Morning all.

This match has started on lawn 4.

G1T1  Dumergue Red 2y NW of 5

G1T2  Rutger  Black just N of 4th corner

G1T3  Dumergue Yellow shoots at Black from A-baulk.  Croquets Black near 6, ends up with 1y hoop 1.  Sticks.

Red is 4yN of 1, Yellow has only just started to run hoop, so..

G1T4  Rutger Blue at Yellow (6y, partial target).  Snicks it, leaving it in jaws.  Peels Yellow to near hoop 2, Blue finishing near Red. Now has 4-ball break.

G1T4  Rutger Blue is setting up to POP Yellow thru 2 before 6 (ie hoop 6 pioneer is 1y E of 2).

In case you think the players have been quicker than usual, I must confess I wasn't quite set up for 9.00.  But I've caught up, you're now reading it almost as it happens.

G1T4ctd  Rutger Blue lining up angled POP.  This all seems a bit too much risk for scant reward.  The POP is jawsed.

G1T4ctd  Rutger Blue rush-POPs Yellow before 1-back.  I guess the "early" POP gives you more options on the leave.  Oh no, he's cross-wired himself from his 2-back pioneer.

G1T4ctd  Rutger Blue goes through hoop 1 to roquet Black, his 2-back pioneer.  You lucky lucky boy.

G1T4ctd  Rutger Blue is round to 4-back.  He leaves Yellow (for 3) 1' N of 4th corner.  Red for 1 is 15y N of 1st corner.  When croqueting Red he Christed off Black.  Stop shots Black to 1y S of 2nd corner from 12y away.  Shooting Blue at acute angle - I'd have thought the spot where it leaves the lawn should be umpired.  Blue comes on S of Black - 1', 18" maybe.  Hard to tell from where i am near 1st corner.

G1T5  Dumergue lifts Red to B-baulk, shoots at Black.  Misses.

G1T6  Rutger Black tries clever bombard.  Now Black has rush on Blue pointing to 4th corner.  Does indeed rush it into the corner.  Good shot!

G1T6ctd  Rutger Black rushes Yellow 5' SE of hoop 1.  15" angled hoop.  Runs it vigorously.  He's about 4y S of 2, 10y from Red (near 2nd corner). Takes on 13-yard return at Yellow.  Rushes it to S bdry.

G1T6ctd  Rutger Black croquets Yellow 5y SSW of hoop 3.  Roquets Blue.  Takes off to Red.  Roquets Red.  Now approaching 2 from 8' S of 2nd corner.  Has 4' straight hoop.  Runs it to boundary.  Has 2y rush on Red toward Yellow.

G1T6ctd  Rutger Black rushes Red 10y N of 4th corner.  Is he hoping to get posi for standard TP?  He's wandered down to 4th corner: Blue looks to be 1yN and 2yW of corner spot.

G1T6ctd  Rutger Black played thick take-off from Red, no rush on Blue.  Big roll shot from S bdry.... not at all bad.  He got the rush on Yellow, which is the important bit.  Blue may be 3y S of 4-back.  He's made 3, lining up the peel.  Perhaps closer to 8'.

G1T6ctd  Rutger Black fails to peel Blue thru 4-back after 3.  Ball hits both wires, don't think it's rush-peelable.  TP is delayed.

G1T6ctd  Rutger Black has rushed Red after 4 to a bad place behind 1.  Croquets Red 3y WNW of 4-back - couldn't get any closer 'cos of hoop 1.  Makes 5 off Yellow, now taking croquet from 5yE of hoop 5.  Yellow is OK 1-back pioneer, has cross-wired himself on Blue.  Rushes Red to hoop 6.

G1T6ctd  Rutger Black makes 6 off Red.  Takes off to Black.  Trying hard angled rush-peel, Blue ends up in front of jaws.  Taking off to Yellow at 1-back, peeling Blue 1y through.  His 2-back pioneer wil have to be Red, which is 3y N of hoop 6.

Sun is trying to break through.  Forecast is for rain, and my laptop and I are presently uncovered.  Possibly could use my waterproof jacket as umbrella.  My jacket was a bargain, purchased from Eileen Magee's Cheltenham lost property shop.

G1T6ctd  Rutger Black makes 1-back off Yellow, rushes it 7y E of 3rd corner.  Croquets Yellow 5yN of 3-back.  Black is overhit for rush on Blue to penult / Red.  Blue is rushed 4y NNW of penult.  He's lining up a peel (!).  Maybe just using the hoop as a stopper.  Blue bounces off 1ySW of hoop.  Black hits W wire of hoop - is he hampered on Red?

