BOWLING

Taranaki Daily News, 25 November 1926, Page 4

BOWLING

THE SHIELD GAMES.

A FEW NOTES

(By

"Toucher.”)

A fine day was Saturday last, but the wind made the greens tricky at times, and perfect play was not possible under the circumstances. The shield matches were continued, and the contests resulted as anticipated. New Plymouth easily accounted for Paritutu, Fitzroy defeated Vogeltown, while West End got the better of Waitara. Out of the six rinks Paritutu sent to New Plymouth this young club managed to win in one, when Thomas succeeded in defeating Higgs. The Paritutu team registered a six on one head and five on another. Thomas got the lead on the 4th head, and maintained it to the 18th, when Higgs got two in front. On the 17th head honours were easy—--16 all, on the 20th 21 all, and on the 23rd 24 all. Thomas got a 4 and 2 on the remaining heads and won by that margin. J. R. Hill had the upper hand of Wall throughout, scoring two to one, and eventually winning by IS points. Hill scored a seven on the 16th head. Washer led by 9 to nil on the sth head against Lobb, and was in front up to the 17th head, when Lobb “plumped in” a five and got two points in front. Washer evened this on the next head, and on the 22nd head the teams were again level. Lobb, however, failed at the business end and went down with colours flying by four pointe. Nasmith never let Looney have much of a look-in, for he scored two lives and a six, and had it not been for Looney’s great saves on several heads the score against him -would have been even greater. As it was Nasmith won by 19 points. Woollett and Adam had a good ”go.” In the early part Adam got a commanding lead of 12 to 3, and on the 10th head led by 16 to 4. Then Woollett, with 2,1, 4,2 and 4 assumed the lead by one point. A six' to Woollett on the 17th head improved his position, but with steady play Adam reached 24 to Woollett's 25 on the 22nd head. On the remaining heads Woollett scored 1 and 2, while Adam got a 2, and the latter thus suffered defeat by two points. Telfar ran completely away from Jackson. He was 20 to nil on the 7th head, 36 to 7 on the 20th, and finished up 43 to 10. Jackson scored only on eight heads, six singles and a brace of twos. In the game between Waitara and West End each side -won in three rinks, white one was drawn. Had it not been for Billing's “thundering” victory over Weir to the tune of 51 to 7, West End would have suffered defeat. This 44 points margin enabled West End to win on the aggregate by -35. There have been some big scores registered at times at bowls as I mentioned in this column last week, and this score of Billings is not far behind those placed on record. Vogeltown put up a good fight against Fitzroy, as they won in three out of the six rinks engaged. However their marginal victories were not great enough to secure the honours on the aggregate, and they went down by 26 points. Somerton was 17 points down to McNeill and Townsley was 12 points below Price. The position in the Northern Division stands at present as under: —

THE GILMOUR CUP. The first round in the Gilmour Cup competition was commenced last Thursday. An exciting finish took place in the match between West End and Fitzroy, West End eventually winning by three points. New Plymouth had a runaway victory over the combined representatives of Paritutu and Vogeltown, the margin being 33 points in a four-rink contest. The position in this contest stands at present as under: — Points

Pl. W. L. For. Ag. New Plymouth 110 115 62 West End .... 1 1 0 111 108

Fitzroy ] 0 1 log m Vogel. Paritutu 1 0 1 '62 115 THE SOUTHERN DIVISION. Playing in the Wednesday competition last week Manaia defeated Hawera A by two points. Hawera lost badly in three ri.iks, but Robertson’s win over Andrews by 29 points almost succeeded in Hawera scoring a win on the aggregate. The position in this competition is as under:—

In the Saturday competition Park defeated Patca on Saturday by five points, each side winning in two rinks. Hawera B easily accounted for Opunake with a margin of 34 points. The position in l this competition stands at present as under:

