Sport and Sportsmen

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17745, 15 January 1926, Page 4

Sport and Sportsmen

NEWS, GOSSIP AND COMMENT

BT

" ONLOOKER.

Canterbury can'i Auckland or Wellington may. MAY. r « :: k In Plunket Shield matches this season Canterbury scored 1261 runs off the bat for the loss of fifty wickets. This is an average of 25.22 runs a wicket. The total number of runs off the bat scored against Canterbury was 1561 for fifty wickets, an average of 31,22. In the matches played against the New Zealand cricketers on the other side their opponents lost 127 wickets. Of these 121 were captured by the bowlers and six of the batsmen were run out. The two Canterbury players, R. C. Blunt and W. Cunningham, took seventy-seven wickets between them, so that there were not many left for the other bowlers to share. The remaining Plunket Shield matches this season are:— Otago v. Wellington at Dunedin, January 22, 23 and 25. Auckland v. Wellington at Wellington, Februarv 19, 20 and 22. « In the games that they played in Australia the New Zealand cricketers caught out 44 of their opponents. Lowry took 10 catches, Allcott 8. Blunt 5. M’Beath 4, Dacre 4, Cunningham 3, Patrick 3, Oliver 3, Crawford 2 and Alloo 2. Lowry stumped four men and James one. The number of Welsh Rugby clubs finding it necessary to run additional teams in order to find places for their players is increasing week by week. The big clubs have always been faced with this difficulty, and the coming into existence of the various District Leagues has only postponed the day when they will have to seek new fields to accommodate their players. In the nine matches that they played in Australia the New Zealand cricketers scored 4168 runs. There were 172 extras and so the runs off the bat totalled 3996. They lost 108 wickets and this gives an average of 37 runs a wicket off the bat. The total .of runs scored against the New Zealanders was 4099, less 200 extras, which gives 3899 runs off the bat. In the making of these runs 127 wickets fell, so that the average df runs a wicket off the bat was 30.62. An interesting innovation has just been made by the president of the Cambridge U.A.C. What is to be known as a represenative colour is this year being given to the Cambridge relay team, so bringing Cambridge into line with Oxford. The new colour will be confined to those competing against the other ’Varsity in a major sport who do not get a Blue. The young Canterbury batsman C. Oliver is at the head of the batting averages for the tour of the New Zealand cricket team in Australia. Second place is occupied by C. Dacre, the dashing Auckland bat, who believes in the theory that a bat was made to hit the ball, not vice versa. Dacre scored more runs on the tour than any other member of the team, putting together 648 in 13 innings. It is interesting to note that both Oliver and Dacre were coached by Mr F. Shacklock, who for several seasons now has been engaged in coaching schoolboys and the younger players in Christchurch. « :: Canterbury and Otago have both lost two out of three Plunket Shield games this season and so they are out of the running for the trophy. It will be fought for between Auckland and Wellington, who meet at Wellington, the game commencing on February 19. Before that, Wellington are to play Otago at Dunedin, but even if they lose that match they still have a chance of winning the trophy by beating Auckland. In that case Auckland and Wellington would each have two ■wins to their credit and the winner of the shield would then depend on which team had the better average in the shield games for the season. m * * * Angling must be a much more varied sport in England than it is in New Zealand to judge by the following paragraph from files just to hand:— Roach, dace, and chub have occupied the principal attention of Thames anglers, and nice fish have been secured, baits including breadcrust, gentles, worms, cheese paste, pearl barley, and white-paste. Some remarkably fine roach have been basketed by punt fishermen out in the Teddington district of the tidal waters, and good dace have rewarded anglers there also, though the “bankers” have at times fared indifferently. Near Marlow chub up to 3£lb have been caught, perch of lib and over have been met with at Hampton Court, and some decent pike are reported from upper reaches. Good roach have been had in the Colne. The Hampshire Avon is beginning to fish well, after the big water, and I hear of the capture of pike up to 181 b In the Christchurch district. Pike have been on the move well in the Great and Little Ouses and on some of the Norfolk Broads. Between now and Christmas we may look for notable pike captures in the latter waters, and some large perch should be met with also. The other day a giant skate of 1451 b was caught at, East Hastings. •‘Get Your Golf” in HonoltHu. HONOLULU, December 17. Hawaii has more opportunities to be come an internationally famous golfing country than any country on earth, according to Seth Raynor of New York Citv, regarded as one of the fore*nost golf architects of the world. Raynor came to Honolulu recently to lay out the contemplated course of the Kailua country club, and the new 18-hole course which will be under the control of the 3,000,000 dollars hotel now under construction on Waikiki Beach. “There are possibilities of placing both courses among the famous championship courses of the world,” said Raynor. “I don't know of any place in the world —and I have visited scores of famous golf courses—where combinations of marine scenery, rolling and plain terrain, can be found which could surpass those here. They can only be described as marvellous and I have no hesitancy in saying that both courses can be developed to a point where they might be listed among the famous links of the world, and as more than worthy courses for staging national or international golf champiorfships.” Raynor's mission to Hawaii is an outgrowth of golf development in the territory. Courses are found on all the fnain islands of the group, an outstanding one being the nine-hole course on the brink of Kilauea volcano, Hawaii National Park.

