1931-09-16 — Page 5

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1931.

THE

ART OF LOB BOWLING

THE

CHINA

MAIL.

due to physical strain, which falls | in the same category As tennis- elbow, writers' erump, ate, atc. Bowlers of over-arm leg breaks

5

A STUDY OF WILLIAM BURKE

career-

[By Péter Merril,]

never last very long, and "old Willam Burke, who succeeds to making up an M.C.C. side against ed the sub-Continent, and, though Jack" Hoarng, gave up bowling the title of American champion were amazingly accurate. During easier to play with is pure moon- When I and two other veterans, a public school or a club in the the spectators sometimes laughed them to avoid the excessive strain, forfelted by R. T. Jones, is a new the 30 holes which the match last shine. The wisest thing St. sitting in front of Lord's pavilion, liope Couaties, I was always liable when he took the ball, the best which had produced a hurd knot of and interesting personality. Of ed. Burke was scarcely ever off the Andrews ever did was to refuse to were discussing the disappeared to be called up out of "the country" | South African, batsmen dreaded his muscle in his arm.

Polish origin, Burke's real name course, his score being five under follow Americs in an experiment of lab bowling' from county, 'und and told to do my worst whenever deliveries; indeed the late Aubrey A competent Job-bowler to-day Durkowski, conveniently shorten. If any excuse were to be ad- which has pleased few and exas- club ericket since the war, a brisk two bataaten looked like digging Faulkner told me that you could would have at least as much funed for purposes ast altogether ob- ancol for the miserable fallare or perated many. While the ball may yaung batsman intervened with a themselves in. I found that certain I never toll what pranks. the ball as I have had ever since my first scurt. Twenty-nine years of age Cup mud the subsequent champion- complete eclipse in the US Cham the British players in the Ryder be a contributory cause of Britain's rhetorical question: "you want brands of public school batsmen- would play.

real success in a school house Burke has had a varied to revive that off' Hambleton stuff? for example. Winchester ‚ nien- } In his first Test, which was lost match when each wicket I got was caddie, blast-furnace worker, travel.ship, it would concern the compal-pionship, an eclipse which, follow- Might as well expect us to laf in jalways knew what to do with lobs, by the tourists, he took six wickets greeted with booing by the oppost-ler, and professional golfer. In theory use of the large and lighter ing on the Ryder Cup rout, has led top-hints again!

but the experiment was sometimes for 4, and in the third, his five for tion spectators. From first to last latter capacity, Burke is now at-

bail,

the public to regard the tour as a 69 was the chief factor in South 1 must have taken one thousand tuched to the Blind One of my companiona was hias quite successful..

Brook Club. While pretending to be Indifferent flusso, there are other reasons more Forgive this egotistical digres Africa's defent. uncle,'an Stiluent person, and he

wickets, in school, club and village | Greenwich. (Conn.); a course often as to what type a ball they used, cogent. One is that, with precious little

Remembering that Loretto once cricket, and it often happened that visited by British golfers.

our men went to America hating few exceptions, the wrong men was persuaded to sit down and I'll proceed "· with a hear a little history, writes Pater statistical lecture. We went on to had a most successful "lobster" a victim would remain long enough

Two years ago, when making his the new implement, a feeling which were sent to America, and another Merrill in the Evening News, Weind our young friend that, in ❘ (he got a rival school side out for to accuse me of low-down tactics first appearance in the winter Stew in intensity as

the Fairy

is a lack of harmony in the orginal did not go back to the ancient days i

183, at the age of 43. Humphreys, cleven, 1 believe). I am sure lob before drifting, pavilion-wards. of Sussex, actually took 148 wickets bowling, if properly taught

tournaments of the West and South, castles came, tumbling about their planning of tho. venture. and before the invention of round-arm for his county, his victims includ-

Burke became known as the "black. As a studios observer, Jones

A Redeeming Feature. bowling the Tom Walker in 177 ug many of the super-intsman of

smith golfer," not because of any larger ball did handicap the British is strongly of opinion that the

It is a sad reflection on British hummer-and-anvil attitude towards the ball, but because

of his old players, particularly in two direc- golf that out of fourteen players

tions. In the first place, there was the championship through.

only two-Davies and Alliss-gaw associations with the, forge (states.

The the Observer) it is rather singular hesitancy in hitting it firmly others, with the exception of C. that a man who spent some years in/enough in the approach shots, the Whitcombe, who was unable to com- calling as far removed from golf ball being either short. of the ob pete, and Compston, who was dis- as it is possible to conceive, shouldjective or blown off the line. Ia

qualified, either did not qualify, or

Lha hip-high so as deceptive flight.

to secure

2

the perind.

