FIELD OF SPORT

Timaru Herald, Volume CLVII, Issue 23111, 27 January 1945, Page 7

FIELD OF SPORT

South Canterbury Activities Lost Golf Balls Good All-Rounder In another of the friendly cricket match series played last week-end, Railway defeated Zingari by seven runs in an exciting match. The winners gave a breezy exhibition, scoring 109 in 45 minutes. Of this total, S. James, who has proved a brilliant all-rounder this season, scored 63 in 18 minutes—a sparkling display. This player has an average of 33 for the six matches played so far. McKeever scored 21, while Smail, who bowled three balls, took two wickets for no runs. James and Smail were outstanding in the field, while the remainder are gradually improving. To-morrow Railway will meet Star, the competition leaders, at the Caledonian ■ grounds, and a good game should result. Brilliant Exhibition

In making 90 against Old Boys, the young Timaru left-hander, S. Askey, gave a brilliant exhibition of clean, forceful hitting at the Park last Saturday. After a solid start, he opened out and punished loose balls severely, clean hitting being a feature of nis innings. Off the steady bowling of J. Kane, Askey hit four beautiful sixes in succession, and in trying to maintain his whirlwind rate of scoring was caught out when 10 runs short of his century. D. Manning also gave a bright, polished display in scoring 33 runs. The opening pair put on 91 runs in 40 minutes.

Bram Lee Cup Cyclists are showing particular keenness to win the Bram Lee cup this afternoon, and with the handicaps as they are, it should go to any one of the starters.

McLaughlan Back Ray McLaughlan, the former Timaru and South Canterbury batsman, once again took the field for his club last Saturday. He was unlucky to be run out befdre scoring, and it is to be hoped that he will soon regain his old form. Ray has been flying with the R.A.F. in India and Burma. All those who had the good fortune to watch him batting five years ago will wish him better luck and a feast of run. With the ball Ray bowled Souter when the hard-hitting Old Boys batsman was well set, and he finished with the useful figures of three for 14. Cricket Draw

To-day’s cricket draw is an interesting one. Star, the leaders in the competition with 15 points, will visit Temuka to meet the country team, who so far have collected eight points. At the Timaru Park, West End (13 points) will play Timaru (12 points). Old Boys (13 points) will meet the newcomers, Fairview. •at High School Park.

To-day’s Athletics Owing to the trip to Greymouth being abandoned by the South Canterbury Athletic Club, they will hold their weekly meeting at Ashbury Park today at 2.30 p.m. Those competitors who are anxious to compete at the Canterbury junior and women’s championships to be held in Christchurch on Saturday, February 10, should make sure of being out as the entries close next Thursday and the team will be selected after to-day and next Tuesday evening’s meeting. >

Temuka Meeting The South Canterbury club have arranged to conduct an athletic meeting on the Temuka Domain on Saturday, February 3. This will give encouragement to a number of keen young athletes who are working keenly and enthusiastically to revive the sport in Temuka. Jim Venn and George Phiskie, the young blind athletes from the Institute for the Blind, will still be in the district and are anxious to take part in the meeting and events to meet . their wishes will be arranged. This meeting will provide good training for the South Canterbury team which will be competing in the Canterbury Championships the following week.

Working Bee for Golf Due to the prolific growth of grass this season and the shortage of manpower, the committee of the Timaru Golf Club has decided to limit the course to 14 holes in the meantime. The Knob and the Dive will be the connecting holes between Hillside and Poplars. Some members have been working the tractor and mower in the evenings clearing the rough and maintaining the fairways. Since there are many little jobs to be attended to it is the intention of the committee to hold a working bee this afternoon to clean out bunkers and get the 14 holes into first-class order. If any member has a spade he is asked to bring it along. Although the four holes up above will not receive the attention of the others, the fairways will be kept cut, but the rough will probably be rough and particularly rough on those who might flight a good ball into the “tiger” country. However, these measures are only temporary and are designed to give excellent golfing conditions over the 14 holes in the summer months.

Former Champion Eliminated The elmination of W. C. Franks (Balmoral), skip of the 1939 champion four, was something of a surprise at the Carlton green during the Dominion Bowling championships. Franks qualified for post-section play as one of the six unbeaten skips, and in the first round of post-section play carried on his winning way to defeat A. Bridges (Frankton Junction), 24-13. His first life was lost in the next round, when H. B. Jenkin (Auckland) had a decisive victory. In the third round Franks put Griffiths (Grey Lynn) out of the tournament.

