GAMES AND PLAYERS

Press, Volume LXXXII, Issue 24908, 22 June 1946, Page 4

GAMES AND PLAYERS

ATHLETIC SPORTS

(By MILES.) Basketball for Footballers A good deal of physical training will be necessary if Canterbury is to lift the Ranfurly Shield from Southland or Otago, and the selectors, no matter how well they do their work, will not get results if their men cannot go from start to finish of the two spells. Players have a duty to their selectors and to Canterbury to see that they are sound in wind and limb, and they will alscxfind that two nights a week on the lighted training ground will not give them the necessary stamina to play a hard game. At this period of the season each man should ba in good condition, but the last quarter-hour in recent matches has shown that there are many with “bellows *o mend.” Because of the weather, outdoor training is not always possible, and indoor work must be done. Basketball offers a great opportunity for footballers, and five minutes watching the competitions at the Y.M.C.A. buildings, held twice a week, will convince anyone of the value of basketball. The game demands speed in footwork, accuracy in handling, and a degree of combination demanded by few other indoor games. a big number of teams, with an occasional footballer included, take part in these competitions, and a suggestion offered to the Canterbury selectors is that they should fully consider the advisability of nominating two or three teams of prospective representatives. Next season the different clubs might well consider running a basketball competition with a view to giving the players every chance to get fit for the bigger game. Two spells each of seven minutes will test the staying powers of most young athletes, and in the case of footballers it may do much to correct the very many bad mistakes made in handling. Championship Ties

The tie in the American Open ChamE ionship at the end of four rounds, when loyd Mangrum, Byron Nelson, and vic Ghezzi returned the same score, was not unprecedented, though this was the first time that three players had tied. When the championship was played at Toledo, Ohio, in July. 1931. G. Von Elm and Billie Burke each .returned aggregates of 292. They tied again with 149 for 36 holes, but on a second replay Burke won with 148 against 149. In the 1946 championship the ties* were played off over only 18 holes. The three tied again with 72 in the first play-off. but in the second, Mangrum again returned a 72 to beat the others, who both recorded 73. Rugby Scoring

By converting three tries and kicking a penalty goal in the game against,University last Saturday, J. D. Morton, the Christchurch five-eighths, brought his total points in club matches this season to 52. His nearest rival, P. CaUanan, of Marist, scored eight points on Saturday, to bring his total to 35, and J. W. Kelly, University, now has a total of 31 points. The other leading scorers are E. Lucre (Training College) 27, P. Gilmour (Sydenham) 23, D. Gibson (New Brighton) 22, T. Jackson (Technical) 21, R. S. Thompson (Old Boys) 21, D. Herman (Technical) 20, R. Burke (Sunnyside) 19, E. Jackson (Albion) 19, T. Moran (Sunnyside) 18. A. Cochrane (Christchurch) 18, G. Ennis (Merivaie) 17, and ■R. Cameron (Linwood) 17. Most tries have been scored by Thompson (7) and Cochrane (6). England’s Test Team

