Good morning from Surbiton.

This match will be on lawn 6.

When you put your 2 best players together, as NZ have done, you need them to perform.  Chapman & Westerby haven't disappointed, dropping just one match so far (to Fulford & Lines).

The Americans are practising shooting at a golf ball at maximum spot on E bdry.  It's on a string apparently.

G1T1  Rothman Yellow 2y NNW of 5.

G1T2  Chapman Black hits Yellow from 1st corner.  Croquets Yellow 1yS of 2nd corner, Black 2' N of 4th corner

G1T3  Grimsley Red misses Yellow from B-baulk.

Red and Yellow are v close.

G1T4  Westerby Blue misses Red and Yellow from B-baulk

G1T5  Grimsley Red croquets Blue into lawn a bit, rushes Yellow 3y SSW of 1.  Good approach.  Runs hoop  to level with Yellow, cuts it off W bdry 12y N of 1st corner. 

Red and Yellow are v close.

G1T4  Westerby Blue misses Red and Yellow from B-baulk

G1T5  Grimsley Red croquets Blue into lawn a bit, rushes Yellow 3y SSW of 1.  Good approach.  Runs hoop  to level with Yellow, cuts it off W bdry 12y N of 1st corner. 

Apologies for double comment.  Ethereal slowness.

G1T5 ctd  Grimsley croqueted Yellow 1yNW of 2 going to Blue, stops Blue 3y E of 6, sticks in hoop 2

G1T6 Westerby blue hits Yellow.

G1T6  Westerby rushes Red to hoop 1, sticks in it.

G1T7  Grimsley Red hits Blue, excellent croquet stroke to pick up 3-ball break.

G1T7  Grimsley has dug Black out of 4th corner and now has all the balls.  He's reached 1-back.

G1T7  Grimsley round to 4-back.  Spread with Black at peg.

G1T8  Chapman lifts Black to just out of 3rd corner.  Shoots at Yellow.  Hits (hilled on, reckons my chap on the line).

G1T8  Chapman picks up break.  Red is hoop 2 pioneer; probably no TPO.

G1T8  Chapman (Black) is having the TPO, to my expert's mild surprise.  Red is peeled thru 4-back after 3.

G1T8ctd  Chapman (Black) has penult peel of Red after 6.

G1T8ctd  Chapman (Black) making 3-back off Red, hoping to rush Red in front of rover after hoop.  Has 8' peel attempt, angled, with some pull.  Hits far wire, is 6" W of hoop.  It'll have to be straight rover peel to complete TPO.

G1T8ctd  Chapman (Black) in full control.  Red peeled well through rover.  Now rushes Blue to desired spot on E bdry - ie so that the approach to hoop 1 is wired by hoop 4 (7y N of 4th corner).  Takes off back to Yellow, rushes Red 2' from peg, pegs Red out.  Black is hit off into 2nd corner.

Yellow and Blue clips still on 1.  Black on peg, Red off lawn.

G1T9  Rothman Yellow takes contact off Blue, rolls to 2y 30 degree posi.  Runs hoop to applause.   Has 6y "rush" on Blue.  Hits it, it's 9y SSW of hoop 2. 

G1T9  Rothman Yellow approaches 2 off Blue, sending Blue between 6 and 3.  Runs hoop, hits Black in corner.

G1T9ctd  Rothman Yellow plays big shot out of 2nd corner.  Not bad, should be good enough.  Now has 3-ball break.

G1T9ctd  Rothman Yellow has reached 1-back.  Looking good.

G1T9ctd  Rothman Yellow has reached 4-back.  Not perfect precision, but he's coping well.

G1T9ctd  Rothman Yellow sticks in rover from nowhere.  Is he through?  Yes!  Can he hit Black? ...  Vincent on to referee.  Sweep shot.  Copes.

Game 1 USA +14otp(C)

G2T1  Chapman Black 2y NW of 5

G2T2  Rothman Yellow 11y N of 4th corner

G2T3  Westerby Blue shooting at Yellow from A-baulk.  Hits centre-ball.

G2T3  Westerby Blue makes 1 off Black, 2 off Yellow.  Black is 3yE of 6.  Has rush after 2.  Should go round now.

G2T3  Westerby Blue has reached 2-back.

G2T3  Westerby Blue is round to 4-back.  Black is left 11y N of 4th corner with 1y rush on Yellow pointing to Blue on W bdry, 2yN of peg-high.

G2T4  Grimsley Red shooting at Black from A-baulk.  Misses.

G2T5  Chapman Black's rush on Yellow is not good: 4yS of Blue.  Takes off to get rush.  Good rush.  Makes hoop, rushes Blue to E bdry.  Blue is croqueted to 3, as he gets rush on Red to Yellow.  Well, 5yS of Yellow.  If the rush to 2 is good, and it is, there should be a standard TP.

G2T5ctd  Chapman Black peels Blue thru 4-back after 3.

G2T5ctd  Chapman Black jawses penult peel after 6, rush-peels it after 1-back. 

G2T5ctd  Chapman Black got the rover peel before 3-back.

Game 2 NZ +26tp(C)

Match now 1-1

G3T1  Rothman Yellow 1y W of peg.

G3T2  Much thinking from NZ.

G3T2  Chapman Black to 2y E of peg.

G3T3  Grimsley Red trickles at Black from B-baulk.  Ends up 2" SE of Ball.  CC despairs ("Why not 2y E of Black so no target?")

G3T4  Westerby Blue shoots at Red & Black from B-baulk.....

G3T4  Westerby Blue misses target to S bdry in front of 1.