G1T6ctd  Rutger Black has got away with it.  Good rush on Red to 4' SE of 2-back.  Makes hoop with rush on Red pointing NE.

G1T6ctd  Rutger Black  rushes Red 3yE of penult, flirting with peg.  No death roll attempt, takes off from Blue to Yellow.  Black rmakes 3-back with forward rush on Yellow. 

For those of you just tuning in - did you not get the memo about the early start?

G1T6ctd  Rutger Black attempts to peel Blue thru penult before 4-back.  Peel doesn't go through - looks rush-peelable.  Yellow is 1yN of penult, prtially on line of hoop and peg.  Makes 4-back off Red.  Goes to Yellow before Blue -irish peel from almost in jaws.

G1T6ctd  Rutger Black irishes Blue - it misses the peg, ends up 1y E of rover.  Yellow is croqueted into jaws of rover.  OOPS!

Rutger may be thinking for a while here, so just to let you know that some chaps from the lower tiers are turning up.  Two Canadians anyway.

G1T6ctd  Rutger Black is looking to cannon Yellow through hop with Red.  Red looks a bit close to being due N - may replace Yellow with Red!  And he's trying for rush on Blue.  Red brushes E wire, Yellow stays put.

Red is 5y SSW of rover.

G1T6ctd  Rutger Black bombards Yellow away with Blue.  He's in front of hoop.  Now contemplating leave.

G1T6ctd  Rutger Black runs rover, roqueting Yellow in hoop stroke.  Yellow croqueted 2yN of peg.  Roquets Blue, croquets it 10y N of 4th corner, maybe one yard in-lawn.  Rushes Red to 7y N of 2nd corner.  Takes off back to Blue.  Leaves 1y rush to rover.

Another Tier 2.1 chap has arrived - David Walters from the triumphant Wales team.  Obviously come to check out their competitors in the next Mac!  Not many of you rising to the anagram challenge (apart from one e-blogger), so how do you like puns?

The MacRobertson Shield - it'll all end in tiers.

Clips:  Rutger Blue rover, Black peg; Dumergue Red 1, Yellow 3.

G1T7  Dumergue declines lift, shoots Yellow at Black (14y).  Misses.  Goes off 4y from Blue.

G1T8  Rutger ignores Yellow, reasonable rush to rover.  15" hoop.  2y rush back to peg.  All over.

G1 GB +28tp  (ie 24tp with 2 POPs)

G2T1  Rutger Red  just S of 2nd corner.

G2T2  Dumergue Black 1'N of 4th corner.

G2T3  Rutger Yellow 1yN of Black (no attempt at roquet!)

G2T4  Dumergue Blue shoots at Yellow (why not Black?) from A-baulk (13y).  Hits.

I suppose Dumergue was worried about failing 1 off Yellow?

G2T4ctd  Dumergue Blue rushes Black to 1.  OK rush.  Makes hoop with 5' rush back to Yellow.  Good rush into 4th corner.

G2T4ctd  Dumergue Blue stops Black into lawn a bit, rushes Yellow 5y E of 2nd corner.  Takes off to Red.  Good shot, is able to cut Red 3y W of hoop 2.  Stop-shot approach sends Red 7y E of hoop 3.  15 degree hoop run with a lot of wire.  Snicks Yellow (4y). 

G2T4ctd  Dumergue Blue croquets Yellow 4yN of hoop 4.  Makes 3 off Red, rushes Red into 4th corner.  Has 4-ball break now.

G2T4ctd  Dumergue Blue has reached 2-back.

I take it you are following CC's commentary also:

"One of the worst decisions I have ever seen"  he says re some hapless GB player.

I've heard CC is giving Geoffrey Boycott lessons in how to be forthright.

G2T4ctd  Dumergue Blue has made a bad error.  Croqueting Black to peg after 2-back (dunno where from), Blue ends up in jaws of 4.  Dumergue attempts to roquet Yellow thru hoop, but fails to do so.  Rutger has 1 yard hit-in.

Sorry, I'm informed by the referee Tony Hall that Dumergue had no chance of roquet in last stroke, simply finding a boundary.

G2T5  Rutger Yellow croquets Red to 2, rushes Black to 4th corner.  Blue is 5yE of 4th corner.  Takes off to Blue, rushes Blue 1y SSE of hoop.  Runs hoop with lot of wire, can only tap Blue.  Good croquet stroke.  Has 3-ball break.

G2T5ctd  Rutger Yellow is taking off to Black after 3.  Overhits it.  Is it off?  Looks very close.  Rutger examining it. It's off!

