Advance notice of Annual General Meeting

by Gabrielle Higgins [^]
24th August (CqE Official News)

The Annual General Meeting of Croquet England will be taking place online at 10am on Saturday 11 October.

Any individual member who seeks to propose that a resolution be placed before the members for a decision, pursuant to clause 10(2) of the Constitution, shall send to the Secretary, either by email to gabrielle.higgins#croquetengland.org.uk or by post to Croquet England Old Bath Road, Cheltenham, GL53 7DF, to arrive no later than 5 September 2025:

1. the text of the proposed resolution and copies of any document(s) referred to in that text;
2. the name, email address and membership number of the proposer; and
3. the name, email address and membership number of the member who has seconded the proposed resolution.

Any subscriber who is not a member can register as a member at Voting Membership of Croquet England.

Proposed changes to Croquet England's Constitution

by Gabrielle Higgins [^]
16th August (CqE Official News)

The Board of Trustees will be proposing changes to Croquet England's Constitution at this year's AGM. Constitutional changes don't excite everybody. But the Constitution is the foundational document setting out the basis on which CqE operates: why it exists, what purposes it can spend its money on, how the trustees who make the decisions are appointed, how decisions are made, how members are involved and so on. So the Trustees are keen that members know what changes are proposed, and have the opportunity to raise any concerns before the papers go out in September for the AGM.

The full text of the Constitution, with the proposed changes marked and an explanation of why each is being proposed, can be found here. Many proposed changes are minor, for example to reflect current methods of electronic voting as opposed to casting votes by post or email. The most significant are:

• Clause 11 (General meetings of members)
  • Remove the requirement to elect trustees at AGMs, as our practice is to elect in advance to allow more people to vote.
  • Add a provision for charity trustees who are not members of CqE to attend and speak at general meetings (but not vote), given the intention to appoint independent trustees to strengthen the Board and benefit from external expertise. The Trustees considered requiring independent trustees to become members, but concluded that they should not be required to pay for the privilege of volunteering their services.
  • Similarly, add an express provision for non-members to attend and speak with the Chair's permission (but not vote), to ensure subscribers who have not registered as voting members can attend the AGM if they wish.
• Clause 12 (Charity trustees)
  • Enshrine the decision made since the constitution was first adopted that there should be six elected trustees and no more than five appointed trustees, so that members can ensure there is a majority of elected trustees by ensuring that all elected places are filled.
• Clause 13 (Appointment of charity trustees): Replacement of the clause in its entirety.
  • Make more use of the Charity Commission's model wording.
  • Simplify the provisions for appointment of trustees to a single power for the Trustees as a whole to make appointments (in place of three provisions, two exercisable by the elected trustees only for specific purposes and one exercisable by the Trustees as a whole for any purpose).
  • Ensure that all trustees, both elected and appointed, have term limits.
  • Ensure that Election Rules for electing trustees are no less stringent than the Charity Commission model.

Insignificant proposed changes to clauses 5 (Application of income and property), 6 (Benefits and payments to charity trustees and connected persons), and 28 (Amendment of the constitution), principally to bring CqE's Constitution closer into line with the new Charity Commission model constitution, require Charity Commission consent, which was granted on 27 August 2025.

The original Charity Commission model as at the date when our constitution was first drafted, and the updated one on the Charity Commission website now, can be accessed from these links for those reading this article online, or by request to me.

In addition to the changes to the Constitution, the Trustees propose changes to the appointment arrangements for Officers and members of the Executive, dealt with in the Standing Orders. This was prompted by the need to change the arrangements for appointment of the CEO from an annual appointment to a permanent one in view of the recruitment for an employed CEO. Reviewing the arrangements, the Trustees resolved to move away from annual appointments immediately after the AGM for all Officers (Chair, Secretary and Treasurer as well as CEO) and members of the Executive, in favour of three-yearly appointments, with a maximum of three terms for the Chair and members of the Executive, to seek greater levels of continuity.

The revised Standing Orders can be found here. The revisions do not become permanent unless approved at a second Board meeting, and they will be considered again, together with any feedback on the proposed Constitutional changes, at the meeting on 18 September. If you have any comments, please do email me by 11 September at gabrielle.higgins#croquetengland.org.uk.

