Flashes From Fields Of Sport Abroad

Manawatu Times, Volume LIV, Issue 7277, 3 October 1933, Page 4

Flashes From Fields Of Sport Abroad

A Cricket Record,

The record of 3518 runs in a season of first-class .cricket, which W. It. Hammond hoped to heat Urn year, was set up in 1906 by Tom Hayward, of Surrey, one of the ■ greatest of modern batsmen and a nephew of an older celebrated batsmati of (lie same name. That was the second time that Hayward had scored more than 3000 runs in a season: in 1901 lie had made 3170 runs in 63 innings, live of which were not out, so that bis average was 54.65, In 1906 be got bis 3518 runs in 61 innings, eight being unfinished, at an average of 66.37. Never before this season has Hammond scored over 3000 runs in one season. The nearest he got to it was in 1927, when lie made 2969 in 47 innings (four not out), at an average of 69.04. Hayward had been playing first-class cricket for 14 seasons when lie made his record. Hammond has now been in first-class cricket for 14 years.

R. H. Thomas, of the Royal Air Force, who holds the mile championship of the Amateur Athletic Association, of England, smashed a couple of records recently, but they were his for the asking. In winning the mile championship of Wales he knocked nearly 9sec off the record for that event, bringing it. down from 4.26 lo 4.17 1-5. A few days later he won the mile at the inter-services championships in 4.23, which was a new»record, by about 9sec, for that event.

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Wonderful Year. Although J. B. Crawford lias failed to accomplish the feat of winning the lawn tennis championships of Australia, France, England, and America in one year—-a feat never yet achieved by anyone—he lias had a wonderful year. In winning the Australian championship he beat Ellsworth Vines, who held, at that time, not only lbe American championship but. also' the championship' of England, which, by virtue of the international entry for it, is also the world’s championship. Then Crawford won the championship of France, with ease. At Wimbledon ho produced flawless tennis, marked by a graceful, fluent, and phenomcnally-accurato back-court game, and triumphed over Vines in a five-set final for the All-England championship that will go down in the history of the game as a superb battle of skill and court-craft. That was before Vines suffered the injury which has affected his play lately. Crawford’s record this year, in both championship ancj Davis Cup tennis, is one of grand consistency. There are indications that the strain had told on him when he played in the American championship. There he was beaten by 1 a player who is not nearly so consistent, but who is capable of rising to great heights occasionally.

Except in two of the matches, bowlers did generally better than the batsmen in the Lancashire Cricket League matches on August. 5. I. B. Cromb was engaged iri one of the two exceptions. His club. East Lancashire, scored 186 for six wickets, declared, against EnTield, but Cromb made only seven of the runs, At the call of time Enfield bad scored 153 for nine wickets. Cromb took three of the Enfield wickets.

Two Scottish records were broken in the invitation mile race, at Glasgow a few weeks ago, in which J. E. Lovelock, New Zealand’s holder of ihe world’s record, beat R. H. Thomas, champion of England, and T. M. Riddell, champion of Scotland. In winning in 4.13 3-5 Lovelock established a new Scottish allcomers' record.' Riddell ran third, in 4.15, and that was a new Scottish native record.

Aasfraliaa Leaguers’ Difficulty, According to a Sydney newspaper man who is travelling with the Australian Rugby League team in England, the Kangaroos have decided t “that in scoring future tries they will sit on the bail long enough to hatch it, if necessary, and sec if that meets with the view of the referees on tine rule which states clearly that a try shall be, scored when the ball, the hand, and the ground make simultaneous contact.” In one of their matches'the Australians had four tries; whicti they claim to have scored properly, disallowed by the referee. In one of the four instances the Australian concerned put the hall down , over the goal-line,' rolled over with it still in his hands, placed it down again, and stayed there until an opponent charged up and put.his knees on the Australian’s back.

There were only live entries this year for the 219th race for the coat and badge provided under the will of Thomas Doggctt, comedian, in commemoration of the accession to the throne of King George the first of England, for an annual race by Thames watermen. Erie Phelps, a younger brother of the sculler who has just lost the world’s championship to H. R. Pearce, won easily. He is the eighth member of the Phelps family to win the Doggelt Coat and Badge.

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A British Triumph. Not since the brothers H. L. and It. F. Doherty, both immaculate stylists, were names to conjure with in international lawn tennis has the United States singles championship crossed the Atlantic, until this year. In 1903 Hugh Doherty, llie younger of the famous brothers—who were scratch golfers as well as top-rankers in tennis (H. L. was, in fact, a plus two man at golf)— won both Ihe all-England and all-Am-erican singles titles, and was American doubles champion, with his brother, in 1902-3. From then onward until the French game found the peak of its expression, a few years hack, American players dominated play in their own country, Rene Lacostc and Henri Coclict breaking into the ranks of the_ champions in the three years following W. T. Tilden’s exit in 1925. Now, in a year notable for British triumphs in the international lawn tennis field, has been achieved the final subjection of_ allcomers by British challengers, with F. ,1, Perry of England, and J. B. Crawford, Australia,unprecedentedly contesting Ihi> national singles final at Forest Hills. A few weeks ago, Perry, with H. W. Austin, won the Davis Gup for Great Britain, mainly through' Perry’s gallant efforts. And now Perry is champion of America.

