SPORTS AND SPORTSMEN

Waikato Times, Volume 124, Issue 20728, 11 February 1939, Page 22 (Supplement)

SPORTS AND SPORTSMEN

vinced that one good Test innings j would see him one of England's main- ; stays of the future.

Representative Cricket Match

By “Spectator"

ENCOURAGEMENT TO HAMILTON OARSMEN

Regatta Form Shows Promise : Season Should Be More Successful : Senior Fours , Heavy Maidens and NonClass Eights Have Good Material : Sir Julien Cahns Match : Fourth Test in South Africa success attended the efforts of oarsmen of the Hamilton Rowing Club than for some time when the local regatta was staged on the W aikato River on Saturday. If the performances of the crews has encouraged the members to devote all their energies to training, as it should, the year is likely to be quite successful. Good results may come next year when, in view of the special centennial fixtures, will be an important one in rowing circles. Apart from the six placings gained by Hamilton crews the local boats were always in the picture at the finishes, giving the impression that a little more polish will make winning crews of practically every combination. That little extra is really in the hands of the older supporters of the club who can give the oarsmen some valuable training. The adoption of winter training last year has shown beneficial results and a repetition of the practice next winter might bring the Hamilton colours to the fore again next season. As Hamilton was previously one of the leading clubs in the Dominion a return to prominence for centennial year would be welcomed by supporters of rowing. Eight Hamilton crews faced the starter at the regatta on Saturday. Six rowed into places, another failed by inches to be third and the other was well up at the finish although only in fifth place—a much improved performance on last season when at the local regatta only two third places were gained and only one or two other places were secured at other regattas throughout the season. Although the club secured only £7 in donations on Saturday, Hamilton secured more places than any other club and satisfaction is felt bv local oarsmen at the improved showing of the crews wearing the red and white squares.

Most successful club on the day ■was St. George's, of Auckland. The club won the maiden double sculls easily, showing an improvement since the success at the Tauranga regatta on Boxing Day. On Saturday's form the pair should be difficult to defeat during the remainder of the season. St. George's succeeded in the heavymaiden fours hut the crew may be considered somewhat lucky to have gained the decision for they secured a break of fully half a length at the start and could head Hamilton by only a oanvas when the finish was reached. If the crew had not secured an early lead the decision may have gone against them. St. George’s other first placing was secured by the youths’ four which had undisputed superiority over the rest of the field. The orew rowed a beautiful race, having a clean and long stroke with a good, even and hard catch and after winning by live lengths to repeat their success at Tauranga, the four were almost as fresh as when they started. Their superiority in the province this season ■will probably be unohallenged.

)een together before the race, that everal of the men had never rowed in n eight combination before and that Hough broke his stretcher early in he contest, the performance of" the cratch crew in gaining a second placng was excellent. The slow time indicates that there is no first class talent in this division in the province and if the Hamilton crew obtains Its own eight-oar boat, as Is almost certain, and if the crew is able to train together thoroughly, excellent results should be forthcoming. • • • • Praise must be accorded the starter, Mr I. W. St. Glair. He had a fairly difficult task in despatching big fields but he was most particular to see every entrant went away to a fair break. In the senior fours, the big race of the day, he recalled the field about three times before letting them away to a great start. In the heavy maiden fours the start was made at one of the most narrow portions of the course. Eleven crews lined up and great difficulty was experienced l>y the starter. Seven attempts to let them go proved futile and after a delay of nearly half-an-hour the field went away. It was a great exhibition of patience by the starter, but some of the crews did not assist him as well as they might have.—“ Stroke.” • • • • One of the outstanding features of the Hamilton regatta on Saturday was the radio link between a launch, which followed the races, and the public address system. This efficient communication enabled the public to follow the various events from start to finish, making the racing more exciting than ever before. The system was provided by the Hamilton branch of the New Zealand Association of Radio Transmitters, a purely amateur body which obtained the permission of the Posl end Telegraph Department before the broadcast on short wave could be carried out. The local branch of the association provided two complete transmitting and receiving stations, which were situated on the launch and on a site on the river bank near the boa! house. The commentary of the racing which was received from the commentator on the launch by the station on the bank was passed on to the publicaddress system which was operating at the regatta. The broadcasting system on the launch and the receivings station were not associated with the public address system in any way. Fourth Test In South Africa The fourth Test match between South Africa and the M.G.G. team will be commenced next week and perhapsmost interest will centre in the batting form of W. J. Edrich. Edrich and Hutton were hailed as England’s coming opening pair prior to last season but. although Hutton more than justified expectations, Edrich failed in every Test against Australia. He was token to South Africa but so far ha? failed to get going in Test matches. This will be his last chance to make a good score and overcome his nervous Test match temperament before the England side for Australia is chosen. Edrich is, undoubtedly, a very fine batsman and a big score in Test cricket should make him an ideal opener with Hutton in Australia, foi the next series of Tests. In the third Test in South Africa Edrich was selected but did not get a bat. England declaring with four wickets down. He is a fine forceful batsman and I am con-