The only New Zealand batsman who was never bowled during the Australian tour was C. Oliver. He was caught out six times, stumped twice, went out lbw once and was run out once. The Glamorgan Wanderers is the club which has experienced the greatest difficulties in keeping pace with its growing membership. That club has secured a well-appointed ground at Whitchurch and has vastly improved it, but it will need to secure an extension at an early date, for it is now running seven clubs under its auspices. 3 tv tv The most number of runs scored by a New Zealand batsman on the 1913-14 tour of Australia was 430 by N. C. Snedden, of Auckland. He'played fifteen innings. During the tour just concluded another Aucklander. C. Dacre, scored 648 runs in thirteen innings, R. C. Blunt 596 in thirteen, C. Oliver 527 in twelve, T. C. Lowry 488 in thirteen, C. Allcott 443 in twelve and R. de R. Worker 427 in twelve. “ Onlooker ” offers his congratulations to Frank Woods on his fine innings for 124 not out against Auckland in the Plunket Shield match, also on his good knock in the second innings for 76. There is no doubt that Woods is one of the finest batsmen in Christchurch, but of recent years, until the

present season, he has been overlooked by the selectors. He was not even picked for the Canterbury team a couple of seasons ago when he made over 1000 runs in the senior competition. Now that he has been given his chance Woods has shown that he is still capable of making runs'. ** i*or the first time this season the competitions of the Canterbury Cricket Association were interrupted last Saturday on account of rain. Rain was falling at the hour the games were timed to commence, and, although later the weather cleared sufficiently to enable games to have been played, there were by then very few players on the grounds. The fifth round of the senior competition will be continued to-mor-row. The following was the position of the games at the end of the first day’s play, just before Christmas:— St Albans v. West Christchurch. St j Albans 376 (all. out). Sydenham 72 and 69 for no wickets. Linwood 104. Riccarton 182. East Christchurch 88 for five wickets. Missed an Inch Away. Not so long ago golfing enthusiasts were puzzled by the cablegram from England that Ted Ray had lost an important match by “ missing an inch putt.” The lack of additional information set all wondering exactly how he could miss an inch putt. Some suggested that he missed a putt by one inch from some distance, but such a supposition was put out of court by the reasonable assumption that such an ordinary incident would hardly be worth cabling. It transpires (in recent reports to hand) that Ray. playing for the championship of Hertfordshire, which he had won on four successive occasions, lost it to Alec Herd by one stroke. His , ball was on the lip of the hole on the second green. A back-handed attempt to put the ball in resulted in the way so many have in the past—and will in the future. He stubbed the ground, up came the club head quickly, and he missed the ball altogether. Not quite so “ pleasing,” however, as this one: Charlie Mayo, at the eighth hole at Burhill in 1910, in the second half of his £IOO challenge match with Rainford, played the like and left his ball right on the edge, laying his opponent a dead stymie. Cutting his putt, Rainford failed to negotiate it. Mayo tried to tap it in back-handed, stubbed the ground and missed! Thus aggravated. he made another jab at the ball! This time he put it right enough, but in his impetuosity knocked his opponent's ball, and so actually lost the hole after having an inch putt for a win and the same thing for a half. “Sweet”—For Gerald. That recent recommendation of sugar as an antidote to fatigue, by Sir Charters J. Symonds, consulting surgeon to Guy’s Hospital, confirms the opinion i that the sucking I of suga r is becom- ' ing more popular. but it has ■ not taken the I fancy of Australians to the same extent as athletes overseas. The French Davis Cup men were confirmed devotees of the “ sweets ” substance'. The usually dour Gerald Patterson surprised even his friends at the Interzone Davis Cup final when he went so far as to make a joke (all by himself). It happened this way:—Patterson had just swept