The World of Sport

Taranaki Daily News, 8 October 1925, Page 4

The World of Sport

Doings in Britain

Chronicled by our Special Representatives

CRICKET.

HOBBS’ MEMORABLE FEATA (‘From Our Own Correspondents.) (All Rights Reserved.) London, Aug. 30. Jack Hobbe« the great Surrey batsman, has at last not only tied with W. G. Grace’s record of 126 centuries, but beaten it. After a succession of useful scores on wickets affected by rain, and in favour of the bowler, he went to Taunton, and there, against Somerset, achieved his great ambition in dramatic circumstances. He went in on the Saturday afternoon, after Surrey had dismissed their opponents for I<s7 } and. when play closed for the day, he was nine short of three figures. In expectation that he would reach the coveted hundred on the Monday morning, enthusiastic cricketers set off from all parts of the country for Taunton on the Sunday, and as early as seven o’clock on the Monday morning there was a queue outside the ground. Long .before play was due to begin the small arena wa* full up, and the gates had to be closed. Once jn a Te«t match, when Rhodes, the last man, joined his colleague, Hirst, and only a few runs were required to £ive England victory. Hirst whispered: “Wilf’, we’ll get- them in singles.” Hobbs evidently decided to proceed on the same cautious lines. Somerset, as one might almost have expected, did not make matters easy for him. As a matter of fact, the fieldsmen were on their toes, eager to stop every ball, and the bowling was splendidly accurate. But by degrees Hobbs pushed the bail this way and that, in his masterly trtyle, and then, when a no-ball was sent down, he sent it flashing to the boundary. So he struggled on to nine-ty-nine. After playing four consecutive balls back to the bowler, he neatly turned one to leg, and scampered down the pitch! At last the record, which ha* stood since Grace set it up in 1904, was equalled. The wene that followed was a memorable one. The thousands of spectators Stood and cheered for several minuter Then P. G. H. Fender, the Surrey captain, came from the pavilion carrying a silver goblet containing champagne, and Hobbs, taking off his cap, toasted rhe crowd. Just one more run, and Hobbs was caught behind the wicket! And away he raced to the pavilion, where he received not only the congratulations of hie colleagues in the Surrey eleven, but those of many old cricket era, including the redoubtable Sammy Woods, the old Somerset captain, and the great John Daniell. The news was flashed all over the country, and within an hour a stream of telegrams for Hobbs began to arrive. In the evening he was escorted by thousands of people to his hotel, which wae specially decorated both inside and outaide with beautiful flowers, and later he was entertained at dinner, in company with his colleagues, by the Surrey captain. Hobbs declares that he never felt nervous throughout the innings, not even when he went in after the week-end break to make the nine runs needed. ,SANDHAM’S GOOD FELLOWSHIP. liKtecd, he .said he felt confident that he uunM succeed, for, unlike other bat*;r h. he seldom experienced difficulties ; . r. aching the nineties. On the next . rr. : ubs went in again, when Surrey ; . a.red only 183 to win, so that he had a very good opportunity to score ;. .<>u:er century. But, though lie was the old Hobbs once more, playing without the measured restraint which .ie had previously shown, and rums be-o-.a to flow from hi* bat in brilliant feiylc. The result was that, when the ‘ tuning hit was made, he had another 1.1 io his credit. He could never have iviclnd the century if his partner, Sauuj'.am, had not nursed him in fine ?4>orving style, letting him have as muck of the bowling as possible. Hobbs’ display waa flawle*®, but at the finish he waa to tired that his captain decided that he should stand down from the next match to take a rest. Perhaps his feeling* are best conveyed by his remark, 'Well, I’m glad it’s over, ' By his last century Hobbs set up another record. It was his fourteenth of the summer, and the previous highest total of three-figure innings in a season was thirteen, these were obtained by C. B. Fry, Hayward and Hendren. Column* have appeared in all the pa pertin praise of Hobbs’ feat, without trying to compare it with the record of Grace. Such a ‘comparieon is not possible. When the latter was the foremost batsman of the world, the wick, , were not ao good and the bowling was probably better than to-day. On the other hand, the strain on the cricketer then was nothing like a- great as at present, for he did not Take part in half the number of matches. Hobbs this season, for instance, has been engaged every day except on the Sabbath. Though Hobbs’ triumph has been the event of the week Yorkshire have provided another sensation. In their match at Bradford it did not seem possible for them to escape their first defeat of the season at the hands of Sussex. The latter, for whom A. E. R. Gilligan has resumed playing, had only forty runs to get. and they had six wickets standing. This was the position lunch time on the day, and, without waiting for the t, the championship table was re-

