Colin James Irwin (1952-2026)

As a croquet player and a member of the croquet "family", Colin's achievements were immense. Although Colin and Chris only joined the Bowdon Croquet Club in 1980, within 5 years Colin had quickly established himself as a fast improver which culminated in him winning the Bowdon Croquet Club's Fotiadi Novices' trophy that year and more sensationally ending that first season on a handicap of 4.

His improvement continued into a 1982 Club A Class win, a competition he would win on 12 occasions, and a 1983 win at the Spencer Ell competition. But he did not stop there as he won the Cheltenham Coles' Championship in 1985 and, 4 years later in 1989, he had become a losing semi-finalist in the very first World Championship. These achievements cannot be underestimated, so here's a list of all his remarkable croquet "career":

Individually:

Cheltenham Coles Championship in 1985

Semi-finalist in the first World Championship 1989

Men's Championship in 1992

North of England Championship 4 times (1986, 1987, 1997 and 2000)

He played in the President's Cup 12 times between 1985 and 2003 with a best place of second in 2003

He played in 9 World Championships between 1989 and 2013

Colin was also a Championship referee.

Team:

Mary Rose with Bowdon in 1983 - 3 years after starting to play croquet

Represented Great Britain in the MacRobertson Shield "test series" 4 times between 1986 and 2000 and part of the winning team three times.

Represented Ireland and England in the Home Internationals between 1986 and 2003.

Inter Club with Bowdon 4 times (1987, 1994, 1997, 1998).

In the Inter Counties team with Cheshire in 1994, 1995 and 2004.

Other Achievements:

Croquet England (formerly the Croquet Association)

Council member from 1987 to 2002

Chairman 1992 to 1994

Vice President from 2007

World Croquet Federation

Colin was on the Management Committee until 2004.

In summary, Colin played 1,934 ranking games with a 65% success rate. To those who understand croquet Colin completed 371 TP's and TPO's. His highest world ranking was 4th in 1993. At his height of playing prowess Colin was an indefatigable opponent, a person who was likely to offer advice to players, particularly beginners he'd just played.

One of his proudest moments was to become the holder of the Number 1 Membership card of the founding of the All-Ireland Croquet Association.

Colin departs us as a very great friend of the Bowdon Croquet Club and Dunham Golf Club and its members and the wider croquet "family".

Finally, I would like to emphasise that although they didn't live near to each other, Helen and her entire family (and Chris's siblings and family) will miss Colin more than they can say.

May Colin "Rest in Peace" with his beloved wife Chris.

By Michael Sandler

Colin's full obituary will be published in the June Croquet Gazette.

Streaming details for the service of Colin James Irwin at 11:00 (BST) on Thursday 4th June, at Altrincham - Chapel, run by Kenneth Dewey & Sons - Hale are as below.

Watching Live & On Demand

Website:
https://watch.obitus.com

Username:
ripu7109

Password:
689194

An introduction and presentation by Carol Driver and Andy Dalby-Welsh

by Alison Maugham at Sussex County Croquet Club [^]
27th May (CqE Official News)

Carol Driver, Chair of Trustees, and Chief Executive Officer Andy Dalby-Welsh have delivered a short presentation about the future of Croquet England which can also be viewed on our Croquet England YouTube Channel.

Watch the full video - https://youtu.be/CmhHaxwqjg0

Andy Dalby-Welsh writes more about the future plans and projects in the latest Talking Croquet online magazine:

"As I write during Mental Health Awareness Week, I am reminded that croquet has an important role to play in supporting positive mental wellbeing. Time on the lawn, spent outdoors and in good company, can provide focus, social connection and a valuable sense of perspective. Our sport offers an opportunity for people to have fun, develop friendships and to compete. This contribution to wellbeing is important, and it is one we should celebrate and build upon.

This is already being demonstrated through the Pendle and Craven Croquet Club wellbeing project, led by Ian Longstaff and delivered in partnership with the NHS social prescribing team. The pilot exceeded its original participation target and produced highly encouraging feedback, highlighting clear social and psychological benefits for those involved. It is a strong example of how croquet can make a big contribution to individuals and communities. For that reason, wellbeing will be one of our special projects as we take forward the work emerging from our newly identified strategic priorities.

A second special project will be youth development, because the long-term strength of our sport depends on building the next generation of players. In addition to this, our primary participation focus will be the recruitment of Generation X. Players and volunteers aged approximately 40 to 60 who are likely to become the future backbone of our clubs. They have the potential to provide the capacity to contribute not only as participants, but also as organisers, leaders, mentors and volunteers who can help create resilient and sustainable club environments.

This work will be supported by a stronger focus on income generation. This will enable us to invest in the development of our sport, all within a One Croquet philosophy. Bringing together every part of croquet and recognising the contribution of every volunteer. We cannot achieve these ambitions without wider support. If you would like to contribute to achieving through our One Croquet philosophy, whether through your enthusiasm, expertise or both, I encourage you to get in touch. In particular, we welcome support from those with experience in marketing, communications, public relations, governance, fundraising, bid writing, corporate partnerships or streaming, as well as from anyone with skills and /or enthusiasm that can help us make a meaningful difference."

Read the latest issue of Talking Croquet - https://online.flippingbook.com/view/508802124/

If you have any questions please do contact communications#croquetengland.org.uk.

Surrey win the Association Croquet Inter-County Championship 2026

Congratulations to Team Surrey for their outstanding performance in the AC Inter-County Championship this weekend. Captained by Samir Patel. they came top of the table with 9 out of 10 match wins. Middlesex, who boasted the highest ranked team in the event also had nine wins, but their one loss was to Surrey. Division 2 was won by Wiltshire who will be promoted to division 1 alongside Gloucestershire and Glamorgan.

Letchworth lost to Nottingham 1-6

by Mick Owens at Letchworth [^]
27th May (AC - Longman Cup)

Crake Valley beat Southport 4-3

by Chris Williamson at Crake Valley [^]
24 May (AC - Longman Cup)

The match was played at Crake Valley Croquet Valley, located in the village of Greenodd in the South Lakes area of the Lake District.
A warm and sunny day on the lawns.