Lacoste up in a burst of “ teach him a lesson ” tennis because the Frenchman (a player-writ-er) had been saying things Gerald did not like in the papers. Anderson was awaiting Bototra’s arrival for the next singles. Borotra’s taxi had failed him, and he was late. When a tall figure in tennis garb was seen approaching the courts, suit-case in hand and striding rapidly, someone claimed it as Borotra. Patterson, noticing the suit-case, remarked: “That is what he carries his | sugar in.” The assemblage saw the joke, but it turned out to be someone else, and not, Borotra (who, when he appeared. carried no sugar). But Max Decugis, the manager, had plenty for his charges. i

The tipsters ■were making a great deal of noise. “Does anyone want the winner for a shilling?" roared one. No one seemed desirous of buying his tip. “I’ll tell you what I’ll do.” he cried in a burst of generosity; “I’ll make it sixpence! Who’ll buy the winner for sixpence?" Still there was no one to accept his offer. “I say,” he remarked to an Irishman at his side, “don’t you think you arc getting a bargain?. The winner for sixpence.” “Shure, it’s a splendid offer." “Then why don’t you buy it?” “Begorra, an' so I would, but never a stable have I to kape the baste in." Although R. C. Blunt heads the bowling averages for the Australian tour of the New Zealand cricket team, with an average of 22.77, he is well down in the list of averages for the four tests, his figures being 63.25. W. Cunningham, on the other hand, is second in the averages for the whole tour and second in those for the tests. There is no doubt that he has proved himself the best bowler in the team. Vi Vi VI A remarkable cricket match took place on ’the ground of the Hythe Club (says the ” Cricketer Annual ”) between the Eltham Division, Kent CountyConstabulary and the Hythe Brewery, the latter captained by A. P. F. Chapman. The police scored 151 by very good cricket and nine out of the first ten brewery batsmen (twelve a side were played) made one run between them. The solitary exception was Chapman, who by this time had passed his century. When the last man went in over 20 runs were still wanted for victory. These were obtained and the total eventually reached 201 before P. C. Green captured Chapman. Chapman’s share of the 190 made by the bat was 183, the other eleven getting the odd seven. Certainly a policemanbowler’s life is not a happ3 r one. The General Committee of the Newport Athletic Club met on November 25 to consider the cancellation by the Harlequins of next season’s Rugby fixtures with Newport as a result of alleged rough play in the match between the sides at Twickenham on November 7. The letter written by Mr Adrian Stoop, the Harlequins’ secretary, to Mr W. J. Martin, the Newport secretary, said:— 1 am instructed by my committee to inform you that the tactics to •which it takes exception are the following:— Tackling and kicking players not in possession of the ball, particularly during the scrummage 'and in the line-out; holding players by the jersey to prevent following up; shoving in the back in the line-out; tripping and deliberate obstruction. Such tactics, skilfully carried out, in most cases will not be detected by the referee, who is normally following the course of the ball. If only isolated instances had occurred, my committee would have drawn your attention to them, when no doubt your committee would have taken appropriate action, as it did after our match two years ago. However, the tactics of which my committee complain were so general throughout the match on November 7 as to leave it no option but tci discontinue the fixture. The following resolution was passed by the Newport committee:That the allegations made generally are absolutely denied, except such irregularities as were dealt with in the ordinary way by the referee and were not confined to the Newport team. While having no desire to force a fixture upon any club, this committee do not admit the right to cancel a fixture already arranged. Having regard to the nature of the allegations made against a club of the standing of the Newport club, this committee invites the Harlequins to ask the English Rugby Union, of which both clubs are members, to hold an inquiry into the allegations made.