*{-

well handled by an astute captain, would be effective in public school when the modern over-alm, called

Then we mentioned mutehes. "cartwheel stuff" by the purists and not legalised by the 3.00 until Gentlemen. Players at Lord's the lob Bowler's is a "sair despisit ... A: Jephson's wonderful fent

To-day, however, even-in “preps," 1864, was still undreamed of. Our at the end of last century, when profession" (as the Glasgow plum- young friend would not have been he broke the back of the profesor described both his own and the impressed by a mention of Davidionals with his fast, low spinning Eton masters in the well known Harris, the terror of all visitors to deliveries. Six wickets in 18 overs anecdote). and is also regarded, Bread Ha'penny, who certainig kept 21, and the only rabbit" in his strange to say, " proper length" and somehow

as distinctly eonirived to deliver the ball more bag was Walter. Mead. the other sportsmanlike... Indeed, the. concep

elims being Hayward, Brockwell. tion of lobs as "sneaks," underhand Storer, Albert Trott, and Hirst!

in more than one sense of the term, Proud of His Verse.

la met with in all the lower circles, Jephson never thought much of of minor cricket: I could

never his lobs: he was prouder far of understand why, his cricketing verse, which he more than once resited to me; and I re-keeper to help him and no field set call with regretful pleasure the outside to catch sky-scraping slogs, || Anate of his ballad of batting the apprentice to this ancient art against the clock:-

is apt to appear rather a poor joke. | The last ball hung like a ripen Yet a boy who would preserve inj

ed peach;

spite of ridicule (as 1 did in my achool days, having had lessons from Humphreys during a holiday Then swung his bat, and away visit to the Sussex conat), and learn

she Bew.

to break the ball both ways, with- out losing his length, would even- tually reap a rich reward.

Ling-Stops Were Terrified., ̧ • • And he would have refused to believe, the half-legendary stories; fas 1 dil until I know better) of the surprising jare of such famous umber hand bowlers as Oshildeston. who terrified long-stops as much as bafstnen, und Brown of Brighton who needed a string of three felders behind the wicket and once beat the lot of them with a ball that killed a dog ón the boundary, i There is truth in these terrible old tiles as I shall show later on-but Brown's bit of scarlet lightning is. as mythical1 do believe, as the entch of a passing swallow made by a black-bearded member of the first Australian team to arrive up here from down under.

The skipper stood firm as

rock.

And shattered the face of the

clock.

At net practice, without a wicket-|

He would grow up in a genera- tion of cricketers who have no ex perience of jobs, and would try, spurred on by the jeers and cheers of the crowd, to knock the cover of the ball every time. Even his bal balia would be liable to get a batsman caught in the country.

Our Sports Diary,

LOCAL

. HOCKEY — To-morrow- Y.M.C.A. II. v. Radio Sports Club II.

RACING — To-morrow--Entries close for the Eighth Extra Rice Meeting at noon.

AQUATICS Saturday-Police Sports at the V.R.C.

LAWN BOWLS Saturday- Second Division-Civil Service G.C. v. Kowloon C.C.: Yacht Club v. H.K. Electele R.C.

MEETING — Saturday --- IRC Annual Meeting,

ABROAD.

CRICKET-To-day-Champions v The Rest at the Oval.

YACHTING-Friday--U.S. Pre- sident's Cup at Annapolis.

FOOTBALL - Soturday --- Foll English and Scottish League pro- gramme.

HOCKEY SEASON COMMENCES.

Y.M.C.A. Play Radio Sports To-morrow,

Uur young friend now admitted there might be something in under- hand bowling, so we finished the process of conversion by introduc- ing George Simpson-Hayward of What we did was to give our "Fostershire," unquestionably, the young batsman a dose of authentic greatest of all modern lob-bowlers. statistics, beginning with the exle was originally a quite useful

The YM.C.A. Hockey Club will traordinary achievement of Alfred fast bowler, but he had long, strong

play, their first match of the season Lyttelton in England v. Australia | fingers ("prehensile," he called

No "Bowler's Muscle."

to-morrow when the second eleven at the Oval in August 1884. them), and started investigating Australia bad scored 52, for six the possibilities of spin produced be his stand-by: for the "lobster," eleven at King's Park at 5.10 pm.

The leg break would, of course, play the Radio Sports Club second and veryholy had had a turn with by finger-snap with tennis ball to whom it comes naturally, can Y.M.C.A.-L. D.. Skinner; R. the bail, except the wicker-keeper. I found that, bowling underhand, produce it much more accurately Dormer. L. W. Tipple; S. A. Sweet, 3 " " (even then called "The he could break the ball either way than the

over-arm bowler and R. A. Bates (Capt.), G. Mitchell; Old Man" behind his elephants and at the same time cause it to without incurring that nasty pain J. T. Ferguson, F. S. W. Smith, W back; ordered Lyttelton to dof his come from the pitch ́at ́a great

in the right side, which sometimes H. Smith, Macey and H H. parts and byo pairs, of gloves and † pace.

plagues the over-arm bowler: it is Muller. the symptom of a nervous complaint!' Referee: A. C. Jeffries.

try an over af lobs. He had eight, ovora, and took the four outstand-

What Was He Up To?

