ON THE GREEN

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 742, 15 August 1929, Page 13

ON THE GREEN

Bowls and Bowlers

(By

JACK HIGH.)

The task of recording “Wet Saturday and no play” has become somewhat stereotyped and monotonous of late, nnd Saturday was no exception to the rule. All fixtures were postponed early in the day, even the excellent Hillsboro* green not being available for Play. The Ponsonby rink, therefore, retains possession of the Edwin Stars, which it has held for some four months this season, and J. Thomas’s Sson PinT rlDk SUU h ‘ ida the

lnrTo.? ,A Ut u k , land challengers for the i? hIPS we T e °hligeil to forego tioi, „owing to the indisposiand T' ‘he three and skip. c. Muston of ohVii ' Scantlebury, and the duty l', h, ' llenEins the holders therefore ir.rt i v tJ ? e Edendale rink, entered by J Maud. The Xomads were resttamed from “nomading,” but wifh U,e promise of better conditions next Saturday, this band will resume its ?'; t ‘ v ‘ u y- ..The postponed game bei h ;; Grammar School Old Uovs and the Carlton Club is also fixed for » atrirday and, as the old boys will be in full strength, there will be room for all those who patronise the Carlton green during the winter. * * * Bowlers, in common with other members of the community, were pleased to welcome a gratifying change in the weather conditions this week, and the Eden Club was able to stage its Wednesday tournament under perItct playing conditions. There are no tournaments more enjoyable than those held under the auspices of the Mount —den Club, where keen play and the fcocial element are happily combined. Many of Auckland’s most prominent skips were participating, and the day’s play resulted in the sections being won J*y Duncan Fraser (Mount Eden) and C. it. Ilosking (Carlton). Fraser tied with E. B. Wright (Onehunga) in his section, and an exciting play-off resulted in a meritorious win for the Mount Eden player, who had to draw the winning shot when in a precarious position. G. R. Ilosking was, as usual, supported by G. Wrightson as number three, and this combination is always hard to beat. The final will be played on Saturday.

New Zealand bowlers have been greatly interested in the attempt of the Australian Bowling Council to legislate for the standardisation of the relative sizes and weights of bowls. The object underlying this regulation has been frequently misunderstood, but merely consists in the fixing of the maximum weight permitted for the different size bowls. The permitted weights are as follow:—i 7-Bin. bowl, 31b 2oz; 4 13-16 in. bowl, 31b 2oz; sin bowl, 31b 4oz; 5 l-16in bowl, 31b soz; 5 l-81n bowl, 31b 7oz; and 5 3-16 in, bowl, 31b 802 A mistaken idea was afloat in regard to these figures controlling weight and size, but the restriction is simple enough. If you had a 5 1-X6in. bowl you were allowed to use a bowl up to 31b soz, but no higher; you could come down as much as you desired, but the maximum weight must not be exceeded. The Australian authorities have been accused of legislating in favour of the composition bowl, as opposed to the lignum vitae variety, but they disclaim an>; such ' object. Bowlers will realise that it is impossible to procure an unloaded wooden bowl 5 1-16 in in size, with a weight approaching 31b soz, whereas the composition permits the additional weight with the same bulk. It is only those few fortunate individuals who possess that rara avis, a set of old woods, who can boast a weighty bowl in proportion to its size. It cannot be gainsaid that the Australian regulations must tend to the cultivation of the composition bowl m preference to the wooden product, and this is borne out by experience. The Queensland Bowling Association, which has on previous occasions been at variance with the Australian Bowling Council, has created some consternation by giving notice of motion to allow a smaller bowl than the present minimum size, 4 7-Sin., and the suggestion is made that a smaller size of 4sin. bo permitted. It is to be hoped that this proposal meets with the fate it deserves.

It has always been a noticeable feature that most Australian bowlers favour the composition bowl, while their New Zealand brethren fasteu their allegiance to the lignum vitae type. Probably the climatic conditions account for this diversity of tastes. Those bowlers who visited Australia for the test games in 192 S found that their woods lost weight

when exposed to the Australian sun in continuous play, and, if there is one thing any New Zealand bowler abhors, it is the loss of even an ounce of weight. Probably the playing qualities of the bowl have not been affected in the slightest degree, but it is hard to convince the owner otherwise.

The composition bowl is slowly but surely gaining ground in New Zealand, due primarily to the difficulty in procuring sufficiently weighty bowls of lignum vitae. Up to the present few of the foremost players have discarded their woods for the composition article, but Benefield, Feilding, Baurenson, Ingram, Dec and Ilill are some of those who pin their faith to this material. The question whether the composition bowl is superior to the wooden bowl has often been debated, and is still unsettled. The position appears to bo that most of the leading bowlers aro already well suited with their woods and, therefore, are not disposed to discard their favourites for an unknown quantity. Maxwell Walker, without his little bowls, or Arthur Parsons, deprived of his full-bellied woods, might be quite another proposition in a game. It cannot be denied that the composition bowl has many advantages. It is possible to obtain the desired weight without having to contend with an unwieldy bowl, and the smaller bowl readily lends itself to more accurate driving and running shots. There is, however, a lack of “feeling” about a composition bowl which is a characteristic of the wooden variety. It seems an inanimate and unresponsive thing compared with the wood, and it is more difficult to acquire that delicacy of touch so essential to the dead drawing shot. This feature is apparent when playing on a keen green when the composition bowl has that tendency to “run on.” It is doubtful whether the question of superiority ivill be definitely settled until the composition bowl is more universally adopted, but it is apparent that this bowl is slowly but surely creeping into favour in New Zealand. This may not be due to any manifest superiority, but solely to the difficulty of procuring suitable woods.

MID-WEEK TOURNEY

MOUNT EDEN RESULTS A very successful all-day tournament was held by the Mount Eden Bowling Club yesterday. Ideal weather and the sound condition of the greens produced an excellent standard of bowling. The section summaries are as follow: Section A.—Fraser, Gatland, 4; Sinclair, Maher, 3; Russell, Turner, Pearce, 2: Morgan, 0. Fraser and GHtlarid played off. the former winning 7—4. Section B.—Hosking;, 4; Parsons, Far-ker-Hill, Allely, Tonkin, 3; Duncan. 2; Trayes, Robertson, 1. Hosking won the section outright. The play-off between Fraser and Hosking will take place on Saturday afternoon.

NOMADS V. RAWHITI

The following teams will represent the Nomads at the Rawhiti Bowling Club’s greens on Saturday:—F. Wright, H. R. Martinson, J. McDougall, C. W. Ross; C. Whitehouse, T. Cowden, J. Whitehouse, J Keenan; H. Yearbury, C. l’einches, J. Christmas. T. Fairbrother; S. Newman, G. C. Pickens, L. S. Francis, C. E. Clarkson; J. J. Donnell, J. Ambury, H. N. Bell, J. B. Ramsay; W. Hill, W. Skinner. J. Edgerley, W. F. Hardley; J. W. Hardley, D. G. McLeod, H. K. Clayton, C. Maher; W. Wilson, J. S. McMillan, Rev. W. D. Morrison-Sutherland, Rev. C. F. R. Harrison: R. Foster, J. Poole, Rev. .T. p a ttison, Rev. A. Drake; W. Platt, R. Wells, M. Young, Rev. W. P. Rankin. All teams will participate in the Rawhiti Club’s weekly novel scoring competitions.