ENGLISH SPORTING LETTER

Taranaki Daily News, 15 January 1931, Page 4

ENGLISH SPORTING LETTER

BOBBIE JONES’ RETIREMENT.

fourteen - years of golf. r - / (Special to News). - , London, Nov. 20. George von Elm, America’s amateur golfer, who came over to play in the British championships during the past "kuinmer. announced on. his return home that he could not afford to play the -game as an amateur- any longer. He ' stated that golf cost him £2OOO a year, and henceforth, when he competed in the tournaments, he would accept any money prizes he might win. It was not his ..' intention, however, to become a professional. The statement was a little but it was taken to mean he would not take up a club ap- ’ pointment. Bobbie Jones has startled golfers in this country, where he has so. ' . many friends, by coming to a similar decision. He has signed a contract to .-make a series of one-reel talking pic;«.tures on golf, and, despite the fact that . "S.;these are to be purely educative, he feels that the work is contrary to the spirit - Jof amateurism.. This is fully recognised. It is said that his fees will . amount to at least £50,000, and they --‘•. may be increased to twice this huge sum. Jones states that he has been induced 'to accept the contract largely owing to the fact that he has had fourteen ' •-years of intense tournament play and he feels that he cannot go on any longer. Besides his profession—4he law—-.-.meeds more of his time. Jones will not ■--play as a professional, and his decision really means his retirement from the ■ game. We are never, at any rate, likely -25 to see him in this country again. He 'i -has, of'course, set up a record which may never be equalled. This is hold--1 ing the four championships of Britain I and America at- the same time. Alto- ■ gether he has won thirteen national ■ championships in fourteen years. Jt is a M truly amazing feat, which dwarfs the ■ z performances of even the British Trium- ■ yirate. ■ It may now be stated that the profcs- ■ , sionals, w-hilst greatly admiring Jones’ " golf, have had a grievance against him for some time. They have stated that as an amateur he has made far more .out of the game in recent years than they as professionals. This is true. .For three or four,years golfing articles . by Jones have flooded both this coun;2try and America, and he has received "'extraordinary fees for them. His in- . come from journalism has been estimated at not less than £15,000 a year. Three /years ago his friends, in recognition of . his many, wonderful feats on the links, .subscribed £lO,OOO with the intention J” of buying him a house, but this was clearly an infringement of amateurism, and Jones declined the gift. It was never I'stated, however, what became of the .money after it had been subscribed. ® .THE CRICKET. CHAMPIONSHIP. . NEW METHOD OF SCORING. ' Despite the many changes which have ■Dbeen made in the method of calculating Jthe county cricket championship, it still ; 1 most unsatisfactory. The trouble .-.A'as that it is not possible for the clubs : V ' adopt a simple system of awarding ' j .points for wins and dra-ws. Further, as i £pthe game is so dependent on the wea- 1 pother, it is felt that some notice should ; ' ’ pfbe" taken of the result of the first inn- i . . swings in the event of the match being 1"

