ENGLISH SPORTING NEWS

Taranaki Daily News, 18 January 1930, Page 4

ENGLISH SPORTING NEWS

GOLF CLUB PROFESSIONALS. : EX-CHAMPION’S APPOINTMENT. (Special to News). London, Nov. 21. The tendency on the part of golf chibs towards their professionals in recent years has been to appoint men who would spend their time on the course, giving lessons.and attending to the work of the shop, instead of going round the country competing in competitions. Indeed, young assistants have lately secured several of the best jobs. The Sandy Lodge Club, which is situated on the northern outskirts of London, having, however, taken the old view that a first-class player was what it required, has just appointed the ex-champion, Arthur Havers. The son of the late steward to the Royal Norwich Club, Havers Started to swing a club as soon as he' was old enough to toddle about the links. When still in his teens, he became• attached to the West Lancashrie Chib at Blundellsands on the Lancashire coast. Almost immediately after winning the championship at Troon in 1923, Havers came to idle Coombe Hill Club, London, and he left it a year ago ini unfortunate circumstances. . He had arranged with George Gadd to visit the. Argentine during the winter, and lie was under the impression that he : had been given leave of absence. There was, however, some misunderstanding, and it was left for him to decide between leaving Coombe Hill and fulfilling his contract to go to South America. He chose the latter, and he has not had an engagement in the meantime.

For five .years Havers ’ has had a most disappointing experience. Six years ago he was at the'peak of his game, and he appeared- to have the brightest prospects. At the end of that year he went to the Pacific Coast with James Ockendcn, and he has done nothing of note since. That a player with so many natural, gifts could lose his form so completely is amazing. All the. time he has remained one of the biggest hitters in the game, but his play with the irons has been very poor. His fellow professionals have tried to put him back on to his game, and he has practised most diligently, but there has been no lasting improvement. Occasionally he has shown something like Lis- old form for a round or so, but he has not - been able to regain his old mastery with the irons. Possibly the new change will help him. A PROBLEM FOR AUSTRALIA.

That an English team, which does not include more than two or three prospective test match players, should* be good enough to beat; .some of their State eleven's wiil give the Australians something of which to- think furiously. The side under the captaincy of A. 11. Gilligan really went put to play in New Zealand, where th'p; deinadds made on thejn were not expected to be as high as in Australia. Whilst ■ thoroughly Sound, they did not ■' pretend to' be fully representative of I English cricket; Jn the circumstances they have far exceeded expectations, and; so far as the bowling is concerned, it is important to note that most of the work has been done by the fast men. > The success of Barrett has been very impressive. Ah a Notts player he largely contributed to the winning of the championship last season. He sends down a very similar ball to Larwood, which goes away quickly, and leads to i catches jn the slips. i Barrett, too, is useful with the bat. Indeed, he v...s responsible for the most spectacular innings of •’ last summer. It was in a critical match with Gloucestershire, who were making a .bold bid for the championship, and- Notts were in a most unpromising position. The Gloucestershire spin bowlers had played havoc amongst the early batsmen, but, on going in, Barrett at once proceeded to hit them off their length, and gave a truly w’onderful display, scoring over 70 in twenty-five minutes. Inasmuch as Notts won the match by only two or three runs, it will be realised what Barrett’s innings meant to them.

The Englishmen have soon come up aganist t'he Melbourne barracker, who, whilst giving a bitter point .to his comments, usually mixes them with a touch of humour. On this occasion, however,' the reports suggest that the spectators were inconsiderate to .‘the tourists in practically forcing them' to bat when the light was not good enough. -It was, of course, the Melbourne crowd who gave Larwood such a bad time during the last tour.

Another English team is shortly to leave, being bound for the West Indies, where it will be prepared for serious opposition. Hendren is one of the members, but, as in the case of the men in Australia, none of the other players likely to be called on for next year’s tests have been used. Wilfred Rhodes has gone out, at the special request of the West Indian authorities, and another veteran of the side is George Gunn. The captain is the Hon. F. S. G. Calthorpe. THE BILLIARDS CHAMPION SHIP. STATES OF THE VISITORS. Professional billiards has always been a hotbed of dissension. With the visit of Walter Lindrum and'Clark McConachy we were promised one of the greatest seasons in the history of the game. But hardly had they entered on their programme of matches; before trouble

started. The championship is the cause of the quarrel. Before Lindrum and McConaehy arrived, it was stated that they would not be able to stay long enough to compete for the title. It is now evident that this is. not the reason which lias governed their decision. Their contract, it appears, is with one of the table-makers, and a condition of it is that, during their stay, they must play on only one type of table. In the circumstances, if they are to be held to the contract, it follows that the - championship must be played on the make of table they have stipulated to use. Needless to say the authorities do' not intend to be dictated to as to which table shall be used for the championship, even to let‘the visitors into the event. Willie Smith, who is under a similar contract, has also stated that he will not enter. In this case the question of table has not been raised. His grievance is that the championship is not to be played in a hall which he considers large enough. It is very unfortunate that Lindrum •and McConaehy have allowed themselves

