DAVIS CUP WITHDRAWAL

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 421, 1 August 1928, Page 1

DAVIS CUP WITHDRAWAL

CZECHS PARTLY TO BLAME REPORT FROM N.Z. TEAM (Special to THE SUN) WELLINGTON, Tuesday. The withdrawal of the New Zealand tennis team from the Davis Cup was due to a combination of circumstances, according to a report from Mr. J. C. Peacock, manager of the team. The report, which was received by the secretary of the New Zealand Lawn Tennis Association, Mr. Murray Kean, states that the team found it impossible to reach Czecho-Slovakia in time to gain practice for its match against that team. F. M. B. Fisher had up to that time had very little practice and was not available. Russel Young could not go to Prague, because of having to sit for examinations at the University of Cambridge. Peacock himself was not in very good form, and E. D. Andrews anticipated that it would be difficult for him to get leave from Cambridge a second time in order to make the trip. Consequently it was decided to make an effort to have the match played in London, and the New Zealand representative in the capital obtained the provisional approval of the Davis Cup authorities for this to be done, provided that Czecho-Slovakia agreed. The Czechs, who, under the rules of the contest, had the right to play at home, refused to go to London, but did not notify their decision until after a fortnight had* elapsed. On May 28 they announced that they had set down June 7, S and 9 as the dates of the contest at Prague. This meant that if the New Zealand team was to get any practice in Prague before the match it would have to leave practically at once, and this Andrews could not do.