LONDON SPORTING LETTER

Taranaki Daily News, 26 February 1931, Page 10

LONDON SPORTING LETTER

<_ COUNTY CRICKET CAPTAINS.. A>W, CARR AND NOTTS. (Special To Nerws.)i .. London, January 1. An unfortunate position has arisen jin connection with Notts cricket. For some years A. W. Carr has been captain of the eleven. The amateur has now revealed that he has been asked to resign the position, with the suggestion that he should do so on the ground of ill health. His reply was “I am not ’ going to tell lies. I am as fit as a ‘' fiddle; in fact, I have never felt better.” There the matter remains until it is considered at the annual meeting, Xhen in the ordinary way Carr’s appointment for the new season would be confirmed. The Notts authorities have offered no explanation. It is not known what objection they have taken to Carr, and it is not thought that they have another captain in view. The amateur, who is thirty-five years of age was born in Surrey, and he is therefore eligible to play straightway for the southern eounty. Should he leave Notts it is probable that he will do so. , This is the second time there has been trouble over Carr’s captaincy. In 1928 he led the England team in the first four test matches against the Aus-, traHans and was dropped for the fifth, when A. P. F. Chapman succeeded him. On that occasion the selection committee announced that he had resigned his position owing to ill health, but he 2 contradicted this, stating that he had s offered to stand down if it was thought jthat he should do so on account of lose =■' Of form. Carr is’ not the first captain ■a of whom a county club has grown tired. After long service with Essex it was -■ ’ intimated to Johnny Douglas that a change was desirable. He immediately ' Resigned, and the reason was never made public. It is now rumoured that Surrey‘may have a new captain next summer. Last season P. G. H. Fender disappointed the elub by leaving the team in order to act as’ a newspaper correspondent for s the five Test matches. If there is a ' • change at the Oval it is thought that J. C. Allom may succeed Fender.

THE NEW GOLF BALL. RECOGNITION IN AMERICA. ' With the New Year the new golf ball earns into official use in America. St. Andrews refused to give its blessing, • ■: but the British makers in catering for , the American market have released it ■ for use at home, and of course there is no objection to it being used. It remains to. be seen whether it will meet with favour. Bobbie Jones' declares that the new ball, which is slightly larger and a little lighter than the old one, is an improvement. He says "It pitches beautifully, it soars faster and comes down more softly and it doesn’t run away from you so easily. It also putts extremely well. Against the wind you have to strike it more accurately than the old ball, but it does not entail much loss of distance.” This, I understand, represents the general American view, but the conditions under which golf is played in *• ■ America are very different from those ■ which obtain in this country. The game, for instance, is not played much in the winter, and the winds experienced at 'other time's of the year are nothing like

as severe as those- which often prevail in .ttiis country. It was on this account that St. Andrews refused to adopt the new, (ball, and. I think it was right. At any rate, when the American golfers come to this country it will be very surprising if: they prefer their own ball to ours. Against an ordinary wind Abe Mitchell found that it meant a loss of twenty yards to him on the drive, and in the case of leas expert players the distance will ■be even greater. Apart from this, however, it. will probably be considered that it makes many of the strokes easier to play.

ARSENAL. AND THE LEAGUE. CHAMPIONSHIP PROSPECTS. More than half the football season has been completed, and Arsenal, which won the cup last season, is offering a bold challenge for the championship of the League. Remarkably enough, it has never been held by a London club. Sheffield Wednesday has been champion for two seasons and is playing almost as. well as ever. Indeed, until recently it was believed that this club would retain the title and so equal the record of Huddersfield in gaining it three years running. Arsenal took up a very strong position as a result of its great achievement during the Christmas holiday, when three matches had to be played in (three days. The programme imposed an enormous strain on the players, especially as the grounds were drenched by rain and thick with mud. Under these most unfavourable conditions Arsenal won all its games and gained six ■points. This feat was not equalled by any other senior club, and it gave ■Arsenal a clear lead of four points. It- is a long drawn-out struggle, and much will happen between now and the end of April. The championship, in fact, is the highest test of merit, and "undoubtedly harder ’ to win, than the cup. In defending the cup Arsenal has been set a very severe task in meeting Aston Villa, but keen as it is to finish at the top of the League, it would rather win the trophy again. Its ambition, of course, is to carry off both prizes, but the < performance has not been accomplished for over thirty years, and it is a harder one now than ever before. Another pleasing feature of the season has been Everton’s fine effort to regain senior rank. It was extraordinary that a club with its vast resources should ever lose it, but the players have pulled together in fine style, and they are at the top of the table with every prospect of staying there. Tottenham Hotspur is another old club that is trying hard to get back into the top class, and at the present time is third on the list. The play of the side does not approach the high class which was formerly maintained, but there has been a definite improvement. Two other old senior clubs are also in the running for promotion. They are West Bromwich Albion and Preston North End. A notable fact about the latter is that it has got rid of most of its Scottish players, and that the young English players who have succeeded them have done much better. BOXING AND BOXERS. LEN HARVEY IN AMERICA. We are naturally all anxious (writes Eugene Corri) to see how Len Harvey fares in his first fight in America which, as you no doubt know, is to be with Vince Dundee, a hardy fellow, I understand. not too clever but exactly the type yoti' would expect the Yankees to put up against our champion. The af-

