SCRAP BOOK JOTTINGS

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 37, 6 November 1937, Page 14

SCRAP BOOK JOTTINGS

* INTERESTING NEWS ITEMS

Woodfull as Journallsfc. Among those who will accompany the Australian cricket team to England next year will be the former captain, W. M. Woodfull. This time he will go as a journalist. Woodfull will cover the tour for a Melbourne daily, and will be accompanied by his wife •and children. - Nobody Wanted to Fight. Nobody wanted to fight Maurice Strickland, the New Zealand boxer, and Walter Neusel before their fight at Wembley on October 19. So great was the difficulty of findlng sparring partners that at one time it looked very much as if Strickland and Neusel would haVe to fight each other to get fit for the fight. The New Zealander's manager (Bill Daley, an American), coittmented disgustedly on the situation as follows: — "Say, what's eatin' your fellows over here? They want the earth just to go in a ring and spar for a few minutes with a guy. Over in the States. there's always a dozen good scrappers willing to do it for nothing/' Record Will Not Stand. Although Keith Pardon beat Myer Rosenblum's Australian 161b hammer throw of 144ft lin by 6ft 3in in Sydney recently, a record will hot be granted. The reason is that officials failed to issue a printed programme of the meeting, setting out the naihes of the competitors. Under these conditions no competitor in this season's inter-club contests has a chance oi claiming a record, as programmes are considered wasteful expenditure (says an Australian writer). Rosenblum was in the same position as Pardon in 1935, when he tossed the hammer 144ft 6iin. The performance was subsequently recognised as an Inter-club record, which is now displaced by Pardon's throw of 150ft 3in. Amendment of- the racing laws to allow endorsement of records when printed programmes have not been issued, will be considered at the December conference of the Australian Amateur Athletic Union. New South Wales and Victoria both favour a eh&nge, said Mr. A. J. Hodsdon, New South Wales delegate. "Pafdon's case is unfortunate, as all record conditions were observed, except that regarding publication of a programme."

Coombe Returning. : D. C. Coombe returned to New Zealand by the Tamaroa, after a very successful season in England. During the time he has been in England Coombe played in 20 tournamenis, winning 12 titles, made up of one Singles, eight Men's Doubles (with dilferent partners), and three mixed doubles (with different partners). He was also runner-up in six other tournaments for one men's singles, three men's doubles '(with different partners), and two mixed doubles (with different partners). In a letter to Mr. H. N. Burns, secretary of the New Zealand Lawn Tennis Association, Coombe said ha considered that his tennis hadf benefited considerably as the result of his tour abroad. First Time For 10 Years. When the New Zealand cricketers, now on the way home from England, played in Australia this month,. it was the first time that Australians and New Zealanders had met on the cricket field for 10 years. The last time a Dominion team played in Australia was when the 1927 team on the way home from England met a New South Wales side in Sydney, and the last Australian team to visit New Zealand was the one thai came over toward the end of the same season. That team included such notables as W. M. Woodfull, W. H. Ponsford, A. F. Kippax, V. Y. Richardson, A. Jackson, W. A. Oldfield, C. V. Grimmett and D. Blackie, so that. almost amounted to »H-lest»gleyeiL \S' '