Gabrielle Higgins

Secretary of Croquet England

Election for new President of Croquet England

by Gabrielle Higgins [^]
30th July (CqE Official News)

Following the announcement of Patricia Duke-Cox's retirement as President of Croquet England with effect from the end of the AGM in October 2025, nominations are invited for her successor.

The role of President conveys no executive powers, but the President represents Croquet England at significant events, including presenting prizes or arranging for others to do so, and chairs Annual General Meetings. The President is entitled, if they wish, to attend meetings of the Board of Trustees and the Executive.

Candidates may be proposed and seconded by any Member of Croquet England (i.e. any subscriber who has registered to vote). The Board of Trustees will also propose a candidate. If more than one candidate is proposed, Members will be asked to elect who will serve as the next President, using a Single Transferable Vote.

To nominate a candidate, please send a nomination form giving the names of the candidate, the proposer and the seconder and any personal statement by the candidate to gabrielle.higgins#croquetengland.org.uk by 11.59pm on 16th September 2025.

Mike Hedge takes the Treasures Tankard

by Paul Rigge at Southport & Birkdale [^]
11th September (AC - Championships)

The 25^th Silver Anniversary Treasurer's Tankard was hosted by Southport & Birkdale Croquet Club between 4 - 8^th September this year.

Before the final competition schedule was calculated, those wishing to compete became quite volatile with one withdrawal, one refusal & two promotions of the reserves list - a record in recent memory, however those that did 'make the cut' were really glad they did (more about that later).

Day one (Thur); Heavy overnight rain had blown through (almost) by 8:30 when your correspondent arrived to set up the courts but he chose to put kettle on instead - standing lakes greeted him where grass should have been. What club members did next is worth recording - out came the 'brand new' John Deere mower and proceeded to be driven back & fro through these lakes, pushing bow-waves of water away to the nearest boundary. Was a first for me to witness - never seen water mowed, but it worked & we soon had a surface that could support play.

Three rounds with only two games pegged down, so only ten games played.

Day two (Fri); Early fresh cut on hot clear day so day's workload was completed including the outstanding from first day but at expense of a new pegging.

Three (Sat); All three rounds completed by 19:00 including pegged one, so back on schedule. Club again broke out the Deere, this time to mow (in two directions opposite yesterdays).

Four (Sun); Rain arrived mid-morning so early lunch was taken to (mainly) avoid, three rounds completed by 19:00, only if we ignore the 3 new pegging sheets, all involving the same player.....

Last (Mon); Looking at posted game results could drive a manager insane this morning, six players could possibly win *if* this condition *or* that happened - better to demand an early start to clear backlog and take a position at lunchtime.

Multiple Triple and Quad peeling turns were attempted but only four TP's were completed, 2 by Hawkins - peeling prize bragging rights awarded to him.

As R14 started the naysayers were predicting a three-way playoff, train bookings were cancelled, options on overnight accommodation were pencilled in.

However after R14, with one game still pegged down we had an outright winner;-

Mike Hedge is the 2025 Tankard holder with 10 wins.

The Glass Tankard was presented by (the ever present Club Chair) Esther Jubb.

In his speech Mike thanked the club for their brilliant job of hosting, from lunches & teas, extraordinary ground working & hoop setting, and finally stating that this had been the best tournament he had ever played in to echo's of 'hear hear' from the others.

Social Side?

Thursday evening, local pub - pub grub

Friday evening, Southport's oldest pub - pub grub followed by Karaoke in a totally rammed boozer. All players did at least one turn with the mike [various videos exist for future use (ed)].

Saturday, Busy Italian.

Sunday, by 'brethren' request the final Tournament Dinner was at a local Indian restaurant - superb!

Photo:
Back Row (L-R); Hawkins, Wilkinson, Warhurst, Rigge & Ross.

Seated; Martin (9 wins), Mike Hedge(10 wins) & Cuthbert (9 wins)

Tobi Savage Wins the AC Selector's Weekend - GC Reigns in Ramsgate

by Stephen Allen at Ramsgate [^]
11th September (AC - Championships)

The AC form book was turned on its head this past weekend, as indeed was the AC coaching manual, as Tobi Savage and Stuart M Smith blew away the field on their way to the final of the Selector's! A terrific display of hoop-running and straight-hitting to overcome a high-quality entry.

As the competition completed the first round of the knock-out stage, Stephen Allen lead with 6 wins out of 6 by the end of day two. Other notable contenders were Rich Waterman (coming back to form from injury) finishing with 5 wins of 6 in the Swiss, and Mike Porter rallying in day two.

