THE SPORTSMAN'S LOG

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 979, 23 May 1930, Page 9

THE SPORTSMAN'S LOG

He Will Dine Well! Dr. G. Adams, of Wanganui, president of the New Zealand Rugby Union, will preside over the dinner which that union will give to the test teams in each of the four main centres. • » « Yorkshire batting progress—grim, grimmer, Grimmett. A Marathon Ski Race A Moscow Press message to an Australian exchange in April stated that a ski-ing race of 5,875 miles, between Khabarovsk (Eastern Siberia) and Moscow, has just been completed in j relays by 4.000 competitors, who took j S 5 days to complete the course. The j last lap was ski-ed by 23 special Soviet Army ski-ing experts. Bill Irvine’s Brother C. Irvine, a brother of the famous ’ All Black forward, is playing in Well- i ington this season, turning out for the : Johnsonville Club in the B grade. Unlike his brother, he plays fullback, and is a good one. He has come from Waipukurau, ar.d last season represented Central Hawke’s Bay. • Cross-Country Champs. A resolution has been adopted fixing the date of the New Zealand crosscountry championships for August 30. The course will be through the Hutt Valley, at Wellington. The 61-miles race will start from the Hutt Park and finish there, and the course will include some very difficult country.

The route will probably lead over Eaton’s Hill, but as this is privatelyowned land it will be necessary to i obtain the necessary permission to use this particular course, but a refusal is • not anticipated. The long course will include flat, hill, bog. metal, and num- ; berless fences, all of which should combine in creating a hairier test | second to none in New Zealand. Olympic Games Congress A proposal is to be made at the Olympic Games Congress at Berlin, beginning on May 25. writes If. M.

Abrahams in the “Athletic News.” that the period «•.' the Games shall be reduced so that the whole programme shall not be extended beyond three Sundays. That is all to the good. A motion is to be brought forward that women be admitted to the Olympic Games

only in gymnastics, swimming, lawn tennis and skating. There seems to i me i% be no logical basis for this j proposition at all. If women are j allowed in the Games why limit quite arbitrarily the sports in which they are to compete?

Old-Timer’s Welcome A feature of the arrival of the British team at Wellington op Wednesday was the welcome tendered the visitors by Dr. P. F. McEvedy, president of the Wellington Rugby Union. Truly, he may be termed an "old campaigner,” and his welcome, therefore, quite noteworthy. Dr. McEvedy, who has been well known in Wellington Rugby circles for a number of years, and is beginning to get down in other parts of the Dominion also, is himself a famous English forward. He was a member of the 1904 British team and the 190 S Anglo-Welsh team, both of which had successful tours of New Zealand. The 1904 team included only one Scotsman, like the present combination. but that was the captain, Bedell-Sivwright, while the 1908 team consisted of English and Welsh players only, but in those days Wales was a power in the land so far as Rugby was concerned.

Many Wellington Rugby enthusiasts .. e eyeing askance Mark Nicholl’s absence from the North Island Rugby trial last week. Xicholls himself told i Sun man that he had skinned one of his knees, and as the injury had become a little septic he did not want u> run the risk of aggravating it. A golf notice that reached us the other day contained at the bottom of the draw the information that players would play in fours. Plus fours, we presume. Wakefield Regrets . 4\. W akefield, originally chosen as skipper of the British Rugby team i that is now in the Dominion, is “very disaoDointed’’ the:

disappointed ’ that an injury has prevented him making the trip. In a letter to Mr. S. Dean, chairman of the management committee of the New Zealand Rugby Union Wakefield says tliis much, and adds: *T received an internal Injury last .Taniiarr

. . January, and I trjL.. , of ma king satisfactory pro . ] am afraid that tho damaao * a " s , uc!l that 1 shall not bo able to play football again. In am- case it would not have been well enough for mf, ' vlths t°oa the strenuoue thia summer. I trust and hope that our team will have a successful ■vin r h an f th n the samea om thers selv2f beneflt not only to ourbut also to you.” The Tetter concludes: “Do please gl T o my verv 1 vtliTTl regards to Richardson ! Yj?? 1 !?- and other friends in Xow Zealand, nnd tell them from me how sorry i „m that I cannot once agin renew old friendship.” E,U "

Calder Excels Himself Otago swimmers and swimming r>a ions are proud of It. c. Calder the province s and Dominion’s champion diter. And. as a matter of fact thev na\e good reasons so to be. for his record is a very tine one; and what i« ba . B been achieved by almost Splendid as many of Ins competitive efforts have been, howfTer# !has never done better work than he did during an exhibition a tne carnival on Saturday week. This was a meeting organised in connection with the campaign to raisfe funds t«-* send Calder to the Empire Games, and it was a great succors. Seacliff’s Goal Tally With three matches gone i n y ie Otago senior Soccer competition, Sea- ‘ liff and Technical are the only unbeaten teams, the former having’a fine goal record. On the opening Saturday its tally against Northern was o-0; this was followed with 4-1 against Port Chalmers, while on Saturdav week last Morn ington was swamped to the tune of 10-9. Thus SeaclifTa total in the “goals for” column is 21, while Port’s one solitary goal is the only score against it. Pretty good going.

La Barba’s Close Ca'l Fidel la Barba. former bantam - weight boxing champion of the world, who recently returned to the ring, i showed great gameness in a featherweight contest with “Bud” Taylor, in Chicago a few weeks ago. After i narrowly escaping a knock-out, in the* first round la Barba rallied and won j the decision in 10 thrilling rounds. In \ the first round Taylor had a knockout : within liis reach when he crashed a right to the jaw, which sent Fidel to the floor for the count of nine. Still dazed, la Barba came to his feet, but, with arms at side, defenceless, he ! offered Taylor a chance for victor'Twice more Taylor smashed his opponent, but la Barba courageously i hung on until the bell saved him. In the third round Taylor opened a cut on la Barba’s right eye. and had his j opponent in distress. In the fourth round, however, la Barba recovered, and from then on was absolute master of the ring.