Good morning from Nottingham. I've been joined by James Death today, so he'll be taking lawns 4 and 5 and no doubt keeping you all entertained with his banter.

I've got Lines v Clarke on lawn 1 and Maugham v Chapman on lawn 2

Yesterday was a good day for GB. For the first time, we used really good tactics all day and reaped the rewards. It needed an excellent performance from the top Kiwi pair to prise a point away from us.

So, 4-2, is a good lead and I expect it to be extended today.

The lawns have just been timed and despite overnight rain, they have surprisingly been reported to me as 11.5. Given we must have had several inches of rain since they were measured at 11 to 11.5 3 days ago in the dry, this is interesting.

Fulford described playing conditions yesterday as just as easy as the 2009 Opens, so I wouldn't be surprised if he tries some sextuples today if he takes croquet with 4 balls on the lawn

A high pitched extended laugh indicates Hilditch has arrived

T1 K 8y N of C4

T2 Y just S of C2

T3 U misses K from A-baulk

T4 R misses K

T5 K misapproaches hoop 1 off R and retires to U on the E boundary

R shoots at U...............misses

Jenny is playing without a jacket or sweater..... she must be freezing

K has made hoop 1 and rushes U between peg and 5 after the hoop. R is well off the E boundary, so needs a good split shot now

It would have been perfect, but just clips R. A take-off to Y in C2 now

That has finished on the right wire of hoop 2. Jenny can't hit Y, and can't get any closer to U than C3. U is 2 yards S of hoop 3

This is a tough choice for Ian. If he joins up, he'll be in C2 - Jennys hoop. If he takes his short shot R at U, Jenny has a good chance of a break. His defensive shot is Y at R.

Opts to take R at Y...................misses

Jenny now has a crucial 9 yarder

Hits it very hard and misses

R has a 1inch rush South. Ian has called a referee for some reason. I think he's making sure his rush is pointing due South

Rushes Y down to C1 and rolls it 2 yards in front of hoop 1 (and fractionally East) going to K.....not ideal

Stop shot approach leaves a 5 foot 30 degree hoop. He's considering whether or not to take it on

This match has already shown that the lower level of players are capable of making errors on any lawn. It's just the top players that are falling asleep on them

Plays R 2 yards S of Y.

Jenny has a 15 yarder K at U................

.............misses

It's raining heavily now

Lines has just misapproached hoop 1 from 2 foot straight, but the hoop didn't put up any resistance and he's through.

R has made hoop 2 with a 4ball break

R has made a diagonal spread with U at the peg

Lines runs hoop1 by 6 inches and is hampered

This looks really difficult from here

To make it worse, it's off K with a ball at Ks hoop.

Y plays 1 foot W of C3

K misses U badly and is now in contact in C4

R hits U

That's the longest shot I've seen hit so far

Ian is making a leave.

K is 4y SW of hoop 6

U is 5y ENE of hoop4

Y and R are near C3, hopefully wired from K ???

K misses U

Y is approaching hoop 2 from 5 yards straight for a standard TP. 4 foot straight hoop............clubs it into the middle of the wire, bouncing back to 4 inches in front, wired from U.

Jenny hasn't been very lucky round hoop 2 this game

U (behind hoop 2) is shooting at K in front of hoop 4.............hits

No easy break from here with Y not rushing to hoop 1

Takes off 7 yards short of Y......I think she should go back to K.

Hits Y

Takes off to R finishing short. It'll be a leave now

Croquets R 3 yards NE of hoop 1, so that's short as well.

U plays off the boundary behind K leaving a rush to C1

R has about a 3 ball gap between the balls and is shooting.......Hits K in the middle..... good shot

R is making a leave.

K is 3 yards NNE of C4

U is 2 yards WSW of C3

Y is laid up with R guarded near C2

U hits K ........some hitting in this game now.

How well can Jenny play the C4 to C2 take-off?

Take off is fine and Jenny takes corquet from Y, sends it to hoop 2 and rushes R 5 yards SE of hoop 1

Approach is short and U retires to 3y N of K.

This is a strong leave

McCullough, Heap, Bell, Goacher, Jackson......are you reading??

Y plays to C3, that's about as defensive a shot as I've ever seen on an easy lawn

Sends K to hoop 1 but doesn't get a rush to hoop 1. Needs a 5 yard backward take-off. Approaches to 5 foot straight.........runs hoop and has break

This is a nervy looking turn. Jenny has just sent out her hoop 4 pioneer from C3 hitting hoop 3 going to her pioneer. It's going to be a 3 yard backward take-off.........

