English Tennis Players Dogged By Bad Weather

NZ Truth, Issue 1196, 1 November 1928, Page 16

English Tennis Players Dogged By Bad Weather

FOR TRUSTY HANDS AND TRUE .'•;■: .■ ■ : •■■• : .- ' • ' ■ ' ; ' ; ■» - — : — . ■ ■■.•■"■■■.■. Dominion's Tennis Destiny May Rest In Players of Experience

CFrom "N.Z., Truth's 'Speci al Tennis Correspondent.)

It's a long 1 shower that never stops falling, but New Zealand skies have been a good.cousin to the Tasman for the past week, and when the British tennis team meets New Zealand it may be a side selected m the dark. ; V . , . / ,

T AST time the Dav.iS'Cuip was be Lj decided m. the "Dominion ', that wizard of tennis, Gorman Brookes, vigorously opposed bringing the match across to. New Zealand. He said -that the New Zealand climate was too fickle.

But "fickle wasn't the word f or -the weather whTch ' greeted Gregory's men m Christchurch. It was a ; spiteful, fitful, squalling child which worried the tennis men out of- all conscience. Arid finally the match 'had to .be. purtailed. Weather,, trial matches and; the heirs of the flesh have left few men with great- claims; to inclusion m the New Zealand side, and when selectors, Jeff Ollivier and Murray Kean looked; over the Wellington match they could not have seen very much to inspir.e them; Evidently the. New Zealand ..Lawn Tennis- Association is- riot taking any risks with young blood for the test match.y The fact: that Ollivier, (Christ-, ourch) and Bartleet (Auckland) have been appointed to the selection committee seems an earnest of; the fact that the big four, when announced, will include the names of .these two veterans. ' ' ' .■.-' -'■•■.. '*" ' •>■ ".'■' Who the other two will be it is difficult to say, but .N.Z. Truth" wbul d not blink an -eye if- the percentage of Aucklanders- m the national side proved to be heavy. .-. Two things have emerged from the trial matches m, Christcfyurch and Wellington. Fact 'number one is that outside Ollivier there is nothing m the South Island with a show of a chance b.ut ( young; Charlie ; Angas. Fact number two is that outside the brilliant doubles colt, ... Noel Wilspn, all -the Wellington V men are below form. Somebody may. shoot into prominence m the matches which are being played as this appears., but the trials have shown clearly that Malfroy is distinctly below par, that Len." France is not fully .fit and that Don. France (nursing an injured finger) may come off. but most likely may not.

If Wilson fails that means that Auckland, favored by its slightly earlier start m; real play,", will claim its rightful quota m th^ team. Stedman, the University crack-vis reported' to he i'n fine fettle, and; if .his. claim is made better than that ! df, the solid, but handicapped Sturt, it will be no surprise ,to see him -in the New ' Zealand side.

Simiis also a distinct possibility, and

.Jimmy Laurenson, from • his habit '■ of playing startling tennis, is sure to have his name well before the selectors.

Much depends upon Whether the selectors are going on last season's form, ar whether Edgar .Bartleet has his eye well and truly, upon the men at the northern, end of New Zealand. How he is to keep them all under surveillance is not. clear.

At present it seems fairly certain that the Dominion team will be drawn from Ollivier, Bartleet, Angas, Wilson, Laurensori and Sim.

England's hope m the tennis .world of to-day .is H. W. ("Bunny") Austin, a slight, boyish-looking lad,* something of the build of ■ Cam. Malfroy, and m many of his strokes a replica of the _ Wellington; boy. . •_..,. Austin is the stylist of the team, true near the ground, sound on either, hand,-" and clever overhead, while inside the service line he is magnificent. ■ In his try-outs at Christchurch he concentrated on accuracy m his length, but it was apparent that he could have applied the speed at any moment. Austin contented himself with stroking practice, but occasionally he rose brilliantly to effect sonic undeniable coup, and the manner m which he varied his. pace, and concealed it, fre-quently-had his team mates guessing. Amid a succession of perfectly stroked ' sideline placements, Austin would drop a short angle shot somewhere near the service line, and invariably it was, just out of reach' and going away from his opponent, ci ."Bunny" is an expert volleyer, but -he will need to display- more . strokes against Geoff. Ollivier than he did m practice, to silence the New Zealander. He has polish- and .versatility, and his game is fashioned on the old English, school of tennis players. The pity is that he has not ■ the physique of Gregory, for as a stroke artist Austin is par excellence, and everything' he does makes 'the court look tidy. J. C: Gregory, is the hard hitter of the team and has control of every situation.

His s£yle reminds one of Laur-

enson, the ex- New Zealand singles

champion, for he takes shots on the run just as simply as if they

were dropped at his feet. He has a strong 1 first service, but his second ball lacks speed, though more

vrorkis applied to it than to the first ball, which goes straight and true like a cannon .ball.

Gregory's bacldiand was giving him trouble, and unless it improves it will prove a vulnerable spot for deep baseline drivers/ like Don. France and Mal r troy., .

On the forehand, however, Gregory will be a powerful foe for any New Zealander, and when paired with Austin he is capable of brilliant play. His work at the back of the court is a wonderful support to Austin's brilliance inside the service line, and they make a formidabl.e combination. Greg-pry has m addition the stamina to go all day, and he appears to be blessed with tlje ideal temperament . for match play. I. G. Collins, the present Scottish champion, has a flat forehand, resembling m many ways that of Norman Peach, the Sydneysider, while his mobility on the court is also similar to that of the versatile Australian. Collins' stroking on the forehand, taking the ball on a fairly high .stage of its upward bounce, is a model, of consistency, and he finds great length with it. His backhand loses speed, thi'ough the chop he applies to it, but the loss of speed is more than compensated for by his accurate placing. There appears to be a deal of wasted effort m his service, but it kicks up deceivingly and turns nicely off the turf. Ei Higgs, the oldest /member of the team, could not master either. the. balls or the turf on the first day, -but m the second try-out he impressed the gallery by his well-planned and Veilexecuted driving, , all of which is on running- his opponent out of court. He carries the best service, and while his preparatory gyrations . are a bit queer — something- after the, style of -Bill Melody— every ball is hit truly and goes away with the purpose of being an ace. ' <

Higgs is "delightfully sound' overhead, but he did not do enough volleying on which to form an opinion. . .The Englishmen are likeable fellows and .are bound to create a good 'impression with, their carefree, unaffected manner, arid the abandon with which they approach the garni.