Please wait. Contacting image service... loading

Article text

I _ PARK VERSUS HEATH. |
Heath did all that he could, be was
felt to have very little chance of defeat
ing the brilliant Irishman 'the Victorian
has practically no hope against
a player of Parke's calibre because of
the comparative weakness of hit, back
hand His forehand drive is an almost
irreproachable stroke There are few
fines to be seen in the world, but though
his backhand is much better than it was
it is not yet strong enough to withstand
sustained attack, and yesterday Parke
never left it alone for long
The Victorians had the advantage of the
service, but he seemed, well. naturally to
feel the responsibility resting on his
shoulders, and could score only two
points in the first two -'games He won
the next on the service, but then Parke
ran away with the following three and
hid the call at 5-1 in his favour
The Victorian rallied for a while, with
some hue dining, showing that he could
beat the Irishman as long is he was, given
a fair chance to make use of his drive,
but he lost a love game on the ninth
game ON his own -service finishing the
bit with a double fault
The Second but
The Victorian flattered the anxious
cloud by starting with a fine run in the
'second set The spectators in the standing
rescue could now hardly control
themselves, and they repeatedly called
out advice to the pi spells, particularly to
Heath, of course.
In the last frame the smiling hail
caused an unfortunate mistake Parke
drove a ball hard back to Heith's back
until, at the end of an exciting rally,
and a group of onlookers near the line
called out " Heit h returned it, but
Parke took the call for the umpire's
voice, and did not try for the ball
neatly urged him to have it again, but
the Irishmen, who lost the game on the
stroke, declined to hear of it 4th a matter
of fact, the umpire give the stroke
right, and it had to stand Shortly after
wards the referee, W M B Colquhoun,
speaking through a megaphone, requested
the spectator not to continue to call
out during rallies- "It, disconcert the
plovers," he Said, "and it is not spoiling
"
Parke took the next three games somewhat
easily, but Heath, playing really
well, once more went into the lead with
a run of two games, which made him
9-3 Again, however, his opponent came
with one of his persistent attacks, and
sumph sKiillowed up the next three
games-,, in the last two of which Death
could score no more than one point altogether.
The Third Set
Both men had done a lot of running
about, and they took the full three minutes'
spell before starting the third set
Pirke jumped over the canvas round
the court, and lay down on his back under
the the of one of the islands Heath
eat on the seat behind the umpire's seat
talking to Brookes and Dunlop
The match so far had shown that the
Victorian had little hope of driving the
Irishman out from the one of the court,
unless he could make Parke leave his
backhand along, a thin? he seemed entirely
disinclined to do, while Heath's
excursions to the net, which had been
rather frequent for him, usually left him
at the mercy of his opponents, wonderful
passing shots
The crowd cheered wildly as Heath,
opening with some of his best drives,
which he followed with a beautiful lob
over Parke's head, when the latter came
to the net for a kill, secured the first
game
Parke evened the score, then, it ran to
two III Heath was playing his best
game. He was now hitting very hard, and
Keeping his opponent busy chasing hue
drives from one corner to the other. It
was only the Irishman's great pace and
his ability to drive almost equally well
on either hand that enabled him to keep
up at all
IlcaJi has a favourite drop valley,
which he uses more than any other stroke
when he gets in at the net Unfortunately,
it is more often a di up than a volley,
and several times in the third act,
when he was in a good position to score,
he tumbled the ball gently into the net
When the stroke did go over, moreover,
the april Parke usually reached it, and
did what he liked with it
At two all, Parkes with a characteristic
spurt, carried off two love games Still,
Hen Iii stuck gamely to his task, and
again roused the crowd to great enthusiasm
by equalising the wore at four
all, but Heath had shot his bolt, and he
could score are no more than three more
strokes, while Parke took the next Ino
armies, the --at, the rubber, and the Day is
up
SCENE. AFTER THE FINISH
Immediately the last stroke had been
played-a lob from Heath which sailed
over the back line Dixon (who had been
fidgeting at the seat alongside Brookes
and Dunlop) rushed on to the court and
thumped Parke vigorously on the back
with one hand, while he shook his hand
with the other Indeed, if he had not
been an Englishman, one might have
I been excused for being tempted to say
that he times his arms round the Irish-
man Then Dixon rushed over excitedly
to Heath, and thumped him with equally
good on the back, then he shook hands
with every one near him
The crowd started cheering BE soon as
play ceased, and gave the British team
quite an ovation Brookes called for
cheers for the winners through the mega-
phone, and then Dixon did the same for
Australia Though the cup was gone,
there was no word of grumbling to be
heard Everyone realised that the Englishmen
had won fair and square
' river deserved to win it anyhow," Wjs
heard on many a tongue as the crowd
slowly dispersed, and surely they did
SCORES
N H Brookes (Australasia) beat C P
Dixon (British Isles), 6-2, 6-4, 6-4
J C Parke (British Isles) beat R W
Heath t Australasia), 6-5, 6-1, 6-4
Grand Totals
British Isles 3 rubbers, 6 sets, 83
games, 225 acres
Australasia, 2 rubbers 8 sets, 85 games,
St Ste
$