nilated, and it was seen that Surrey would have a splendid chance after all of claiming the honours. But Yorkshire are never so deadly as when they have their backs to the wall, and on this occasion Macaulay accomplished a wonderful bowling performance, Within twenty minutes he captured five of the outstanding Sussex wickets for eight rune, and Kilner, Claiming the other, the Sussex side were all out, and Fork shire had won by 23 tuns’ There wa* nothing to account for the collapse of Sussex, except the superlative cricket of the champions. They are truly a wonderful side under

any conditions, and, as I have said* they are- probably at their best when seriously threatened. That the championship will now go to the county for the fourth year in succession is almost certain. They have one big match still to play, this being against Surrey at the Oval this week-end. If they get through this without defeat, their position will be almost unassailable.

GOLF.

A NOVEL TOURNAMENT. It is declared that the British golf professional suffer* in comparison with his American rival at the short game, and his shots to the flag are not so accurate, and that he wastes strokes on the green. This is to be put to the test two courses of the Moor Park Club, which Lord Leverhulme founded at Sandy Lodge on the outskirts of London shortly before his death. By invitation eighty of the leading players are to take part in a seventy-two holes competition, and all of them will be short holes, or rather they will be within reach with one club. The arrangement to be carried out is to eliminate the drive, and allow the men to place their ball within a specified area on the fairway. The shots will differ as to length and character, and all the clubs in the bag are likely to be called upon except, of course, the driver. It ie perhaps the severest test the professional 1 golfer has ever been set. All the way round he will have no margin for error. If his shot to the green is a bad one, he can hope to recover only by means of a second stroke, which is eo accurate that he can get down in one putt. His endeavour will be to go round in a succession of threes. That, of course, would represent perfection, and it is not likely to be attained. An average of threes for the four rounds would give a score of 216, and it is estimated that the player who gets inside 230 will win. Another interesting feature of the tournament is that a complete record is. to be taken of the putts made. In this way it is hoped to show the men what scope they have for improvement on the greens, and also to discover who is the best putter in the professional ranks. There have been putting championships in the past, but they were not a success, because in these the other strokes of the game were divorced from rhe putting. On this occasion, however, the test will be complete in every respect.

FOOTBALL.

THE NEW SOCCER GAME. Interest in football is rapidly reviving. Many of the clubs have held practical games to which the public have been admitted, the receipts going to charity, and they have attracted comparatively large crowds. The great problem is—how will the game be afreet ed by the change in the off-side law? It has already been put to the test in Scotland, and the result has been fairly satisfactory. But expectations have not been fulfilled in at least one respect. It has generally been supposed that the alteration would lead, to many more goals being scored. In Scotland, however, the total has not eo far been above the average. On the other side of the border, offside tactics have not been carried out to the same extent as in England, and so the changed conditions did not trouble defenders there to a great extent. One excellent feature of the alteration was that there were far fewer etoppagee. Indeed, in several cases there was not a single instance of a player getting offside. English clubs, during their training for the start of the seasofi next week-end, are making all sorts of experiments to meet the new conditions, and it i* likely that in some respects the plan of defence will have to be remodelled. But When they go on to the team for the first time it is probable that men will be told they must pay as cireumstanees suggest. This, at any rate, is the safe policy.

IN THE RING.

BOX ING AND BOX ER S. One of the events of the coming fixing season (writes Eugene <?orri) —I am not quite sure what a boxing season is, but 1 know’ one is coming!—will be the triple venture of Phil Scott, who has undertaken to beat three < f our leading heavy-weights inside one week. I don’t know' exactly what Jack Stanley, Tom Berry and Gipsy Daniels think about it, nor do 1 know in what order they will rake the ring against Scott, but I certainly think the challenge has a very pleasant old-fashioned sound, and I can only hope that good will come of it. The fights, of course, are not planned for one night, but at regular intervals during a week. Still, three fights in one week are enough to go on with, and all four boxer* concerned deserve every credit ;for their “showing willing” in what should be a very sporting event. I am afraid, however, that there may be some trouble before the exact order of precedence is established. .Scott evidently is full of fight and confidence, for,' in addition to his busy week at the Ring, he has planned a short and. sharp invasion of Spain, where he will encounter Pao’ini, the Basque, I have seen better boxer- .'han Paolini, but none gamer and fiercer I have a shrewd suspicion, too. that, if |ie could learn a little footwork, and so nelp himself to acquire a sense of distance, he could punch uncommonly hard. THE LONSDALE BELT. The quickening among the heavyweights reminds me that Lord Lonsdale’s Belt for the big fellowe sadly needs a holder once more. Phil Scott,