. fair, will.-mean pretty nearly everything so far as Harvey is concerned. The result of it will decide whether he has done the proper thing in going to the States. Personally, I do not see what' , else he could have done; there was . precious little for him te do here. lam very pleased to know that he has made a favourable impression upon the New ' Yorkers—critical folk, not too responsive to the foreigner until he has proved his mettle. Harvey has much to commend him to strange folk. He has good looks, more than average intelligence, and I should say a nice appreciation of the value of window dressing.’ I see that during his training Harvey was taken along to Sing Sing to give a show there. Only those who have visited the other side can understand what is possible imide an. American prison. When I was over there they had a first-rate baseball team in Sing Sing, and boxing shows that would have done credit to any promoter. I took the opportunity while in New York to visit the Tombs prison, and I must confess that I was rather flattered to be claimed.by so many as someone who counted in boxing. I talked with several prisoners, and was astonished how well-in-formed they were with what was going on outside. It is a fact that at ■ the Tombs one of the prisoners made a book of . the Dempsey-Carpentier fight and that within a minute of the defeat of the Frenchman they knew all about it at the Tombs.

What amazed me as much as anything was a suggestion, made with every seriousness, that Jack Johnson, who had come near to the end of his sentence, should be liberated so that he might be present at the DempseyCarpentier fight. And do you know the wire pullers nearly succeeded in getting the famous negro at the ringside so that he might record his impressions in a leading New York.journal! I am sure that Johnson felt that he had a grievance in not being allowed out for the occasion. We were certainly denied most interesting “copy,” for with all his faults Johnson was an astonishing character.

JOHNSON’S LOST OPPORTUNITIES.

I am often asked, if Johnson were of the ring to-d!ay, how would he stand in relation to the heavy-weight title. The championship would be his for a certainty. Johnson before he took up hitting the high lights was miles ahead of any man in the ring to-day. I really do not think we knew the limit of his fighting capacity. He was never thoroughly extended, not even when he went down before Willard. I would not pretend that he was a greater fighter than Peter Jackson; Peter was the greatest heavy-weight I ever saw, and I have seen pretty well all of them from the time of John L. Sullivan. But Johnson was a wonder; I doubt whether there ever was his equal in the matter of defence.

The late “Peggy” Bcttinson would always have it that Sam Langford would have beaten Johnson had they met, as they should have done, at the National Sporting Club •after Johnson had taken the title from Tommy Burns. That, of course, is a matter of opinion. Personally, 1 considered that Johnson was invincible up to the time he fought Jeffries at Reno. But for all that Langford would have given him a great battle. Maybe Langford would have won, for, though stones lighter and ever so many inches shorter than Johnson, he was an incredible heavy puncher, and, when really serious, a demon. Johnson h,ad no false notions about his brother negro. As a matter of fact, he did not mind confessing that if there was a man capable of beating him it was Langford.

I know that Langford would have, gladly accepted what these days would be considered a mere bagatelle from the National -Sporting Club" for an opportunity of getting into the ring with him. I am not exaggerating when I say that Langford at his. best was very much in the same position as Camera is to-day, in that his greatest difficulty was to get opponents. The inner history of the fighting life of Langford has not been written. If ever it is it will be found that on many occasions he had to bind himself to. an arrangement to treat the other fellow lightly in order to get a job. A LANGFORD REMINISCENCE. This reminds me of a story. It is this: Langford, having been-= matched with another nigger, it was agreed tliat the fight should be left drawn. Langford, being a past master in the art of piffling punches, let it be supposed that' his opponent was giving him trouble and the other fellow, encouraged by the ringsiders, forgot all about the draw arrangement and sent a tremendous punch to the jaw of Sam which floored him for a long count. That was in the second of what was to have been a six rounds affair. Coming up for the third round, Langford shook his hands. "What is that for?” enquired the nigger. “This ain’t the last round.” “Oh, yes. This be the very last round,” answered Langford. And it was. With a regular rip snorter Sam put his man to sleep. Poor- Langford. The last time I heard of him he was almost blind, groping his way about a shoe-shine parlour in which he had been installed by his many Boston friends.

BERG’S PERILOUS PROPOSITION.

As I expected, Kid Berg is being pestered. to take the ring before he may definitely know whether he will be allowed to fight for, the light-weight title. It is suggested that he should meet Tommy Freeman, the welter-weight title champion, at Chicago next month. I do not suppose that Berg would fear for his chances against Freeman; he is not built that way. But he would be greatly daring if he attempted to concede weight to such as Freeman and so risk his being put out of the running for the light-weight crown. Berg may find it difficult to get Canzoneri into the ring, but, it would be wise if he exercised every patience. We want Berg to win a world’s championship, and I believe that he can beat Canzoneri as he did on his last trip to the States. So long as Berg can comfortably make the light-weight limit he should remain in that division.

