Came By Aeroplane And Played Game of His Life.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 19013, 7 March 1930, Page 4

Came By Aeroplane And Played Game of His Life.

SAM TUCKER WAS ENGLAND’S HOOKER WHEN WELSH FIFTEEN WERE TROUNCED

.(Special to the ** Star. ) LONDON, January 23. Rugby men, young and old, were confounded by the Anglo-Welsh match. Everyone said, and, moreover, believed that play in Wales had undergone a very marked improvement. The team were even tipped to win the international championship. Their performance on the Cardiff ground, however, was so poor as to startle e\ eryone, and England, despite their fumbling of chances through faulty handling on the part of the backs, won by eleven points to three. Every forecast of the game suggested that the English forwards would be outplayed. The Welsh eight were thought to be really formidable. They were in weight and size, but not in skill, and, being hopelessly beaten for possession of the ball, the backs had Yery limited opportunities. Circumstances played, into the hands of England. On the morning of the match it was found that Row, the Army forward, was unfit to play. The authorities were not informed of this until about three hours before the kick-off, and, though they had a reserve in readiness, he was not a hooker. Some one suddenly said: “Lets send for Sam Tucker. He can get here in time by aeroplane.’*

Immediately a message was sent to Tucker at Bristol, and the old player flew to the ground, arriving threequarters of an hour before the start. And if any one man did more to win the game than another it was Tucker. As the hooker he played superbly. He has had a long experience of the ways of Welsh forwards, and it is no exaggeration to say that, except for about a quarter of an hour in the.second half, he got the ball from four scrums out of five. In this he was assisted by the poor packing of the Welsh forwards, who had no leader, and were surprisingly crude and unfinished in all their work. Perhaps another piece of luck for England was that, after having been passed over, A. L. Novis had to be included at wing-three-quarter. He, too, gave a splendid display, and, with J. S. R. Reeve, who scored two tries, he was the best of the backs. The two centres, F. W. S. Malir—who was born in India —and Michael Robson, played a great spoiling game, and, though each occasionally dropped a pass, they were better than any of the backs on the Welsh side. But perhaps the best feature from the English point of view was the form of the forwards. It was believed that the selectors had run a considerable risk in dropping several of the old hands, but the young players justified themselves up to the hilt, and the outlook is now very much brighter. It is hardly likely that any changes will be rnadp for the match with Ireland. Every member of the side deserves to be tried again. Old Cricket Fixture Abandoned.

W T hen it was decided that all the counties in the cricket championship should play the same number of matches, a new system of arranging fixtures was drawn up. Previously the clubs had settled their programmes as they liked. Unfortunately, the new play has a most unfortunate aspect. In order to keep the balance, slight variations in the list of games have to be made each season, and Mr P. F. Warner has just pointed out that this grimmer Middlesex and Surrey will not meet. London will thus be robbed of one of its most interesting fixtures, and, needless to say, both clubs are aggrieved that a match, which has taken place annually for over fifty years, has to be dropped. Mr Warner has suggested to the authorities that games of such long standing should be regarded as exceptional, and should not come within the new arrangement, and it is probable that this concession will be granted. The experience of Middlesex and Surrey in this matter caused alarm in both Yorkshire and Lancashire, who feared thta the season would come when their two Bank Holiday matches

would have to be suspended. It is officially stated, however, that these holiday fixtures of long standing will not be affected. Interest in the visit of the Australians is beginning to quicken, and preparations are being made for the first of the five test matches, which is to take place at Trent Bridge, Nottingham. Three new stands are being constructed on the ground. One is the gift of Sir Julian Cahn, a cricket enthusiast, who is to take a team to play in the Argentine next month. The other two stands are being erected by the Notts Club at a cost of £BOOO. To meet this expenditure, members are asked to subscribe a guinea, and in return they are to receive a seat for each day of the test match. In addition new members of the club are to pay an entrance fee of half a guinea. Lin dr urn’s Billiards Records. The two Australian billiards players, Walter Lindrum and Clark M’Conachy, continue to show brilliant form, and it is a great misfortune that, owing to their being tied to contracts which allow them to play on only one make of table, they have not entered for the championship. Thus, with Smith also standing out of the event, there are only four competitors, and in the first round Newman meets Inman, to whom he can undoubtedly concede 3000 start, and Davis, the holder, is to be opposed by Falkiner. In the circumstances, unless Falkiner can create a surprise, the real test will be between Davis and Newman. Lindrum is now engaged in his first match with Davis, and, though during the first week the British champion made a plucky effort, he fell over 3000 behind, and it has been proved beyond ail doubt that the Australian is the greatest player in the world, in fact, the greatest player of all time. Lin drum's record since he arrived in. this country is an amazing one. It is true that Smith has beaten him twice, but in bin seven matches to date he has an advantage of over 30,000 points. That is to say, he has scored 169,242 against 137,335 by his different opponents. In these games he has broken almost every record. The impression is that he can make a thousand break whenever he likes, and he has now thirtytwo of these four-figure runs to his credit. Another remarkable feature of his billiards has been the consistency of his scoring. Taking all his matches into account, he has an average of 24,177 for a fortnight’s play, each session of which lasts an hour and a half. This means that he has scored the points at the rate of over 1300 an hour.

It looks as though the Australian w-ill set up still another record in his match with Davis. At the half-way stage he had made over 15,000, and it is his ambition to reach 30.000 for the fortnight. M’Conachy has just met Smith for the first time, and he, too, was successful. This was, however, a very close match, the English player being beaten by only 441 points. During the last two days Smith made a superb effort, recovering over 2000 points.