PLUNKET SHIELD AVERAGES. In the averages of Canterbury players in the Plunket Shield matches this season F. Woods heads the batting with an average of 61.5. His fine innings of 124 not out against Auckland has helped materially towards putting him at the top of the tree. A. Cox is a close second, with an average of 60.8. He mad/ 204 against Otago, but in the Wellington game he was dismissed for 5 and 4. In the first innings of the Auckland game he batted well for a total of S 7. In the second innings he was dismissed for four, but, according to reports the Ibw decision against him was a doubtful one. Woods and Cox are a long way ahead of the others. Third on the list is J. L. Findlay, who, in five innings, was not out four times. G. R. Gregory and M. L. Page, who are fourth and fifth respectively, have both proved useful with the bat. In the bowling D. Sandman has by far the best average. He has taken twelve wickets for 239 runs, an average of 19.91 Sandman’s best performance was in the second innings of Auckland, when he took seven wickets for 99 runs. R. O. Talbot is second on the list of bowling averaged, hia figure being 27.90. BATTING. w g, *5 £ £ h < V. Woods . . 5 1 1 24* 24 0 fil.s A. Cox . .5 J. Tj. Kind lay .5 4 0* 30 30 G. R. Gregory .5 —54 J. 1 43 28.« M. Tj. Pagp . 5 71 141 28.2 I. R. Bruntnn . 5 I>. Sandman . 5 E. A. Gasson . 5 27 69 1 3.8 R. O. Talbot . 5 J. M’Ewln . 5 28 65 13 R. Read . . 5 •Not out. BOWLING. Runs. Wkts. Av. D. Sandman . . 239 12 19.91 R. O. Talbot. . . 270 10 27.00 J. E. Findlay . . 329 9 36.55 R. Read . . .411 11 37.36 .T. M’Ewin . . 292 6 48.66

The Professional Golfers’ Association of England have again decided to limit the golf test for the tournaments next season to one round. This arrangement was made last year with a view t,o rediacing the expenses of the player, and in this way it succeeded. Of the ten centuries scored by members of the New Zealand cricket team in Australia four were made in test matches. They -were:— C. Allcott, 116 against New South Wales and 107 against Victoria. W. R. Patrick, 143 against New South Wales. T. C. Lowry, 123 against South Australia.

