“MAKE THE BATSMAN DISCARD HIS PADS.”

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18643, 21 December 1928, Page 12

“MAKE THE BATSMAN DISCARD HIS PADS.”

“ Speaking to an old cricketer the other day. writes a contributor, “he commented on the fact that the public (and bv that he meant spectators and players alike) seem anxious to find a means by which the game may be speeded up. When cricket was first invented, or discovered, or what you like, its whole aim was to stage a battle between a bowler and a batsman. The bowler was made to keep his distance and was given a wicket at which he had to bowl (not throw) a ball. The batsman was given a crease, wherein he was safe, and a bat with which to prevent the bowler from hitting the wicket. No adventitious aids were permitted to be employed by either bowser or batsman. Then came the matter of runs—a reward to the batsman for pasting the bowler, who, as he could not do all the fielding, was given the necessary assistants. So it developed until we had the game as it is to-day—eleven fielders, two batsmen, two wickets, plus gloves, pads and umpires. “ Why not let the game return part of the way to its original form by depriving the batsmen of their pads? : Why not? If a man can’t handle a t*at so as to protect his body from the attacks of a bowler let him take up l»owls or Badminton. Does the Rugby player squeal at the knocks he has to take? He’d soon lose his place in the team if he did. Then, take the pads off our batsmen. It will provide brighter and faster cricket, and the game will benefit by the early relega tion of members of the ‘ old gang 1 (who now monopolise nearly all the best matches) to their proper place—in the grandstand.” Australia's Greatest. The two greatest golfers that Australia has produced were partners in a match at Adelaide—lvo Whitton (amateur) and J. H. Kirkwood (pro ). They played against the professional champions of South Australia, F.M Mahon and Rufus Stewart. Over 1000 tors followed the match, which resulted in a win for Whitton and Kirkwood, 1 up Afterwards Kirkwood astounded the gathering by an exhibition of trick

Queer Sportsmen. George Gilbey in the London “Sunday Express”: “Some of my best friends who are most open-handed, generous men away from the Turf lose half the pleasure in owning a winner if they discover that their friends have backed it. “They argue quite truly that they pay for the keep of the horse, and, therefore, thev are entitled to be the only ones to back it. “I pay the rent of my house, but ■when my friends call I do not point out to them that, as I have paid the rent, they should not come in. Nor, when we gi\*e a dinner party, do we expect to eat all the food ourselves.” A story once went the rounds in Australia about an owner who had instructed his commissioner to put £2OO on a horse that was a short-priced favourite. Later this owner discovered that a racing man whom he disliked had invested £IOO on the horse—so he promptly turned him into a non-trier! K X 9C Tennis Not Sport. Once upon a time, a Magistrate who was asked to convict a golfer for “desecrating the Sabbath” by playing a sports game on that day, held that golf was not a sport, but a sort of religious fetish. Now the French authorities have virtually ruled that tennis is not a sport, but a spectacle. A cable message on October 22 stated that all tennis tournaments in France for the winter season of 1928-29 had been cancelled by the Lawn Tennis Federation as a protest against the decision of the authorities to levy an entertainment tax on all club receipts. The federation, in a manifesto, declares that it is absurd for the Treasury officials to maintain that lawn tennis is not a sport. As long as this interpretation of the law is maintained, no public tournaments will be held. The covered-courts championships of France will be held, but privately, and only officials of the federation and journalists will be allowed to attend. If the decision to tax the lawn tennis “gates" is not rescinded by next spring, the federation will continue its campaign, and will request some other nation, either Great Britain or Belgium, to organise the official rounds of the Davis Cup, which are due to be played in France.