ing wickets for 19 runs! Talking You could not tell by watching over this incident in the nineties, his hand-as you can in the case that Famous "lobster" assured me. of an over-arm bowler what he was (1) That his four victims "did up to, so that his stuff often had not get out, hut were got out," the unexpectedness of

9 googly.

a

"

He also made use of a very accur (2) That his captain's only ate high full-pitch, which was Temment was: Well, Alfred, I terror of nervous or "pokey" bats- knew your lobs were pretty bad.men.. Year after year he was a but didn't know they were as bad mainstay of the Worcestershire 54 all that."

attack, and he was feared even by the most quick-footed batsmen. He

Alfred Lyttelton was interested

in my own experiments in lob- took five wickets for 17 in Gentle bowling, and before a country men v. Players at the Oval (1903). house match in 1891 introduced me : But it was on the matting pitches. to the captain" of my side as "a of South Africa that he achieved raro monster-left-captain lob his most startling successes, 'It bowler who knows a lot of tricks." was during the era of four great And in those years, whether play- googly experts, Faulkner, Vogler ing in country-house erickot or Schwartz, and, White, that he visit.

·

find his name enrolled on the list the second place, the players retired during the various stages

of champions. Qbviously, Burke's peared unable to judge the ball's early training as a caddie te so fight when the wind was at their of the event. If there is a redeem- ing fenture of this unexamples deep-rooted as to make the trans-backs, the tendency being for the story of failure it is to be found fer from the blast-furnace to the ball to pitch clean over the green in the effort of a former British

As an illustration, Jones in amateur, T. P. Perkins, now

en-

links an easy matter.

Nevertheless, there is a touch of stances a shot played to the seven-gaged in business in New York. romance in his amazing leap..from .teenth green by Davies, in his Perkins not paly completed the obscurity to fame in a game. in match against Farrell; whose de course, but tied with Hagen for which there is a rich harveat to feat, incidentally, was one of the eighth place, five strokes behind reap for men of outstanding per- great surprises Davies played what the leading score. It was left to an sonalities. What will Burke make he believed to be an ideal shot, but amateur to save the face of British of it? We shall know more next with the wind behind, the ball golf. year, when, along with Hagen, and pitched over the green on a down- others, he will

descend upon ward slope and kept on running extended to George Von Elm for A measure of sympathy may be Prince's, Sandwich, in the attempt What actually happened was that his gallant fight, extending over

Davies's

to carry off the British champion- the wind getting under ship. And in 1933 Burke will be high pitch, added several yards to in England as a member of the its length above that which he had US. team to defend the Ryder Cup. calculated. These occasions will provide op- portunities of judging whether the; new champion has come to say or whether his victory is just a flash in the pan.

the narrowest of margins one five days, and ending in defeat by shot. While Burke is unknown in this country. Von Elm has been coming here as an amateur for the The matter of ball handicap' will past five years, playing as a man. work both ways. When the Ameri.ber of the U.S. Walker Cup team. can team comes to thin

He is an amateur no longer, having country

Standard Ball A Necessity.

a

they will have to decide between for financial reasons forfeited his

· Miserable Fallure.

the use of their own type of ball, status in order to follow the career latter, which entails a sacrifice of length, of "Business Man Golfer." Probably it was not the otherwise Jones, who was present and the smaller and heavier British Instead of putting money into golf. at Scioto and at Toledo. would ball. With different balls in com- in the shape of expenses, which he hardly have tipped Burke as the mon use, each performing differ. estimates at £2,000 a year, Von Elm winner of the championship. The ently and requiring changes in intends taking something out, In prophory was based on Burke's clubs and in shots, it seems pretty the six months of his new vocation ability to hit the big American ball obvious that a standard ball for in- he has been eminently successful. reasonably far and to keepternational contests has become a Von Elm, like the new champion, Wo have it on paramount necessity. What would has had a. remarkable career. it straight.. the testimony of Compston, who Test Match cricket be like if Eng-Starting life as a caddie in Salt was Burke's victim, in the Ryder land, Australia, New Zealand and Lake City, Von Elm launched into Cup match, that the latter's, driving South Africa ench had different professional pugilism, then, return- and long second shots to the green regulations regarding the ball, the ing to golf as an amateur, beat R... width and height of the stumps T. Jones in the final of the cham- and the length of one crease?" The pionship, the only occasion the lat- game would be farcical; at any rate, tor has ever been defeated in a it would not be Test Match cricket. 36-holes match in a championship.

Perhapa in the next two years, As an insurance broker Van Elm the British and American authori-established a lucrative business ties will be in agreement as re among the film actors and actresses gards a world standard ball. There with whom he played a good deal

of golf at Hollywood...

is not the slightest doubt that the big ball, which has been imposed It le a strange circuinatance of on five millions of American golf- a queer game that an ex-blast- without their consent, is un- furnace' worker and an ex-pugilist popular.

should be the central figures of a The claim that the big ball is world's golf championship.

ers

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