Great Sprinter Dead. One of the best professional sprinters the world has known, Jack Donaldson, died in New York recently, at t he age of only a few months over 47, Donaldson was born in Victoria. When he was 19 he competed iti the Stawell Easter Gift, which is not only Australia’s, but also the world’s, h’iciiest prize for annual competition by professional sprinters. Donaldson was backed to win £IO9O in that. race, but be broke over and was penalised a yard. The penalty cost him the race, for he was narrowly beaten. He improved rapidly, and ,won many_ handicaps and match races in Australia, England and South Africa, but lost to Arthur Postle in a great match, over three distances, at Auckland. Donaldson was a versatile runner, establishing records at. from 50 yards to five miles, but usually he concentrated on sprints. Some of his times still stand as world s records for professionals, among-these. beiri'g 0.6 j for 65 yards, 0.9 3-8 for 100 yards, 0.11 1-4 for 120 yards, 0.12 for 130 yards, 0.14 -for 150. yards, -and 0.29 61-64 for 300 yards. From 1910 to 1914 Donaldson held the world’s professional sprint championship. After trie Great War he went to New York, where he coached schoolboy athletes arid also held a position in a sportsequipment store, He was a man of fine personality-

A reader of an English paper reccntly wrote to the paper, stating that in a cricket match tic had clean-howled three men with three consecutive nohalls, and asking if .this were a record. We would say that it was a record of wasted effort.

“I have had a wonderful time with, the Rishton Club,” said W. E. Merritt, recently, in talking about his change of clubs in the Lancashire Cricket League. “The only difference I have with the Rishton Chib is one of finance. Of course, that is a primary consideration when cricket is my profession.”

Widely-Travelled Champion. The victory of Fred .T.. Perry over J. B. Crawford in the final of the American lawn tennis championship is a reminder that it was not in England that Perry woii his first national championship, three years ago. Perry, who now is 24 years of age, graduated into championship lawn tennis from table tennis and from lawn tennis on municipal Courts. His father, who is a member of Parliament, decided to give the lad a European and American tour to broaden his experience of lawn tennis. Three years ago Perry won the championship of Argentina.. In the following year he was given another tour, and he played much tennis in the United

States, as he had done also in 1930. He got into the semi-finals of the American championship in 1931. In the course of that tour lie beat seven of the first 10 players in the United States. He had another visit to the States Inst year. So he is well used to American conditions. England’s new champion of America has also done much tennis touring in Europe, ns well as in South Africa. With his approaching visit to New Zealand and Australia he will become the mosttravelled young lawn tennis champion of the time.

•» # * Merritt y» Roberts. . W. E. Merritt and A. W. Roberts were again in opposition in the Lancashire Cricket League matches on August 5. Merritt did not dismiss Roberts, who contributed 12 runs to the Church Club’s total of 118 against Rishton, but Roberts had Merritt caught off his howling when Merritt had made 36 of Rishton’s winning score of 120 for six wickets. Roberts took five of the six wickets, at a cost of only 36 runs. Merritt had taken eight of the Church wickets for 66.

Successor To Fairfax. Richard Tyldcsley, who is to succeed Alan Fairfax as professional to the Accrington Club in flic Lancashire Cricket League, is the huge righthand slow bowler who was in the Lancashire County team for many years. He demanded more pay from Lancashire at the end of the 1931 season, and was not re-engaged hv the county club. Tyldcsley is 35 years of age. In first-class cricket he has. 10 times taken over a hundred wickets in a season, his best year being 1924, when, he took 181 wickets. In all first-class' cricket he has taken 1509 wickets at 17.16 runs each. He toured Australia in Arthur Gillignn’s M.C.C. team, in the 1924-25 season there.

The Springbok Scrummage. Advices from South Africa, make iL clear that the Springbok Rugby selectors modified their use of the 3-4-1 scrummage, a little, for the Tests against the Australian team. The modification was only in relation to the place in which the one man in the back row packed. In the British tour of 1931-32 the backrow man often shifted liis position, according to requirements. The first-' choice back-row man for' the big matches]: of that' tour was J. A. J.. Macdonald,i a light and very fast-forward,-who! played a loose-forward game. For this, year’s Tests the Springbok selectors'; made the back-row inan more of a-lock; and much less, of a Ibosc-forward, al-i though lie had to do some loose-forward work. F. Bcrgh, the back-row man this year, is a very; tall and heavy forward. He stands 6ft.3llri. When he left South Africa for the British lour lie weighed 15st 31b, hut this year iic is playing at 16.1. For this season’s Tests lie always packed in between the two lockforwards of the middle row in the scrum, giving a weighty and strong V-shaped lock formation for the scrum. With this system the flankers of the middle row made more of the offensive and defensive loose-forward play.

C. F. Root, the fast-medium bowler who used to exploit the leg-theory—but not bodylinc bowling—iri county cricket, and who was dropped by his county, Worcestershire, after the end of the 1932 season, took nine wickets for 39 runs, for Todmorden against Burnley in the Lancashire Cricket League recently. Root is now 43 years of age. Tn county cricket last year he took only 37 wickets, at 29.97 runs each.

Lovelock And Thomas, Because he had brought I In*, world’s record for the mile down to 4.7 3-5, some people expected J. E. Lovelock lo put up sensational lime when he met R. 11. Thomas and T. M. Riddell in a special invitation race in Glasgow recently. Jti athletic circles, of course, it was realised that records cannot be made to order, and that Lovelock’s appearance on. a Scottish track a few days after his return from America was not helpful to another record-breaking effort. What made this race most interesting to sophisticated enthusiasts was the opportunity it gave for comparing Lovelock with. Thomas, who holds the English championship—lie won it while Lovelock was abroad. After the race an English paper said that Lovelock is definitely .better than Thomas, who is a strong, fast and consistent runner, and who, at the time, was us fit as ever he had been, but who seems to lack that touch ,of inspiration which makes the real. champion. . In this race Thomas, who finished second, ran the mile in 4,14 1-5, which was the same time as that in which he won the English championship a few weeks earlier.