The Field of Sport

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 303, 7 December 1936, Page 2

The Field of Sport

Bowling- . ’i.rThM wrong conclusions can be hastily arrived at has never been Jhore clearly demonstrated - than dur’lng my last visit to New Zealand, says ?4»‘ writer in the Sydney Referee. It vwas at Auckland, and at the hotel a number of bowlers stayed, jthe conversation during the Dominion fchampiouship was usually concerning £that day’s play, and the games from kail angles. An interesting and instructive story emerged from that table of /players, and I tell for the first ' time: it ■ 'i' • ’ -

One'of the players, who had lost sbo th his “lives,” interested himself in i watching my games, being hotel .a- ■ . { mates, and having discussed the finer . i points of the matches from all angles gdaily. Friend’s Criticism. He opened out on me in this way, 'after the end of the day in which . success had come my way in winning Mhe singles section there: “You have ■«. a beautiful and deadly back hand, but ?you are not nearly so good on the as shown by the manner in you avoided it. I watched all Myour games and you did not play half dozen shots on it all day.” - There were players, and good ones, Sjfro'm all parts of 'the Dominion, sit...ting at the table, and possibly my H|nan considered that he had landed ijpne on me when all eyes were turned Flo see what explanatipn, if any, was It certainly was up to me. i He hall come to a wrong and hasty Conclusion in my case, but when ap- . jprised of the reason why I played < {’“all day on the back hand,” unreservedly withdrew, which a good New s £ Zealander sportsman would immedj- _ ‘ ; IS* . The Hand That Played. « ...... I had not been playing many miijQptes in the opening round against Brackenridge before I “tumto the fact that the hand that "playing” was. the back Lgoing and coining. On every rink it & was the same, and I played it all day, ' : j|as alleged. ’ j > This led to a general conversation ’ 6n the bank, and among the onlook*’ers, including our hotel mate, that I . played the back hand because I was r weak on the fore. For one who has for 30 years that you should jShave no preference, whether draw, gjflrm, or drive, it would have been a EEkham Athletics. . ' ■ • ;' The Eltham Athletic Club’s fort- . nightly meeting will be held on Tuesday, December. 15. A bus will leave v Stratford at 5.45 p.m. v The programme is: Schoolgirls Blunder 10 years, 75 yards, (over 10). ( yiOO yards; schoolboys under 10 years yards, (over 10), 100 yards; school (girls) 4 x 100, (boys) 4 x 100; step and jump, shot; men’s 120 guards and 440 yards; ladies’ 75 yards ! fand 120 yards; walk | mile; (cycl- ! i mile, 3 mile and I mile scratch; I mnter-house relay 4 x 100 L > ! . • B> Foul Rule. .. I fcF he New York Boxing Commission i decided to discard the “no foul” I rule. It is thought that the decision ’ ia.--.the outcome of the Schmeling— i Louis fight, in which the negro was • I reported to have landed several low! punches. i

Athletic Machine. .• < “First-class athletic competition,” says Harold Abrahams, famous English sprinter of other days, “is a profession. For over eight months prior to the Olympic Games of 1924, I set ■ about making myself into a machine. I schemed to cover every 100-yard race in exactly the same number of strides. I worked out the exact length that each stride should be, and I marked on a running track with pieces of paper the'exact position of . each of them. •. . . I used to cover 100 yards in forty-five strides, and ideally I planned that I should be able at the end of a race to find twenty-two pieces of paper on the spikes, of o*e Shoe, and 23 on the spikes of the other. Of course, I was never able to achieve such machinelike precision, but that is what I set out to do. And I won this much-trained-for race.”

Professionalism. The South Australian Lawn Tennis Association was faced with a knotty little problem recently. It arose over an application by Noel Woollacott, an Adelaide professional, for playing membership at the Memorial Drive. The association had to decide whether it had the right to debar the professional, or, indeed, if it was a strictly amateur association.

It was decided to advise professionals and coaches in South Australia that they could not be accepted either as playing or non-playing members of the association, but that they would be handed complimentary tickets when tournaments were on. This means that the same compliments would be paid to professional tennis players as amateur associations accord professional golfers. When it was decided to debar Woollacott, it was found that it would be necessary to apply the same rule to two other professionals. These were Ernie Rowe (official coach to the S.A. Lawn Tennis Association), and Norman Thomas (brother of Rob Thomas, the former International player), both of whom for many years have been non-playing members of the association.

The Victorian L.T.A. has at least one professional on its membership list —Pat O’Hara. Wood. The question arises, can a professional be a member of any amateur sporting body?

Greyhound “Derby.” What is claimed to be the largest and most efficient totalisator in the world will be installed by' the Julius Company at the White City track, London, within the next year. Work will be begun at the close of the present season,. December 1, and promoters hope to of it finished for the greyhound “Derby?’ Present White City totalisator plant is the largest in the country. The new one will be three times as large, and will contain 634 selling machines. This gives some indication of the huge betting public now available for dog-racing. Present average attendances at White City are 20,000 and the average betting per, head is from 130 s to 455. These figures show a total ’figure of £40,500 for each White City meeting of the ordinary class. Spanish Footballer’s Death. The death of the famous Spanish Soccer goalkeeper,- Ricardo Zamora, hero of the Olympic Games in 1924, in the fighting in Barcelona, is confirmed. He was killed with two other well-known footballers. Zamora was .reputed to be at one time the highest paid footballer in the world, and was even more popular than the greatestSpanish bull-fighters. Only a few months ago Zamora played for his club, the Football Club of Madrid, ! and Enabled it to carry off the SpauI ish Cup. I England’s “Joker.” I ■ 'i By definitely joining the profesj sionals in lawn tennis Fred Perry dei prives England of her Davis Cup ! joker, comments a Sydney writer. A | marvellous player for his country, he has been the mainspring in her Davis i Cup victories. While the amateur world will deplore the loss of Perry, other nations, America, Germany, and Australia, will have their ambitions sharpened by the more open character of Davis Cup competition in 1937. Strickland’s Prospects. The recent success in America of

Maurice Strickland, former New Zealand heavy-weight champion, should improve his prospects of a match with the ex-world champion, Max Baer. Strickland beat Merek on points in a bout in Chicago on November 7, and his display won high praise from fight critics. Strickland, who enjoyed an encouraging run in England, following a spell as lifeguard at the Wembley Pool, left England for America late in September. He was accompanied by Eddie Peirce (South African cruiser-weight champion) and Joe Connelly (Scottish light-weight champion).