Sport And Sportsmen

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18959, 3 January 1930, Page 4

Sport And Sportsmen

A prominent Wellington cricketer who witnessed the Aucklandl-Otago Plunket Shield game during Christmas week told the Wellington correspondent of the “ Star ” that had either side had a real top notch bowler neither Otago nor Auckland would have scored fifty runs in any innings. After seeing Canterbury in action against Wellington he was also strongly of the opinion that Canterbury would come away with the honours whatever wicket the game was played on. Auckland has not had a good run this season so far as cricket weather has been concerned and the players have not been able to get all the practice necessary, but by no stretch of the imagination was the team as good as it looked on paper. Billy Cameron, New Zealand’s sprint champion swimmer, will do* his competitive aquatics in Sydney this season. He has accepted a post in the big Australian city, and though his loss will be felt in the Dominion, Australia will find an opponent worthy of her best. Well informed circles in Wellington credit Billy with being the equal if not the superior of the champion sprinters over the Tasman. No doubt he will show his quality once he has become acclimatised, provided he is not foolish enough to become shark bait in the meantime. Billy is an ardent surfer and no doubt will link up with one, of the prominent life saving clubs. Wellington people who visited Karori Park on Boxing Day witnessed a sport strange to New Zealand. It was the national game of Ireland known as hurling. Hurling is not unlike hockey in that it is played with a hard ball and a stick. The difference is marked onfce the teams are in action. The stick is shaped like a lacrosse blade and the ball is hit about in the air until ready to goal at either one end or the other. The goal is a little larger than that used in hockey. The field is the same size as a Rugby ground and each side comprises fifteen players. Once one understands the rules the game is quite fast and thrilling. E. Foley and C. Allcott were not available for selection to the first cricket test team which will meet the Englishmen here. Foley, who is probably the best slip fieldsman in New Zealand, burst a tendon while fielding in a club game just before the English match with Wellington. He has been showing good form in club games with the bat and may be given a chance in the second or third test. The death of C. I. Thornton removes from the world of cricket its most picturesque personality since W. G. Grace. Big and burly, C.I.T. was a mighty hitter, and some marvellous legends are extant of his prowess in that respect for Cambridge, Kent and Middlesex. He is credited with one smite of 160 yards from hit to pitch at Lord’s, and at one time or another landed the ball out of every big ground in England. In a day when headgear was a respected convention, Thornton never wore a hat or cap while playing, and was equally intolerant of pads or gloves. Australian teams will remember him with affection as host and organiser of the Scarborough Festival, a match that invariably ended their tour to England. He w&s seventy-nine at stumps. W. R. Patrick, the ex-Canterbury selector, always had a high regard for the skill and prowess of R. O. Talbot as a cricketer, and it is pleasing to see that “Ron” is at last fulfilling predictions. His two innings at Wellington were described as the “champagne of cricket,” and it is quite possible that if the selectors had not already announced their team before his second knock of 113 he would be playing in the test next Friday. His chances of getting his cap for the second and third tests look bright. The first open championship staged by the recently-formed Sydney University Golf Club was played recently It was a stroke play event over thirtysix holes held at Bonnie Doon, and was won by Nigel Smith, who returned cards of 78-79. The event was open to graduates of any university. By next season golfers may expect to see an annual contest staged between the universities of different Australian States on the lines of the OxfordCambridge meeting, for which a full Blue is granted nowadays. An Australian writer has a happy little paragraph about the financial results, as far as New Zealand is concerned, of the M.C.C. games in Australia: “The treasurer’s report to the monthly meeting of the Victorian Cricket Association shows that Maoriland cricket got a nice little cheque out of the match between the State and Gilligan’s team. The total profit was £993, and of that the Dominion authorities got £745. By the time the cash comes in from the gates at Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane, where attendances were firstclass, the wolf that has been yowling on the M.L. cricket doorstep for years will have to find another job.” Though nothing definite will be known until after the Australian championships, the Australian Davis Cup team, which is to leave about the middle of March, has been practically narrowed down to S or 10 aspirants. The accident to Jim Willard is not likely to prove serious, and he may get his long-deferred chance. Much is being made in Melbourne of the recent form shown by J. B. Hawkes, but Hawkes has yet to prove himself a stayer in a hard game. His chief claim to consideration is his ability as a doubles player with O’Hara Wood. As Crawford and Hopman made hacks of the pair in the Victorian doubles final, it may be safely said that they wilLnot be called upon. Leo Diegel, the American freak golfer, has won the professional championship of his country for the second year in succession. It was a creditable win, too, for among his opponents were Walter Hagen and Tommy Farrell both previous holders of -the title Diegel met them both, outing Hagen in the semi-final by 3 and 2, and doing the same for Farrell in the final by 6 and 4—a convincing hiding. The Victorian tennis championships have once more gone to New South Wales players. Jack Crawford was called on to meet ITopman in the final of the singles, the latter having a walkover from Jim Willard, who was absent through injury. Hopman, who has been showing good form, ran the winner to five sets. The two had little trouble in retaining the doubles title, outing J. B. Hawkes and O’Hara Wood in three straight sets. Miss Cox repeated her victory of last year in the women’s singles, after a tough fight with the South Australienne, Kitty le Mesurier.