Hutt Golf Championship. Playing golf of a high standard, R. G. Holland, Wai^etu, won the Winter Cup competition at the Hutt Golf Llub's open tournament by beating T. H. R. Boon, Titahi, by 4 and 3 in the semi-final and then covering the course in even 4's in the afterqoon to take the cup by outplaying H. A. Black, Miramar, in the final by 2 and Oxenham Recovering. R. K. Oxenham, the well-known Queensland and Australian all-rouhd cricketer, who was seriously injure'd in a motor -smash a month ago, has regained consciousness. An X-ray photo* graph disclosed a double fracture at the front and also at the back of the skull. It will be necessary for him to remain in hospital another month at least. A Bowling Recovery. A remarkable recovery took place in a recent bowling match between teams skipped by de Launay, Carlton, and McCullough, Papatoetoe, 4a a tourney. held by the Ellerslie Bowling Club. McCullough held a commanding lead of 27 to 5 with two-thirds of the game played. De Launay's team, nowever, playing brilliantly, squared the contest after being three poinlc behind with one head to.play. * " Junlor Golf Winner. ^ The Remuera Golf Qlub's junlor championship was won by J. P. Ralph, a member of a well-known golfine family. His father, W. S. Ralph, iTa former holder of the Auckland amateur championship, while his mother won the Auckland Ladies' Club title last week. An elder brother, Peter won the junior title last year and is the present holder of the - Auckland schoolboys* championship. Ponsford May Come Back. It is rumoured in authoritative Australian cricket circles. that W. H. Fohsford, the famous Victoriaa and test match batsman, may retum to the game this season after his two years' retiremeht. Ponsford, who has visited New Zealand with an Australian eleven, was. one of the greaiest of the world's post-war batsmen, and, next to Bradman, the most prolific scorer for Australia in, the tests against England. He is 37 years of age. Don Bradman. . Don .Bradman, the Australian cricket captain and world-famous batsman, in the opening club in Adelaide, failed in the first innings and Kensington lost. Against Sturt the next week, he could only manage 8 before he achieved what-he described as the "worst stroke of his career." Bradman reached the quarter-flnai of the South Australian squash racquets championship, and was second favourite to Schwartz for the title. Then he had to withdraw on account of a slight shoulder injury. Australian Cricket Selectors. The Australian Board of Cricket Control has reappointed as its selectors Messrs. E. A. Dwyer, New South Wales, W. Johnson, Victoria, and D. G. Bradman, South Australia. The Australian team for England, -which will consist of 16 men, will be /chosen on January 27 next, immediately after the match, New South Wales v. Victoria in Sydney from January 21 to 25, and will be submitted to the board in Melbourne on the same day. The payment to the manager of the team will be £650 and to the players £60Q. Another Champion. Australia seems to have discovered another cricket genius in the New. South Wales man V. E. Jackson, who is not yet 21. His performances are considered to be the more gratifying because he is an all-rounder — a type of player which is in short supply at present. "I shall he very disappointed," writes O. Wendell Bill. "If he does not develop into the greatest allrounder we have produced since Stan McCabe. "Here is a young player who possesses the high skill and natural genius found only in champions. His displays in this season's grade matches one might expect from such masters as Bradman, McCabe and O'Reilly at the peak of their form. He secured 10 wickets in a single innings in any sort of cricket and under any conditions is a rare performance, but Jackson ac- . complished this* feat against a firstclass batting side on a wicket entirely in its favour. Other bowlers oi some repute could make no impression, but Jackson, with clever variations of pace, flight and spin, forced the batsmen into errors, taking the 10 wickets for 78 runs; * A New Cricket Bat. In recent years there have h'een many innovations introduced in the making of a cricket bat. This season (states a writer in the Sydney Mail) the Australian cricketer will have an opportunity of trying a new rubber processed "bat which has been satisfactorily tested by leading players. In the ordinary making of a cricket blade, the willow logs are split first into billets and then stacked td season. During this process the sap §Vag©t ates, leaving myriads of smali „ cells. Usually, considerable in the way of oiling has to Be §i¥§n . to the willow to fill the cells and vent them from crushing. Itt thb.fiBVY rubber processing method fehB rubber is forced into the triiiowj fiiling the cells and providing a BusliiBn to absorb the shock of the iiiipaBt the cricket ball. The appearari6§ 6£ the new .bat is in no way diff§?8Hl from other makes as the rubbef is entirely invisible but it is claimed that the life of the bat is lengthened three" or four times, for the reason that the cells of the wood do not crush on contact with the ball, which goes off very smoothly, the batsman making his strqkes free from j&r. No oiling or facing is necessary, so that the bat may be taken straight from the fac- . tory to the cricket field.