What a reprieve for Dumergue. 

G2T6  Dumergue Black (for 1) roquets Yellow.  Blue is maybe 6y NE peg, Red 4' in front of 4.  Croquets Yellow to 2, Black ends up S of Blue.  Rolls Blue between 4 and 4th corner, Black is 1y NE of Red. Undercuts Red off  S bdry in front of 1.

G2T6ctd  Dumergue Black rolls up to 1, makes it, rushes Red back to S bdry.  Attempts to croquet Red to 3, it glues on W wire of hoop 5.  Black has rush on Blue.  Blue will be going to 3, so Quadruple Peel is unlikely.

G2T6ctd  Dumergue Black rushes Yellow SW of 5 after 2.  Yellow to 4, Red is roqueted off the wire.  Take off to Blue at 3.  Overhits take-off by 2 or 3y.  Still gets forward rush - the QP may be on after all.

Can't see the crowd on the top lawns from here, but frequent ripples of applause reach me.  Obviously can't be for the Aussies.

G2T6ctd  Dumergue Black has croqueted Blue 4' in front of 3-black going to Red.  Takes off back to Yellow, makes hoop 4.  Lining up 3-back peel now.  It steams through to 2y ENE of 4-back.

G2T6ctd  Dumergue Black croquets Yellow 4y E of 6, maybe a bit N.  After 5 he rushes Red to 3rd corner.  Croquets Red 3y E of 1-back.  Looking for spot whence he can attempt peel and get rush on Yellow to 6.  Three-yard peel attempt, with pull.  Blue goes through, needs cut rush on Yellow.  Approaching from 7'.  Makes hoop with rush toward 3rd corner.

G2T6ctd  Dumergue Black croquets Yellow 8' N of 2-back.  Lining up another optimistic peel, of penult from at least 4y.  It's pulled off to West, missing hoop entirely.  Will we see death roll to 2-back?

G2T6ctd  Dumergue Black after 1-back croquets Red 5' SW of 3-back.  Rushes Blue to awkward position NNE of penult.  Can only take off to 3yNW of Yellow.  Makes 2-back with rush pointing East.

G2T6ctd  After 2-back, Dumergue Black cuts Yellow to middle of East boundary.  Rolls Yellow 10' SE of penult.  Roquets Blue.  Looking at death roll going to 3-back.

G2T6ctd  Dumergue Black on death roll.  Blue is rejected by hoop - now 18" in front of penult. Black is 8' shy of Red.  ERROR: Sticks in 3-back.

Rutger has emerged but is walking back to pavilion.

Clips: Dumergue Black 3-back, Blue penult; Rutger Red 1, Yellow 4

Balls:  Black in middle of 3-back, Red 4y NNW of 3-back.  Blue 18" in front of penult, Yellow 10' SE of penult.

Rutger is on his way back.

G2T7  Rutger Yellow rushes Blue 3y SE of 2.  Taking off to Red - at least 4y short of it.  Snicks Red.  Rush-peels Black thru 4-back.  Makes 4.  Let's see what he does here - my expert recommends break to 4-back.  (Actually I haven't got an expert at the moment, but i think that's what he would say.)

G2T7ctd  Rutger Yellow is leaving Black on W wire of 2 after 1-back.  Yellow to 4-back.  MSL.

Not a proper MSL, cos Black will rush to 1.  Red has rush on Yellow maybe pointing West.

G2T8  Dumergue lifts Blue from hoop 4 to 3rd corner  (22y).  Hits, rushing Red to 4th corner.

G2T8ctd  Dumergue Blue takes off to Yellow, rushes it off N bdry 10y E of 2nd corner.  Surely Black can't be rushed anywhere near penult?  Yellow is croqueted very close to peg, Blue rushes Black 3y s of penult. 

Apparently the Manager's not putting a singles match on lawn 5.  Boo!

G2T8ctd  Dumergue Blue fails penult.

G2T9  Rutger Yellow snicks Black (4y).

Some of you have asked us commentators not to comment on matches on other lawns.  So I won't tell you which match is finishing, but expect a huge roar any second now.....

Huge roar.

G2T9  Rutger Yellow not making any hoops, having leave:  Blue 3y S of 1, Black 4y N of 2.  Red and Yellow 13y N of 4th corner, with 4' rush pointing W.

G2T10  Dumergue shooting Blue at Red / Yellow (22y).  Hits Red.

G2T10ctd  Dumergue Blue croquets Red 3y NE of rover, rushes Yellow to penult.  Makes penult, has rush to Black.  Rushes near 2nd corner.  I guess he'll be going for cross-wire at 4-back.

