SPORT ANCIENT AND MODERN 



The name of the late Tom Hart will probably 

 go down to posterity as the finest and most 

 expert bowler that Lancashire has seen. Hart 

 had the distinction of being the only competitor 

 who has ever secured the championship starting 

 from one behind scratch, winning from this 

 mark in 1882, and only twice has the handicap 

 been won by scratch men, viz. by J. Green and 

 D. Greenhalgh. 



In 1906 the championship was won by W. 

 Taylor, more familiarly know as ' Owd Tess,' 

 who was looked upon as the doyen of bowlers. 

 Although he has regularly taken part in 

 the tournament for the last thirty years, and 

 has probably played more matches than any 

 other bowler, Taylor had never previously 

 figured in the final. Taylor is well over sixty 

 years old. 



In marked contrast to his 

 mentioned the victory of G. 

 carried off the premier honours in 1904. In 

 that year he competed for the first time in his 

 life in the big handicap, and although only a 

 novice, yet actually ran right through the tourna- 

 ment and carried off the championship from no 

 less than 576 entries. Mention ought to be 

 made of George Beatty who, although he has 

 never yet won the championship, has twice been 

 the runner-up. 



An account of the tournament would be 

 incomplete without reference to one or two very 

 extraordinary finals which have been witnessed. 



success may be 

 Farrington, who 



In the year 1891, during the finals between 

 H. Rutter and H. Brocklebank, the game had 

 been called twenty to nineteen in Brocklebank's 

 favour (the game being 21 up). Brocklebank 

 was then lying up with a wood on each side of 

 the jack, when Rutter, putting all he knew into 

 his last throw, delivered his wood with such 

 effect that he actually not only knocked his 

 opponent's woods off the green, but also left 

 himself with two in, thus winning the champion- 

 ship after one of the most exciting games ever 

 witnessed. 



On another occasion, while the last end was 

 being played, a child unwittingly lifted the jack 

 before anyone could interfere. How the 

 problem as to the winner was settled is not 

 recorded, but it was after this incident that a 

 rule was passed forbidding any children to come 

 on the green. 



So important has the game of bowls become 

 in Lancashire, that a few years ago an associa- 

 tion of professional bowlers was formed for the 

 settlement of any matter that might arise in 

 dispute among them, and an association of 

 bowhng-green proprietors was also formed at the 

 same time. 



The Lancashire and Cheshire Bowling Associ- 

 ation, whose members consist solely of amateurs, 

 at present do not permit their members to enter 

 for the Blackpool tournament, though the 

 majority of the competitors in this tournament 

 are amateurs and not professional bowlers. 



TENNIS 



The only public tennis court in Lancashire 

 belongs to the Manchester Tennis and Racquet 

 Club, and was opened in 1879. 



It has witnessed many famous struggles, and 

 several noted players have learnt the game in this 

 court, the greatest being Peter Latham. Messrs. 

 Percy Ashworth and E. M, Baerlein, ex-amateur 

 champions, both started playing the game in this 

 court, and they both still play in it. The Rt. Hon. 

 A. J. Balfour, when member of Parliament for the 

 East Division of Manchester, often played here, 

 and amongst other notable persons who have 

 played here are Sir Edward Grey, Lord Alverstone 

 (Lord Chief Justice), and the present Bishop of 

 Manchester. 



The most famous matches played in this court 



were those between P. Latham and G. Lam- 

 bert (champion of the world), and between 

 P. Latham and Saunders in 1895, when they 

 played for the championship of the world, and 

 Latham won. 



Besides the tennis court, there are two racquet 

 courts in the Manchester Club, and here also 

 some great games have been witnessed, the 

 best being that which was played in 1889 be- 

 tween Latham and Gray for the racquet cham- 

 pionship. The Oxford and Cambridge match 

 was played here in 1887, and the first winners 

 of the Military Racquet Cup were practised 

 and trained here by Mr. Feildon, the present 

 manager, who has been at the club for twenty 

 years. 



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