In The Open Gossip from the Sporting Field

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 240, 9 October 1931, Page 11

In The Open Gossip from the Sporting Field

Cricket Prospects. To-morrow the first games in the 1931-32 cricket competitions will begin. With the outstanding achievements of last season still fresh in mind, batsmen and bowlers will go to work in enthusiastic fashion, for there is a good standard to be maintained. In spite of the difficulties of the times, the association and the clubs have shown energy and resourcefulness, and there will be nothing lacking or incomplete about the playing or management of cricket in the province. All grounds are in good order, and improvements have made a big difference to the wickets at Elmwood Park and Rugby Park. In the main, the wickets at Hagley Park are looking in tip-top order, and indications are that they will play as well as ever. Lancaster Park and Sydenham Park, thanks to proper attention, are also in fine shape. With one exception, the members of the victorious Canterbury eleven of last season will be playing in Christchurch this year. Dorreen, whose wicket-keeping won him such high praise, is going to the North Island; and though he will be missed both for his ability on the field and his sportsmanship at all times, there are some good performers to compete for the vacant place. The clubs have strong and well-balanced sides, and the grade games should be well worth watching. The games for to-morrow are as follow: Old Boys v. Lancaster Park, Hagley No. 2. St Albans v. Old Collegians, Hagley No. 3. Riccarton v. West Christchurch, Hagley No. 1. East Christchurch v. Sydenham, Lancaster Park No. 1. There was some amazing running at Helsingfors, Finland, on August 25, when the world’s two miles record of 9min 1 2-ssec, held by E. Wilde, Sweden, was eclipsed by the inimitable Finn, Paavo N unni, who, in spite of rain and a sodden track, returned Bmin 59 l-ssec, with Lehtinen second in 9min OJsec, and Virtanen third, 9min 1 l-ssec, all three Finns thus beating the previous world’s best time.

Soccer Prospects. The Canterbury Football Association 1931 season will close to-morrow, when Nomads and Rangers will meet in the final of the senior championship. Nomads’ win against Marist last Saturday placed them level with Rangers at the head of the competition table and tomorrow’s play-off is to decide possession of the Hurley Shield. Nomads have just failed to lift two trophies this season—the English Cup and the much-prized Chatham Cup—and their long series of hard games has taken its toll in injuries. They will be strengthened to-morrow, however, by the inclusion of their former inside-left, H. Clasper, who has represented the West Coast during the past two seasons, and who has very recently returned to Christchurch. Rangers have not had a game during the past month, hut they have been in strict training and they will probably last the pace better than their opponents. Consistent football has brought Rangers to the top of the table, and a win for the old club would be as well-deserved as it would be popular. Nomads’ Protest. Nomads have notified their intention of playing under protest to-morrow. Through the Canterbury Association, the club sought a ruling from the New Zealand Council on the local association’s application of one of the rules governing its competitions. To-morrow’s playoff is the result of the Canterbury football Association’s application of that rule. The C.F.A. has declined to forward the Nomads’ Club’s letter to the New Zealand Council, on the grounds that the constitution and rules give it complete control of local competitions. Accordingly, the Nomads Club has sent an official protest, again through the proper channels, to the New Zealand Council.

A caricature of Wilmer Allison and John Van Ryn, winners of the doubles championship of U.S.A. for 1931. They are regarded as the best doubles pair in the world and are both hurricane-hitters, experts in smash, volley, and sizzling drive. America won her way to the top from Australia soon after the war by the attacking brand of tennis shown by Tilden and Johnston. The Frenchmen sought and found a counter to these terrific attacks of the Americans. It was a defence that was so strong and so reliable that it, in itself, was an attack. The Frenchmen, Cochet and Lacoste, were essentially baseliners, but Tilden and Johnston also were brilliant baseline players, so the Frenchmen adopted a stone-wall defence, reducing errors to the barest minimum, and the American supremacy ended.

The young Americans, now in the forefront, belong to the hardhitting school. They depend mainly on their hurricane tactics to overwhelm opposition. Ellsworth Vines, the youthful winner of the singles championship a day or two ago, is a comparatively newcomer to big tennis, but he will be in the forefront of Davis Cup fights next year.

