Amateur Athletics.

Free Lance, Volume IV, Issue 188, 6 February 1904, Page 20

Amateur Athletics.

The Nelson Amateui Athletic and Cycling Club Sports, which were held on Monday last, induced quite a number of members of the Wellington Amateur Athletic Club to take part in the running events. T. Stubbs, from scratch, won the 100 yds handicap, in 10 2-sthsec. Kitching and O'Connor, who finished second and third, were receiving Byds and 9yds respectively. A. Milner (Wellington), with 30yds from Stubbs, secured the quarter-mile handicap and ran second to Richmond, a Nelson representative, in. the halfmile. Wellington was again to the fore in the 220 yds handicap, W. Talbot winning from. 17yds. T. Stubbs, who was on scratch, ran second to him. This runner is to be complimented on his form. One first and two seconds, all from scratch, are excellent. The Wellington Amateur Athletic Club Committee are taking the necessary steps' to insure a good meeting here next month. Local athletes are advised to keep in form.

Our lepiesentatives to the Australasian championship meeting, at Melbourne, made a creditable showing. Pollock, although he only landed in Melbourne on the eve of the meeting, ran well under the adverse circumstances. He put up even better performances than when he won at Wellington. The half-mile at the Australasian championship meeting must have been an exciting contest. Sutton, the winner, only beat Wheatly by inches, Pollook a couple of yards away, the time being only 2-sth of a second outside the world's amateur record. Hard luck for the Canterbury distance man, Simpson, to have to undergo vaccination. The three-mile event was a certainty for him. George Smith was s mply invincible at his special game. World's records are nothing to George when the hurdles are up. On the flat he was, however, outpaced. F. Ross, like his club-mate Pollock, met his fate in the walks. He beat standard time, however.

A motion proposed by Mr. Wiren at a meeting of the Cricket Association early in the season, was carried, instructing the Wellington delegates to the New Zealand Cricket Council to iequest that body to write to the"Tasmania, Victoria, and New South Wales Cricket Associations, asking when they proposed repaying the visit of the i\eu Zealand team to those States. Up to the present no indication has been given as to whether the motion referred to has reached the New Zealand Cricket Council, and many people are * ondermg what has become of it If the possibility of a visit from either of the States mentioned is likely to come off next season a move should be made by the Cncket Council before the end of the present season. I feel certain the mentioning of the matter as above will cause a pertinent question to be aB ked at the next meeting of the Management Committee of the Wellingt^ Cricket Association thereby causing the matter to be ventilated at the Cricket Council. * * * F R- Spofforth has been elected vicepresident of the Hampstead Cricket Club for the ensuing cricket season. "The form of our men in the North y. South match was very P} easm «toA^cWr landers," ib a comment in a Noitnem paper. . ,1 4. Daxling informed an interviewer that wha? the q Australian team badlyneeded is a good left-handed bowler to gn c variety to the attack. t+ i n infit as well for cricketers to ta^afftta^ta, of fcMar,lebo,J« Club is that "retired ill or hurt counts as equivalent to a not-out in compiling batting averages. Sydney on the 12th instant. Some Sydney figures -E. Jansen 123 (not out), Harm 49 Barlow 45, L. G Noble 41, Barnes 47, White 05, * . A. Iredale 55,' Meares 70 Kemnu, 03, Cranney 47, Quist 79, Pite 68. In this season's first-class cricket, M. A Noble has made 737 runs, at anaverace of 67 • Victor Trumper 729, at 66 27 Clem Hill 674, at 4814; R. A. Duff 619, at 56.27; and' S . B. Gregory 437, at 36.41.— Sydney "Referee. Norman Foster, a Queensland batsman of promise,, aggregated 210 (not out) in a championship match, in JBns37 - 1 f They have a recreation ground at Seatoun, but at the present time it is in a very primitive condition. Last batmday a cricket match was played there, but the ball hit the players oftener than it was struck by the bate in their hands. Still, they got plenty of run out of it, and fun at times makes up toi a lot of hard knocks. A writer in a Sydney paper says — "While cricketers and public alike are lamenting the want of good bowlers to dig the Englishmen out, the eyes or the selectors might be turned to the land of the moa, where Syd. Callaway the 'Mascotte' of Australian international cricket, is performing brilliant dee-els with the ball." A "Weekly Press" item —"Clifford Ridley has played many fine innings in senior cup cricket, but for a forcing and aggressive display his performance on Saturday took the palm. He has been cultivating the vigorous style or play recently, and those who remember his correct, though slow, play of a few years back, would hardly have recognised him as the same batsman last week.