Thirty years ago the most prominent figure- in the wrestling world was Yousouf, known as the “Terrible Turk”, a mountain of a man. He visited America, and, after downing all the wrestlers who dared to oppose him, started back to Turkey, carrying with him his winnings, 20,000 dollars, in gold coin in a money belt. The steamer on which he was travelling was sunk in a collision. Many passengers were picked up, but Yousouf’s 601 b in gold sank him before a boat could reach him. The player-writer controversy has received a fresh fillip in England through the action of the Lancashire County Club forbidding its professionals to write for the Press on cricket matters. No action seems to have been taken in the case of the amateurs, though the one is as much a nuisance as the other, in the judgment of many. The club thinks the practice creates jealousy and heartburning, and no doubt it does. One prominent Australian player-writer must long to kick himself every time he recalls his summingup of Larwood as not a fast-bowler’s bootlace, or words to that effect. One Sydney journal, which has long been foremost in ballyhooing “ promising” batsmen, resolved for a change to discover a promising bowler (says the Sydney “Bulletin”). Promptly a lad was produced from a country district, and announced as possibly the greatest since C. T. B. Turner, or some other legendary deity. Tried in a comparatively unimportant match he proved just an ordinary club, medium-paced bowler, a variety in which the country is rich to superfluity. Immediately the journal fell into a cataleptic silence, which it has maintained ever since. The inclusion of M. Henderson, the Wellington fast bowler, in the New Zealand team, must inevitably cause

some comment, for his performances in good company this season have been most disappointing. Against the M.C.C. he took 2 for 53 and 1 for 60. His figures for the Canterbury match were even less inspiring. In the first innings he could not get a wicket, bowling 9 overs for 23 runs. In the second in-

nings he secured 2 for 80, one of his victims being Burns, a tail-ender. Reports state that he was fast but very expensive. To date, then, in four innings 5 wickets have fallen to Henderson, not a very brilliant performance for a New Zealand representative bowler. S 3 At the Pounawea (South Otago) sports on Boxing Day, the 100 yards maiden race was won by P. J. Morrissy (Christchurch). The 100 yards open was won by S. N. Macdonald (Christchurch), with Morrissy second. How many batsmen have made two separate centuries in one day? The query arises out of the story of a match in England, in which the Oxford Authentics went up against a Hampshire club entitled “The Grange”. The “Tics” are a pretty hot lot, including, as they do, the best part of the Dark Blue Eleven. They put up a huge score in the first day of the match, and one Atkinson, going in on the first innings of “Grange”, scored 114. His side had to follow on, and Atkinson’s second shot was 107. 11. Ebeling, the fast bowler, who visited New Zealand a few years ago, is apparently bowling well just now, for W. H. Ponsford writes:—“Hans Ebeling of Melbourne, secured six for 67 against Prahran. A right-hand, fastmedium bowler, Ebeling is able on occasions to make the ball come back from the off. This particular ball is the secret of his success. Ebeling has good stamina, and can bowl for long stretches. In my opinion the Mel-

