Sporting Sprints.

Maoriland Worker, Volume 2, Issue 66, 14 June 1912, Page 13

Sporting Sprints.

The Royal Melbourne (Jolt Club's championship has been won by N. JC. Brookes, the lawn tenuis champion. Itwas deeid' d hv three rounds ot stroke play. # ♦ * Parliament may think so, the police may (hiiik so, and the public may tb.'.'ik bo, but in-lighting has not boon putdown, observes a Sydnoy exchange. It may have been super* ssod to a great extent in the boxing ring, but the roped arena is not the only place where a hefty young fellow has an opportunity to use Ins hands with o fleet, Bettor chances for snappy work, "in close," at least, are olten given in Rugby football scrums. When (lie front row men hunch their shoulders and get down to it in the scrimmages, they don't forgot that they have hands to hit with, and tho half-arm jolts which are traded when heads are lowered are woll worth avoiding. The front row forward who comes throngh a Saturday afternoon game wilh face, and body unmarked must have a fine smother. The men who play baseball, "the glorified rounders game,''' as tlie "Bulletin" calls it, are no longer to be sneezed at in Sydney. They are an army, and by sheer force of numbers compel respect. The secret of the growth of the game in Sydney is that it is an ideal one for the cricketer during the winter months, so the cricketer lays down his bat to take ur» his waddy and frying-pan, and keeps himself in splendid nick- all the time. Also, make no error ahrut it, it is one of the healthiest games imaginable, though it does not call for the desperate derring-do of any form of football, and as time goes on it. will become increasingly popular. Come to think of how hard is the Australian, soil, and it is simply marvellous that football holds its own as well as it does. Australia missed another possible world's sculling champion when Thoroughgooil was discovered so late in life, says Sydney "Sun." It is understood that lie is now about <I 2 years of age, but had be been brought to light when he was under .30 he would have made a grand sculler. He is a splendid specimen of manhood, and prettily built all •Oyer —a man who gives one tho impression of being possessed of enormous strength. » # » ' On many tceasions during his brilliant Rugby career, "Fred" Roberts has reaped tho benefit- of his early training in the Association game. Before h-c threw in his lot with Rugby. Roberts was a capable exponent of the, Soccer game, and frequently when l«-i is playing n Imul game on a wot ground. Hie s: 'ct-iors are surprised to boo his clever dribbling and footwork. On a ie<- nt occasion Roberts dribbled his way through half a score of opponents, and concluded by giving an accurate pass vviih his foot, which enabled a. comrade to score. It was a clever piece of work, and no one without a; good grounding in Soccer won I<l have attempted or ecu!J have carried it out successfully. « » m The Sydney Stadium is in a sta.te of transition, nut to say chaos. The work of roofiug-in has commenced, and is going with a roar and a bang, while the ailvery howl of Mcintosh urges the workmen to greater speed. It (the building—not tho howl) will re-open Bomewhoro about tho end of August, in a new and glorified form. An ordinary fight doesn't suit Mcintosh's idea, of the opening of tho most gorgeous battery emporium south of tho equator, ao the event will he celebrated by an all-nations' tng-of-wor, and the tiling is going to bo ono of the biggest of its aort.' The prize list will total £1000, in addition to which gold medals and Bashes will bo distributed amongst the champions of tho various tennis. The German merchants of Sydney havo formed a committee to get together a team of Peutschcrs. The French ■wool-buyers vow that they will produce the. conquerors. Fis-hopoulos of Athens is hard at work and so is I'cairatto of Rome. Chinese and Japanese

teams arc being organised, and a negro horde is to bo under tho command oi iMcVea. Then there aro tho united services, the railways and firemen, the polio*.', also the footballers. X * You stand in a ring for _0 rounds, To punch or be punched for semes of pounds; Till one or other goes cronk in the joints, When the referee rules him out on points ; Or else the police interdict the biff. To save the weaker being knocked quite stiff — That's Boxing. ii » • The game of hockey, as it is played to-day, calls for a greater variety of strokes than the average player .seems 'to think it necessary, writes "Bully"' in tiio "Otago Daily Time*." Seventy or 80 per cent, of our players have, but one stroke —the drive. This is the stroke uwd in taking a freo hit—just a plain smack at the ball while standing in the most favorable position for hitting. Rut in the course of every game the player is often so placed that a drive is impossible, as for instance when he has to deal with an opponent on his Ml. A player with a good wrist can often get the ball away from an opponent by lunging out to his left (where the ball is.) with the stick hold by the extreme end in the right hand, the point of the slick turned towards the player, the object being to transfer the' ball from his_ left to bis right side. If it comes off successfully the ball is placed in the proper position for a. drive. Another method which should be useful to a centre forward or inside left when placed on the wrong side of an opposing half is to hold the stick in tbe right hand by tlie end of the handle, reach out in the direction of the ball with the stick at arm's length the back of the stick on the ground, flat uppermost, and "job" the ball away in the direction of the left -.-, ing. These are mere spoiling strokes, and cannot, of course, se-'.ul the ball away any distance, hut the whole object of hockey is not necessarily to bang the ball into the middle of the next field. Tho scoop is another stroke of which very little use is made, but it is a most useful one, both for beating an opponent and for sending a short pass which is almost certain to lie easy to take. For half-backs there is no method of passing which gives so much command over tho ball, nor which can be so readily taken by a forward as the "push" stroke. It is not a hit, but just a flick, done with the wrist and forearm, and it has this great advantage, that at +he last instant a player may change his mind as to the direction of his pass and send it to right oi- left, straight ahead, or even behind him with ee.ual facility. - * * Frank I'ieato. who has returned to America from Australia, describes Hughie Mehegan as n clever, rutreed fighter of the Australian style. "lie hits well."' sn.id Viento. "is game and seasoned, and I think ho would give Wolgast a hard tight." Begins to look as though Soccer is tho coming game, of football in and around Sydney, remarks the "Bulletin." For this season's Gardiner Cup, which carries with it the State championship, a record entry of 21 teams is lying on the doormat—three mo>c than the total of League and Rugby first-grade teams combined. So what d'ye think of that, now? During tlie present season teams from Tasmania and Queensland will bo accommodated, and a vast arrangement of inter-distrrct Soccer will be flung forth on a startled world. How the devil the-y ail manage to get enough gate to keep the dog running is a mystery—a mighty mystery. # * * No batsman can he called "great" unless he is ambidextrous, says the " Bulletin." A batting artist who could change his leg side with impunity would give new life to the game, and, moreover, be tho inspiration for both-handed bowling. When the batsman, the field, and the audience are kept equally in doubt as to winch hand tho next ball is coming from, and the bowler is worried by casual conversions of "leg" into "off," and v>o versa, cricket will have something of the interesting character of a conjuring show.