BILLIARDS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1081, 21 March 1911, Page 7

BILLIARDS.

——' ■■■■•■ I ; MATCHES FOR GRAY. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyrieht London, March 19. C : A billiard match between Gray and Stevenson is unlikely, but a meeting between Gray and.lnman is almost assured. Crystallate. balls will be used, and th-9 I stakes will be .£250. aside, the winner taking ■60 per centum of the "gate." t John Roberts, on behalf of Gray, has challenged Stevenson, the English cham- I pion, to a match 18,000 up, level, for .£IOOO aside, the match to be played 1 in September next, and ivory balls to be used.. . c GRAY'S FAMOUS STROKE. •Writing of the play of George Gray. \ tho eighteen-year-old Australian billiard , champion, "W.R.5.," in the "Manchester Guardian" said recently :—"lmagine a ,! line drawn across tho table from centre pocket.to centre pocket. About half-way between , this and the baulk lino construct: an imaginary circle. Gray's object is by means of a losing hazard to force, one of the other balls—preferably, of course, the red, us a successlul hazard ' o)f .it counts one more point—inside this i imaginary circle. It is not a difficult shot i by any means, tho losing hazard that he t plays in tho centre pocket. The diffi- < culty is in bringing the object ball back < from tho top cushion into the circle. But' Gray has so trained himself to the I stfoke that when once ho begins it there ] Bdems no reason why ho should ever stop. • .'"The red ball goes up to-the top cusli- ; ion almost in the centre of the table, i In the long series of shots with which Gray began this afternoon it rarely got more than <v coujlo of inches away from thfc centre of the table. It was in its nearness to or distance from the baulk line, .on its return, .that it' varied most. Sometimes it' almost came too far down, but Gray easily got it back again into the right place. Sometimes—but very rarely—it did not come far enough. But a', losing hazard into the top pocket' though not played by any means with the fifime certainty as the one into the middle pocket, brought it back into portion for.the easier stroke. Gray uses no t'de for the middle pocket stroke. ,l);e red is hit rather more than half ball, un.l it tfatals pretty nearly straight up the table and down again. The hazard itself, once thd red has been got within the imaginary circle, is, of course, easy enough. The amount of strength required to drivd the .'red to the top of the table and back again. is entirely a matter of oracHce. Any amateur, if he devoted a few hours to practising this particular shot, could eoon make a considerable break, provided that lie.found himself left with the proper position. How to force the position for.one's self is,.of course, quite another matter. That needs skill of a very different sort. "As to whether the stroke which has made Gray famous is destined to brim» about a revolution in billiards it is not cas.V at the moment to decide. One thing is quite certain. If Higgle were to practise the stroko as assiduously as he must have practised the delicate cannonj he plays so prettily , he would be quite as skilful at it ns Grey. And the same may be paid of Stevenson. Itcece, Liman, and all the other great Drofessional players of the present-day. The 'anchor' stroke, tho spot, stroke, nnd the 'push' stroke .have ench had their day. If is quite conceivable that were (lie stroke now «o closely nssoci»ted with Gray's name to figure prominently in all big matches it, too, would soon have had its day. It is a fascinating stroke to watch for a time. But the' fascination soon wears off." A champion bulldog, purchased six years aEO for .£BOO, and insured -at Lloyd's for ,£7OO, has died. The valuable animal was Ifoynl Stone, belonging to Mr. Stephenson, of Leeds, and it had won four championships and more than 500 prizes. The Birmingham school authorities are contemplating establishing a course in gun-making as a part of the city school system by taking over the classes that are now maintained b ythe Gun-makers' Association.