bourne bowler is one of the best bowlers in Victoria at the present time, and his success should give him great heart for the coming big games. Ebeling a few seasons ago toured New Zealand with a Victorian team. His bowling over there met with great success. In fact, some of the

New Zealand players went as far as to say that they had never played against better bowling.” The Australian first-class averages up to the end of the big match at Sydney show Don Bradman at the head of the batting list with 124 for 5 innings and an aggregate of 620. Jackson (100.20) and Kippax (98.33) follow. Oxenham is fourth with 68.00 for 6 innings, while Woodfull leads the Victorians with 59.66. Whitfield is the best of the South Australians with 30.00.. In bowling, Oxenham has taken 19 wickets for 17.52 each, Grimmett, with the same number of wickets, averaging 23.05. The two fast bowlers’ Wall and Alexander, have averages which would look splendid in the batting list. The Queensland Women’s Cricket Association, which has sixteen affiliated clubs in its first year of existence, has joined with its New South Wales sister in advocating an Australian Board of Control, and the remaining State associations are being rounded up. The next step of course will be the institution of a Sheffield Shield for girls’ competition, and after that the inauguration of international visits. It is to be hoped when the day comes that the Board of Controllesses will not imitate its hard-hearted male con temporary and forbid the playerettes to take their husbands on tour with them. The New South Wales rowing authorities have decided to follow the example of the other States and fix the minimum weight for a four-oar cox at 7st, says a Sydney paper. Previously the practice had been to put the tiniest brat accessible into the responsible position, with much resultant heart-burning among the oarsmen. Bad steering has lost a lot of races at one time or another, and some time ago the minimum weight of a cox for the eights was raised to Bst. This permits the employment of a more mature individual, and in a job where concentration and cool judgment is essential that is all to the good. A youngster who gives promise of swinging a good club in the days to come is the fourteen-year-old Sydney Grammar boy Jim Ferrier, son of J. B. Ferrier, secretary of Manly Golf Club. A big lad, and well coached by his dad, his putting is an object-lesson to his elders* He drives well, but is a trifle backward in his play through the green. The fact that he is not by any means a stylist is the most promising thing about him. His swing and stance has been criticised, and other Jaults have been found with him by the nineteenth-hole critics. The fact remains that there has never been a great golfer ye*t who has not departed from the normal in his game, and that holds true from “Old Tom” Morris through Harry Vardon down to Bobby Jones and Walter Hagen. Dei gel. winner of last year’s American open championship, fractures every canon of golf whenever he walks on to the tee.

GORDON LOWE IS NOW A BARONET. (Special to the “ Star.”) LONDON, November 13. The death occurred at Brighton yesterday, at the age of seventy-seven, of Sir Francis Lowe. His son, Mr Francis Gordon Lowe, the international lawn tennis player, succeeds to the baronetcy. Sir Francis had a sudden attack on Monday. He represented the Edgbaston (Birmingham) Division as a Unionist in the House of Commons for thirtyone years, retiring this year. He was knighted in 1905, and made a baronet in 1918. The new baronet, who is aged fortyfive, has for fifteen years been one of England’s steadiest lawn tennis players. He was a captain during the war and was mentioned in despatches. Mr Gordon Lowe married the prominent lawn tennis player, Miss Dorothy Honour Woolrych, in 1926. !'♦ 35 »'• Gallichan’s Fame. The name of Norman Gallichan is fast becoming famous in New Zealand cricketing circles. He distinguished himself in the Hawke Cup game with Poverty Bay last week by performing the hat trick. With none for 25, he captured six wickets for five additional runs and came out with a splendid average. Gallichan is a left-handed