of course, must be a favourite in the betting, for, unless Jack Bloomfield can regain his fitness and skill in double quick time, and Frank Goddard ca,n rediscover equally quickly, and almost miraculously, tfie promise of his earlier day*, it is not easy to find a champion on the horizon. Charlie 'Smith, of Deptford, has more than once caught the eye —of opponents as well as critics—but he seems hardly big enough, and, moreover, his open stance positively invites disaster. So far, Smith has been crushingly effective against boxers not possessed of a straight left, but each time 1 see -him I wonder how long it will be before someone accepts the invitation offered, and hits straight through that wide open gap between two extended arms. It is a pity that -Smith still persists in such an unsound style, entertaining as it often is, for he shows (races of real boxing skill. However lucky Johnny Brown may have been against, the Frenchman at the Albert Hall,, he seems more than able to hold his own—ami his belt — against the bantam-weights in this country. The other day he disposed of Teddy Murton, of Plymouth, inside one round. Murton, however, always has disappointed at the moment when he was “most expected” as our racing friends say. He once was very nearly a champion, but suddenly seemed to lose every trace of his best form. Then comparatively recently, at the Sporting Club, he seemed to be well on his way towards a “come back,” only to fail in an eliminating contest against. Mick Hill. Neither boxer, on that occasion, accomplished very much in a •wretchedly ragged and unenterprising .fight, but Mick Hill least offended the referee’s sense of sportsmanship, and probably deserves the right to meet Johnny Brown for the belt. Meanwhile, Murton has seized a chance to meet Brown first, only to fail miserably. Mick Hill’s chances of beating Brown are not improved by an overlong. period of inactivity. Obviously Brown is not allowing his.armour to rust in the same way. WHERE ARE THE LADS? 1 wonder when we are going io see some more Jim Driscolls and Fred Welshes and Jimmy -Wildes. South Wales still seems keen enough on boxing, but the wonderful school of boxing that produced the three famous fighters mentioned above—not to speak of men like Tom Thomas, the middle-weight champion, and many others in the first flight—seems to have evaporated into thin air. I have seen some very tough boys from 'Wales recently, but they can’t box. I have also seen some very fair boxers recently, but they either can’t hit or can’t stand being hit I wish Wales would wake up. for the incursion of her boxers into England once used to be as interesting as the arrival of any Americans. Scotland now seems to provide a large proportion of the champions, and it is to tough and capable fighters like Milligan and Clarke that one looks anxiously for a British world champion—at last! Milligan, to be is of Irish descent-, but that should only make his task slightly easier, when he starts his experimental tour in the United States The John L. Sullivan atmosphere has not yet disappeared, across the Atlantic, and, in addition, a large proportion of the gentlemen who carry batons and are generally concerned in the maintenance of law and something like order, still are Irishmen. Milligan, I learn, has more designs upon pugilistic triumphs than upon a solemn career behind the walls of a monastery He would have my best wishes,whatever he decided to do, for he is a good boy, and a “bonnie fechter.” But I am selfish enough to add that I am glad he is sticking to the fighting, for he is one of the fe*w lads I can think of as capable of making the Yanks sit up and take notice of British boxing It is typical of Milligan that he i* ready to start operations against two of the lesser Americans. It is all very well to jump straight into the limelight, but it is no good having that overpowering glare upon one’s prostrate form. You’ve got to make good over there, and you’ve also got to take no chances. Too many of our fighters have walked straight off the boat, as it were, to disaster. 'So, I think, Milligan is wise to sample the American vintage by sipping instead of gulping, fie must beware, however, lest some dark horse be reserved for him, for a defeat, or even a draw, against an unknown man, sounds bad, even though actually, it may be quite as creditable as a victory over a decaying champion. WHAT ABOUT THE LIGHTW'EIGHTS ? Tn this connection I am wondering if the events of the next few months will or Will not encourage any of our lightweights to fix up contests with representative Americans. From all accounts Harry Mason and Ernie Izzard, whom the former beat, can be reasonably compared on form with Jimmie Goodrich, and we have a highly promising man in Len Harvey. Clearly, we ought to have another Mason-Izzard contest in more orderly circumstances. There also are the makings of a good contest between Johnny Sullivan, Who, I believe, still can be a light-weight—on occasion—and either Tzzard or Alf Si*imons. Harvey may have to fill out a bit before we can expect the best from him.