In the first round, doubles, the Crake pairing of Jim and Helen Allcock played Tony Thomas and Bill Nicholl from Southport.

Southport +1.

In the singles, Paul Galley from Crake Valley played David Venables of Southport.
Paul winning 20 - 6.

The next singles saw Rob Callingham of Crake Valley play Eddie Green from Southport.
Rob winning 17 - 12.

In the following singles the results as follows:

Rob Callingham lost to David Venables 22 - 6.

Jim Allcock won 24 - 20 against Bill Nicholl.

Paul Galley won 26 - 3 against Tony Thomas.

Helen Allcock lost to Eddie Green 22 - 7.

Final result Crake Valley won 4 - 3.

Surbiton beat Woking 4-3

by Alan Grundy at Surbiton [^]
26 May (AC - Longman Cup)

York lost to Chester 3-4

by Robin Tasker at York [^]
26 May (AC - Longman Cup)

York v Chester
26 May 2026

York 3 - 4 Chester

Morning Session (York players first)

Debbie James (9) & Helen Griffiths (18) beat David Boyd (4.5) & Rick Davies (14) 11 - 8
Cathy Dance (9) beat Robin Tasker (5) 20 - 6
James Moir (11) beat Sally Slater (14) 26 - 13

Afternoon Session

Debbie lost to Robin 12 - 23
Cathy lost to David 12 - 19
James lost to Rick 20 - 23
Helen lost to Sally 15 - 26

High Wycombe beat Leighton Linslade 5-2

by Chris Webbley at High Wycombe [^]
27th May (GC - Tier 3 Bowl)

Compton beat Ealing 4-3

by Andrew Fall at Unknown - not stated [^]
22 May (GC - Tier 3 Bowl)

Simon Turner wins the inaugural Mike Pattison Cup

Tim Russell presents the Mike Pattison Cup to Simon Turner

Roehampton Club hosted the inaugural Mike Pattison Cup, donated in honour of our longest standing captain who sadly died in December. Mike was a keen Golf Croquet player and the Club's most passionate supporter at all club matches, home and away. The Cup forms part of the GC A level series.

The groundstaff produced immaculate lawns with a stimp reading of 12 which proved quite a challenge for the competitors on the first day who couldn't quite believe how softly they needed to hit their shots. We followed the Championship format with 4 blocks playing three best of three matches. Block D managed to take 4 hours over their first match, ensuring the manager had to impose time limits on their subsequent matches, but play still didn't end until 8pm.

Top seed Douglas Shand won all his matches to progress to the knockout from Block A alongside Ray Ore. Block B saw the two Roehampton members paired together with newcomer Alex Rose winning the block but Dan Pearson was overturned by Caroline Denny who took second spot. Block C saw John Gosden and Simon Turner progress. The marathon block D saw the biggest upset with bottom seed Michael Marcel topping the group and Bridget Goodman coming second. Richard Barkey threw his chance away with a poor approach to hoop 11 after time was called with the scores level against Margaret Page. Had he won the hoop he'd have finished top but he lost out on net games.

The second day saw two Ealing players progress to the final with Simon Turner beating Bridget Goodman 7-4, 7-3. Simon was on beautiful form with generally smooth hoop running and excellent positioning. He took a 4-0 lead in the first game including a beautiful clearance at 2 leaving his ball on the North boundary by 3. Bridget fought hard to come back into the game but Simon always appeared in control and then had the luck at the end when Bridget cleared him into the jaws of 10 for a half inch hoop. If only they were all like that!

Roehampton's Alex Rose finished third in his first tournament. A top snooker player at the club and he has taken to croquet like a duck to water. Scratch beckons. In the consolation events Ray Ore won the shield, Michael Gentry from Tunbridge Wells won the plate and Richard Barkey the saucer.

Good luck to Simon in the A series final. A worthy winner even if Mike Pattison would probably have preferred a Roehampton winner!

York lost to Ashby 3-4

by Arthur Rowe at York [^]
22nd May (AC - Secretary's Shield)

Ashby travelled up to York on the train to play a first round Secretary's Shield match on a cloudy but dry day on 21st May. The morning games resulted in two +1T wins for Ashby, and one +16 win for York. The doubles was especially stressful for the players at the end as both teams vied with each other to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in turns after time was called.

After a break for lunch, the afternoon singles games saw the honours shared with two wins apiece, without the drama of the morning games. Thanks to York for hosting, providing lunch, and a very close match.

York

Andy Davies (0)

Lionel Stack (6)

Fiona Crompton (8)

John Crompton (16)

Ashby

Arthur Rowe (2.5)

Richard Sanville (11)

Heather Hardy (12)

Mick Haytack (16)

Results (York players first)

Lionel Stock and Fiona Crompton lost to Arthur Rowe and Mick Haytack -1T

John Crompton lost to Heather Hardy -1T

Andy Davies beat Richard Sanville +16

Andy Davies beat Arthur Rowe +15

John Crompton beat Mick Haytack +25

Fiona Crompton lost to Heather Hardy -4T

Lionel Stock lost to Richard Sanville -6T

Meet the Croquet England Chief Executive and Chair of Trustees

by Alison Maugham at Sussex County Croquet Club [^]
21st May (CqE Official News)

On Tuesday 26th May at Sussex County Croquet Club, incoming Chair of the Board of Trustees Carol Driver and Croquet England Chief Executive Andy Dalby-Welsh will be introduced by Croquet England President Jonathan Isaacs. The introduction will take place at approximately 12.30 pm but may be adjusted to fit in with lunch scheduling.

Carol and Andy are excited to share their vision for the future, meet those who are competing, volunteering, and spectating at the event to wish all those attending a very exciting and enjoyable tournament.

The presentation will be recorded and available to view on our YouTube channel following the event, but will not be livestreamed.