left in'an incomplete state. Even this arrangement has not been satisfactory. In all too many • games the real contest has been for the lead on the first innings, and this has led to slow and unenterprising play. Indeed, it is strong- > ly urged that the award of points for a lead on the first innings should be aboll ished, and a proposal to this, effect is to .be made by Leicestershire. I do not think, however, that it will be approved. It, is. not right that a team which has the better of the first innings,, and may actually be winning the match, .‘iioiild be denied any reward owing to a breakdown in the weather. But a new system of scoring is to 'be brought forward, and it will probably be accepted. Hitherto eight points., have been given for a win. It is proposed to increase this to ten points. The other points will remain the same. That is to shy a team winning on the first innings will receive five, the other Side .getting three. This change is, of course, to encourage a team to make a bid to finish the match and claim the verdict. In such cases it will secure an additional two points. It is felt that still another change is necessary. At the present time all 1 the clubs are called upon to play twenty-eight matches each, and it is thought that this is too many. It undoubtedly adds to the cost of maintaining the clubs, and is also a deterrent to amateurs appearing regularly in the teams. THE ENGLISH CUP. FIRST ROUND PROPER. This season over five hundred teams entered for the cup competition of the Football Association —the. English Cup as we call it—and play has been proceed; ing, in t&e tournament almost since the start of.- the' season. The majority, of course, are amateurs with no pretensions , to win the trophy, but, as a national event it makes a big appeal, and they like io. take part, in it. In the early stages the clubs , are paired in geographical sections, and in this way local interest is maintained. All the preliminary stages have . now been, gone 1 through, and the first of the profession; ] al league clubs have entered ■ the lists. These," for: the time being, are the members, of the Third Division of the League, 1 and they are joined by the score of sur- 1 vivors from the previous rounds. This is < the, first-round proper, and. the clubs: t will gb' through the unfortunate process < of knocking each other out- until the 1 third ’ round, when they will come up 1 against the giants' of the game from s the First and Second Divisions. I

For • the second-grade professional clubs the competition is 1 very important, for ’if they can only gain a little success it is probable that their, finances will be replenished, Their . one hope is to survive until the third round, and then be drawii against one of the crack clubs’ and share in,a big gate. Tri fact,. all too many depend on the cup to enaitle them to clear off their debts, arid failure to them is a first-class disaster. For instance, to be drawn' against a club of the.; standing, of, say, the Arsenal or the Villa means not . less than £lOOO, and such- a suifi would be a great windfall. ■ , z '

Meanwhile, the senior clubs are fighting their own League games with great ■keenness. The Arsenal is hot on the trail of the championship, arid has just accomplished a very fine performance in beating the champion, Sheffield Wednesday, which is again a strong challenger for the title. To increase the merit of the win it was accomplished on the Sheffield club’s ground; where its team had iiqt been defeated for more’ than a year. The Arsenal is now at the head <Tf the list, three points ahead of both the Wednesday and Derby County,

which has just scored six goals against Aston Villa. The latter, however, was badly handicapped through the goalkeper being injured and having to leave the held. BOXING AND BOXERS. '•'BRITAIN’S CARNERA.” There is. nothing more pathetic (writes Eugene Corn) than to see an old chan: pion hold his hand up in token of de feat. That is what Toni Berry did a I the Stadium Club, last Monday nigh in an affair with Jack Pettifer, tli King’s- Cross giant. And there wer many around the ring who would hav shed tears for the old man. Never a great fighter Berry, but ; good one, and. game right through, ant that is why his surrender hurt the hard er. I would that he had not been resur ■rectcd. With half an eye it was plaii to see that he was a back number. Be sides, ho had been for so long on tht retired list that it would have been as-

tonishing if he had got within measurable distance of what he was. . . When needs must the devil drives, and I can only suppose that it . was an opportunity to earn' a'■ few much-wan ted pounds that caused Berry to play the role of a trial horse for “Britain’s Car-' ' ijera.” It is possible Berry -takes the' view that, so long as he has a punch in. him, he will go on fighting, but we who saw him at his best would rather he realised that there comes a time when wo all must give way to the youngsters. In any case I cannot commend those who imagined that. Berry, who, I doubt- i ed, scaled more than 12st, and who in point of service if not. years is a 'sad-ly-worn veteran, could reasonably serve i as a test of the capacity of Pettifer, who i [stands six inches higher than six feet, weighs . anything up to' 16st, and is little more than ,20 years of age. ' It is ]