The names of most of the players selected to represent England in the first test ' match against the ■ touring Indian cricket team will have a familiar ring to most followers of the game in New Zealand. W. R. Hammond; the captain, been in brilliant form this season, although he has had to miss several matches through illness. - W. E. Bowes, the Yorkshire fast bowler, has also done well, but it is doubtful whether he is as good as before the w r ar; his thirty-eighth birthday will fall next month, and for a fast bowler this is an advanced age. J. Hajdstaff, of Notts, who recently returned from India, is said to be as good as ever before, and although Len Hutton, the Yorkshire batsman, has not done all the brilliant things he was expected to do, he must have been one’ of the first chosen. An injury to an arm received during the, war was thought likely at one time to interfere with his cricket,, and this may still be causing him trouble. Denis Compton, the Middlesex all-rounder, has made some big scores this season, and' C. Washbrook (Lancashire) a well-known opening batsman, has also been in good form. In D. V. P. Wright (Kent) the side has a bowler who performed well in the last .series of tests in 1938. A surprise choice was T. F. Smailes (Yorkshire), a right hand med-ium-paced bowler. In the last season before the war he made 732 runs for his county at. an average of 25, and took 80 wickets at an average of 21 runs each. A cricketer with many seasons behind him, Smailes is said to be slow in the field. The two newcomers to big cricket are A. V. Bedser (Surrey), and J. T. Ikin (Lancashire). Bedser, a fast-medium right hand bowler and useful forcing bat, had some fine performances to his credit in war-time matches, and appears to be a very likely candidate for the team to go to Australia. Ikin is a sound lefthand bat and right-hand slow bowler. One of his chief assets is said to be his excellent big match temperament—a virtue usually associated with Lancashire players. The wicket-keeper is P. A. Gibb, the Yorkshire amateur, an excellent batsman who did well on the last South Africa* tour. The English selectors are set a problem in finding bowlers for the Australian tour at the end of the year, and they must also be looking for young batsmen. The ages of the players selected, Bedser and Ikin excepted, are: Hammond 43, Bowes 38, Gibb 33, Hardstaff 35, Hutton 30, Compton 28, Washbrook 31, Wright 31, Smailes 35, and D. Brookes (Northants), the 12th man, 30. Professionals and Amateurs

Men who play for Australia in the test matches against the English League team wiH each receive £32 for each game played, £25 for the game itself, and £7 to cover expenses of training and loss of work during, the week preceding the match. When the last English cricket team toured, Australian test match players each received a bonus of £3O, and when playing outside their own states an additional 25s a day for out-of-pocket expenses. In League football it is not necessary for a player to receive money before being classed as a professional; but manv Australian cricketers have made big sums of money out of playing cricket without their amateur status being infringed. Breach of Rules

Several spectators at the interprovincial golf match between Canterbury and Wellington at Russley last Saturday commented upon an apparent breach of the rules by one of the players in the leading foursomes. This player had occasion to remove pine needles from the line of his putt on several 'greens, but on two of three occasions brushed them away with his hand, and it was in doing this that he broke the rules. The second part of Rule 28, under the heading, “Removal of loose impediments,” states: “In moving any loose implement with the club, it must not be laid with more than its own weight upon the ground, nor must anything be pressed down either with the club or in any other way.” The third section of the same rule Is as follows: “The line of the putt must not be touched except by placing the club immediately in frbnt of the ball in the act of addressing it, and as aEove authorised.” The breach committed was perhaps not a serious one, but it definitely was a breach. More Success for Merritt

Cricket enthusiasts in New Zealand will be pleased to see the name of W. E. Merritt again appearing in the cabled scores of the county matches in England. In the seasons before the war Merritt enjoyed considerable success with Northamptonshire, and in recent weeks he has made a score of 70 against Surrey, taken three wickets for 33 against Derbyshire, and seven for 63 against Gloucestershire. Although he has played first-class cricket for about 20 years, Merritt is still not 38 years of age, and should have several more seasons’ cricket before his retirement Obstruction Rule

The manner in which coaches could improve the game by putting an end to obstruction was the basis of a lecture given by Mr Lance Johnson at a recent meeting of the Canterbury Rugby Coaches’ Association Describing obstruction as “a menace to the game,” Mr Johnson said that coaches all had their own shrewd moves, but many of them were based on the. obstruction rule. Two of the worst offences were the deliberate putting out of a foot by the side row men, and standing on the side of the scrum, both these obstructing opposing players from coming round the scrum Obstruction usually resulted in frayed nerves, and eventually upset all the players, and the whole game, said • Mr Johnson. A further bad case cited was tackling an opponent after he had kicked the ball. Mr Johnson asked for the cooperation of coaches, stating that in their coaching they could remedy quite a number of the offences which occurred. Squash Rackets Championships

The New Zealand squash rackets championships will be held at Timaru in September next, the first championships to be held since 1939. The last Dominion championships were held at the Royal New Zealand Naval courts at Devonport in Auckland, W. E. Renton. Timaru,, securing the major honours. P. D Hall, of Hawarden, won the handicap contest. Clubs have recently been experiencing difficulty in securing balls and equipment, but it is hoped that these will be in better supply by September.