Guildford beat Hurlingham 5-1

by Andrea Huxley at Guildford & Godalming [^]
20th May (GC - Murphy Shield)

Doubles Phil Davies & Julie Tremble drew Stephen Allen & Mark Wellby 7-6, 5-7

Singles
1 TREMBLE Phil beat BAGWELL Henry 7 3
2 TREMBLE Phil beat BAGWELL Henry 7 2
3 LOCKWOOD Andrew beat HORLOCK David 7 3
4 LOCKWOOD Andrew beat HORLOCK David 7 4
5 DAVIES Phil beat ALLEN Stephen 7 5
6 DAVIES Phil beat ALLEN Stephen 7 4
7 WELLBY Mark beat TREMBLE Julie 7 4
8 WELLBY Mark beat TREMBLE Julie 7 6
9 HORLOCK David beat TREMBLE Phil 7 4
10 TREMBLE Phil beat HORLOCK David 7 3
11 TREMBLE Phil beat HORLOCK David 7 3
12 LOCKWOOD Andrew beat BAGWELL Henry 7 4
13 LOCKWOOD Andrew beat BAGWELL Henry 7 4

Leicester beat Woodhall Spa 6-1

by Gillian Baverstock at Leicester [^]
20th May (GC - Tier 3 Bowl)

With a wet start to the week and a cooler and variable outlook forecast on the day of the match the likelihood of showers was easily forgotten as play got underway.

With both teams having closely matched handicaps every hoop was keenly contested. The best of 3 games per round was unfamiliar for the less experienced Leicester side. The away team, Woodhall Spa, soon eroded any home advantage as they transitioned to full sized lawns. Each of the games were keenly contested with the doubles lasting 3 hours and together with one of the singles games going the full distance. As lunch approached Leicester were 2:1 up.

The afternoon welcomed minimal wet stuff and therefore continued uninterrupted. Again 2 out of 3 matches went the full distance. So 18 games, a couple of hundred hoops, a couple of packets of biscuits and many cups of tea and squash latter Leicester won 6:1 and is through to the quarter finals.

Both teams enjoyed the competition and thank you to JP for organising the tournament.

Home Team : Richard Whiting H'Cap 5
Phil Selvidge H'Cap 6
Andrew York H'Cap 7
Jen Housden H'Cap 7

Away Team : John Palframan H'Cap 5
Robert Potter H'Cap 5
Patricia Duke-Cox H'Cap 6
Robert Scott H'Cap 6

Jack Good won the European GC Singles Championship

Jack Good in action (Photo: Rob Edlin-White)

The annual European Golf Croquet Singles Championship was held at Nottingham for the first time this year, ably organised and directed by local member Catriona Peterson. Although three of the newly relaid lawns puddled during heavy rain on the practice day, they drained overnight and, despite other heavy showers, the only time lost was by players cowering under shelter, rather than unplayable courts.

The event was played in an exceptionally good spirit, with the appeals panel being entirely redundant. There was excellent support behind the scenes from club members engaged in the usual tasks of providing catering and bar, setting up and clearing away and welcoming visitors. The ball boys were under-employed, with only one or two balls needing to be fished out of the stream, but they became expert hoop setters. Duncan Catterall provided two days of video streaming.

The experienced manager, Chris Clarke, completed all the games in a demanding schedule bar the final of the main event in time for a presentation at 3pm, enabling those with flights booked to catch them, though he was fortunate that the locals won both the England v Spain semi-finals. The winner, Jack Good, is a student at the University of Nottingham and his opponent, Sam Cuthbert, lives only two hours away, at Cheltenham. It was encouraging for the future of the sport, if not for the more senior players, that it was the youngsters who came through to take the medals.

European AC Champs England place announced

by Chris Clarke at Telc, Czech Republic [^]
19th May (CqE Official News)

Many congratulations to Ian Lines who has been selected to represent England in the 2026 European AC Champs at the beautiful location of Telc in the Czech Republic. He joins Stephen Mulliner and Debbie Lines who both received ranking places. Aston Wade was selected as reserve. We wish them all the best of luck.

Chris Clarke

Acting Chair CqE ACSC

Watford lost to Leicester 2-5

by Richard Whiting at Watford [^]
19th May (AC - Longman Cup)

Phyllis Court beat Hove CC 5-1

by Christopher Roberts at Phyllis Court [^]
2 May (GC - Federations' Shield)

Phyllis Court scored a convincing win today in their first-round match in this season's Croquet England National Inter-Club Advantage competition, the Federations Shield.

Their visitors were Hove Beach, who's home ground is right on the promenade of the Sussex seaside town, and even though they had won a coin toss for venue, they opted to visit the lovely grounds of the Phyllis Court Club at Henley on Thames.

This national competition is for the Handicap/Advantage League Champions of all nine regional Federations, and the Phyllis Court team line-up was based on their 'D' team that won the Southern Croquet Federation's (SCF) Advantage League last season. Hove Beach are the reigning South-East Federation Advantage League Champions.

Home captain Philip Rowley partnered Julia Green to victory in the doubles rubber against Hove skipper Sam Holder and Gavin Fancy and the hosts Bob Clapp doubled Phyllis Court's lead with a three-game victory over Tim Bick.

The Carol Huntington versus Rob Harper match was suspended at 1-1, to be returned to if crucial to the team match result.

In the afternoon session, Harper pulled one match win back for Hove, with defeat of Rowley, but all the other matches went Phyllis Court's way.

Huntington beat Holder, Clapp defeated Fancy and Green got the better of Bick, all in straight games, and with no need to return to the suspended match, the team results was called as Phyllis Court 5.5, Hove Beach 1.5 and the teams repaired for refreshments.

Phyllis Court will entertain Colchester in the next round.

Crake Valley lost to Backworth 3-4

by Don Morton at Crake Valley [^]
19th May (GC - Federations' Shield)

Gareth Hobby won the Charity One Ball Southern final

Phil Davies (Consolation) Gareth Hobby (Winner) Cliff Hunter (RU)

The Surbiton regional final was contested by 40 players who had come through their club heats.