The result of the Opunake v. Park match is not yet to hand. THIS ’WEEK-END’S GAMES. Northern Division.—Paritutu v. Fitzroy, at Paritutu; Vogeltown v. West End, at Vogeltown; Waitara v. New Plymouth, at Waitara. There will be no shield games in the ’ Southern Division this week owing t® the show. CONCENTRATION IN BOWLS. Watching some of the skips playing on Saturday I was struck with the concentrated attitude assumed by some prior to delivering their bowl. Concentration is what makes a good player. What is concentration in bowls! Everybody knows that it is an essential of success. The mental attitude of a player towards his shot as he delivers the bowl is as important as the physical movements that are to follow. But its varieties are endless, and as for its manner, of working, it is as mysterious as radium. It does not necessarily involve deliberation in preparing for a shot. Nor does it mean that a player must train his mind to realise the full gravity of a great occasion, and bear himself accordingly from beginning to end of the game. Professor Maxwell Walker winning a championship would always be debonair and wholly at ease —a blending of stateliness, simple con- ' fidence, and quizzicality, ns though he were wondering in some idle way about the probably result of the affair, and yet felt no serious uneasiness about the possibility of anybody beating him. Every bowler has his own kind of concentration, but exactly how it works —and why—neither he nor anybody can say. One definite point is that ft weakening of it can be detected by the observer, even in the absence of a change in methods. It is borne in upon the mind of the onlooker in much the same way as tlie elephant impressed the small boy, who, asked to describe it, said: “I can’t, but I know it when I see it.” VARIETIES OF CONCENTRATION It is strange tluit there should be so many varieties of concentration on the greens. Tilings are not like this in other walks of life. To the student of psychology, all people who love books look alike when they are engrossed in literature. It is necessary to take only one glance into a crowded reading room in order to prove the point. The occupants may be of many kinds, but in the mental attitudes reflected by their countenances they are homogeneous. So it is with those people who are known as “clever business men.” They constitute a type. Even may the argument be carried into vegetarian restaurants, for who ever went into a vegetarian restaurant without realising at once that here were gathered the people of a certain cult? But it is not so in bowls. It is less so in bowls than in any other occupation, recreation or -system of belief. This game ie supposed to exercise a wonderful discipline over its devotees, because it calls for a certain kind of concentration. In point of faet, it exercises no discipline at all, because it is pursued in a degree of spaciousness and a spirit of individualism whieh together order that the player’s mind shall remain in its original mould. WHERE ARE THE BEST BOW l-ERS! Bowlers are never likely to agree upon the question as to who are the best players in their respective clubs, and it is therefore improbable that any agreement will be arrived at as to which centre has the claim of possessing the best bowlers. Early in the history of bowling the gam > had a big hold in Dunedin, and there has always been a keen competitive spirit prevalent in that centre, encouraged no doubt by the opportunity for match play in the long twilight evenings. Auckland, on tlie other day, has the oldest club in New Zealand, and if the bowlers in that city were asked their opinion they would no doubt readily proclaim that the best players were in the Queen City of the North. There was a time when the two Islands each had separate organisations, and conducted distinct tournaments. The South were allowed to compete in the North Island tournaments, but could not win the champion banner and shield: l»- there did not appear to bo any such 4’cstjietion in the South, and teams from tne North Island, particularly from Wellington, were regular competitors at the New Zealand Bowling Association’s (the Southern) tournaments. Since the amalgamation of the two bodies, thirteen tournaments have been held, and 39 championships decided. An examination of the results may show where the best bowlers are. Of tha 39 championships, players from tha Dunedin Centre have captured 14. Wellington Centre players 8, Auckland 7 (which includes three singles championships won by Professor Walker), Christchurch 2. other centres 8. Does this mean that the best bowlers in New Zealand nre to be found among the clubs of the Dunedin Centre?

Pl. W. L. Points For. Ag. West End .... 3 3 0 982 874 New Plymouth 3 2 1 776 663 Fitzroy 3 2 1 659 642 3 1 2 482 456 Paritutu 3 1 2 360 505 Vogeltown .... 3 0 3 371 480

Wednesday Competition. Manaia Pl. 2 w. 2 L. Points F or. Ag. Park 1 1 0 96 78 Hawera A .... 3 1 2 247 267 Batea J 0 1 ♦IS 73 Opunak 1 0 1 71 107 Hawera B .... — — —— —

Saturday Competition. Points Pl. w. L. For. Ag. Park .... 2 2 0 180 179 Hawera B .... 3 I 1 297 278 Mana in, .... 1 1 0 93 82 Patea .... 1 0 1 79 84 Opunake .... 1 0 1 81 115 Hawera A .... — — — — —