However, the conclusion to the knockout was a testimony to the quality hitting and hoop-running of the elite GC players which had been a feature throughout. Tobi adopted the novel and impressive habit of running hoop 1 with both balls at the start of each game and frequently running hoop 2 in the same turn from peg high. Earlier, a double-banked game witnessed Tobi running Rover from the North boundary while Alex McIntyre joined in by simultaneously running hoop 6 from the South boundary.

In the final, Tobi was victorious over Stuart, watched closely by Rich who reported on Tobi's final turn which involved precision take-offs from 4-back onwards. At Penult, the intention was to crash through Penult back down to his opponent's red ball south of rover, but catching some wire on the hoop run, the ball headed close to hoop 4 near south boundary. There followed a superb centre ball strike rushing red way back up to yellow on west boundary; although the rush back on yellow was not ideal, accurate positioning and a hoop run at Rover under pressure was followed by a perfect take-off to land behind partner near 4-back resulting in the peg-out.

Although no triples were made during the tournament, attempts were made by several players, with Mike and Rich achieving 'New Zealand' triples, peeling partner ball in separate turns. And Mike went on to complete his weekend with victory over Stephen in the 3rd place play-off. Bowden club mates, Charles Harding and Brian Medley, made the Cheshire to Ramsgate trip worthwhile by making it through to the knockout stage.

Blessed with glorious weather, and playing on Ramsgate's fast and challenging lawns, Alex managed the event with his characteristic calm and good humour! There was universal appreciation for the warm welcome from the local Ramsgate team of Trevor Longman and Charlie Martin and in their preparation of the lawns, made especially difficult since the line-marking machine had broken down meaning lines had to be painted by hand! A final thanks to the catering & baking team of Chris Orpwood, Jacqui Young and Marie Perkins who treated us to delicious lunches and teas.

Whilst there's no doubting the importance of GC skills in the AC game, it was impressive to see their benefit so manifestly displayed at this level. A handicapper somewhere will be reviewing Tobi's 2.5, and intriguing to reflect on the fact that no-one had picked Tobi in the AC Eights Fantasy League!

https://croquetscores.com/2025/ac/croquet-england-eights/competition/selectors-weekend-swiss

By Stephen Allen

Crake Valley beat Phyllis Court 2 4-3

by David Cornes at Crake Valley [^]
11th September (GC - Federations Shield)

Crake Valley Croquet Club (North West) won a thrilling final against Phyllis Court B team (Southern) in the CqE National GC Federations Shield

Having won the toss to host the final Crake Valley - Chris Williamson (handicap 3), Ray Hodgson (5), Graham Jowett (7) and Brenda Knight (11), had many close games with Phyllis Court B - Frances Colman (2), Rob Eagle (5), Helen Essa (5) and Jeff Smith (6). Referees for the day were David Cornes (Crake) and Chris Roberts (Phyllis Court).

The wonderful setting prompted excellent play throughout the day despite some challenging weather conditions.

In the morning Jowett and Knight overcame Colman and Essa (7-5, 7-6) but Chris Williamson lost to Rob Eagle in 2 games before Ray Hodgson recovered from a slow start to beat Jeff Smith (1-7,7-5, 7-5). Two matches to one in Crake's favour at lunchtime.

After game one of the afternoon singles Crake were ahead in 3 matches and looked favorites to win the shield. However, Phyllis Court fought back strongly taking 3 matches to the final game. Results came in rapidly, Frances Colman levelled for Phyllis Court by beating Chris Williamson (7-4, 6-7, 7-5), then Ray Hodgson edged Crake ahead (v Rob Eagle 7-6, 7-6). The lead lasted just minutes as Jeff Green completed his comeback with a win (3-7, 7-3, 7-3) against Brenda Knight.

In the final match, still ongoing, Graham Jowett and Helen Essa were level in games (7-5, 4-7) with Graham 3-1 up in hoops run (4-1 ahead with the advantage start score). The final result could still have gone either way. What followed was several well contested hoops before Graham lined up a speculative jump shot at hoop 9, with spectacular results - game to Graham 7-3 and the Shield to Crake Valley 4 matches to 3.