1 to be dragged into the trouble, and 1 their attitude will not make for the success of their tour. Their billiards has, however, been wonderful. We have seen nothing like it. Lindrum has dispelled all doubt that he is the finest player in the world, at any rate so far and it would be extraordinary if he could not .maintain the superiority which he has shown in a championship heat. It is scarcely an exaggeration to say that he seems able to produce a thousand break like a conjurer bringing a rabbit out of a hat. In one game against Smith he had two runs of over four figures, two in the nine hundreds, »nd altogether thirteen over five hundred. This scoring has been startling. Even such a fighter as Smith has wilted as the points have been marked iip against him. Joe Davis,- the champion, has had. a similar experience in games against McConachy. The improvement in the play of the latter, since he was last here, is amazing. Indeed, it is possible that he ranks second only, to Lindruhi.','’ NEXT SUMMER’S CRICKET. THE' CHANGES IN THE RULES. (Special to News.) London, Nov. 28. One summer morning two seasons ago, in a county cricket match at Colchester, Johnny Douglas, who was then the captain of Essex, went to the wicket in plus fours and a trilby hat. Only two or three runs were required to win, and he did not think it worth while to : change into flannels. Overnight the umpires had enforced the rule to stop play at the time fixed. In fact, they iiad no option to do otherwi.se, though an extra five minutes would have served to bring the match to a finish. There was always the possibility that the weather might break, and no further play be possible. In that event the result would, of bourse, have been a draw. But that was “not cricket,” and next season the conditions will be different. If the two captains agree that an extra half-hour's play on the second day will enable the game to be decided, it is to g'b on. The wonder is that this regulation was not introduced long ago. It would have met the convenience of everyone; add especially of the players, ■ who would have had the third day free, either to go on to the next match in comfort, instead of through the night, or to spend it at home. This is the only change which hag been agreed to in regard to next season's cricket. The I bigger wicket is to remain, though it I will not, of course, be used for the test I matches against the Australians, and there is to be a further experiment in I the l.b.w. rule. The tourists will, however, have an opportunity to become familiar with these innovations, and it is hoped that they will create a favourable impression in order that the new conditions may obtain not only in this country but in Australia and South Africa and other countries whore the game is played. It was suggested that there should be an alteration in the hours of play. Leicester proposed that the game should go , on until seven o’clock in the evening on both the first and second days. There would be a later start under that system, with lunch taken at two o'clock, their idea being that spectators would be encouraged to attend the matches? after tea if there wag a prospect of two hours’ play. The plan, however, did not meet with the approval of the other counties. Up to the end of June the light might be good enough at seven o’clock, but later in the summer shadows begin to gather before this time. THE. BILLIARDS CHAMPIONSHIP. . . LINDRUM AND McCONACHY.. . The position in regard to the billiards championship is still very obscure. The public cannot understand how Lindrum and McConachy can even' contemplate going home without seizing the opportunity to compete for. the title which one of them, it would seem, would be certain to win, and they have no patience with the suggestion that they are kept out of the event because they have signed a contract which insists that they shall play only on one make of table during their tour. Australia’s representatives are expected to enter for the championship, and they will blunder grievously if they attempt to force an alteration in* the playing conditions. They will gain no sympathy for the complaint that they will not make enough' money out of the competition, which’/fi‘bhi the point of view of the public ■ should be Britain' versus Australia.. -{'Neither the cricketer nor the footballer believes that he is over-paid for taking part in test or international matches, but he does not refuse to play fie does not consider his remuneration adequate. Even as professionals, the honour of being chosen comes first. Jack Hobbs or any other ericketei’' has never approached the M.C'.C. for a higher rate of pay. Lindrum and McConachy have given I the-impression that they would like to I have a jchanee of winning the till e^jgt t i it is indicated that, before they do so, the conditions must, be altered, and the . authorities. refuse to allow themselves to be dictated to. The firm to whom the two visitors, as well as Smith, are under contract have made certain suggestions, but there is not the slightest chance of their being accepted. The Board of Control insists very properly on choosing the Cable on which the championship shall be decided. To do otherwise would leave it open to a charge of unfairness. Obviously, thetable must be neutral to all the entrants. It is not likely either that the event will be, taken away from the hall which was originally engaged, though this is not such an important matter. Both Lindrum and McConachy con- 1 tinuc to play amazing billiards. Lin<drum has just finished a fortnight/

match against Smith, and has won by the margin of eight thousand points. As Smith at the finish said, any one who had suggested that was possible would have been laughed at. Throughout the fortnight, Smith averaged 150 for each I visit to the table, and yet he was. utterly outplayed. Since he began his tour, Lindrum has compiled as many as twelve breaks of over a thousand, five i of them being scored in one week, and j there is not the slightest doubt that he : is in a class by himself. McConaehy has I also scored a second victory over Joe Davis, the British champion. In this case, however, the match was a good deal closer, McConaehy having only an advantage of eight hundred. lie was, however, always ahead and was responsible for two ’housand breaks.