4 foot hoop............

Good stroke. She's got every ball in the world now and should be able to settle

Jenny has tried to make a diagonal spread with R at the peg, but it may be open. K is in C4  and U is 2 yards N of K

Ian is thinking

Y has a 9 yarder at 90% of red.....................hits in the middle

Y rushes U well to hoop 2. Makes 2, but only rushes U to 11y W of C3. He'll be taking off to K near C4

No, he's opted to try and get a rush on R to K and finished 5 yards short. Snicks the wrong side of it and now has a 10 yarder take-off to try and get a rush on K near C4 to hoop 3

Good shot... his rush is pointing at C3, but it is fairly short.

Decent effort and K finishes 3 yards SW of hoop 3

Good take-off to 18inches straight and he's run it. Still plenty of work to do to geta break though - red and blue are both pretty much on the boundary still

Y takes off to try and get a rush on U and stays on the lawn by 4 inches. Rushes U 8 yards NW of R and now needs another good take-off

A bit short...... rushes R 3 yards SSE of hoop 4

Another backward take-off sees Y finish2 foot in front of hoop 4 which he runs

Another take-off is being played. I'd be croqueting R to hoop 6 here.

Anyway R is left on the boundary and Y has a rush on U pointing at the peg. Good rush to 1 y W of hop 5. K is still lurking 2y E of 1-b

Ian has made 5 and now should go round

Ends up having another 4 yard take-off to hoop 6 and finishes short

Runs the hoop anyway.

Plays dreadful croquet stroke after the hoop sending out a 2-back pioneer and failing to get a rush to 1-b. Rolls up to 1-b from 7 yards. Runs hoop. Snicks 3 yarder.

These are the sort of turns that should have broken down 6 times already if the conditions were right.

It's a 4 ball break now with partner at 3-b

Ian has made a diagonal spread with K at the peg - that's the wrong way round

K lifts to B-Baulk and shoots at R......................misses

R has 5 foot 20 degree 4-b......................no problem - through to the boundary

Lines wins game 1 +16.

Lunch

T1 K to 4y N of C4

T2 Y just S of C3

T3 U to 1y N of K

T4 R misses K

Good rush to C2

Makes hoop 1 with a rush back towards C4. Good start to the pick-up

Excellent pick-up - rushes to C2 again and should be round now

K is round to 4-b with a diagonal spread - good turn

Jenny lifts Y at hoop 2 and misses the long lift into C4

Lines misapproaches hoop 1 - it's very angled

Bullies through hoop 1. Nick Hyne shouts "fat, floppy hoop!"

I've just had the pleasure of the company of one of the greatest lady players of all time - Debbie Cornelius. Good to see her again - she was part of the last GB team that won the Mac on home soil.

Lines is etting up for a delayed TP

Just peels 4-b before hoop 6. He'll be sending it down to 2-b going to his 1-b pioneer

Lines fails 2-b from nowhere

R lifts and has 6 yarder..............hits

This break has looked nervy from Jenny, but it's still going

U is 9y N of C4 and slightly inlawn

K is 16y S of C2 and 3yards E

Y is laid up in C2 with a rush to K

I wouldn't be surprised to see Lines take the very long shot at U from B-baulk

Lifts K and walks to B-baulk, but it's the short shot he's taking at R.......hits

K fails penult

Y has a 5 yarder at K in penult

It starts raining again

Y hits K, takes off to try and get a rush on R in C2 and is short.

A big roll down to C1 coming up.

Torrential rain now

R finishes 10y N of C1 and Y plays off the W boundary behind it leaving a rush to hoop 1

K shoots at R..................misses narrowly into C1.

Jenny will need a stoppo approach to hoop 1 now.

Approaches to 2 yards 20 degrees and plays a good hoop stroke leaving a 4 yard return roquet

Snicks it

This is a standard TP now, though U is still near the E boundary.

Makes hoop 2 and rolls K to hoop 4, going to U. Y hits the peg in the middle leaving a 15 yarder at R................misses

K at U is 8 yards......................hits in the middle

K has made penult , but won't be making rover. It a leave coming up

K rolls U off the lawn 8y S of C2. U has a rush on K to the end of B-Baulk

R is at hoop 3

Y is at hoop 4 and is shooting at U for a break.....misses narrowly

Lines is peeling rover from 15 inches straight. This should be all over