The day was run as a 6 round knockout with a consolation flexible swiss. 16 players contesting the first round whilst the other 24 played a swiss game before joining the winners of Round 1 to complete a straight 32 player knockout.

After 3 rounds a delicious lunch was provided by George with his able helpers Monica, Val and Jo whilst Martin managed the bar.

Luckily the threatened rain did not materialise and the 3 remaining rounds were played in the dry - albeit with an increasing overcast sky and a cold wind blowing.

The final was contested by Cliff Hunter of Surbiton and Gareth Hobby of Caversham. Cliff got off to a good start, running hoop 1 with his first shot. However, Gareth's steady play meant that he eased into the lead without having to use his 2 bisques. From being behind, Cliff had to try and hit in to regain the advantage but a few narrow misses enabled Gareth to increase his lead, use his bisques wisely and to run out the winner 13:7 winning the crystal trophy.

In the consolation event, for those not reaching the quarter final, David Fuller, Ludolph van Hasselt and Phil Davies all remained unbeaten after having been knocked out of the main event. As they had not played each other it was a straight - nearest the peg decider which was won by Phil Davies.

Overall, 110 games were played, Andy's computer held up with the complexities of manging the swiss alongside the knockout and all the players were miraculously all in the right place at the right time to play the scheduled games.

Many thanks to Andy Dibben for managing a big field of players. An excellent day, generously hosted by Surbiton CC and enjoyed by all.

Richard Lamborn won the Charity One Ball Northern final

Richard Lamborn (York)

The northern regional Final of the Charity 1-ball attracted players from Ashby, Pinchbeck, Sheffield, Wrest Park, Nottingham, York and the host club Bowdon. The new venue for this year's final did not disappoint either in the warmth of its welcome or the quality of its lawns … and the forecast rain largely held off to allow a day's play in sunshine.

Four rounds of play in the morning produced two players with 4 wins - Richard Lamborn of York and John Bagnall of Bowdon - and two players with 3 wins - Richard Sanville of Ashby and Robert Cutts-Watson, the Bowdon qualifier. After lunch Robert played Richard S and John played Richard L. John lost 13-4 while Richard S won 13-7. The two players, now both on 4 wins - John and Richard S - had a close game with John winning 13-9 to accrue 5 wins.

The remaining field of players assembled as spectators of the final between Richard L and John. Richard made a confident start, running hoop 1 in his opening shot, but John got ahead by +2 hoops as play progressed. A missed roquet and a wasted bisque by Richard at hoop 4 let John stay ahead. The judicious use of a second bisque at hoop 5 set Richard on a path to score the next 3 hoops to level the match at 7-all.

A tussle ensued at hoop 8, Richard scoring it first but missing a roquet on John's ball and letting him back in. John scored hoop 8 and progressed to 9, then on to 10. Could Richard peg him back? Richard held his nerve and with steady hoop running left John's ball at penult and ran rover. A chance for John to roquet Richard's ball near the peg was a near-miss and Richard shot to the peg to earn the winner's trophy for 2026.

Congratulations to Richard and well-played to RU John. Thanks to all the northern finalists for making the day enjoyable and competitive, to Bowdon for hosting and to Cas Sinclair for managing the day with friendly aplomb.

Fiona McCoig won the Colchester Spring Weekend

Fiona McCoig receives the John Foreman trophy from Al Brown

There were 9 entries for the Spring weekend handicap. Al Brown, the manager, managed to find various players to make the numbers up to 10 .

Entries were mainly from Essex, with some from Hunstanton and Tunbridge Wells. The handicaps ranged from 4 to 22 with the matches arranged to level up the range to reduce a picket fence situation.

There were two winners each winning all 4 of their games, Fiona McCoig (8) from Frinton and Colchester and Derek Code (22) from Old Brentwoods . There was a Nottingham play-off: each had 2 balls and starting from corner 4 rushed to hoop 4 to make as many hoops as possible. Derek made hoop 4 , Fiona made 4 and 5 and was awarded the John Foreman trophy, newly rediscovered and polished.

Martin Sloots won the GGCC D-Level Series

by Andrew Lockwood at Guildford & Godalming [^]
18th May (GC - Tournaments)

Martin Sloots narrowly beat his club compatriot Jane Drury 7-6 in an exciting and hard fought contest in the final of the GGCC D Level Series Tournament held at Guildford and Godalming on 16^th May 2026. It was a typical May morning, cold in the shade but warm in the sunshine, as the 16 competitors gathered for the four morning blocks. After a sustaining and well-earned lunch, the afternoon weather turned darker and colder as the knockout matches become more intense and competitive. After some very well fought matches it was the two players from Phyllis Court - Jane Drury and Martin Sloots - who made it to the final, played on Lawn 1 in front of the clubhouse and an excited crowd (suitably sustained by fruit cake and tea). Philip Rowley, last year's winner, was there to see his crown handed over to Martin after his win on the golden hoop.

A big thank you to all the competitors for coming to play on the lawns here at Guildford, especially to those who managed to survive their first ever full day tournament. It takes courage and stamina to get out on the lawns in a highly competitive tournament for the first time. You should all be proud of yourselves. A big thank you to Andrea Huxley and Andrew Jackson, the tournament referees, and all the other members who were up early to prepare the lawns, set out the gazebos, do the catering and washing up and put it all to bed at the end of a friendly and rewarding day just as the the drizzle started.

High Wycombe beat Guildford 4-3

by Matthew Miles Griffiths at Unknown - not stated [^]
17th May (AC - Longman Cup)

Roehampton lost to Ealing 3-4

by Tony Elliott at Roehampton [^]
14 May (AC - Longman Cup)

Ealing 4 Roehampton 3. Played at Roehampton on 14th May 2026.

Report:

The match was played on the immaculate lawns of the Roehampton Club. In the morning doubles, in the face of solid alternate stroke play by Elaine and Jenny of the home club, Ealing's Margaret belied her handicap to make two very tidy breaks, and Tony added a late break to confirm the win shortly before time expired. Meanwhile, Roehampton won both the morning singles matches, albeit Howard's victory over John was an extremely tight affair, secured by just 2 hoops on time. So, 2-1 to Roehampton at lunch.