Offer to Cochet. PARIS, August 8. The American, Mr Jack Curley, in co-operation with Mr Jeff Dickson, intends to offer the tennis star, H. Cochet (fresh from Davis Cup triumphs) a three years’ contract at £4OOO a year to turn professional. He would be required to take part in a series of tournaments in London and on the Continent, in which Tilden, ICozeluh and other noted professionals would play. The Davis Cup hung in the balance until the final match, in which Cochet beat Perry. Thus France won the cup for the fifth time in succession. Cricket in Dunedin. No advice has been received in Dunedin concerning the intentions of Roger Blunt, Otago’s representative in the New Zealand cricket team, but it has been fairly freely predicted in the north that Blunt will be playing in Christchurch during the coming : season. Members i of his club, Caris- ! brook, know noth- i ing of such inten- 1 tion on the part of j Blunt who has sent a message to his club wishing it the best of luck during the coming season. Carisbroolc promise to have a very strong side, even better than • that which won the premiership last season, and once again they will probably be led by the ex-Auckland representative, J. A. Dunning, who did well both with bat and ball last season. D. Smith, an ex-Geelong Grammar School player, was one of Otago’s most promising youngsters last season, and put together 96 against Southland. Big things are expected of him this season. D. Cameron, who represented Otago last season and is a capable allrounder, will again assist Carisbrook, which will probably call upon his two younger brothers as well, while this club has secured a big acquisition in D. A. R. Moloney, the all-rounder, who has gone over from Old Boys, and who bowled well against Auckland a couple of years ago. Other well-known players in this team include W. A. Priest and the representative wicket-keeper, W. Hawks worth. Grange will have much the same team as last year, and those wellknown representative players, Galland, Knight and M’Mullan, will again provide considerable stiffening for this eleven. The Auckland, R. G. Bush (the Rugby All Black) will assist Grange until he leaves Dunedin at the end of the school year, and other wellknown players in this side will include G. Lemin (who bowled particularly well for Otago against Wellington last season) and Chettleburgh. Old Boys and Albion will suffer few changes. The former ■will probably be led again by the ex-Otago skipper, A. W. Alloo, and Albion will be able to rely upon that dashing batsman and steady bowler, J. Shepherd. A promising player with Albion is J. M’Haffie, formerly successful as a member of the Palmerston North Boys’ High School team. The size of “Stone Mountain’’ Leavitt, a wrestler who has been meeting some of the best matmen in the States, is a hard problem for his foes. Leavitt w r eighs 3101 b. Hir girth is too great for a body scissors, and tossing a man of that bulk over the shoulder wdth a headlock is a man-sized job.

Hobbs Out First Ball. In his very first match for England v. Australia in England, Jack Hobbs, going in first with A. C. Maclaren, was out first ball. If anyone imagines that a professional player is less keen on cricket than an amateur, he should read Hobbs’s own description, in “Playing for England,” and of what his emotions were after that disastrous start to his test career, and, later, when he redeemed himself with a magnificent second innings effort: — “I felt terribly about my failure. I can tell you. How it rained that night, and how miserably I listened to the rain instead of going to sleep! Colin Blythe even bought me a little statue, ‘The Hope of His Side,’ and sympathetically presented it to me — ‘For luck in your next innings, Jack.’ And lucky it was; everything came right in the end. England led in the first innings by 47 and then, with Hirst and Blythe again hardly playable, the Australians were put out for 151, leaving us with only 105 to win. “C. B. Fry and I hit off these runs without being beaten. I scored 62 and Fry 35. That Maclaren should have sent us in together was another proof of his genius for captaincy, because Fry, curiously enough, had made the same score as I in the first innings —a duck! I shall always remember how 1 cracked Warwick Armstrong to the boundary from the third ball he bowled to me, and the confidence I felt from that moment until we made the winning hit. Walter Brearley rushed me from the dressing room to the top of the pavilion to face the roaring crowds. A wonderful experience. I was so deeply moved that I could only wave my cap and step back again.”

Dempster’s Success. A writer in the “ Sunday Express ” recently said: “ Dempster has been a real success here; and I should say that —always disregarding Jack Hobbs —he and Herbert Sutcliffe are now the two finest * openers ’ in international cricket. He is certainly a better bat than W. H. Ponsford, the Australian, and quite as good as the once * unbowlable ’ W. M. Woodful.” The Athletic Season. As they enter the 1931-32 season the amateur athletes of Canterbury and New Zealand find much before them to hold their interest. Uppermost in the coming events are the Olympic Games, which will be held at Los Angeles in May next year. At present there is every prospect that a team of New Zealand runners and field events competitors w’ill be sent overseas. This provides a strong incentive to all athletes to attain their top form. Sydney League Tearn. The Sydney Eastern Suburbs Rugby League team opened its New Zealand tour yesterday afternoon, when it defeated North Auckland by 23 points to 11. The visitors showed delightful combination and first-class passing, playing the ball with speed and accuracy. Outstanding players were Long (full-back) and Brown (three-quarter), who made electric rushes, and Norman (five-eighth), whose determined running frequently smashed the defence. In the forwards, who held their own against a good pack, Pearce and Stehr were prominent. The Northland team did not play as well as In its representative fixtures this year. The only try was scored by O’Callaghan, a forward. Hamilton converted. This player also kicked three penalty goals. The first spell ended 8 points to 4 in favour of the visitors.

Bad Luck for Grose. No one could have had worse luck than F. J. Grose in the New Zealand amateur 100 mile road cycling championship from Dunedin to Balclutha and back last Saturday (writes a “Star” correspondent). At half-way he was seventh, having gained 23 minutes on the leaders and being two minutes ahead of the next man. He continued to improve his position and was only about eight minutes behind the leader when he punctured thirty-six miles from home. He carried no spare tube, and even then finished fifth after effecting repairs, also putting up third fastest time. The winner was J. L. Richards, who held the championship, two years ago, and who also put up fastest time from the scratch mark on this occasion. He is a Christchurch rider who was tenth with half the distance covered, but greatly improved his position on the return journey. He went to the front twenty miles from home, but could not shake off D. O’Brien, the brilliant Otago road rider who, from the six-minute mark, finished second and put up second fastest time. O’Brien was beaten only by half a length after a magnificent finish. There were three thousand spectators on For* bury Park for the finish and large crowds lined the streets of the various towns on the route. a a a Outright wins scored in the Auckland Cricket Association’s competitions during the coming season- will earn more championship points than they did last summer. It is believed that the alteration in the table of points will make for brighter and more enter* prising cricket.