A Timaru team skipped by N. Thomson was responsible for the past champion’s downfall, the Timaru combination playing a steady game and consistently outdrawing their opponents. Franks, having notched a four, led on the eighth 10-7, but he did not score again until the 18th, when he added a five to his side of the card. In the meantime, Thomson had brought the Timaru score, with a five on the ninth and a. four on the 13th, to 26. The Balmoral four was not able to catch the Southerners and the game ended 27-17 on the 20th.

Timaru Rowing Club After a delayed season, the Timaru Rowing Club is gradually working back to something near pre-war standard rowing. Crews for the President’s Four Oar Cun are:—l. Andrew (s), D. G. Scott, P. Conroy, R. Bracefield; R. Hanson (s), P. J. Stirling, W. G. Davies, A. C. Gray; I. Gray, P. Hasselberg, J. Kilgour, J. MacDonald. Although these crews are made up of mostly new-season members, and young rowers, the standard shown in training is very promising, and good racing is indicated. New members are reminded to take their training seriously and heed any advice tendered by strokes and coaches, as next season the club hopes to compete in regattas in other rowing centres. Two new members. J. Stirling and P. Hasselberg, arc developing into good rowers and if they concentrate on style will be single sculling before the season is finished. Crews for the “Clay Double Cup” will go into training Immediately the President’s Four Oar race is completed.

Successful Coaching Mr H. Cornwell reported to the South End Swimming Club that 14 nonswimmers attended the bath last Monday evening for coaching. Twelve learners could now swim the width of the bath. Thirty junior, 20 intermediate and nine senior members had also attended. It was a most successful evening. Messrs P. H. Wisker. Kennedy. R. Clark, and Miss N. Wyatt assisted in coaching. The service of four more coaches is desired. A programme was drafted for the club's annual interclub carnival for submission to the Swimming Centre. Officers were also elected..

Good Performance King, the South Canterbury representative in the junior freestyle events at the National championships, swam two good races at the South End Club’s swim. He swam second to Clarke in an open 100 yards but won the 50 yards open in 27 1 /ssec which is 2/5 of a second off the New Zealand record held b.v S. Jarvis since 1933.

Lost Golf Balls It would be no exaggeration to say that hundreds of golf balls have been lost, on the Timaru course this season and that barely 10 per cent have been returned to the club. Most of these balls were branded. It would appear to be more than a coincidence that in this year of acute shortage, the percentage of returned golf balls is the lowest on record. Whether school boys or others are supplying a black market it is difficult to tell, but one thing is certain, the branded balls are being sold outside of the province. The position is serious for the club as the membership next season may be affected markedly by the shortage. There is no evidence that golf balls are to be manufactured for next season and it is possible that clubs will have to carry on with what they possess. Players who have lost golf balls in the course of a round have returned later, but in spite of diligent search have failed to recover them. The tune is opportune for the committee to take action against trespassers. There are unauthorised persons removing lost golf balls from the course and they must be prevented from doing so if the game is to continue.

Bristol Cup Bowling Tire Timaru Club can usually field eight reasonably strong fours, but with six of their regular skips absent in Auckland or indisposed last Saturday, the opposition presented to the Park Club was below what it would have been had the fixture been held over. Park won, and on the day deserved succcess, for the Timaru teams were fairly well balanced. West End were not at full strength either against Kia Toa, but their defeat was due mainly to the sound beating suffered by J. Gunn’s four. Too much driving, it was stated, was the cause of the slump. Last Saturday’s winners will meet in the final to-day.

Inter-Club Visits Last week-end eight Timaru Cycling Club riders visited Tinwald, assisting m making their 20-mile road race the most attractive event held there for many years. The Timaru competitors were made very welcome, and after receiving such hospitality were unanimous in their desire to have a visit from the Mid-Canterbury cyclists at a future road race in Timaru. Inter-club Tennis It is pleasing to note that the Aorangi Club has extended an invitation to the Baptist Club to play an inter-club game. For some reason or other —perhaps it has been the fault of the clubs concerned—minor clubs have been in the backwash of tennis for a considerable time. It may be that they cannot match the best players of the major clubs, but the form of some of them may approximate that of the senior players of Timaru. Interclub games between all clubs, besides mixing, the players, assist materially in welding the Association into a truly representative body. The South Canterbury Association needs the support of very player in the province so that it can make its voice heard in national councils. With an asset like Maori Park and an affiliation of about 1500 players, there is no reason why Timaru should not again be made the venue of the New Zealand titles.