After an extremely sociable meal kindly provided by the hosts, during which the teams were oblivious to a brief thunderstorm which "refreshed" the courts, the afternoon singles commenced. Three of the matches were tight and competitive throughout, and they all resulted in wins by "+4 on time", with Howard winning again against Sean, but Ealing's John and Margaret beating Jenny and Mark respectively. In the tussle between the lowest handicapped players, Elaine started well, but Tony eventually overtook her, to peg out in his final turn after time had been called, and secure a close 4-3 overall victory for Ealing.

Everyone enjoyed the match, played in excellent spirit on superb courts.

Scores (Ealing names first) :

Tony Elliott (4.5) & Margaret Page (16) beat Elaine Phillimore (8) & Jenny Gaskin (14) +6 on time.
Sean Doherty (8) lost to Mark Green (16) -15 on time.
John Hutchinson (11) lost to Howard Railton (11) -2 on time.
Tony Elliott beat Elaine Phillimore +14.
Sean Doherty lost to Howard Railton -4 on time.
John Hutchinson beat Jenny Gaskin +4 on time.
Margaret Page beat Mark Green +4 on time.

East Dorset beat Woking 4-3

by Jeff Dawson at East Dorset [^]
15th May (AC - Inter-Club)

Jeff Dawson and David Fuller beat Andy Myers and Mike Town +16tp

Jonathan Powe beat Andrew Dutton +2

Simon Turner beat Nick Harvey +19

Jeff Dawson Beat Mike Town +24

David Fuller lost to Andy Myers -23

Jonathan Powe lost to Nick Harvey -4

Simon Turner lost to Andrew Dutton -11

Woking lost to Phyllis Court 2-5

by No one at Woking [^]
30 Apr (GC - Inter-Club)

Oxfordshire vs. Croquet England Women

Oxfordshire won the annual AC match between a select team of Croquet England women and last year's winners of the second division of the Inter-Counties Championship by the closest of margins.

Cheltenham Croquet Club were superb hosts, providing well-set hoops, top-class catering, and good weather to boot. A tournament dinner at a local Thai restaurant provided a good opportunity to get to know each other better. Overall, the event was again a great success, providing an opportunity for Oxfordshire to have a warm up before re-entering Division 1 in the Counties, and providing the opportunity for female players to develop by playing in a team and learning from more experienced players. To all the women out there: look out for the availability invitation next year, and come and join in.

A full report will be published in the June 2026 Gazette.

Nottingham beat Bowdon 5-1

by Alex McIntyre at Nottingham [^]
13th May (AC - Mary Rose)

Morning games (Nottingham players first)

Beatrice Mcglen (0) and Alex McIntyre (0.5) lost to Brian Storey (0) and Charles Harding (1.5) -17

Ian Draper (2) vs Alan Dix (4) pegged down at lunch and did not finish.

Roger Watson (2) beat Adrian Apps (4) +17

Afternoon games.

Beatrice McGlen beat Brian Storey +14

Alex McIntyre beat Charles Harding +17

Ian Draper beat Adrian Apps +12

Roger Watson beat Alan Dix +13

Wrest Park beat Pinchbeck 5-2

by Tim Brewer at Unknown - not stated [^]
11 May (AC - Mary Rose)

1 Peter Rothwell & John Bevington beat Adrian Kirby & Peter Hanley +12
2 Tim Brewer beat Jonathan Toye +15
3 Ken Knock beat Tim Nurse +3
4 Peter Rothwell beat Adrian Kirby +13
5 Peter Hanley beat John Bevington +11
6 Tim Brewer beat Ken Knock +9
7 Tim Nurse beat Jonathan Toye +7

Newport beat High Wycombe 6-1

by Alex Lake at Newport [^]
23 Apr (GC - Murphy Shield)

1 COWARD Richard beat TAYLOR Colin 7 5
2 TAYLOR Colin beat COWARD Richard 7 0
3 COWARD Richard beat TAYLOR Colin 7 5
4 BARNES-BISHOP Sue beat MOORE Nigel 7 5
5 BARNES-BISHOP Sue beat MOORE Nigel 7 6
6 LAKE Alex beat TOOVEY Keith 7 5
7 TOOVEY Keith beat LAKE Alex 7 5
8 LAKE Alex beat TOOVEY Keith 7 0
9 DOCK Martin beat CARR Colin 7 6
10 CARR Colin beat DOCK Martin 7 5
11 CARR Colin beat DOCK Martin 7 6
12 TAYLOR Colin beat MOORE Nigel 7 3
13 TAYLOR Colin beat MOORE Nigel 7 0
14 COWARD Richard beat BARNES-BISHOP Sue 7 6
15 BARNES-BISHOP Sue beat COWARD Richard 7 6
16 BARNES-BISHOP Sue beat COWARD Richard 7 3

Nottingham A beat YCF 7-4

by Mick Owens at Nottingham [^]
12th May (AC - Short Croquet Inter-Club)

Nottingham had a clean sweep in the first round with Yorkshire staging a comeback in the second by winning 3 out of 4. The match was therefore finely poised for the last round decider.

Nottingham win three of the final 4 games. The game between Charlotte Morgan and Neil Oakes was fiercely contested and went to the wire with all Neil being pegged out with his other ball on rover. Neil managed to secure a win by one point and pegging out.

Matthew Parsons completes a GC triple at Ryde

by Roy Tillcock at Ryde [^]
11th May (GC - Tournaments)

Fresh from his GC B-Level wins at Sussex County and Camerton & Peasedown, Matthew Parsons (Bradford-on-Avon) headed across the Solent to join eleven other players in the Ryde B-Level.

Perhaps understandably after commuting from Camerton & Peasedown Matthew made a slow start losing two of his first three games. After that though, there was no stopping. A win against Marian Manning (returning once more to her birth place) secured them both places in the knockout.