G2T10ctd  Dumergue Blue croquets Yellow toward 4-back, getting rush on Black.  Rushes Black 4y NE of Red.  Black is croqueted 4y E of 4.  Rushes Red to rover.  Makes rover, rushes Red S of 1.  Take off to Yellow sends Red 2yW of 1, maybe a bit South.  Yellow is snicked.  Take-off to Black sends Yellow 4y NNE of 4-back.  Roquets Black.  Calls on ref,I have no idea why.  Black has wired rush on Blue to Red.

G2T11  Rutger shoots Yellow at Black / Blue (25y).  Misses into 4th corner.

G2T12  Dumergue Black (for 4-back) rushes Blue off W bdry 5y N of 1st corner.  Blue is croqueted 4' WNW of rover.  Red is rushed 4y W of 4th corner.  Take-off to Yellow is good.  Rushes Yellow 2y SSW of 4-back.  Runs hoop into hedge.  Has 1y rush on Yellow pointing SSW. 

G2T12  Dumergue Black (now for penult) rushes Yellow 4y S of rover.  Rools Y to rover, rushes Blue 2' SW of penult.  Angled hoop, copes.  Trivial finish now.

G2 Aus. +17

Match 1-1.

Lunch.

And we're back.

G3T1 Dumergue Red 3y SW peg.

G3T2  Rutger Blue 14y N of 4th corner.

G3T3  Dumergue Yellow shoots at Blue from 3rd corner.  Hits, rushing it near hoop 4

G3T3ctd  Dumergue Yellow pick up 3-ball break.

G3T3ctd  Dumergue Yellow has reached 1-back.

Slight trouble reconnecting after lunch, Dumergue's turn not as quick as suggested by timestamps.  Not slow though.

G3T3ctd  Dumergue Yellow

At last, somebody's sent in some anagrams.  It's author and fellow-commentator James Hawkins.

MACROBERTSON SHIELD is an anagram of :

BRINED SCHOOLMASTER
CHAR'S SLIDE TROMBONE
BLONDE CHOIRMASTERS
METHODICAL N/S BORERS

... I could go on.

(Obviously I'm cheating and using a computer for this, but I'm sure you
won't tell)

Your secret's safe with me James.
 

G3T3ctd  Dumergue Yellow has gone round to 4-back.  222

222 = 3 ducks' leave, geddit?  Actually red is in the lawn with rush on Yellow to Blue on the boundary - reverse 3 ducks?

G3T4  Rutger Black shooting from E of 1st corner.  Hits Blue.  I expect we'll have a 1-back leave now that the pressure's off, though I'm sure we'd all like a TPO and some more Dutch tactics in the 3-ball ending.

G3T4ctd  Rutger Black has peeled Yellow thru 4-back after 3.  TPO or 1-back tactics?

G3T4ctd  Rutger Black has had a lot of wire running 4, so no rush back North.  Rutger is thinking.

G3T4ctd  Rutger Black has sent Yellow toward 1: 2y NE of hoop .  He's approaching 6 off Blue with Red waiting North of the hoop.  Rushes Red to 8y East (yes East) of peg.  Rolling down to 1.  Red snicks Yellow, goes 2y WNW of hoop.  Still may get cross-wire!  (Blue is East of 6).  He roquets Yellow, it must be good.  Calling on ref to ensure Yellow moves (or shakes) in fine take-off.  My runner assures me cross-wire is good.  Yellow is 2' ESE of hoop.  Blue is 2y SW of 3rd corner, Black 1y NE of hoop 3.

Clips:  Rutger Blue 1, Black 1-back;  Dumergue Red 1, Yellow penult

G3T5  Dumergue shoots Red at Blue ("tea-lady").  Misses.

G3T6  Rutger Blue roquets Red, croquets it 5y SSE of 2.  Rushes Black onto W wire of 1-back.  Takes off to Yellow.  Makes 1. Yellow croqueted to 3.  Goes to Black before Red.  Peel attempt going to Red.  Black goes thru 1-back by 4', Blue gets rush on Red.  Makes 2.  Going well so far.

G3T6ctd  Rutger Blue croquets Red 3y ESE of 2-back.  Rushes Black to near 3rd corner.  Stops Black 3y NE of 2-back.  Makes 3 off Yellow.  Rushes Yellow 3y N of Black.  Croquets Yellow halfway between hoops 1 and 5.  Rushes Black 1yN and a little E of hoop.  Jawses 2-back peel leaving 8' rush on Red.  Rushes Red 2y shy of 4.  Takes-off to 4, makes it.  Rushes Red 11y W of peg.