As to Harvey, I am not in the least surprised to hear that if he beats Dundee and is considered good enough to be put up for the middle-weight title Mickey Walker will fight him. You may take it from me that if the Americans decide that Walker is the only man likely to beat Harvey they will call him into action, forgetting that Walker has been officially classed with the heavies, and that, according to Jack Kearns, his manager, he has been actually matched to fight Max Schmeling. THE BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIP. Technically, I suppose, Phil Scott must be held to be the British heavyweight champion until he either retires from the ring or is beaten. It is not competent for anybody to deprive him of the title; at least the Board of Control tells us that having considered the position of Scott in the matter of the challenge of Charlie Smith it cannot depose him and set up a new champion. But 1 would ask is the Board of Control justified in assuming that Scott really intends to remain in the busi-

ness? So far as I am aware Scott has expressed no serious intention of returning. to the ring in the immediate future. It would, in fact, seem that he has now other interests remote from fighting. I would suggest that the Board ascertain at the earliest possible moment what Scott proposes to do. If he does not intend to fight except on terms entirely after his own heart it would, I think, be all to the good of the game if we ceased to take him into our reckoning. If Scott has not put himself on the retired list, then he should fight Smith, who has thoroughly qualified for a championship bout. After what happened in the summer at Wimbledon, in-his affair with Stribling, Scott should not be free to dictate either as to opponents or terms. SMITH AND GAINS. It is possible that with the public, at any rate, Smith will be voted to be less of a championship proposition because of his defeat on Tuesday at Leicester by Larry Gains, ’ the coloured Canadian, but' despite what happened Smith has a substantial claim to a fight for the Lonsdale belt. He has twice accounted for Reggie Meen and has defeated Donald Snortland. It must be said, however, that he disappointed many of us at Leicester; he was not 'clearly in the same class as Gains. His outstanding quality was his gameness. In the light of what transpired on Tuesday I am afraid that Smith and those of his immediate.circle under-estimated the coloured fellow. There is no doubt that Gains is a very clever boxer, and ’his" experience" is much greater . than Smith’s. If Gains v.’ere white he would stand much higher among present-day heavyweights. At all events it must be confessed that Smith was no match for him. I have an idea, however, that Smith would have put up a far better ■performance had he done more fighting. I do not know the intentions of Gains, but, if he is to remain indefinitely in this country I am sure he would help Meen appreciably if he were attached to the stable of the Desborough youth.

MARE’S ASTONISHING JUMP.

DECLARATIONS BY OWNERS.

(From Our Own Correspondent.) London, January 8.

A notable feature of the racing at Newbury was a remarkable jump, by a six-year-old horse named West Indies who out-paced, out-jumped and outstayed her opponents to win as she liked. At the water-jump West Indies took off too soon and seemed certain to be in trouble, but, with an amazing effort, she landed iu safety with an ample margin. Unfortunately it was not possible to measure the jump with any exactness, but I think it must have been near the record. This is credited to The Chandler, who as long ago as ISIS is said, to have cleared 39ft. Apparently, however, there was a dispute about the measurement and another report states that the distance was 37ft. I am afraid that I cannot even estimate the jump of West Indies as being equal to that credited to The Chandler, but it was one of the finest I can recollect. The mare has run on the flat, and in 1927 carried off the Irish One Thousand Guineas. Later she was put to hurdles and showed herself to be more than useful at this form of racing. She made her first appearance over the bigger obstacles at Newbury, and her performance was such an astonishing one that her next outing is being anticipated with lively interest. West Indies is trained by P. Woodland and she was ridden by W. Speck.

It is realised that everything must be done in these hard times to promote the interests of racing and the stewards of the Jockey Club are specially anxious to introduce reforms. As a matter of fact, more has been done in this way during the past two years than was thought possible. There is, however, still one more urgently necessary reform. This is that owners and trainers should ’be compelled to make known their runners overnight. Indeed, unless the totalisator is to be a failure this will have to be done. That it can be without much inconvenience to any one is unquestionable. The stewards recognise this, and. I understand they are considering the best way to bring about the change. 4 There is,- of course, a far greater amount of betting off the course than on it. It is true that a great deal of the money that goes-into the offices finds its way to the course before the “off,’’ but this is a matter which only concerns the bookmakers. Little of it goes into the totalisator, and cannot do so under present arrangements, owing to the fact that it is only through the inid-day papers that the public can learn what horses are to run. . The situation, however, would be very different with overnight declarations. A few owners and trainers have opposed the proposed arrangement, but for no good reason, and in any case I believe the stewards how take the view that the interests of the public must come first.