In the other block, "Magic Mike" (aka Mike Pudney, Chichester) also commuting from his Plate win at Camerton & Peasedown, was unbeaten and along with Steve Hayns (Ryde) completed the knockout line up.

In two very close semi-finals, Matthew beat Steve and Mike beat Marian leaving the two finalists to repeat their block match from the day before at Camerton & Peasedown, in the Ryde final.

Matthew's deliberate and clinical clearing contrasted with Mike's flamboyance and exciting boundary jump shots, but the outcome was a repeat of yesterday with Matthew completing a well deserved third B-Level series title in just two weeks.

Mark Buckley won the Northern Stars - Ashby heat

Mark Buckley receives his trophies from Judith Rowe (Photo: Alison Murray)

Ashby hosted the third heat of the new Northern Stars competition on Saturday 9th May and welcomed players from Wrest Park, Bowdon, Leicester, Nottingham and home players Mike O'Brian and John Picken on what turned out to be a lovely sunny day.

Two player and one reserve withdrawals in the previous few days provided a challenge to the Manager before the competition even started. Fortunately Paul Williams from Leicester was able to step in and the Manager filled the last place to avoid sit outs.

This was the first competitive croquet tournament Rachel Gee had played for almost two years following the birth of her second daughter last year. Although not on her best form she won all her games in the block. Mark Buckley who won all his games apart from the game against Rachel filled the other semi-final slot from Block A. In Block B Mike O'Brian and David Cornes both finished on 4 wins out of 5 and joined Rachel and Mark in the two 19pt semi-finals.

The semi-finals were won quickly by Rachel and Mark and they then embarked on what turned out to be a very close final. With three hoops left to play Rachel needed all 3 hoops to win. She ran hoops 17 and 18 but that left Mark as first to approach hoop 19 and he put a very good black ball in front of the hoop. Rachel did a wonderful long clearance from the south boundary to clear Mark to the North boundary from where he ran the long hoop. The spectators from Ashby, Nottingham and Wrest Park enjoyed the close final.

The Northern Stars heats have two winners, the overall winner and then also the player who has gained the most index points, called the Challenger. Mark Buckley won both competitions, having only lost one game in the block.

As this competition has replaced the Ashby one day competition, as well as the star badges for the winner there were two trophies too, made by Mike O'Brian.

Full results are on croquet scores https://croquetscores.com/2026/gc/northern-stars-one-day-ashby-heat

Surbiton beat Woking 5-2

by Andy Dibben at Surbiton [^]
11th May (AC - Mary Rose)

Surbiton beat Woking 5:2 at Surbiton on Friday 8th May

Results: Surbiton names first:

George Noble & Andy Dibben beat Nick Harvey & Andrew Dutton +20

Mary Knapp beat Max Byfield +9

Julian Sheraton-Davis lost to Ian Anderson -14

George Noble beat Nick Harvey +16

Andy Dibben lost to Andrew Dutton -21

Mary Knapp beat Ian Anderson +13

Julian Sheraton-Davis beat Max Byfield +20

Newport beat St Albans 5-2

by Alex Lake at Newport [^]
11th May (AC - Longman Cup)

Fylde beat Middlesbrough 5-2

by Betty Marshall at Fylde [^]
11th May (AC - Secretary's Shield)

Southport beat Branston w/o

by Sue Wilkie [^]
11th May (GC - Murphy Shield)

Sussex County lost to Guildford 2-5

by Andrea Huxley at Sussex County [^]
11th May (GC - Tier 3 Bowl)

Displaying World Ranking Data: DGrades

by Alison Maugham [^]
8th May (CqE Official News)

We are delighted to announce an upgrade to our online systems that displays the AC and GC Dynamic Grades (DGrades) of all players alongside their handicap.

Any player who has had a level-play game recorded in the world ranking system has a DGrade. This recording occurs automatically for CqE fixtures calendar tournaments, and for federation matches.

We thank Dave Kibble for the continued improvement of our online systems, and this development has been warmly received by tournament officials and GC Series players in particular.

The DGrades are taken from the World Croquet Federation ranking system once per day, just after midnight. It can therefore be used by tournament managers and players in an event to gauge the standard of participants, whilst also providing a useful and instant assessment to check differences between handicap and ranking DGrade. By allowing clear access to player identity and ranking status, this valuable information saves time, reduces volunteer effort and helps avoid misidentification.

Players are identified in the ranking system by a unique Ranking Name, which may differ from the name recorded in the CqE Membership Database. If this applies to you, please log in, check your Ranking Name, and update it if necessary.

If you have never played in a ranking fixture, you do not need to take any action. If you have entered your first ranking fixture but have not yet played, you may wish to choose a unique preferred name to appear in the ranking list alongside your full name. A common convention is to use a preferred version of your name (e.g. Richard might use Ric) or to include a middle initial.

Before doing so, please check that the name is not already being used by another player in the ranking list, and ensure that your initials are up to date in the CqE database. The list of Ranking Names may be found on the WCF site https://rank.worldcroquet.org/gcrankdg/play_list.php?rank_code=false for GC and AC http://butedock.com/cgs/play_list.php. Note that the World Croquet Federation owns the ranking data, and if the ranking website were unavailable then the data would not be imported to the Croquet England subscribers' website that day.

Further information:

The TES guide on DGrades https://www.croquet.org.uk/?p=members/entry/tesGuide#DGrades

Further questions:

To raise any queries, please contact communications#croquetengland.org.uk.