Mid-Week Bowling No fewer .than 96 players took part in the first of a series of mid-week bowling tournaments, which was held on the West End Green on Wednesday. Conditions were ideal, and the games were keenly contested, hie winning four were Warrington (Kia Toa) skip, Kerse (Ashbury), Bee (Timaru) and Ponder (Kia Toa). Next week’s tournament was to have been held on the Timaru green, but in view of the popularity of the fixture and the likelihood of another large entry the Kia Toa Club has generously placed its two greens at the disposal of Timaru, and the fixture will take place at Kia Toa.

Brilliant Riding The manner in which lan Frampton rode the sharp shingly corners of a three and a-half mile block at Tinwald was an inspiration to riders nj an y years his senior. He showed real dash to gain third place and fastest time against a team of good scratch riders, including Tom Peach, of Methven. lan is only 16J, and after seeing him perform last Saturday, it is doubtful whether any boy 12 months older could have beaten him over that course., He lowered the 20-mile record for that race by minutes.

Representative Tennis Now that Maori Park will be opened at week-ends, it should be possible for the Match Committee to arrange a ladder, or a series of games, to gain an assessment of form before choosing the representative team to meet MidCanterbury. There has been so little inter-club play this season that it is not possible to make a comparison of ability of players who may have been a good match a few years ago Another argument in favour of a ladder is, that it enables all players to find their level. In the minor clubs of Timaru there may be some players capable of filling the sixth position in the team, or on the other band there may not. The point is, a ladder would give these players the opportunity, which they have not already had, of finding out how strong or weak are some of the prospective candidates.

Rode 50 miles before Race Jim Andreassend, from scratch in the Tinwald Cycling Club’s 20-mile road race last Saturday, rode exceptionally well to gain fourth place and second fastest time. The way he and Frampton jumped out at the start and cracked the pace on from the word go must have had a telling effect on the other back markers. A scratch man said that Andreassend simply flew when it was his turn to take a lap He rode from Timaru to Ashburton in the afternoon. Jim would do well to concentrate on track sprinting for two or three weeks, as he is in perfect condition, and more speed over the last 100 yards of a road race would possibly gain him an important championship.

Creditable Performances The South Canterbury players who took part In the Dominion bowling championships in Auckland did not succeed in winning any of the titles, but, under the conditions which prevailed, they performed very creditably. Their best efforts were in the fours. The Ashbury rink, skipped by A. Clark, won its first eight games to qualify for the post-sectional play. In this they won a further game, and then went down in the next two 22-17 and 19-18, very close margins. The Timaru four, skipped by Neil Thomson, also had a good run, and possibly should have gone further than they did. They at first qualified with six wins, but lost their first life In the post-sectional play to Shergold (Waihi) 30-28, a big scoring game. Timaru were eight up with two heads to go, and then went down. The next two games were both won, but finally they were eliminated by Engebretsen (Heretaunga) who went on to win the final.

South End Swimming Club Weather conditions were good and the attendance fair when the South End Swimming Club held its usual weekly competitions last Wednesday evening. Keen interest was taken in all the events. Some of the competitors arc particularly good swimmers, and promise to give a. good account of themselves in inter-club competitions. Promising Riders Alan Radburnd, as usual, was placed on a fairly hard mark on his own at Tinwald last Saturday, and gave a really good account of himself. Wisely he used his head and waited for Jack Gillespie. They teamed up well and dropped one or two riders on the way, but on account of good handicapping amongst the middle and back markers, the scratch men overtook them. Radburnd showed ability to pedal fast with ease, but has not had sufficient experience to enable him to really show out in the sprint. H? finished fifth, beating Peach and holding hard to Andreassend’s wheel. Nick Luke had the misfortune to spill badly, buckling his front wheel, when going well. Owen Wills and Les Fraser were riding with a very strong bunch at Tinwald under heavy conditions, and did not show their usual form. These two boys, like the sports they are, did not complain about their handicap, but simply pedalled off cheerfully.

Bob Murray, making his second start in a road race, determinedly hung on to the winner of the Tinwald race for severs! laps and eventually finished in seventh place; a great performance for a 151-ycar-old boy.