G3T6ctd  Rutger Blue croquets Red 5y SE of peg, rush-peels Black thru 2-back.  Black is croqueted 4' NE of 3-back, Blue has rush on Yellow to 5.  Makes 5, rushes Yellow to 4th corner.

The NZ team wanders past in their posh jackets for the team photos.

G3T6ctd  Rutger Blue croquets Yellow ... into Black.  Oops.  Yellow is 4y WSW of peg, Blue now roquets Black to 11y E of peg.  Croquets it 9" SE of 3-back.  Has cut rush on Red to hoop 6.  Good shot!  Makes 6, rushes Red to 3y N of 4th corner.  Red is croqueted to 4y N of 2-back.  Rush-peels Black thru 3-back (made it looks easy).  Takes off to Yellow, overhits it.  Has 5' rush pointing NE. 

G3T6ctd  Rutger Blue cuts Yellow 6y E of 1-back.  Can he approach from here?  Er...no.  Contemplating hoop, surely it's impssible.  2', but worse than 45 degrees.  Blue bounces back off wire.

Red has 7-yarder at Yellow.

Clips:  Rutger Blue 1-back, Black 4-back; Dumergue Red 1, Yellow penult.

G3T7  Dumergue Red hits Yellow (7y) rushing it 3y SE of 2nd corner.  From here it looks as though Blue willl rush to 1, but Black may have hoop 5 in play.  He's got rush on Blue.  Poor rush, 5y E of hoop 1.  He's rolling to Black.  Good stroke yields 5' rush, he's 4y S of hoop.  Over-approaches slightly, 30 degree hoop, copes and has rush.  Ought to manage Double Peel from here.

G3T7ctd  Dumergue Red has all 4 balls, is for 5, Yellow is at 6.

All the Doubles results are in, maybe I can beat Statto to the analysis:

GB 15 / 27

(Fulford & Lines 7/9

Maugham & Rutger 4/9

Aiton & Mulliner 4/9)

NZ 14 / 27

(Chapman & Westerby 7/9

Bryant & Clarke 5/9

Skinley & Wright 2/9)

USA 14 / 27

(Bast & Huneycutt 6/9

Lamm & Soo 4/9

Grimsley & Rothman 4/9)

AUS  11 / 27

(Fletcher & Dumergue 5/9

Forster & Clarke 3/9

Beard & Landrebe 3/9)

Of course, as I'm not Statto, I might be wrong.

G3T7ctd  Dumergue Red peels Yellow thru penult after 6.

G3T7ctd  Dumergue Red croquets Yellow into jaws of rover before 2-back.  I think he'd rather have had a rush on his 2-back pioneer.  Approaching 2-back from 8', copes.

G3T7ctd  Dumergue Red rush-peels Yellow after 2-back. 

G3T7ctd  Dumergue Red is finishing.

With one match to complete, some singles analysis:

Top 2 players remained consistent over all tests:

GB:  Fulford 5/6

      Maugham 1/5

NZ  Chapman 5/6

      Westerby 3/6

USA  Huneycutt 3/6

       Rothman 4/6

AUS  Fletcher 2/6

       Forster 0/5

G3T7  Dumergue wins game +11, match 2-1.

The other players' order varied for some countries, so i list together:

GB  Rutger   3/6

     Mulliner  5/6

     Aiton     3/6

     Lines     5/6

NZ  Bryant  5/6

     Skinley  5/6

     Clarke   2/6

     Wright   5/6

USA  Lamm  1/6

      Grimsley 2/6

      Bast      2/6

      Soo      2/6

Aus  Dumergue 3/6

       Clarke     1/6

       Landrebe  2/6

      Beard       2/6

So well done GB.  I'm sure others will reflect better on proceedings than i can at this point.  It is clear that the top pairing is Fulford & Lines.  Fulford continued his excellent record in Doubles and Singles.  Lines produced consistently good play.  He's an unassuming chap (hence hilarity at "intimidator" tag).  And he's not proud - if the situation merits a simple break to the peg, he will play it.  I confidently predict he will go to Christchurch NZ in 2014.  But of course all team members played their part: Maugham with his demolition of Fletcher on Friday morning inspiring the team;  Rutger in his first Mac did well at 3; Mulliner in his sixth Mac scored even better at 4; and of course captain Aiton scoring the 11th match today and, far more sweatily, at Nottingham.

So that's all folks.  It's been fun.  We must do this again sometime.