FLOOD SCENE .sx Cueists Carry on Despite Din .sx DAVIS'S 1,101 .sx Chief among the items in yesterday afternoon's session of the Davis .sx Newman Empire Tournament match at Thurston's , London , were a break of 1,101 by Davis and flood scenes which for over an hour threatened to invade the actual billiards hall .sx A water-pipe in an adjoining room burst , and members of the staff had to devote their energies towards preventing the water from invading the saloon , the while Davis and Newman played to the accompaniment of the " swish " of brooms and the clanking of metal buckets .sx In Davis's big break his fifth thousand of the season there was one incident .sx That was when the player reached the middle right pocket and then seemed to be running a grave risk of pocketing the white at the end of a series of nursery cannons .sx Deliberately and adroitly he played for a " touch , " which he secured , and , of course , the referee spotted the balls .sx Davis scored 1,529 , for an average of 382 , to Newman's 463 and 116 respectively .sx The championship holder , in addition to his four-figure break , had 237 ( full ) and 205 , while Newman's best breaks were 187 twice .sx Interval :sx Newman ( rec .sx 7,000 ) , 9,856 ; Davis ( rec .sx 7,000 , in play ) , 9,639 .sx At night Newman increased his lead to 1,048 by scoring 1,343 against Davis' 512 .sx At successive visits Newman made breaks of 223 42 and 44 cannons 230 75 cannons 656 12 , 40 , and 118 cannons and 232 unfinished 42 cannons .sx His average was 448 .sx Davis who averaged 128 , had innings of 43 ( full ) , 209 , and 252 .sx Closing scores :sx ARSENAL TRAINING ON LUXURIOUS SCALE .sx RIVAL CLUBS LOOK ON .sx WITH ENVIOUS EYES .sx DIMMOCK'S RETURN MAY BRING .sx ABOUT A 'SPURS REVIVAL :sx CORINTHIANS RELY UPON .sx THE " VETERANS .sx " LUCKY Arsenal !sx That's what the players of other London clubs are thinking this week .sx There they are comfortably housed in one of Brighton's luxury hotels ; cars to the golf course situated high up on the Sussex Downs , and hot sea baths before turning in for the night .sx Everything planned for them ; nothing to worry about until they travel up to London on Saturday .sx morning and proceed to Highbury .sx fit .sx for the fray with Aston Villa .sx Such faith exists in golf as the best method of attaining physical perfection that the players went straight to the Dyke Links before going along to their hotel .sx They were envied everywhere I went yesterday .sx In the Fulham dressing rooms one of the wags asked me what I thought of a trainer who could do no better than get them away for a day at Southend .sx I do not intend to record the trainer's remarks here .sx Brighton and Southend will .sx be Melted fairly frequently by London club players in the next few days , but the Arsenal alone have the good fortune to be regarded as other than day trippers .sx Fourteen players , these Including Brain , Jones , and Williams , and the trainer ( Tom Whittaker ) uprise the Arsenal party , and in addition to golf and brine baths they will have a little ball practice and muscle loosen-tag exercise on the Brighton and Hove ground .sx I remember that last season the Arsenal methods of preparation caused quite a sensation in the Brighton camps , the reason being that late on the Friday afternoon before a Saturday Cup match the Arsenal players were given laps and sprints to do .sx Unorthodox , perhaps , but It got them through .sx Chelsea also travelled down to Brighton on Monday morning .sx Went straight on to Hove sea baths , and returned to town after a brisk walk along the front , .sx GALLACHER QUERY .sx Included in the party was Tommy .sx Law , their Scottish International left .sx full-back , who Is still having trouble .sx By W. CAPEL KIRBY .sx with his knee , and may be out of the Cup team to oppose West Yam .sx A leading question down Stamford Bridge way is how will Hughie Gallacher come out of the Inquiry Into his being sent off the field the other week ?sx Gallacher 1s now fit to resume .sx Officials and players of West Ham turned up in lull force at the Ilford Jubilee celebrations , but !sx noticed the players did not stay on for the dance after the banquet .sx A man of very few words , Mr. Sid King , the manager , told me everything .sx was " O.K. " at Upton Park , that the .sx players had plenty of confidence after their encounter in the mud with Aston Villa .sx and that they will be going to Southend to-morrow for fresh ale and hot brine baths .sx Tottenham Hotspur were never great believers in departing from the customary training schedule .sx Today I they pay the usual weekly visit to Bush Hill Golf Club , where Frank Osborne gives them all strokes and a beating as regular as clockwork .sx Osborne is regarded s one of the best footballing golfers the country , and believe me he must be good if he is better than Billy Blyth , of Birmingham .sx Mr. Percy Smith yesterday told me that the casualty list is now blank , the latest name to be taken off being Dimmock , the outside left , hero of the Spurs' last Cup Final victory , and incidentally the sole first team survivor of the great Peter McWilliam tide that carried all before them ten years ago .sx CONFIDENT 'SPURS .sx It is high time that the 'Spurs once again took up the Cup challenge for the South , and they feel confident they can get over the first hurdle represented by Preston North End .sx No decision has yet been arrived at regarding the formation of the side , but it is expected that Dimmock , who has been laid aside with a strained groin , will be out on the left wing .sx He is too old a general to be absent from a match of this importance .sx We are hearing much this week about the Corinthians of to-day and comparisons with the famous amateur stalwarts of the late 'eighties :sx W. Campbell ; W. J. Oakley , that great all-round sportsman ; C. B. Fry ; peer- .sx less G. O. Smith , one of the finest centre-forwards who ever kicked a ball ; C. Wreford-Brown ; and the rest men whose names are household words , though they retired from the field