BOWLING.

Taranaki Daily News, 8 October 1925, Page 4

BOWLING.

THE APPROACHING SEASON. WHAP JOY HAS LIFE TO OFFER? (By “Toucher.’’) Rolled the smooth half-acre where the green grass grows, Brigh’t the flowers flutter in the sun, (With their yellow, gold and purple, and the rich red rose, To show that spring and summer has begun. The gentle zephyrs fanning from a warm, hvide wing, Diffusing sweetes-t perfume through the air; While timid thrush and blackbirds all their soft songs sing, So 'blithe and gay, while all the world is fair. The gentle art of bowling on the turf, trimmed true, Where our artistic instincts are express’d ; ’Neath the dome of heaven, arching like a ball', bright blue, Is harmony and pleasure at its best. What joy has life to offer like a great, good game 'Of bowls, beneath a pleasant summer ■sun; With the light of heaven burning in a full, flush flame, And life strung out as long as it will last ? To the enthusiastic bowler what joy has life to offer if the weather frowns upon his favourite pastime? What 'will he do if the climatic conditions we have been experiencing these many weeks continue when the season is due to open? Echo answers, What? Let us hope and trust that when opening day arrives Old Sol will once again shine out in all his glory, and a gentle zephyr will stir the air, and on a keen and nicely turfed sward the game of bowls will resume its reign as our summer pastime. Bowlers in New Zealand are keenly looking forward for the opening of this coming season, which will be of the greatest importance, owing to the fact that the British bowlers will visit the Dominion.

BRITISHERS TO VISIT TARANAKI.

To Taranaki the season will be one of the greatest in the of the province. Never before hae an English team visited this part of the world, and this year the team of English bowlers is to pay Taranaki a visit. Teams of bowlers from New South Wales and Queensland have visited New Zealand in the last few years, but on each occasion ha* Taranaki been left out of the itinerary. However, this year recompense ig- to be made by Taraaiaki being included as one of the places where the English bowlers will find bo'wlers worthy of their skill. How Taranaki has been overlooked by oversea bowlers in the past is beyond my comprehension, seeing that at all Dominion tournaments our bowlers are always to the fore, and that we have a go'od name for hospitality among bowlers in other parts of New Zealand.

The English team is composed of first-class 'players, most of whom, have international reputations. The bowling ashes, as far as the Dominions and the Homeland are concerned, are held in Britain at present, and England evidently intends to keep them. They are sending out the best, instead of merely rich bowler®, as has previously been done. The Englishmen, in my opinion, w T ill have to have a particularly fine team to hold their own on Ne'w Zealand soil. Every province that they will visit W’ill serve up entirely different conditions, and the problems will be many and varied. I would not give the best team ißritain could possibly send a chance of beating the Aucklanders, on their fast, hard, fiery greens, and they will need to be . something out of the ordinary to even hold their own. To the Englishmen this may sound optimistic, ’brut nevertheless my knowledge of the conditions prompts this forecast. In Taranaki, however, the greens should be more like those of the Homeland, and the Britishers W’ill be more at home on these. Down in Dunedin they should also find greens to their liking. 'With this visit eventuating Taranakians should early polish up their bowls and put all their heart and soul into their efforts to get the season ushered in as successful a manner as possible. INTER -EMPIRE TOURNEYS. Writing of ilk visit of the English bowlers reminds me that invitations w z ere also sent to Canada, South Africa, and Australia to visit 'New Zealand this season, but circumstances prevented the invitations 'being availed of. Had the visits eventuated one would have been enabled to visualise the day wdien bowlers w’ould have their international trophy contests in the same way as tennis players, cricketers, and footballers. Under present conditions, of course, there are difficulties in the way of international championship bowling matches. It is not all champion ‘bowlers w’ho can afford to travel on extended tours, ant in New Zealand, at any rate, the Bowling Association has not the funds to undertake a ‘big order of this sort. This means that it is only the leisured and better-off class of 'bowlers who can afford to take on international tours, and many in this category are now past, the day when they would care to enter upon strenuous contests for world championship bowling 'honours which are more suited to men of younger years. Unless means can be devised of pitting s:he real champions of the different countries against one another it is questionable whether it is worth while having any but friendly international matches. In New Zealand the conditions under which tournaments are run do not permit of a real test of championship form being applied. The Dominion tournaments are a sort of free-for-all handicap contests, open to those able to afford the time to attend. It is quite possible that there are as good players -who are debarred by business or other reasons from taking part In the Dominion tournaments as -there are who come out 'with the most number of wins to their credit at these gatherings. If the Dominion tournament Were confined to a champion of •champions competition between the champions of the various centre®, then it might be possible to find the really champion bowlers of the country, but he would be a bold man who would seriously put forward such a proposal these days, as it would be said that the

