MORE CUP COMMENT.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1624, 16 December 1912, Page 4

MORE CUP COMMENT.

. . BASE LINE OR THE NET? Comment seems almost useless now after so many good, reports have appeared, but the following will still be. of interest in view of the great and universal surprise that has been caused by the British Isles so handsomely winning the contest. "Austral" hits the mark when he says:"But What Back Court Driving!"

It is true that the Davis Cup is bound for a long-journey across the oceans. It is true that we have been beaten squarely and that our prediction as to the invincibility of the mighty Brookes has teen cast to the four winds of heaven bv the prowess of the undaunted Irishman; J. C. Parke, with his sprig of shamrock and his happy smile and strong rig-to am. ■ It is true that our pride has been shattered, and that the unbeatable champion has been beaten, and beaten by mere tack court drmng—but what back court driving! None the less is it that m this provin" fire of disaster and defeat the metal of "Australia shines an that which is greatest with a far greater lustre. The game of lawn tennis is a fine one, and ■ perchance it may be its enthusiasts are correot in saying there is none finer. Into that argument' we do not enter. Above all sports, however, is the spirit ot sportsmanship, and above all things in a sßortsman is the capacity to take a'defeat smiling, so as to be able to feel afterwards that one's first impulse was to admire the fine play pt the victor. . In that aspect Australia, like a Phoenix, arises rejuvenated from the ashes of her defeat, and has shown that in that which is tho finest feature of a sportsman she has no superior. When our conquerors tell us that tho sting of defeat is not felt, nnd ours is a victory and not a defeat at all.

When Brookes Stepped on th« Court. When tho mighty Brookes stepped on to t'ho court against the Irish, Scottish, mid Victorian champion, J. C. Parke, there was scarcely a man on the crowded benches who did, not take it for granted that ho would win, and there were perhaps only two men who were not sure One of these was Brooks himself, for all that was in his mind was a clear conception in every faculty on doing his utmost. The other was Parke himself, impelled by the same feeling, and no doubt sternly dispelling from his mind the idea of defeat. ' All the records indicated the success of tho vanquisher- of WHsM Alexander, M'Loughjin, Lonff, S, H, Smith, end A,

W. Core, and none of these records indicated that the Irish champion could do what thoso men had failed to achieve.

Tho opening fow games were no surprise, and the Victorian in, no way bettered his reputation when ho took t/io first three games to as many strokes. Then, however, tho dashing athloto carried his sprig of shamrock to tho front, and never afterwards looked liko a loser.

For yKir« wo have behoved that tho mero had no hope againit a (ikilful volleyer entrenched at Iho not, and if that volleyor were Brookes tho .caso oceined beyond argument. To Parke, however, Iho caso wan diferont. He saw u. ball and lie ran to it at full speed, nnd 'lw> rtruck it with all his might, 'i'lvero wan ,p<fl-clmnOß 'betweon tho roan at tho net and tho thin dido lino an inch or two of clear spaco. What was simpler than to hit tho ball to that unguarded inch? Tho thing was no sooner conceived than dono, and done onco it was (juito simple to his mind to do it again and again, till, in tho last rally, ho saw still one moro opportunity, oiLd with tho abandon of repeated success, ho struck finally for victory and old England. That,, it is true, was. only tho first rubber, but thero and thon tho end wa9 in sight, and Brookes onco defeated tho rest was oa easy as the addition of two and two. Our predictions of Australasias success wore founded on tho presumption that Brookes; being engaged in three rubbers out of fivo would win those three rubbers. Parko defeated him, and our prediction was a dissipated bubble that is now vanished into thin aiir. And what matter? When wo welcomed the British team on their arrival in Anßtralasia, and hailed them as tho first English lawn tennis team that had ever visited these shores, we said that the mere name of an English team was in tuno with victory ifcsolf. That was tho expression of an jnnor instinct, which honestly wo were convinced would prove unfounded, but instinct in. this case was truer than conviction, and the forlorn hope of England has achieved in its first attempt what the formidable teams from America could not, and that is success.

A Sportsmanlike Crowd. And now wo return to the wholly pleasant side, as to which we opened these remarks, and that is that unexpected as our defeat was, not a member of the record 7000 that assembled on the last day did rr said anything which showed that we could not take a defeat like sportsmen. • !,,.-' "Why," said Dixon m- the dressingroom, "one would think we had lost, you are all so pleased." "Who won? asked Parke at tiie end of the dinner on Saturday night. "I thought we did, tat you all seemed so delighted that 1 am oonfused." , What then! We can't win always. Brookes oan't always win all Ms three rubbers «s he has done three times, and if wo can't win, who next would, we wish' to but our brothers from the Home-; It is again, true that on the day Heath should have defeated Dixon, for the latter, was out of form, but such a result would have been a reversal of previous. .form, and in view of the display given later by the English veteran against Brookes, it is quite on the cards that had. Heath played better Dixon would have, risen to the But after all, it is only, the record, that stands, and various suppositions "cut no ice. Heartily, there? fore, and without reservation, we; con-, jrratukte Parke first and-his team mates second, and the British Isles next. on. their magnificent victory..