many years ago .sx No doubt the Corinthians wish they had men of their calibre to call upon for the tie with Port Vale , but if there is any dearth of Corinthian material the blame is on the legislators , who lost a grip on the public schools interest in Association foot-ball , and brought about the present situation in which schools go over to the Rugby game .sx There are many old hands In the Corinthian team too many according to some people but I feel sure the veterans will give as good an account of themselves as the younger members of the side .sx SURPRISE SELECTIONS , With A. G. Doggart required for the centre-forward position a surprise selection in view of his advancing years that clever tactician , W. H. Webster , of Cambridge University comes into the team at inside left , and is just the man to get the best out of F. E. Hegan , but Webster is a forward of the dainty pattern-weaving type , and lacks the finishing " punch .sx " Claude Ashton is not as young as he used to be , but he can shoulder any amount of work , and if things go wrong in the attack I am prepared to see him go up and take over the leader-ship .sx By the way , what has happened to that splendid all-rounder , John Knight , who has played so many fine games for the Corinthians and Tottenham Hotspur ?sx He seems to have dropped right out of the game .sx It is a stroke of bad luck for Fulham that Francis Penn , their veteran outside left , will be unavailable for the game with Portsmouth at Craven Cottage .sx To make matters worse Finch , the ex-Walthamstow Avenue amateur , who gave a brilliant display in the match against Notts County last week , is already " Cup-tied .sx " The difficulty may be got over by bringing in Avey , the deposed centre-forward , at outside left .sx Fulham may easily provide one of the big surprises of the round .sx THIS " TOO OLD AT 30 " SHIBBOLETH .sx History Proves 30 ls .sx Age When .sx English Cricketers .sx Become .sx Ripe for Tests .sx BY AN EX-COUNTY PLAYER .sx By his latest feats in the second Test match against South Africa at Cape Town Hendren should have stifled all criticism .sx This is the more satisfactory because " Patsy " is one of the players whom many people thought the Selection Committee should not , on the score of age , have been sent to South Africa .sx The match has proved that there is enormous value in experience .sx History proves that most English Test cricketers do not become ripe for Test matches until getting on for , or over , 30 years of age .sx I have just looked this up roughly and worked out a list of the men who played for England against Australia and the respective ages at their final appearances .sx Here they are :sx THE AGES .sx W. G. Grace and J. Hobbs ( 47) .sx Wilfred Rhodes ( 48 ) , Robert Abel ( 44 ) , J. W. H. T. Douglas ( 42 ) , William Gunn and Dick Lilley ( 41 ) , Charles Fry ( 40 ) , Sidney Barnes ( 39 ) , William Barnes , Tom Hayward , and George Hirst ( H) .sx D. W. Carr ( not A. ) .sx Archie McLaren , and Arthur Shrewsbury ( 37 ) , Richard Barlow , Johnnie Briggs .sx and A. O. Jones ( 36 ) , Gilbert Jessop ( 35 ) , Stanley Jackson and A. E. Stoddart ( 34) .sx Strudwick ( 46 ) , Frank Woolley 36 ) , P. F. Warner ( 38 ) , and John Tyldesley and Fred Tate , father of .sx Maurice ( 35) .sx If all these men had been playing at the same time there would not have been room in an England team for anybody under the age of 30 .sx My mind wanders and back through the Test match ages and stops at 1902 , .sx when G.L. Jessop scored his historical lightning century which enabled Hirst and Rhodes to carry on for England to beat Australia at the Oval by one wicket .sx " Ranji " and Fry did not play in that match , yet I am inclined to think the 1902 side at Kennington was the best ever chosen for England .sx Their names and ages were :sx Lilley and Lockwood ( 34 ) , Lionel Palairet ( 32 ) , Hayward and Jackson ( 31 ) , Hirst and McLaren ( 30 ) , Tyldesley ( 29 ) , Jessop ( 28 ) , Len Braund ( 25 ) , and Rhodes ( 24) .sx Rhodes was then already an almost Test match veteran , for he had played for England on the same ground three years earlier , and , strangely enough , their aggregate ages 328 total up to .sx just the same as the figures of those who saved England at Cape Town !sx Cape Town , Tuesday .sx The Cape Times , in a leading article commenting on the Test match , says the drawn game leaves a feeling of quiet anticipation .sx The paper admits that the winning of the toss gave South Africa the advantage , but theremaining Tests will be looked for-ward to with confidence .sx South Africa's opening pair , Bruce Mitchell and Ivan Siedle , are batsmen who can hardly be equalled for doggedness , nerve , safety and skill .sx The only fly in the ointment so far as South Africa is concerned , is the fact that Fleet-street seized the opportunity , most inopportune when England were struggling to avoid defeat , to exhibit its least sanitary attributes .sx Much honour rests with England , seeing that they were without Sand-ham , and had to bat and field without Duckworth .sx Hammond's pluck in batting with an injured foot is characteristic of the whole teem .sx The paper ridicules the allusion to the team as a side of veterans .sx Tate is certainly no waning star .sx Fleet-street's ink made South Africa wince , and the article concludes :sx - " If Fleet-street would learn to play cricket when writing about Tests even half as well as the M.C.C. are actually playing it with bat and ball , there would never be any more of this wretched stuff .sx " WHAT DEANE HAS TO SAY .sx Mr. H. G. Deane says he feels sorry for the cricketers at present in South Africa because of the unjust criticism contained in the statements by " alleged experts in London .sx ' Remarking that " it is the unhappiest thing that could have happened , " Deane also states that it is not by destructive criticism that the best possible can be obtained from a cricketer .sx " " Chapman , " he says , " has troubles , but such talk undermines the confidence of the players themselves .sx "