days out of six on which the social side of bowls may; foe cultivated. At the very most one j day in the week would be devoted to ai competitive' game. Further, tfefere is no reason- why a competitive game should; not be an entirely social an,d friendly■ one. Only there can be no trtte. competi-f tion- where players of- very iadifterentf calibre ate put forward to represent their club, 'Siaiplj; !tp'."give...thei#;§ The problem seems to be to devise a scheme which will happily -combine the. competitive and the social aspects of th» "game. The writer puts forward the pro-: posal ? that Saturday afternoons should foe devoted to friendly matches between the cl«bs" the Saturdays noVso taken, up" to ""be devoted to individual club 'competitions, which are usu ally s woef tilly behind at the end of the season.'' "This would ensure that practically every player would get a,.game on the halfholiday. Thus much cause of grumbling and soreness" would be; removed. / No .bowler enjoys being, a banker on his one and only half-holiday. The other proposition is that the real competitive or Pennant games should be confined to four or five rinks from each club,' which will represent the best playing strength of their respective clubs. The games could be played during the long summer evenings, commencing at 5 or 5.30 p.m., and concluding about 8. or 8.15 p.m. There would be plenty of time to finish a 21 heads and beatj -the darkness, too. There would also be j this advantage: That in the event of a game being postponed through bad weather, it could be played the following evening, or on the first fine evening. If the Pennant games were limited to seven or eight games, there is no reason why the whole series should not be played in the summer months of November, December, January, and February. The writer advances this as a fair solution of the difficulty. It has the advantage . that, it caters .for both the social and competitive elements, and it will be admitted that each has-a claim , on the consideration of the Centre.

ANOTHER SCHEME. RECOMMENDED BY CHRISTCHURCH CXiXJB. Mr'AtlcinSdn/af member of the Christchuirfch Club, submitted a scheme of Pennant matches to : the committee of that club, by whom it was approved, and referred to the Centre. The scheme is as follows: — 1. An entry for the Pennant Competition shall consist of a team containing four rinks. 2. Any club may send in as separate entries one, two, or more teams, each of four rinks.

3. That, if necessary, sections • be drawn, as in a tournament, and the winning team of each section shall play in the final.

4. That, as far as possible, teams from the same club shall . play in different sections.

5. That any player who has played in one team shall not afterwards play in any other team. Notes. —In explanation and support of the scheme, the following may be noted:—

Regarding (1). —The entry of one team of four rinks makes it possible for every club to enter. Regarding (2), —The power to enter more than one .team allows larger clubs to bring into Pennant play eight or twelve rinks, so that almost any efficient player in a club can be played. Thu3 the terms of the competition would not exclude any player. Again, the entry of teams of sixteen players in four rinks is similar to a rink tournament, where an entry consists of one rink, and in both cases more than one entry from the same club may be made. In the Pennant Competition, however, the entry of the larger team of four rinks comprising sixteen players, constitutes a club competition in a 1 real sense.

Regarding (3).- —It is estimated that there are at least four clubs that could enter two teams, or eight rinks, and at least six clubs that could enter one team. This would make fourteen entries (perhaps twelve), providing two sections of six or seven teams. This would mean five or six games for each team on as 'many Saturdays, and one more game for the two section winners. Thus the competition would not be a long one.

This plan also avoids classing clubs or teams or players as A and B, senior or junior.

Regarding (4). —This would distribute the teams more equally,, between the two sections. -• /

Regarding (s).—This would prevent any stiffening up of a team after the competition began to indicate their relative strength. Emergencies would be drawn from the remaining members of the club. This would help smaller clubs somewhat, since all their remaining players could upon at any time to play in the one team entered. This rule would not prevent interchange of players from one of the' four rinks comprising a team to one of the other rinks in the same toam.

It might be advisable to.distinguish two or three teams from the same club by names instead of by A and B or (!) and (2). .'Thus, Christchiirch Rovers and Christchurch Ramblers, or by the name of a team captain" selected by the four rinks forming the team'.