After the match Chris Roberts congratulated the home Club on their success, complemented the lawns and setting along with the excellent hospitality. David Cornes responded by thanking Phyllis Court members for travelling such a distance and recognising the superb sporting manner in which the final was played before mentioning three Crake members who had contributed to earlier rounds (Elaine Davies, John & Karen Bowes). Frances Colman then presented the trophy (of which she was instrumental in its introduction) to Brenda Knight who had represented Crake in all rounds of this season's tournament.

Photos show Crake with the Shield, the presentation x 2, play at the last hoop contested and general action from earlier in the day.

Chris Williamson wins the Viking Challenge

Chris Williamson receiving the Viking Challenge trophy from Fiona Crompton

16 players from clubs in the north and northwest contested 9 rounds of short croquet over two days in the Viking Challenge, a competition in its 10th year and now well-established on the CqE Fixtures list.

Greener lawns than a month before, thanks to rain ameliorating the continuing Yorkshire Water hosepipe ban, were instead festooned with leaves from the early autumn drop. The York team swung into action with leaf blowing and raking in preparation for each day's play.

At the end of Day 1 and 5 games, 4 players had accrued 16 points, and 1 had 14 points, all earned by winning games (2 points), drawing a game (1 point), then a bonus point for running at least 7 hoops and 1 point for pegging out both balls. A scoring system designed to encourage positive rather than defensive play. Only hoops run difference separated the four leading players at this point.

Four more games on Day 2, with results nip and tuck throughout the day, with the four contenders jockeying for position. At 3pm everyone managed to ignore their phones going into emergency alarm mode and battled on. As everyone went into round 9 there was still all to play for; the final results were needed to determine the winner. As winner and runner up had scored the same number of points, hoops run decided the result.

The tournament manager Fiona Crompton did the calculations and Chris Williamson from Crake Valley was declared the overall winner. Congratulations to him and special mention to runner up Roger Schofield of Bury CC, and to Denise Foster of York, top hoop scorer over the weekend with a magnificent 98 hoops.

John Hutchinson wins the Hussars Cup

John Hutchinson receives the Hussars Cup from Tim Russell

John Hutchinson Hussars winner

Roehampton's tournament calendar has always traditionally ended with an AC handicap weekend contesting the Hussars Cup. For the first time in recent memory, it failed to attract a full field, but 12 players enjoyed a fine weekend of weather, beautiful lawns and tight hoops which were clanged with regularity.

John Hutchinson from Ealing was the managers pre-tournament pick and he finished on 5 wins out of 5 to win the trophy deservedly and see his handicap drop from 14 to 12. In his last game against the manager, it looked as if he would have 8.5 bisques for his second ball but a careless mistake in the middle of the lawn missing oppo and leaving his ball by hoop 1, saw him have to take two bisques to remedy the situation. 6.5 bisques wasn't enough to finish the job with the second ball, breaking down at 2 back with 1.5 bisques left. Tim went round to rover with yellow, John made 2 back with the help of his last bisque and with one last turn with time called (and with John forgetting to use his half bisque) Tim had a finishing turn all laid out but failed in an attempt to run hoop 4 to the boundary.

Stephen Wingrave was the runner up on four wins. He played solidly throughout and saw his handicap cut to 4.

The trophy presentation happened with one last game to finish. After the presentation, the participants all went to watch Ed Dymock's retirement turn. Ed has been a doughty competitor over his 40+ years of playing croquet but age and troublesome eyes are catching up with him. Neither age nor eyes have stopped him riding his bicycle to tournaments though! We wish him well.

Alliance Witan sponsors the Association Croquet England Team

Croquet England are delighted to announce the new partnership formed to support the 2026 World Team Championship England Team.

Samir Patel, Chair of Croquet England's Board of Trustees, said "I'm delighted to welcome Alliance Witan as sponsor of the England Team for the 2026 Centenary MacRobertson Shield. We are confident that this partnership will enhance the event itself, and enable more publicity and investment in our sport."

