TOPICAL TATTLE

Evening Star, Issue 23383, 28 September 1939, Page 3

TOPICAL TATTLE

NEWSY NOTES ON SPORT DUNEWMITES IN TASMANIAN RUGBY

[By H.P.S.]

Night Cricket.

Extraordinary interest is taken in night cricket in Adelaide, and more than 400 teams, are registered. There •are 18 players in each team, and all have to bat and bowl two overs each of 12 balls. In the senior senes of matches last season the rate of scoring exceeded 600 runs an hour, so there is at least plenty of movement. Springboks Injured.

Many members of the Springbok Rugby side which toured New Zealand in 1937 have been the victims of accidents on the playing field' in recent weeks. Two of the latest to be rather badly hurt are Fanie Louw, Transvaal captain, and Tony Harris, the brilliant fly-half. Louw sustained severe concussion whJf he was thrown heavily to the ground by an opposing forward, and Harris suffered a badly torn thigh muscle. Prominent Scullers.

Joe Burk, winner of the Diamond Sculls at Henley, and Bobby Pearce, world’s champion sculler, were set down for trials against the watch at the Canadian Exhibition, for amateur and professional could not blend. It would not surprise if the American turned professional next year and challenged Pearce for bis title. Burk is 14st 21b and stands 6ft 3in. Pearce, who is now in this’thirty-fourth year, would be giving him 61b. Rugby in Tasmania.

Rugby football players and followers Jiave had their share of wet weather this season, but it is interesting to hear that it has interfered with football in Tasmania as well _ as in this country. Many old-time Albion cricketers will remember Mr W. Gibson, and in a letter to a Dunedin friend he mentions that one of the Rugby grounds rented from the Hobart City Council at £7O per annum was so bad on a recent Saturday that the referee had to transfer many of the scrums from the place where they should have been taken to firmer and more suitable

points. Among the referees acting in Hobart just now, added Mr Gibson, are ! Mr .A. Lavender, formerly a member of the Pirates second grade team in Dunedin, and Mr G. C. Israel, a nephew of-the late Mr “Gerry” Israel, . who • was well known in Dunedin cricketing circles some 110 years ago, Mr Israel, who is a graduate of Otago-University, is now attached to the . staff of the University at Hobart. Mr; Gibson's two younger sons are playing Rugby in Hobart.

Unusual Golfing Incident. An unusual golfing incident resulted in James B. M'Farland, a well-known American amateur, being arrested on a charge of manslaughter. He was later released on bail of £4OO. While he was plying at the Huntington Valley Country Club course M-Farland’s club slipped out of his hands and struck on the left temple his 35-year-old caddy, Klemming, who was standing 16ft away. Klemming died without regaining "consciousness. The police quoted M’Farland as saying that he gave a •wild swing in of ill-temper after slicing a drive, and that the club flew from his hands, which were damp with perspiration.

Sheffield Shield Cricket. It is almost certain that Sheffield Shield cricket 'will be played itt Australia next season, as three of the States have already decided in favour of carrying on. Tne Board of Control meeting will be held on October 12. At that meeting the new chairman will be appointed, and a decision will he made whether an Australian team w3l be sent to New Zealand in February, as previously arranged. The present indications are that the tour will be cancelled. Footballer and Athlete. A member of the Canterbury Rugby team which toured the North Island recently, I). Herman, has other athletic interests besides football. M'Lean Park, Nap ier, where he played recently, was familiar ground to Herman, for it was on that ground in March of this year that he won the shot-putting event at the New Zealand athletic championships. He was actually defending the title, which he won in 193 S with a putt of 40ft 9|in. This year he achieved 43ft siin. Herman gave a good account of liimself in last Saturday’s All Black trial. Lumbago Victim. Lumbago,, the bugbear of Leslie Ames and "other cricketers, recently claimed Walter Hammond as a victim. It is believed that this was Hammond’s first touch of a troublesome complaint, which has a nasty habit of recurring at the most inconvenient time. Ames stated that he derived immense benefit since he gave up wicketkeeping on medical advice; actually it was his own suggestion to the doctors, who had not thought of itl Firemen’s Recreation. A ready response to the activities of the physical welfare and recreation branch of the Department of Internal Affairs is stated to have been found in fire stations. Many of the fire stations had developed their social and recreational facilities' in the past, and the branch had been able to quote their work to fire stations elsewhere and disseminate useful information. In its various activities the. Wanganui fire station has shown much enterprise, including the organising of billiards, boxing, dancing, and social evenings, indoor bowls, and tennis. It has further shown its willingness to co-operate with , other bodies by allowing the use of the tennis court to the Wanganui Ladies Basketball Association, which uses the court for practice during the winter by ekctric lighting. Locke in Form. “I think I played some fine g<?lf,” commented Bobby Locke just prior to leaving London for South Africa, and I shall flv from South Africa to England in I§4o. There is an Imperial Airways service from Durban, and that will be my method of travelling next April. I promise you that if I win the British Open I will buy an aeroplane and fly it home to South Africa. ’ Locke explained that he was keen on flying, and that he had done 25 hours’ training in South Africa. “ I haven’t flown during this trip because I didn’t know how it mixes with championship golf; but if I win the open next year I’ll feel like flying to the moon.” Locke .refused to be drawn on the subject of Cotton, saying h$ preferred not to talk abcut *“*