DAVIS CUP MATCH.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 161, 6 January 1912, Page 8

DAVIS CUP MATCH.

. WILDING'S OPINIONS. By Cable—Press Association—Copyright. Received (5, 12.30 a.m. London, January 5. Wilding, writing to the Manchester Guardian, applauds Larned's statement that America did not intend to abandon the Davis Cup, particularly as there wag some talk among the less sporting members of the tennis community that Britain was constituting a new series of matches, wherein Australia need not participate. Nevertheless the presiemce of the Davis Cup in Europe was* desirable and would certainly stir international enthusiasm, as France and Germany were now both capable of victory. THE AMERICAN TEAM.. Sydney, January 5. The Tennis Association is' advised that Beals Wright is not coming to Australia. NOT A SPORTSMAN. BEALS WRIGHT'S BEHAVIOUR. j Christchurch, January 4. . One of the, Christchurch papers this [ evening deals very plainly with the mem- . ber of the American tennis team who 'i was responsible for the delay in starting Jthe play yesterday afternoon, and for I the change in the programme. "Presumably," says the paper, "there will be some official explanation of the failure of Mr. Beals C. Wright to, appear to time yesterday, when he was set down . to play his-,Davis Cup match. The \ referee'contented himself with the bare = . was due to an unavoidable hitch, but ■ it did not take long for a circumstantial | I rumor to circulate among the spectators a that the hitch was- not an unavoidable j one, and that Mr. Wright had left the , public-in the lurch without warning, j "Whatever the cause of his offending I may have been, he cannot escape the charge of unsportsmanlike conduct. It is perfectly true that the fate of the Davis Cup had been decided on the previous day, but it is just under such • circumstances as these that we expect a ' man of Mr. Wright's reputation to keep faith with the authorities and the ,publie. ' "The; gap, so far as the public were j concerned/ was filled by an exhibition ■ j game, in which Mr. Lamed courageously \ faced the certainty of suffering, and the I public did not complain, but the posi- } tion is that Mr. Wright has committed | the unforgivable sin v of the sportsman, ,_j and, in the absence of a valid explanation ' j of his conduct, he will have to be ruled j out of future international contests. _\ . "It would be manifestly imposible for e the Australasian Association to receive ' him, and we should think that it would y be impossible for the American Associa- , I tion to nominate him again. The incident is wholly regrettable. It is unw j precedented in Davis Cup contests, and j we h6pe that it, will remain without a I parallel in the future."'