East Dorset lost to Phyllis Court 3-4

by Christopher Roberts at East Dorset [^]
7 May (AC - Longman Cup)

Phyllis Court beat East Dorset 4-3

Fine margins in the 'Barter Cup' where the weather triumphs!!!

by Ivor Brand at Cheltenham [^]
7th May (GC - Tournaments)

Once again, this popular 'Open' series event attracted an oversubscribed number of entries. The lucky 32 all started with enthusiasm on the green lawns of Cheltenham dreaming of progressing into the main knockout the following day. Games were generally played at a good pace in the fine weather, which resulted in Sam Cuthbert and Neil Fillery winning their blocks undefeated, with Richard Gardiner and David Goacher as their respective runners up. The other 2 block winners, James Death and Konstantin Yuinstev, had to be separated by net points from David Thirtle-Watts and Ivor Brand. (All results are on CS)

The manager sat in the pub reflecting on how well the day had gone and was looking forward to both knockout events running smoothly on the Sunday. Once again, all 32 players were keen to get going in their respective 19 point knockout games in the morning sunshine. Unfortunately the weather had other ideas; it was April after all. Sure enough, the sky darkened and the rain fell, seeing players run for a short spell in their shelters. The lawns became waterlogged and play was suspended for 20mins. (Although James and Giles decided to finish their game as drowned rats)

The manager having taken 'legal' advice made the decision that the lawns were unplayable and gave the players a choice of waiting for an hour in the bar or withdraw and head home, as it would be 2.30pm before play could resume, assuming the lawns drained. After a short pause, there was a mad rush for the car park! Once the dust had settled the manager realised that the main event semi-final KO could continue, but the consolation plate event only had one semi-finalist staying. Consequently, it was decided to put through 3 losing quarter finalists so the competition could continue.

The 'Barter Cup' final was played in full sunshine which saw the top 2 seeds James D and Sam C squeak past their respective opponents Richard Gardiner and Ian Buckley. The first 2 games of the final were close and could have gone either way.

The third game continued to be fine margins all the way through to the 13^th hoop. James cleared well from an angle north of the hoop putting Sam's ball in corner 3 and subsequently travelled 4 yards into the jaws of 13 (lucky B). Sam responded by clearing James's ball out of the hoop from the east boundary level with hoop 4. Unfortunately, Sam narrowly missed his clearance from corner 3 allowing James to win the 'Barter Cup' for a 4^th successive year.

Ivor Brand (frustrated manager)

Bowdon A beat Penrith 9-2

by Cas Sinclair at Bowdon [^]
6th May (AC - Short Croquet Inter-Club)

2026 European AC Championship - Telc

by Ian Lines (International Committee) at Telc, Czechia [^]
6th May (International)

The 2026 European AC Championship will be held on 15-18 August 2026 at Telc Croquet Club in the Czech Republic. Details of the event are at https://www.croqueteurope.com/competitions/ac-championships

20 players will compete for the title, which is currently held by James Death.

The European Regional Committee (ERC) has recently announced the 10 players who have received Ranking Places in the event, and congratulations go to Stephen Mulluiner and Debbie Lines who have received two of these places.

European countries will be able to give Membership Places to fill the remaining 10 places in the event. The Croquet England AC Selection Committee will select the England Membership place by 25 May 2026.

Garway beat Broadwas 3-2

by Simon Collinson at Garway [^]
5th May (AC - Secretary's Shield)

Surbiton beat Enfield 6-1

by Thomas Halliday at Surbiton [^]
5th May (GC - Inter-Club)

Stephen MULLINER and Alison MAUGHAM beat Kim TAYLOR and David FROST 7-3 7-3

Andrew WILSON lost to Thomas HALLIDAY 3-7 6-7

Dave EVANS beat Colin CARVER 7-6 7-4

Stephen MULLINER beat Kim TAYLOR 5-7 7-5 7-6

Alison MAUGHAM beat David FROST 6-7 7-4 7-6

Dave EVANS beat Thomas HALLIDAY 7-5 7-6

Andrew WILSON beat Colin CARVER 7-4 7-5

Huddersfield lost to Bowdon B 3-8

by Brian Medley at Huddersfield [^]
5th May (AC - Short Croquet Inter-Club)

Teams

Huddersfield
Patrick Bailey (3.5)
Rena Souter (7)
Angie Turner (10)
Janet Peace (10)

Bowdon
Brian Storey (3P)
Brian Medley (2P)
Alison Acton (7)
Philip Thompson (7)

Round 1

Brian M and Philip beat Rena and Janet 12-2
Alison lost to Patrick 9-14
Brian S beat Angie 14-11

Round 2

Brian S beat Patrick 10-8
Brian M beat Rena 14-9
Alison beat Angie 9-7
Philip beat Janet 14-3

Round 3

Philip lost to Patrick 7-14
Alison lost to Rena 8-12
Brian M beat Angie 14-7
Brian S beat Janet 14-1

Bury beat Penrith 5-2

by Chris Alvey at Bury [^]
3 May (AC - Longman Cup)

Match result Bury 5 Penrith 2

Nottingham beat Leicester 5-0

by Ian Burridge at Nottingham [^]
4th May (GC - Inter-Club)

This match was played on Monday May 4th at Nottingham. Nottingham won 5-0. Detailed results can be found at croquetscores.com/2026/gc/interclub-nottingham-v-leicester

Roehampton beat Compton 5-2

by Lynn Pearcy at Roehampton [^]
3 May (GC - Murphy Shield)

Roehampton: Pearcy, Rose, Haxby, Miller
Compton: James, Platt, Dodds, Fall.

Doubles
1 JAMES Tony beat PEARCY Lynn 7 4
PLATT Richard ROSE Alex

2 JAMES Tony beat PEARCY Lynn 7 5
PLATT Richard ROSE Alex

Singles
3 FALL Andrew beat HAXBY Dan 7 4
4 FALL Andrew beat HAXBY Dan 7 6
5 MILLER Simon beat DODDS Alan 7 4
6 DODDS Alan beat MILLER Simon 7 5
7 MILLER Simon beat DODDS Alan 7 5
8 JAMES Tony beat PEARCY Lynn 7 3
9 PEARCY Lynn beat JAMES Tony 7 3
10 PEARCY Lynn beat JAMES Tony 7 5
11 ROSE Alex beat PLATT Richard 7 0
12 PLATT Richard beat ROSE Alex 7 5
13 ROSE Alex beat PLATT Richard 7 5
14 HAXBY Dan beat DODDS Alan 7 5
15 HAXBY Dan beat DODDS Alan 7 6
16 MILLER Simon beat FALL Andrew 7 5
17 MILLER Simon beat FALL Andrew 7 4

Chester lost to York 3-8

by Sue Longcroft at Chester [^]
4th May (AC - Short Croquet Inter-Club)

Bristol lost to East Dorset w/o

by Christine Rice at Bristol [^]
3rd May (AC - Mary Rose)

Chester beat Nottingham 5-1

by Tom Grievson at Chester [^]
1 May (GC - Murphy Shield)

Michelle Leonard selected for England's Member place at Women's GC Euros

by Chris Clarke at Carrickmines [^]
30th April (International)

Following the withdrawl of Liz Drury, Michelle Leonard has been selected to replace Liz at the Women's GC Europeans. Good luck Michelle!!

