23 JULY 1932, Page 11

This ball had two deficiencies in the eyes of the

court tennis players, whose wrists had been trained to resist the solid cork balls of their favourite game. First it was absurdly light ; secondly it would not take the spin, as a ball ought to do. So Mr. John Heathcote, who had an ingenious and energetic mind, thought it would be a good idea to cover the ball with flannel or some stuff that would add weight, and allow the racquet to hold the ball and the ball to hold the ground. He called in the aid of his wife, and she was driven by the logic of the sphere to cut two pieces of the pattern that has since pre- vailed. The first ball she covered is still in existence, in the place where it was designed.