G3T5  Grimsley Red picks up break.

G3T5  Grimsley Red sticks in hoop 2 off Black.

G3T6  Chapman Black picks up break.  POPs Red thru 2. 

G3T6ctd  Even I'm getting the hang of these POP tactics.  Chapman will be trying to POP Yellow to 3.

G3T6ctd  Chapman has POPped Red and Yellow to 3 and 3 and has gone to 4-back.

Chapman's leave: Yellow 1yN of 4th corner, Red middle of W bdry; Blue in or near 2nd corner with 2' rush on Black pointing S.

Lunch.

Jolly considerate of my 2 matches to lunch simultaneously.  First chance i've had to have the proper Surbiton lunch this week.  Mutton curry, very good.

I should take this opportunity to say that the Surbiton Club has really pulled all the stops out this week.  The catering is of course to the usual high standard, despite having to produce many times more of it than usual.  There are helpers everywhere - greeting you as you arrive, behind the bar, in the kitchen, and of course the grounds staff preparing the lawns and hoops.  I'm not going to name names - too many, and i'd miss someone out.

SO if you're not too far away, do come and visit tomorrow or Sunday.  The Mac won't be in this country again till 2024!

G3T7  Grimsley lifts Red to end of B-baulk, hits Blue.  Rushes Black well to 1'N of Yellow.  Not good rush on Yellow - forgets to cut it, ends up 8y W of hoop 3.  Rolls up to 3, makes it, but he's hampered.  Calls on partner, followed by referee.  Makes roquet.  Rolling Yellow to S of hoop 4, but in fact it finishes 18" in front of hoop.  Red hits Black.

G3T7ctd  The idea was to send Black into lawn somewhere, finishing in front of 4 - where Yellow is!  Could use it as stop-ball perhaps?!  Black is croqueted 13yN of 1st corner, maybe 3y in lawn.  Red is level with hoop.  (Blue is 2y SSE of 2nd corner.)  Taps Red (leaving single ball for Blue, i think).

G3T8  Westerby Blue shoots at Black, missing (18y).

G3T9  Grimsley Red makes 4, rushes Yellow 6y SE of 6.  Takes off to Black, rushes it to Blue, Blue to 5.

G3T9  Grimsley Red makes 5, rushes Blue to Black, Black 3y W of peg.  Take-off to Yellow, makes 6 with rush back to Black.

G3T9 Grimsley Red has made 1-back off Black, now has 4-ball break.

G3T9ctd  Grimsley Red to 4-back.  Leaves Black 6y N of 4th corner.  Blue at peg.  It's a reverse spread.

G3T10  Westerby lifts Blue to 1st corner.  Shoots at Yellow (20y).  Misses into 2nd corner.

G3T11  Rothman Yellow rushes Red 3y N of Black.  Takes off, rushes Black 3y W of 3.  Angled hoop - 40 degrees.  Good jump.  No rush on Black.  Croquets Black to 5, hits Red.   

G3T11ctd  Rothman approaches 4 from Red.  Fails hoop.

G3T12  Chapman Black has 9-yarder at Red.  Misses.

G3T13  Rothman Yellow in jaws of 4, calls ref.  Think he can run it to boundary.  Does so.  Rushes Black into 4th corner so he can put it to 6 getting rush on Red to 5.  Underhit. Black is 1yE peg.  Red is rushed 10'S of 5.  Approaches.  Sticks in 5 from nowhere.  Calls on ref to check hoop.

The verdict is that the ball will go through, so no replay.  But the hoop is too tight, so Ian Vincent is resetting it.

My expert thinks Regulations should be changed, so that, while aiming for 1/32" clearance, so long as it's >1/64", that should be OK and not necessitate resetting hoop.

Fettling over.  (Until JH's commentary I didn't know "fettle" was a verb.  An engineering term apparently.)

G3T14  Chapman Black hits Red (4y).  NZ pair consult.

G3T14  Chapman Black croquets Red 5y W of hoop 1.  Rush-peels Yellow thru 5 by 2y.  Croquets Yellow 10y E of peg.  Black sent off 2y E of Blue.

G3T15  Rothman Yellow misses Blue (28y).  The crowd oohed as if it were close.

Westerby not around at the moment.  Natural break, probably.

G3T16  Westerby (Blue) should finish from here.

G3T16ctd  Westerby (Blue) peels Black thru 4-back after 3.  In full control.

G3T16ctd  Westerby (Blue) failed to get rushes out of 4 and 5, but good croquet stroke after 5 puts him back in good position.  Now consulting with partner for some reason - hoop 6 pioneer is 1y N of hoop. 

G3T16ctd  Westerby (Blue) peels Black thru penult after 6, but only by an inch or two.

It's unusual to consult with partner when you're just playing a break, but this NZ pair are at it again.  Trying to organize rover peel after 3-back.

G3T16ctd  Westerby (Blue) rushes Black after 3-back, but hasn't got position for peel.  Straight rover peel to finish then.

Chapman's on the lawn again.

I was only informed at lunch time that my word of the day is "anagram".  So that suggests to me a competition for the best Mac related anagram and/or cryptic clue.  My brain is so addled after this typing that so far I've only come up with:

Joe's off  and  Asinine L.

But you can do better that that.

Westerby has just been overtaken by Bryant on 7.  No he's fought back.  They've spotted each other.  Simultaneous short peg-outs.

NZ wins both matches 2-1.  They lead Test match 10-2.  And i thought it was going to be close...

Nothing for NZ to do now but cheer on Australia in remaining matches.  Unusual for Kiwis to be supporting Aussies!