Chris Clarke

Chair of GCSC

Bowdon lost to Branston 3-4

by Tony Cross at Bowdon [^]
28th April (GC - Murphy Shield)

Gabrielle Higgins won the Woking Spring Advanced Handicap

by Sara Anderson at Woking [^]
27th April (AC)

We had 8 players in an all play all event lasting two days.

The lawns were fast thanks to the fantastic weather and hard work of the grounds staff…..and hoops were firm and tight.

Hence most of the games went to time (2.5 hours).
With handicaps ranging from -2 to 4 there no forest of bisques.

Play went on into darkness with two games being pegged down as we played 4 rounds on the Saturday ( 10 hours) …
It was a great time for all of the players to have fun, play croquet and enjoy a lot of banter at the same time of being highly competitive.

At the start of round 6 we had 6 players on 3 wins ( a managers nightmare) fortunately Gabrielle Higgins and Neil Coote were the only one of those that won the next two games. As Gabrielle had already beaten Neil it made the managers job easy (phew) and Gabrielle was declared the winner with 5 wins.

The good as well having lots of fun and plenty of croquet ( everyone played 7 matches) they all want to come back and do it again next year.

Andy Dibben won the Woking Super-B-Level

by Sara Anderson at Woking [^]
27th April (AC)

16 players with handicaps ranging from 0-4 enjoyed the unusual event of playing for two days in the sunshine.

The final was played by two players from Surbiton Club….Andy Dibben and Matt Cook.]
We had an exciting final where Andy pegged out Matts ball to give a 3 ball ending…..eventually leading to Andy being the Winner 26-19

Charlie Martin beat John Gosdon in the Plate Final with the same score 26-19.

Peter Payne had the only triple in the event.

Dennis Scarr won the Middlesbrough Handicap tournament

by Dennis Scarr at Middlesbrough [^]
27th April (AC - Handicap)

Middlesbrough Croquet Clubs AC Handicap Tournament was held at Albert Park, Middlesbrough on the weekend of 25^th & 26^th April and was won by Dennis Scarr.

Eight players signed up and turned up, with 3 being first time visitors to our Club.

The weatherman promised 'cool and dry'. Spot on with the 'dry' but rather underplayed the 'cool' - it was one of those 'several layers of clothing' tournaments.

Handicaps ranged from minus 0.5 to 24, all 4 lawns were in use and time limits were 'generous'.

BLOCK A

• Dennis Scarr ( - 0.5 )
• Eric Soakell ( 2.5 )
• Julian Gibson ( 6 )
• Gabija Smolskiene ( 24 )

BLOCK B

• Anthony Miller ( 1.5 )
• Steve Skelton ( 3.5 )
• Margo Soakell ( 5 )
• Nigel Durie (10 )

ROUND ONE SCORE

Dennis Scarr vs Gabija Smolskiene 26 - 16

Eric Soakell vs Julian Gibson 2 - 26

Anthony Miller vs Nigel Durie 13 - 26

Steve Skelton vs Margo Soakell 26 - 15

ROUND TWO SCORE

Gabija Smolskiene vs Eric Soakell 17 - 7 (t)

Julian Gibson vs Dennis Scarr 12 - 26

Nigel Durie vs Steve Skelton 20 - 21 (t)

Margo Soakell vs Anthony Miller 10 - 26

ROUND THREE SCORE

Dennis Scarr vs Eric Soakell 24 - 22 (t)

Julian Gibson vs Gabija Smolskiene 12 - 16 (t)

Anthony Miller vs Steve Skelton 19 - 26

Nigel Durie vs Margo Soakell 26 - 4

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BLOCKS - FINAL POSITIONS

BLOCK A BLOCK B

1 Dennis Scarr Steve Skelton

2 Gabi Nigel Durie

3 Julian Gibson Anthony Miller

4 Eric Soakell Margo Soakell

SEMI FINALS

Dennis Scarr vs Nigel Durie 26 - 18

Steve Skelton vs Gabi 15 - 10 (t)

FINAL

Dennis Scarr vs Steve Skelton 26 - 24

3^rd & 4th Blocks

Julian Gibson vs Margo Soakell 26 - 12

Anthony Miller vs Eric Soakell 17 - 26

Julian Gibson vs Anthony Miller 26 - 10

Margo Soakell vs Eric Soakell 21 - 16

Leighton Linslade beat Wrest Park 4-3

by Judith Pengelly at Leighton Linslade [^]
27th April (GC - Murphy Shield)

Hurlingham beat Cheam 6-1

by Brian Maddocks at Hurlingham [^]
27th April (GC - Murphy Shield)

National Croquet Day Celebrations

As the Hove Beach Croquet Club spring tournament begins, with the crowds spectating from their deck chairs with summer drinks and sharing platters, this was a perfect way to begin the celebrations of National Croquet Day.

Andy and Alison from Croquet England have been back out to see how the grassroots of Croquet thrive in the beautiful setting of Hove Beach. They were welcomed with open arms and enjoyed taking part in some double's games.

Read the full story >> https://www.croquetengland.org.uk/news_and_media/hove-beach-croquet-club-leads-the-national-croquet-day-celebrations/