Read more >> https://www.croquetengland.org.uk/news_and_media/alliance-witan-sponsors-the-association-croquet-england-team/

Watford beat Southport 5-2

by Geoff Johnson at Watford [^]
7 Sep (GC - Murphy Shield)

Scores (completed singles games only):
16 games

1 WILKIE Sue beat REED Arthur 7 6
2 WILKIE Sue beat REED Arthur 7 5
3 SMALLBONE John beat VENABLES Dave 7 5
4 SMALLBONE John beat VENABLES Dave 7 6
5 HATHRELL Simon beat HAMPSON John 7 6
6 HAMPSON John beat HATHRELL Simon 7 4
7 HAMPSON John beat HATHRELL Simon 7 6
8 GREENWOOD Paul beat JOHNSON Geoff 7 5
9 JOHNSON Geoff beat GREENWOOD Paul 7 3
10 JOHNSON Geoff beat GREENWOOD Paul 7 6
11 REED Arthur beat VENABLES Dave 7 6
12 VENABLES Dave beat REED Arthur 7 4
13 REED Arthur beat VENABLES Dave 7 5
14 WILKIE Sue beat SMALLBONE John 7 2
15 SMALLBONE John beat WILKIE Sue 7 5
16 SMALLBONE John beat WILKIE Sue 7 3

Are You a Winner?

Are you a winner?

Have you won a Golf Croquet tournament at a new level for the first time this season?

If so, you may be entitled to a Croquet England GC Merit Award - complete with a badge and certificate to celebrate your success!

Awards Available:

• Bronze - C-Level (7+) Series Tournament or All-England Handicap Final
• Silver - B-Level (4+) Series Tournament
• Gold - A-Level (0+) Series Tournament or Veterans (O60) Championship*
• Diamond - GC Championship/Open Series Tournament, or GC Third Eight*
• Platinum - GC Open Singles, English National Singles, First Eight, Second Eight*

Conditions:

• Event must be on the Croquet England Fixtures Calendar.
• Singles games on a full-size court under tournament regulations.
• You must win the event (minimum numbers apply for Bronze-Diamond).
• You must be a Croquet England member at the time of claim.

How to Claim:

• Get a Merit Award Application Form- download it here: https://www.croquet.org.uk/?p=tournament/CACalendar.asp&calInfoID=7
• Complete and send to Croquet England- by email or post.

Croquet England v Scottish Croquet Association, 30-31 August 2025

Team Croquet England

The annual A.C. fixture between teams representing the English and Scottish governing bodies of croquet took place this year at the Meadows Croquet Club in Edinburgh over the weekend of 30-31 August. The representative teams of six are selected with broadly matching sets of handicaps to ensure a competitive match played to level advanced rules and each team proudly wears their respective national coloured shirts in a contest for The Glasgow Quaich.

This year's teams were:

CqE - Stephen Allen (0), Dom Aarvold (0), Peter Rothwell (1, captain), Stuart M Smith (1.5), Steve Leonard (3.5), Tony Butcher (8)

SCA - Andrew Symons (-1, captain), John Owen (-0.5), Stefan Colling (1), Mark Shanks (2.5), David Houston (3), Roger Binks (9)

There were several very close games but the final result was 15 games to 8 in favour of the SCA team who retain the trophy for the third year in a row.

Challenge & Gilbey

by Joel Taylor at Cheltenham [^]
3rd September (AC - Championships)

The Challenge and Gilbey is one of the oldest CA tournaments, first contested in 1900. 2025's iteration was played at Cheltenham over 4 days at the end of August.

The first two days --- the Gilbey Goblet --- are a national handicap championship. 16 players entered and played in four blocks with the winners progressing to a knockout on day 2. Andrew Beaumont, Mark Lansdale, Chris Donovan and Sarah Hayes were the semi finalists and after some close contests, Sarah emerged as the winner.

The final two days were a level advanced singles tournament contested by 20 players split into three classes. The A class (The Roehampton Cup) was won by local rising star Sam Cuthbert, the B class (The Council Cup) was won by Adam Moliver and the C class (The Reckitt Cup) was won by Eileen Magee.

Next year's tournament takes place at Budleigh. It is open to everyone and the handicap and class structure mean that everyone will be competitive, no matter your level, so put it in your calendar.

Special thanks to Sarah Hayes for managing the event.

Guildford beat Sussex County 5-1

by Andrea Huxley at Guildford [^]
2nd September (GC - Murphy Shield)

Jack Good won the Nottingham Advanced Weekend

by Debbie Lines at Nottingham [^]
1st September (AC)

With Nottingham's re-laid East Wing lawns still bedding in, just the four West Wing lawns were used for the tournament. The lawns were running at about 10.5 Plummers and combined with the wonderful Sunshiny balls (which I must say I love playing with - by far the best currently available, in my opinion), it was simply a pleasure to be on the lawn.

