NOT A DERBY WINNER!

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18043, 31 December 1926, Page 11

NOT A DERBY WINNER!

nection with the race. On November j 13 he led the Finnish-American Ath- ] letic Club to victory in a Marathon rc- j lay-race over a 64-mile course from At- I lantic City to Philadelphia. The Win- I ning time was shr 39min 35sec. Two Mexican Indians. Thomas Za- . firo and Leonicio San Miguel, put up I a world’s record on November S, running from Pachuca to Mexico, a distance of 625: miles, in 9hr 37min, Dur- j ing the run the Indians were frequently ; at altitudes of from a mile and a half ! to two miles. The run was arranged j :for the purpose of proving the ability of the Tarahumare Indians as distance : runners. The best previous record for j 62 miles is credited to .1 Saunders. In New York, in 18S2. Saunders, during a j run of 120 miles 275 yards, covered the j first 62 miles in lOhr 10min 50sec. j In his book, “The Perfect Batsman.” A. C. MacLaren makes an interesting reference to E. 11. Bowley. the English professional who played for Auckland against Canterbury this week. '1 he writer says:- “The brilliance of a. great batsman has been proved repeatcdly to be too much for the highest class bowler on the perfect wicket. I could quote many cases of batsmen being unaware of their accomplish- j ments until made clear to them, with ‘ much more telling results accruing < from the greater understanding of what they' found themselves capable. If a batsman does not find out for himself the extent of his own greatness, he. will , never get so far up the ladder of fame as he should do. Here is a case in j point, and I am sure the. excellent Surrey cricketer will not take any exception to mentioning liis . name. In | South Africa last winter I watched , Niipen, a bowler of real'class, on those : by no means easy matting, .wickets. ! bowling without a man in the deep , field when he was always breaking v thc ball back from the off, and who kept driving the batsman farther and far- , ther back on to his wick eft. by pitching the ball by degrees farther and farther ' up. The first ball that would nip through the defence of the. batsman would result in his retiring lbw, as the ball was being bowled on to the wicket to hit the leg stump, breaking back from the off. The batsman was Ted Bowley, who is possessed of an exeep- ; tionally fine forcing-back stroke, which he brings into play to any ball the least bit short of the blind length, but he was never producing this, his strongest stroke. Bowley is one of those true cricketers who are always glad to listen to suggestions from an older player where their own play is concerned without taking any offence: indeed, they welcome them. I then put it to him that his strongest stroke . was his telling back' play, and that he must make Nupen bowl shorter to him for the purpose of bringing this into action and that he might find he. would bring this about by hijtting straight down the line of the ball and throwing his wrists up. when the ball would travel to the boundarv on the on side owing to the spin of the ball. It would at once tell Nupen that he could not pitch the ball so far up with impunity, and he would be forced to drop the ball shorter, which Bowley’s strong back play would force, away to the on side with the. precision belonging to a really good batsman as Bowley undoubtedly is. MacLaren goes on to tell how Bowley followed his advice and vised his favourite back stroke to such purpose that he made a century. Also, “for the first time on the tour, Nupen was made to realise that the batsman had got the better of him, and that he no longer dominated the position as previously.’ Although the Olympic Games at Amsterdam will not commence until July, 1928, the whole of the athletic world is engaged in the work of arranging for representation and accommodation. Continental Europe, especially Denmark, Norway, ' Sweden and Holland, is taking the matter very seriously. Recently the Danish Athletic Union discussed the Games, and its opinion thereon will meet with general approval. The union held that the'Olympic Committee should be composed of men who had had experience of practical work in athletics, and who had gained their knowledge by actual participation. not. as is often the case, of people who have gained a reputation in matters totally outside the realm of sport. The strongest criticism, however, was passed by the Danish Football Association, which declared that •the original purpose of the Gaines had been totally lost sight of, and that they were now simply means of national advertising on an extensive scale. At the annual dinner of the British Olympic I Association, on November 6, the Duke ! of Sutherland, the president, said that j everything possible would be - done to I have British representatives properly j equipped. In proposing the toast of | the British Olympic Association, Lord i Birkenhead asked, were the Games 1 worth while? Before the question could be answered he said it must be 1 qualified. His opinion was that, if they I led to the cultivation of sport and to I the stimulation of courage and enduriance on the field of sport rather than the miasma of 'war. they would at- ! tain a great dignity of achievement. | A book entitled “The Quest For j Bowlers,” has just been issued by C. | T. B. -Turner, the famous-Australian