Second in the New Zealand batting averages. “ The quality of the bowlers T have faced from time to time during my career in first-class cricket must, to some extent, be a matter of opinion, but I know the -bowlei'S I have found most difficult to play, and the one I place at the top of the list will no doubt surprise some people, lie is J. W. H. T. Douglas, the Essex captain.”—J. B. Hobbs in an article on “ The Bowlers Whom I Have Dreaded ” in “ The Cricketer Annual.” The man who is alleged to have blackened Jack Dempsey’s eve—Frank Munroe, of America—arrived in Australia, was seen, and conquered by Bert M’Carthy, of Victoria, in a tiresome twenty rounds scuffle at the West Melbourne Stadium. All the oldest and newest illegal American boxing tricks were fully exploited by the visitor. One act'of his, in clouting M’Carthy when, following the usual custom, before the starting of the first round, the Australian extended his hands for a shake, roused the ire of the crowd. The first four rounds were exciting, but the American, who had a heavy punch, missed a lot. He had a rest in the fifth session, for only two blows were struck therein! The American was the better wrestler and did a deal of grappling, and in the close stuff he showed prowess as a rabbit killer. The fight clearly was M’Carthy’s. Old Rugby Internationals in W’ales are taking greater interest in the game at present than they have for many years. One of their number, Mr Jack Wetter, of Newport, has been on the referees’ list for a couple of years, and in November he had charge of his first big game, the match which ended in Swansea recording a surprise victory over Cardiff. Between 1913 and 1925 Wetter played for Wales on about a dozen occasions, playing at centre and inside and outside-half in turn. He also captained Wales against England in 1921 and against New Zealand in 1925, while he led the Newport team in their last invincible season. The Plunket Shield match between Auckland and Canterbury just concluded recalls the occasion on .which these two provinces met in the season 1910-11 and Canterbury succeeded, after an exciting contest, in bringing the shield back to Christchurch. In that match Auckland took first strike and made 349 to which Canterbury replied with 269. Auckland were got fid of fairly cheaply on their second visit to the wickets, being all out for 199. Sandman took five wickets for 55 runs. Canterbury -were then faced with the task of making 280 runs in order to win and thanks to excellent batting by Dan Reese and Lusk they succeeded in doing so for the loss of only four wickets. Canterbury thus won by six wickets. Testimonials to famous cricketers would appear to be things of the past, says a London writer. Last summer, when Hobbs eclipsed all records, a fund was opened tr> commemorate his great achievement, but apart from the generous donation by the Surrey County Cricket Club, the response was disappointing. Now comes the information that, the Maurice Tate Testimonial Fund (which was not confined to Sussex) has realised only £156. Doubtless if Hobbs and Tate had been born in Yorkshire they would have been considerably wealthier.

A British lawn tennis team opened a South African tour at Port Elizabeth with a victory over Eastern Province (whose side included the South African singles champion, I. Richardson) by 5 matches to 3. In the match between G. R. O. Crole-Rees and Richardson the British player was outmanoeuvred from the start, and Richardson. playing won the first set for the loss of only one game. In the second set Richardson’s superioritj'- was even more obvious, and he took a love set to register the first success for Eastern Province. Richardson and Davies quickly disposed of Crole-Rees and Summerson for the loss of only five games. In the final match, which was keenly contested, Richardson, in partnership with Mrs Hoskin, finished off a wonderful display by defeating Eames and Miss Colyer. 7-5, 7-«5. The South African champion was thus unbeaten, and was largely responsible for every victory his side obtained.

A story typical of the late Queen Alexandra’s practical interest in everything and everyone was told by Mr H. M. Abrahams, the famous sprinter, in a lecture to the Jewish Athletic Association, of which he is president. Mr Abrahams mentioned as illustrating the kindly thought for others which characterised Queen Alexandra throughout her life, the sympathy which she displayed when Dorando was disqualified on the occasion of the Marathon Race from Windsor to the Stadium at Shepherd’s Bush, as a consequence of taking a wrong turning. The disappointment and subsequent illness of that famous athlete greatly touched the late Queen, who manifested her sympathy by presenting him with a gold cup.

Commenting on Mailey’s remarks on lifting the seam of the ball, Bob Crockett, who has umpired international cricket for thirty-two years, said: “I cannot understand what all the discussion is about. I have not seen one bowler lift a seam during the past fifteen years, and I am always on the look-out for such things. Mailey certainly does not do it. His greatest trouble is that he gets too much break. Bowlers nowadays are more anxious to keep the ball smooth than make it rough. Douglas often rubbed the ball on his arm to make it smooth, and nearly all the bowlers used resin, which they kept in their pockets, and against which there was no rule. Few of the present day bowlers rubbed the ball on the ground. Formerly, bowlers, particularly Noble, liked the ball a little rough, but that custom has died out. One thing, despite its legitimacy, that annoyed bowlers was the sticky mixture wicketkeepers used on their gloves. That was much more useful to a wicketkeeper than resin to a bowler.”