"FAKED" SCORES.

Shannon News, 7 March 1924, Page 4

"FAKED" SCORES.

PRACTICE IN ROWIjING GAMES. The practice of "faking" the scores in> bowling games with the object ofletting the losers, off lightly in the eyes of the public, has, ,it is said, been prevalent during the Dominion Championship* Tournament, and has aroused considerable discussion. As a result of this many of the "official" results have been quite misleading, as regards the final scores, although the winners of the games are stated correctly. The matter seems to rest largly with the skips of the winning teams. Frequently when they have piled up big scores against their opponents, they will agree to give the, latter the last three or four heads, with scores of twos, threes, or four. The cards are then signed as correct and the results posted up and published in the newspapers wrongly. The inequality of the practice occurs when some skips let their, opponents down lightly in this way, and, others refuse to do so, maintaining that bowls is a game similar to cricket, and tennis, and that the scores, therefore, should be correctly stated. The score of 31 points to 3 recorded against H. P. Dobbs (St. Albans) on .Saturday was correctly stated because the .skips believed in showing the actual result. But in other games, where a< similarly high score had been made against an opponent the latter had been given a few fours out of courtesy. At the Linwood' green an Saturday, in the postsectional games,; one skip gave three opponents eight points in at the end of his games, and in. a particularly important, game pn the St, Albans green a skip who made three in the last head ' gave his opponent a four instead. The practice, though general, is denounced by the great majority of players. Winning skips who fake their score cards explain that they do it because it has become the custom, but that it is entirely wrong in principle. The consensus of opiniom among a number of prominent players with whom a "Lyttelton Times" reporter discussed the subject, was that the time had arrived when the Dominion Council and all centres should insist on the score cards being filled in correctly, no matter how great a difference there might be in the scores. It is probable that the matter will be brought up at an early meeting of the Dominion Council. ■