With only four lawns, the entry was restricted to eighteen players, with handicaps ranging from 2 to -2. Given the forgiving conditions, there were quite a few attempts at sextuples-sadly, none were successful. However, congratulations go to Mike Hedge, who completed his first tournament Triple Peel. The peeling prize went to Ian Lines, with four TPs from seven games.

The pace of the weekend was governed by the food: some play, excellent lunch; some play, excellent tea; some more play, and then - for some at least - dinner at a local hostelry. Sunday continued in much the same vein. My thanks to all the catering team, especially Beatrice and Irmgard for the lunches-no easy task to produce three-course meals for so many. Thanks also to Charlie for readying the lawns-he even swept up all the leaves!

The tournament was won convincingly by Jack Good, who won all six of his games. He takes home the charming Memento Mori trophy.

Nottingham Croquet Club look forward to welcoming you all next year, when the new lawns should be back in use.

Results can be found on Croquet Scores: https://croquetscores.com/2025/ac/nottingham-advanced-weekend

Sussex County lost to Surbiton 1-6

by Phil Eardley at Sussex County [^]
1st September (AC - Inter-Club)

Samir Patel and Stephen Mulliner beat Dom Nunns and Gabrielle Higgins +26TP (ASD)

Adam Swinton lost to Mark Fawcett +4

Philip Eardley beat Paul Castell +14

Samir Patel beat Dom Nunns +26TP

Stephen Mulliner beat Gabrielle Higgins +24TP

Philip Eardley beat Mark Fawcett +11

Adam Swinton beat Paul Castell +17

Southport beat Newport 5-2

by Tony Thomas [^]
31 Aug (AC - Longman Cup)

Bath lost to Blewbury 3-8

by Joe King at Blewbury [^]
1st September (AC - Short Croquet Inter-Club)

Bath: Peter Miles (2P), Neil Pinker (1), Bob Hart (2.5), George Plumley (6)

Blewbury: Joe King (4P), Peter Allan (2P), Andy Evason (1.5), Brian Jamieson (3)

A day of heavy showers and sunny intervals greeted the players on the Rec at Bath. The lawns were even paced with firmly set hoops and Bath extended a warm welcome to the visitors from Blewbury.

The best of 11 format was followed with 90 minute time limits which worked well.

Round 1:

• Miles and Plumley lost to Allan and Evason 6-14
• Pinker lost to King 10-11
• Hart beat Jamieson 14-6

Round 2:

• Miles lost to King 5-14
• Pinker lost to Allan 10-14
• Hart beat Evason 14-2
• Plumley lost to Jamieson 8-14

Round 3:

• Miles beat Jamieson 11-7
• Pinker lost to Evason 11-14
• Hart lost to Allan 9-11
• Plumley lost to King 7-13

Blewbury therefore prevailed 8-3.

Roehampton beat Ealing 4-2

by Mark Green at Roehampton [^]
31st August (GC - Tier 3 Bowl)

Both sides were evenly matched on handicap and this showed in a very tight fought match. In the morning, Ealing won the doubles rubber 7-5, 7-5, whilst in the first set of singles, Roehampton prevailed 7-6, 7-6 in one rubber, with the second rubber level at 5-7, 7-6 when it was agreed to break for lunch and leave the final game of that rubber to be played if required. After lunch, the weather changed to a mix of blustery showers and sun, with the wind moving the balls around on the Roehampton lawns. The top two singles rubbers were shared one apiece, with the third singles rubber won by Roehampton. This left Ealing needing to win the fourth singles rubber to take the match to the decider of the remaining game of the morning rubber. With the watching crowd swelling to double figures, the fourth singles rubber went to a game apiece, 7-5, 6-7. The third game was nip and tuck throughout and went to the 13th "golden" hoop. After four good approaches and a short battle for hoop primacy, two long hoop attempts just brushed each side of the hoop, leaving Roehampton with a short shot to win. The ball sailed through the hoop, leaving Roehampton 4-2 up and match winners, with no need to play out the final game of the morning singles rubber. After 176 hoops played in the day, the evenness could be seen in the net hoop difference of 4.

