Snooker cut

Punch (Melbourne), Thursday 25 February 1915

SCORING.

When the green or any particular club is selected for any particular function, the local members, as a rule, are told off to see to the details. Perhaps the chief item the club is called upon to fill is the appointment of scorers for the various games. That good judges—or the best the club can provide —are essential, it goes without saying, for it is a very important detail to those concerned. I have gone over this ground again in order to draw attention of those who are in the habit of acting as scorers to one Particular matter, which, if there is much of it. has a particular bearing upon the result of a game. One wrong decision in this connection may have a great effect upon the result. The question is—When is a bowl not “jack high”? I have seen the effect of the answer to this question many times, a man playing the wrong hand. The point I wish to emphasise comes about when a bowl is anything from four to eight inches in a line with the “jack.” Suppose, for instance, that an opponent has a bowl four to six inches on the fore hand, and apparently level with the “jack.” You have a bowl or more to the left, while your opponent has one just beyond, at the rear. You ask the question. “Is he jack high?” and in nearly every case you get the answer, “Yes.” Now, this is where the mischief comes. A bowl lying four to six inches to the right of the jack, the centre of the bowl being level with the centre of the “jack” is not “jack” high. You play a drawing shot to trail the “kitty” either full on the kitty or off the edge of the bowl. Now, if you strike half or even a quarter of your opponent’s bowl, you would not trail the kitty, but “snooker cut” it to the bowl against you at the back.