Last season the most prominent club in tile province was Waitemata but on Saturday the performances of its crews were not so impressive. The non-class eight crew won fairly well by a length but the time of 7.42 for eights over a mile was very slow. Three seconds were secured by Waitemata in the junior fours, maiden eights, and senior fours respectively. In the senior fours the performance was excellent and at orife stage the crew gave the champion Clifton combination a hard battle but they could not hold on to their form till the end. Waitemata won the senior event at Tauranga and appear to be the best provincial crew in this department again this season. The senior fours gave Clifton further laurels. They won the event at Hamilton last season and have been undefeated in their class since. The technique of the crew is excellent and every unit is a very powerful oarsman. At the finish of the long race the Clifton crew was fresher than any of the other competitors. Excellent fields were a feature of the programme and eight starters for the senior fours was a great line-up. It was testimony of the popularity of the Hamilton regatta that, despite the fact that the programme had been postponed for a week, the scratchings were very few. Only the single sculls handicap suffered to any extent. In this race R. B. Smith (New Zealand champion), A. Morey and J. T. Plummer, all of whom are among the leading scullers jn the Dominion were competing at Wellington prior to contesting the national title at the New Zealand championship meeting at Picton to-day.

A feature which revealed itself at Hamilton again this season and which is apparent at practically every regatta in the province is the fact that crews battling out the finish often pull up as soon as the judge’s gun declares the first crew over the line. Crews rowing in second position have often lost a place through not crossing the line. Unless a crew is absolutely certain it has won the race it should row on to avoid this too common mistake. In the first event on Saturday Hamilton was rowing third in a tight finish. As soon as the gun fired the stroke stopped rowing allowing the Auckland pair to get the third placing which appeared to be a certainty for Hamilton if Duncan and Smith had kept on rowing. This was not the only occasion on which crews pulled up before crossing the line to lose a place, West End doing the same in the heavy maiden fours.

Alttiough the two Hamilton crews which contested the heavy maiden fours both rowed into a place, the form of the number one crew, which was placed third was disappointing. At Tauranga the combination stroked by G. Smith, was unfortunate not to defeat St. George’s as the crew hit a submerged buoy and even then was Just defeated. During the last two weeks prior to the Hamilton regatta, however, the crew had been losing form and seemed to leave its race on the river during training. The number two Hamilton crew has, on the other hand, revealed improvement all the way through its training and, as a result. a decision was made by the club to boat both fours. On Saturday the number two crew stroked by J. Corlett was definitely the better of the two sets and was unfortunate to miss the first donation. The Hamilton doubles should improve as the season goes on while the senior fours team may be in a position to challenge Waitemata more strongly later if training is kept up. For many years Hamilton had the premier senior team in the Dominion. It does not appear to be beyond an immediate possibility for the club to regain the leading status as far as the province is concerned. In view of the fact that the Hamilton non-class eight had never

A disappointment as England's opening baX In Tests,

Great interest centred in the Hamilton cricket competitions to-day in view of the fact that it was the last opportunity players had of showing their form for selection in the Waikato team to meet Sir Julien Cahn's XI on Seddon Park next Wednesday and Thursday, The visiting team comprises some of the most promising players in England and they should play attractive cricket. The displays *of Ges Dempster, J. Hardstaff and the Australians V. Jackson, J. Lush and H. Mudge will be of particular interest while N. Oldfield is spoken of as a coming Test player for England. The Waikato team is, at present, the

The first Queensland State cricketer to score 1000 runs in an Australian season.

champion Minor Association side in the Dominion and they can be expected to provide sufficient opposition to make the game very interesting. The selection of the side may cause the selector some concern unless some of those with prospects do well in to-day’s matches. There are several young players with prospects and at least two players in the team who have failed to justify their inclusion. * « 9 * Of those with prospects of gaining a place a young left-hander Jim Everest placed himself well in line with his best score of the season last Saturday. Although he has failed in the Hawke Gup matches this season he is still second in the averages and another score to-day would definitely put him back again. As lie is also a useful bowler Everest would be an ideal man to replace Badeley, who has failed to come up to expectations in both batting and bowling in representative games. Morgan, also did not do as well as hoped, but conditions did not suit him and unless 0. McKenzie, P. Jordan. W. Higginson or 0. Harding show -good form he may retain his place for his batting. The Lyon brothers, especially Trevor, are running in to their -best form and some good performances can be expected from them. Lissette, also, has shown batting improvement and Bright and Aitken have maintained their form. This match should provide some great displays.