Bowdon lost to Nottingham B 4-7

by Roger Steeper at Bowdon [^]
29th August (AC - Short Croquet Inter-Club)

Nottingham 'B' arrived at Bowdon for the semi-final tie feeling quite pensive as their A-team had lost heavily against the same opponents in the previous round. Things started well for the visitors, with a 3-0 clean sweep in the first round of two singles and the doubles. Bowdon responded well taking the second round of singles games taking them 3-1. After a superb lunch, the players donned their waterproofs, as the forecast rain had arrived. Nottingham took the final session 3-1 for a 7-4 win to progress to the final.

Individual scores were:

Viv Staley & Sarah Butler (N) beat Ken Cooper & Robert Cutts-Watson (B) 10-4
Julieann Trembling (N) beat Alan Dix (B) 9-0
Roger Steeper (N) beat Nigel Matthews (B) 14-1

Julieann (N) beat Nigel (B) 8-7
Ken (B) beat Roger (N) 14-11
Alan (B) beat Viv (N) 7-5
Robert (B) beat Sarah (N) 11-10

Viv (N) beat Nigel (B) 14-1
Sarah (N) beat Ken (B) 12-5
Roger (N) beat Alan (B) 14-8
Robert (B) beat Julieann (N) 10-9

Games were timed at 90 minutes.

David Maugham won the Northern Championship

by Ian Lines at Bowdon [^]
28th August (AC - Championships)

A full field of 16 gathered at Bowdon for the North of England Championship. It was one the strongest entries for many years with 15 minus players and 9 players with handicaps of -1.5 or lower.

The lawns, unusually for the Northerns, were genuinely challenging. There had been very little rain for several weeks and the grass was about 50/50 brown/green - with some of the brown patches being quite fast, and players having to judge each shot carefully based on the variable speeds. The hoops were tightly set at about 1/32" in the relatively firm dry ground, and where they were located in the brown areas the slight hills around some hoops added to the challenge.

There was only one real upset on the first day when Andrew Winn narrowly beat Mark Suter -5, 21-19, 23-22, making full use of the 4-7-9 hour time limits for the best-of-three matches. On Sunday and Monday the sun continued to shine and the lawns became even more challenging, with a number of other matches going to time. In the semi-finals, Ian Lines beat Joel Taylor +13, +7 (including a grievous by Ian from corner 3), and David Maugham used 8 hours and 59 minutes to beat Andrew Winn +8, -17, +9, which provides some indication of the conditions, and of how well Andrew played. David's semi-final against Andrew only finished at tea-time on Monday, and so the final couldn't start till 5pm, with no real prospect of finishing that day. In the first game, Ian won the opening, and hit two short lifts, but was never able to establish a break in the testing conditions, with David winning easily as the evening drew in. Fortunately, the finalists happened to both be available to resume on Tuesday morning, which they duly did after a sprinkling of overnight rain had eased the conditions a little. In game 2, David missed a few long shots and Ian won without David taking croquet. Game 3 looked to be going the same way, but Ian stuck in hoop 1 with his second ball and David finished tidily in 2 turns for a well-deserved +24, -26, +17tp win.

The Tollemache Plate was contested as an 8 player knockout on Monday by the most successful players not still in the main event (the semi-finals were still ongoing). Debbie Lines won the Plate, including good wins over Mark Suter and Dave Kibble.

The players enjoyed a tournament meal on the Sunday evening at the Griffin, and David Maugham did an excellent job buying food for all those without lunches on all 3 days. And Joel Taylor kindly provided the traditional jelly babies for the manager's desk.

Full results are on CroquetScores at The North of England Championship - Croquet Scores

CqE Select win GC Inter-Counties Division 2

CqE Select team

This was won by a 'scratch' team as CqE Select entered in order to make up the numbers. Even more surprising it probably had the highest average handicap!

It was captained by Neil Fillery from Taunton Deane who did a tremendous job.

The team was Neil, Mark Godfrey-James (Camerton & Peasedown), Peter Kirby (Bristol), Gill Hindshaw (Moreton in Marsh), Tony Mayer (Swindon), Jill Bateman (Cheltenham) and Brent Watkins (Cheltenham).

Paul J Williams and Alison Murray win Ashby's National Forest GC Doubles

Paul J Williams and Alison Murray win Ashby's National Forest GC Doubles

Eight pairs contested the National Forest GC Doubles tournament (aggregate handicaps 0+) in pleasant playing conditions: dry all weekend, and not too hot. The competition was run as two blocks of 4 pairs each, followed by semi-finals and final. Each block match comprised two 13-point games.