eery true that Pettifer is a beginner, .vith all the limitations of a beginner, iut, though it is vitally necessary that Je. should bo carefully tended, surely >ld Tom Berry was not the man to em>lqy as ,a sort of wet nurse. Pettifer had ' nothing more difficult io do than to stick out his tremendousy long left hand,' and whip over a right ir two to.win, for. Berry, having been in the shelf’for many a day, was without/the knack of getting an inside posiion so/as to beat a tattoo on the long ody of his opponent. He was ■ rather ik'e'a. sheep being’led to the slaughter, nd a considerable gathering must have een immensely pleased when , the end J came midway in the third round. I . The bout; of trial, whatever it may be called, was futile. There was every ■hollowness in Pettifer’s victory. It may be- that this young-man, with his enormous physical proportions, will make ’his mark, but I do hope we shall not be told', that his defeat of Berry was an-indication of his possibilities. If Pettifer had .been in the least extended by Berry, I should have made haste to advise him to leave fighting severely alone. ■ A GOOD TEST. His job should be to try his hand against probationers like himself. He will profit nothing by toppling over men who long ago had their fling. I do not suggest for a moment that he should be asked to do more than can at the moment be reasonably expected of him. Eor instance, he should not engage yet awhile in a fight of more than half-a-dozen rounds. The shortei the distance the better, for contests of a strictly limited character would, tend, as nothing else may, to speed him up, and help him to give character and distinction' to his fighting. (

The last thing Pettifer should do is to concern himself unduly about the scoring of points. He must be taught to go all out from the first bell. It may be held by those . who have taken him under their wing that Pettifer, being so abnormally big, must find it hard to secure opponents, but such a difficulty, at the moment, is. more fancied than real. At any rate, no good purpose will be served by his being put up against old ,’uns such as Berry.

I hear that W. Partridge, who. got ■ into the final ,of the amateur champioht ships last year, has decided to join the t ranks of the. professionals. Partridge, J who has been developed by . the Limes house Club, is 6ft 4in, weighs 14st and is 2a : years of age. Which' is big enough in all conscience. I am told that he is keen, to meet Pettifer. Now here is a ■ ■ chance to make a really good match for ■ the King’s Cross giant. . It would tell us two things: (1) Whether Partridge i is wise in making a trade of fighting; (2) whether Pettifer can dispose of someone approximating to his size. I should very much like to see these young fellows in the ring,, and for that reason I hope a fight between them will be arranged. • . KID BERG'S CHANCE. .If there be, any certainty in boxing, J Kid Berg, and Tony Canzoneri will fight for. the light-weight title. Nothing will' perhaps be definitely fixed this year, but in the early days of New York’s open-air season I take it that the two will be seen in the ring. It was a suririse to me that Canzoneri knocked out Singer in the swift and dramatic way io did.- Still, he is champion, and, since lie. has been beaten by Berg, it is in the nature of things that folk on the other side-are already insisting that, at the ■arliest opportunity, he must fight tho Vhitechapel wonder. With Al Singer out of the way, the irospeets of Berg carrying off the title were never so bright. I, personally, hold that Berg has already done enough to prove that he is the best light-weight of all the nations. For there was not the least doubt that, when he fought Canzoneri, he was the master in every way. I am asked whether there is a likelihood of Berg fighting in this country before he takes himself ‘back to the States.. I should say that there is only a remote possibility of his doing, sb. 'Money, however, always talked,, and Berg, being a young man who has ever improved the shining hour, would perhaps not be averse from fighting Al Foreman if terms fitted in with his ideas. BALDOCK FOR THE STATES; There seemed just a chance towards the end of last week that a match between Teddy Baldock -and Dick Corbett would take place for the bantam championship after all. But now it scorns absolutely certain that Baldock will go to America, where, it is said, he may find heaps of lucrative work.. I think it is a pity that Baldock, could not see, his way to fight Corbett.' Such a con-’ test, while it would not have brought him a fortune, would have afforded him' the best opportunity to win back all' the popularity he once enjoyed- Still, we all hope that he will win every success j in tho American ring. I am glad to know that the National Sporting Club is about again to have regular weekly shows. It is bad for boxing that, as far as London is concerned, the club should he out of it. Boxing in town has somehow not been the same since it closed down. It is proposed to restart on the last day of December at the Sports Club, Baker Street. Sam Russell is to be the match maker—a wise choice.