bowler, who bowled with such extraordinarv success in three English tours. In ISBS he took 314 wickets at an average cost of 11.12 runs per wicket. He bowled over 10,000 balls, being the only bowler who, until then, or since then, has bow’led over 10,000 balls during one tour. In 1890 ‘‘The Terror” captured 215 wickets for 12.67 runs a wicket, and in 1593 he took 160 wickets at 13.76 runs per wicket. What a contrast to the averages of to-day. Turner deals in a concise and ii .cresting manner in nine chapters with “The Ashes Lost, the Lesson, the Swerver, the Spin Bowler, the Googly, the Fast Bowler, Personal Points. Reminiscences and a Few Records.” 11 is opinions are expressed clearly, and should prove valuable to young players who arc anxious to become bowlers of some class. The chapter of special- interest at the present time is that on the spin bowler, and the hints contained.in that article.from such a gifted exponent of that style of bowling arc interesting indeed. Three leaders in German sport fpr the year 1926 have been metaphorically crowned with laurel for their achievements. They have actually been awarded the insignia of a new order, that, of “the golden ribbon.” by aii organisation of German sports writers. The honoured trio comprises Dr Otto Peltier, Otto Schmidt, and Ernst Yierkoetter. Peltier’s present supremacy in the German athletic world is unquestioned, through his victor over Paavo Nurmi and his other record-making achievements on the cinder path, and Yierkoetter is the first German to swim the English t hannel. The insignia consists of a strip of golden metal tied in the form of a bowknot. It is worn in the. buttonhole. Through the American Amateur Athletic Union, Paavo Nurmi, the Finnish runner, sent to President Galvin Goolidge a gold ornamented knife and chain said to be a tvpe carried in some parts of Finland as a weapon lor protection against, attacks by highwaymen. The chain is for suspension around the neck. Murray Ilulbert. president of the A.A U". presented the gift to the President at the White House on November 17. Maoriland’s first cricket tour of England (savs a Sydney writer) will commence with a match against an eleven selected by IT. Martineau j who gave the last Australian team its opening gallon on his 'private ground at Holvport. As the counties have agreed to use the smaller ball over which controversy has been raging, the Maorilanders_ may find conditions awkward at first. Nevertheless, since English wickets and atmospheric conditions approximate much more closely to Maoriland s than to Australia’s, both bowlers and batsmen should be happier than on our concretefaced pitches. Not that last year’s M L. team in Australia —by no means the Dominion's best side—-did not. make runs. Its trouble lay in the inability of the bowlers ,to get the other side out on batsmen’s wickets. L. O'Conner, captain of the Queensland Cricket team, who made history for his State in the Sheffield Shield match at Sydney, against New South Wales, bv compiling 103 and 143 not out. is a Victorian, by birth. In nineteen completed innings in matches against New South Wales O’Connor has scored 1110 runs'at an average of 58 runs per innings. R. M. Oxenham, also .of the Queensland team, one of the best all-rounders in the Commonwealth. Against New South Wales he scored- 132 not out and 52, and also bowled with success in the first innings, but was unable to aid in the attack in the second hidings owing to an injure. Tie is scarcely second in/ point of skill to anv other bowler in the countrv,” says the “Referee.’^ The Maoris must go down to record as one of the most popular sporting combinations that have ever visited these isles (savs London “Sporting Life”). They arrived with ,110 flourish of trumpets or exaggerated ideas as to their ability. They came modestly, with the main desire to learn from experience, and wherever they have been they have delighted everyone with their sportsmanship, their obvious delight and enjoyment in actual combat, and their complete disregard for the making of records. They are a finebody of sportsmen, attractive on the field by their very audacity and unorthodox methods, and are in every sense of the word an asset to the Empire