SPORTING NOTES.

Timaru Herald, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 12021, 21 March 1903, Page 4 (Supplement)

SPORTING NOTES.

RACING FIXTURES. 1903. April 1 and 2— Nelsoa J.C Annual. April 11 and 13—Wairarapu. R-C. Autrwui. April 11, 13 and 14—Auckland K.U. Auttnsn. April 13 and 14—C.J.C. AutumnAjtrfl 22nd and 23rd—Suutli Canterbury Autumn Meeting. April 23 and 25—Wellington II.C. Autumn April 25 and 29—Avondale J.C. Autumn M*y 14 and 15—Ashburtuu Ci.unty li.C. Atttnma 'J«m» 3 and 6~—Dunedin • J.C. Winter Jtaa 10 and 11—North. Otago J.C. Winter.

A* Hnglish. paper to. hand by the last ■uft «eationed that Bill ut Punbca'* list tar 1904 wki nearly full, end mi doubt {Sm m«* *t the i»acce»» of Chantress in tie XatrniarkeC Handicap would causa ',ki r»»»inia» subscription.* to be snapped up &. a fcttrry. R. J. Jessop. the KnglLs'a cricketer, is about t» le»Te f.ftrucestershire and take trjk a business engagement with a latgo fofcacso- firm i& Liverpool. Ja-sop dues »«ft {rttrpose acrcltfying for Lancashire, but •ill e»nriao» ~t» play for his natirj- county mier his birtb qaalificatioa. Tko Hnglbh Jockey Club otattionally a.«•fert» frther racing club« out ot the tnutta it ree*irr» froai fiitura fws.. Quito re4*itljr it granted a sum of £3OO each t5» *k« i-rwo". Xcrthampttm. and Klpoa ■«*«tt»gs of this year. Th 9 amount i* fo |w grrea to a race »! not lens tluti m mSt and a-btlf, neither a k.vn.ikap nor • acllisf race. •Ti* Engliil* crack croa«-et>ontrT hor-.e-■n E. liaww. recently r«!» St» winnets ut l±»»i*!d Park daring; th» one afternocjn. Otl«r waU-knowa KngtiiE rider- rrh»> bare »k«tw t» iidrantaje dcricij one day ara JTr C. iJ. Cnnainch<»a*. 6 rin*: and Mr A. YaW». wh.». n-hen at th« height of k» State -as a steeplechase rider, was creiiifeS wrti steering ~ winners. Ciae Edward VII. ha.f entered his two--s<ar-»M colt by St. Simon, oat of Azeezs ia ft« Ambr»a»t» Grand Prize at .Milan, fi» ht roa ia 1904. Azeez-i is by Surefoot •at of Perdita 11., by Hampton", and was Srei Vy His Majesty. The last occasion s*fcem rk# royal cotoors wero seen abroad •*» &t 1865, when they were tarried by ll* Sent 'in the Grand Steeplechase tit B»«rea-Ba<iea, wort by Lady of the Lake. Sftn»o» raeiiaures were taken at the Coktc £T»-5 races recently t» enforce the clnbS PBglilarimi* with regard to bookmakers bett»» •* the course. A deposit of £3O had t* ae aaade- as a guarantee of bona tides, sg*& a feo »f one gtticei paid. One or tw» wfosed to ennaply with these rules. asfil tie secretary's attention being drawn t» tiem. ho promptly seized their bags. Io •■• «r tww instances the obstructive ringMen were eseorted from the ground by the £4*l£cß. Hit Majesty the King** chaser Ambush 11., wht> has been awarded top weight irt the Lrrerpool Steeplechase, finished nut of a ptaee in. a three-mite «teeptechase at Kingston Park on January 30th. His Mn.festy was present at the meeting to sea his horse compete in the erent, and the fcorse** poor snowing in the race was acfwnted for by the fact that in landingArer a water jump, at which stage he was •cxtrpring a prominent position, he struck idnseli badly, and pulled up lame.

Several individual big scores ia Tasmania cricket last week are worth recording. I* tha first innings of Derwent against Brwlc »* Day, K. Hawson compiled 117 a*A S. Hawson 104 not one—one wicket tow 836. Break e.' Day totalled 295 for •fcven wicket*. €. J„ Eady claiming 82. la. tie match Esk v. Tamar, K. Arthur, ftw ch» latter, compiled 73 not out, while L. A. CorT, the ex-N'ew Zeatander. made 38 is jjood style. I'laytng for Launceston rtwrt Cornwall. T. Tabart made 122 and Arthur 71 in the former's first innings, whiA totalled 306.