break bowler of merit, a reliable right-hand batsman and a handy man in slips. In Hawke Cup and representative cricket for the past and present seasons he has batted on 12 occasions, being twice not out and making 44S runs, with ati average of 44.8. Bowling during the same period, he has sent

down 264 overs, 104 of which were maidens, and has captured 37 wickets for 421 runs, an average of 11.4. Gallichan learnt his cricket at the Palmerston North High School and represented School from 1921 to 1924, being skipper for the last season. He has represented Manawatu tn Hawke Cup games since 1922, as well as being in the New Zealand elevens which played the Melbourne Club and Australian teams. He was a Dominion representative against the Victorian visitors, has played for Country for five seasons and, in addition to many other important fixtures, has played for North Island against Vic* toria. He established a bowling record for Manawatu in 1922, when he took ten wickets for 53 runs, but Palmerston North hopes for greater things than that and expects to see him in the New Zealand team to play the M.C.C. eleven. Blocks For Sprinters. NEW YORK, November 18. After a sharp controversy the National Amateur Athletic Union at its annual convention to-day went on record as favouring the principle of foot starting blocks for sprinters. At the same time the convention voted to withhold official adoption of the blocks or to permit their use in A.A.U. meets until they are recognised by international authorities as standard. American delegates to the next conference of the International Amateur Athletic Federation, to be held in Berlin next May, are expected to urge the adoption of a standard starting block, but their use, so far as the A.A.U. is concerned, will be barred pending the outcome of international confab. A proposal to make the use of blocks optional in A.A.U. meets until an international decision is reached was voted down. Because of the controversy over the blocks and the extent to which they aid the sprinter, if at all, conditional approval only was accorded by the convention to the famous 100-yard dash of 9 2-5 seconds by George Simpson of Ohio State at Chicago last June S. Simpson’s mark was made with blocks, having the official approval of the National Collegiate A.A., under whose auspices the Chicago meet was held. It was the discussion of this record that brought the whole subject of starting blocks to the fore as the main convention topic to-day. While there was no tendency to detract in the slightest from Simpson’s performance, the fastest ‘TOO” on record, it was decided for the time being marks made with blocks will be classified separately, not displacing the other records on the books. W. G. Grace was full of tricks. Murdoch and Sam Jones were batting in a test match. The wicket-keeper chased a leg bye, and the ball was morally dead in the hands of Grace (who had moved up from point to act for the absent keeper). Jones strolled out to pat the pitch. “W G.” put down the wicket—“run out” His point was that, he not being the real wicketkeeper, the ball was not dead. His law was O.K. How he stood i n Equitv is another matter.

How To Keep Fit. ■ No one can keep fit and healthy withi out exercise, says Clarence Webber, the ' well-known Australian physical culture expert. Many people think that because they walk a mile or two every day they have exercised sufficiently, but there ; are no vital organs in the legs, and if we wish -to be healthy we must stimulate our internal organs by exercises which bend the trunk forwards and backwards and sideways and twist it about. Trunk exercise may be done in the standing and lying position and make one feel very fit. In the standing position the trunk may be bent forwards and backwards, starting with the hands on the hips, and progress by clasping the hands on the back of the neck and further by stretching the arms straight overhead as the bending is done. The same progression can be used for the side bending of the trunk while for the twisting the arms can be extended

to the sides in line with the shoulders. It is of great stimulating value to ’ the digestive organs that the muscles [ on the front of the abdomen be exercised in such a way as will keep them shortened, as in this way they support . the organs in their right place. Abdominal exercises tone up the or- ; gans of digestion. They stimulate the . flow of digestive juices and hasten the 3 assimilation of food, mix those juices j with the food, and help its progress through the body, and help to rid the system of the poisonous waste matter, the retention of which ages us more than any other cause.