social side of the game wa* being sacrificed for an undesirable ultra-competi-tive element. As it ie probable that conditions in this respect are somewhat analogous in other countries, it is difficult to see how an international competition for anything ‘but a loving cup, or something of a similarly mild description, could be brought about. That may come some <iay, but the day seems to be yet afar off. INTERNATIONAL ‘CUIP. The suggestion that an international cup contest for bowls should be established. on the lines of the Davis Cup in tennis was made by Mr. Hector Ross, a delegate to the annual meeting of the New South Wales Bowling Association. Mr. Ross said he understood that a cheque for £5OO would be forthcoming for a cup fund. He also considered that entries should be world-wide. The conditions connected, with Test games for cricket, football, and the Davis Cup are, however, totally different from those existing in the bowling world. In the former case the competitors are carefully trained young men who are able to spare the time and stand: the racket of long-continued travelling. In addition, their expenses are paid. Bowlers, however, would have to bear their own expenses, as there would be no such thing as “gate” money with which to meet *uch a charge. Many of -them would probably be men who occupy responsible positions, and. could not get away at a fixed time, and most of them would no doubt be middle-aged men who, no doubt quite capable of standing the exercise of playing friendly games, would 'be chary of entering into a strenuous contest for keeps, perhaps thousands of miles away from their homeland. However, we shall see later what becomes of the proposal. THE PROGRESS OF BOWLS. It is opportune at this time to outline the position as far as the numerical strength of bowling in this- Dominion at present stands. According to the annual report of the Dominion Bowling Association the number of clubs affiliated now is 283, with a total ' membership of 15,094, 'an increase of 11 clubs and '648 members for the year. This shows a healthy development in the. game of ‘bowls, and illustrates its popularity with the people of this Dominion. There is probably no other country where the proportion of bowlers to the population i® so great. We have favourable conditions for the maintenance of good greens, and this, combined with the fact that the game is within the reach of all sections of the community, accounts for its great popularity. ■The following new clubs affiliated to the association during the past year:— Taranaki Centre, Tariki and Paritutu clubs; Christchurch Centre, Imperial. Sunnyside, and. Cashmere Hills clubs; Southland Centre, Waihopai and Wai kiwi clubs; Gisborne Centre, Tokomam Bay club; South Canterbury Centre. Fair’lie club; North Otago Centre, Awa moa Club; South Auckland Centr. Claudelands club; Dunedin Centre, Leitl club.

The strongest Centre in the Dominion is Auckland with 267’6 players, South Auckland being next with 1520, and Christchurch rso<7. Then follow Wellington 14011, Dunedin 1446, Taranaki 1015. Thirteen Centres register fewer players than the foregoing. The strongest club in the Dominion is Wellington, with 225 members, Nelson has ISO and Dunedin 174. Then come Ponsonby 167, Kahutia (Gisborne) 150, Carlton 130, Gisborne 137, New Plymouth 134. 'Taranaki Centre shows a gain of 5-2 members for the past year. The membership- of the various clubs stand as under;—-Ne>w Plymouth 134, Hawera 85, Park (Hawera) 80, West End 69, Fitzroy <5B, Paritutu 65, Waitara 63, Avon 60, Stratford 56, Inglewood 55, iPatea 42, Vogeltown 40, Eltham 38, Manaia 32, Fire Brigade 20, Opunake 20, Pihama 17, Rahotu 17, Auroa 16, Tariki 14. Oka to 12, Warea 12. Great credit is dtte to these country clubs who carry on under great disadvantages of small membership and consequent weak finance. Hats off to them I