Improved golf balls will sorely in course •f time be followed by patent "club-head* calculated still further to increase the *us- - thar cart be covered with full shots. Wa are, indeed, already threatened frum more thtirt one quarter with inventions of the kind. According to. "Golf lltustrated." Arnaud Massey went round the Burritr course the other dav in the remarkably low score of 66. being 13 strokes under bogy and two. below the par of the green. Thet famous French professional ascribed thi* achievement to a patent dub-head, with which he gained additional fifteen or twenty yards of "tarry," with his woode.i <lub». What with rubber-cored b.iils and patent elub-heads, it may yet be found necessary to impose some restriction on the implements of the gameIt is curious how many golfers th-jre are who never improve from one year's end to another. They may be observed on any green, says an Australian exchange, and exhibit every conceivable difference of style, almost, it may be said, every fault of which; the game permits. There is the middle-aged or elderty golfer, compact in build, who. swings as though his arms were incapable of free movement. And no, indeed, thev are. the muscles having become ■tiff and bound through the prolonged absence of proper exercise. There is the tall. tlim gentleman, who flies to the other extreme. To. watch him driving from the tee the onlooker would suppose he expected to reach the green in one. His swing » eertainly big enough to. achieve that desirable object, for the club-head descends &r below the horizontal, but, unfortunately, it is not under control. Not one stroke in. a dozen is correctly timed, and as a rule- the ball is either topped or sliced, pulled, or altogther foozled; nevertheless, the slim gentleman is quite satisfied when perhaps once in the course of a round he "brings off" a really tour fine «lrive-. On his return to the club house he will comment on that particular shot with considerable minuteness, ignoring the strokes 'hat failed.

The following brief extracts from a letter dared December 20th. written by a member of Lord Hawke's team, who. act* as special correspondent for the •"Sportrmnn." should interest cricketers :.— *' In the afternoon we made our way to the Domain (Auckland*, a magnificent Held of about sixteen acres, where we had some capitat fraetice on a really good wicket. ... A etter fielding ground and truer and easier wickets than are to be found there to-day could not be desired. ... A most elaborate programme of sight-seeing has been, arranged for us by Mr Raphael, who ias. been indefatigable" in seeing to. our every comfort, and we have been right royally entertained on alt sides. Indeed, if the hospitality we Live received in Auckland is a sample of what ive may expect throughout the tour, we are going to, have, an extraordinarily good time." Concerning the inarch v." Auckland, he says:—"We, won. . . . very eastlv indeed, the local warn being n'»" march* f.,r us. Our total w,:-i a good cnc, but. .re were luckv to make a.; mint a;; v.-e did, for though th»ir ground Kidding was excellent the catching of our opponents w;i* not good, no fewer than rive easy catches being missed. . . . Stiaisou," medium right-hand, who. varies his pace rather well, did much good work for the Auckland team, and would have done even better with ordinary luck. . . . As the match came to> an end before luncheon on Monday, an exhibition game was started to amuse th« crowd; but the cricket was, poor. The local team were a poor side. Mtimson and Lusk bowled well, and Clayton, Hay, NeiJl and Mason, are fairly good bttitsmen; but the- others are rough and ready crickiters. with little pretence to any »*yle. A good coach might improve the •ricket, but, for a town of nearly 70,000 Inhabitants, the form shown was very feeble." Of the Taranaki team disposed »t mx December 30th and 3tst, the writer *ap ••—" There had been a great deal of nun. and the wicket was slow and dead, but two or three men, notably Robertson, who cnarie off really well, played good cricket, and exhibited in..re confidence, thai some, of the Au'-kbnd-rs hid slvrr. The- wicket was at its worst when we were ia. but the Taranaki bowlers bowled much too short. . . . The Taranaki BWa were uot » good side, but Robertson

plityctl a teutly good innings—driving and {)U>ying forward with >;reat i>«>u<ir. MtCar: by is a. {air bowler, and Campbell ii g(«jd witketkeejiel-.*'