In Block A, the Woodhall Spa pair Andrew Grant and John Palframan won 2 of their 3 matches to qualify for the semis, as did home pair Arthur and Judith Rowe but with a slightly lower points difference. Leicester duo Paul J Williams and Alison Murray won Block B with two match wins (and also a drawn third match), while Mike O'Brian (Ashby) and Christine Wood (Tyneside) finished as block runners-up with one match win plus two draws.

Both semi-finals turned out to be really closely-fought battles, in each case going all the way to hoop 13 of the third and final game. Andrew and John finished 7-3, 6-7, 7-6 against Mike and Christine; meanwhile Paul and Alison edged out Arthur and Judith 7-3, 4-7, 7-6.

The final was nicely poised at one game all, at which point Paul and Alison stepped up a gear to win a convincing final game with some good long hoop shots. Final score: Paul and Alison beat Andrew and John 4-7, 7-4, 7-2.

Mike and Christine won the 3rd place play-off 7-3 against Arthur and Judith, and Ashby pair Andy and Janet Sherwood won the round-robin Plate competition.

Full results on CroquetScores

Phyllis Court lost to Nottingham 3-4

by Roger Steeper at Phyllis Court [^]
23 Aug (GC - Tier 3 Bowl)

The splendid Thames-side setting of Phyllis Court was the venue for the Inter Club Bowl semi final, which was a finely-balanced contest only decided, in favour of Nottingham, with the very last shot of the day. Six of the seven match-ups went to all three games and six of the twenty games were decided at the 'golden hoop' (hoop 13, if you prefer). As often happens, the morning doubles was left at one game each at lunch break, then the singles played out to see if they provided a result. They did not and with the match score at 3-3, a very nervy deciding leg of doubles was resumed and taken through all 13 hoops before the winner was decided. Everyone agreed it was a wonderful day of competitive croquet played in the best spirit. The individual scores can be seen on croquetscores.com (23 Aug).

Robbie Dodds won the Tompkinson Shield

by Andrew Gregory at Edgbaston [^]
22nd August (AC)

Conditions at Edgbaston were unusually tricky, with mottled lawns of variable speed. Also the freshly set hoops were less forgiving than I remember.

I'm sure top players would have coped, but they are not allowed in this event. (The minimum handicap is -1.)

Games were thus longer than normal, as breaks were challenging, and so there were fewer one-sided games. (Over half the games had a single-figure margin.)

Next year one fewer entry will be accepted (13 rather than 14). This will halve average waiting time.

There was a clear winner as only Robbie Dodds won all his games. He won the Shield for the first time, having twice been runner-up.

The runner-up was Ged Smolskas.

Thanks to Tony for hoop-setting and assiduous watering, and to Esther and team for hosting and providing lunches and teas.

Adrian Coward won the Sidmouth GC B-Level

Adrian Coward receiving his trophy form Philip Harris

The B-Level saw Adrian Coward (Budleigh) claim his second Series win of the season, overcoming Paul Arbos (Nailsea) 7-3 in a high-quality final. Naomi Whitehead (Cheltenham) bounced back strongly to take the Plate, defeating Paul New (Budleigh). Coward's victory secures his place in the National Final at Budleigh in September.

A full report will feature in the Croquet Gazette.

Graham Brooksbank won the Sidmouth GC C-Level

Graham Brooksbank receiving his trophy from Philip Harris

A strong field contested the C-Level at Sidmouth, with Graham Brooksbank (Cheltenham) clinching the title after a nail-biting 13th-hoop victory over Carol Jamieson (Blewbury) in the final. The Plate was also closely fought, Patrice Chandler (Budleigh) edging out Nicky Newberry (Nottingham) 7-6. Brooksbank now progresses to the National Finals at Compton in September.

A full report will feature in the Croquet Gazette.

Lincolnshire's Super Team take home the Inter-County Division 1 Trophy

Lincolnshire's Super Team take home the Inter-County Division 1 Trophy

In 2024, when four of our top young players joined forces to bring a new county to the field, everyone knew that the Inter-County Championship had just got that much tougher. All counties start their campaign in Division 2, which is where Lincolnshire's impressive performance won the tournament and they were dubbed the Super Team.

One year on, having taken promotion to Division 1, the team are still unbeatable. Led by Aston Wade, the former U21 World Champion, Lincolnshire won all their matches. The team was made up of Aston Wade (Hurlingham Club), Callum Johnson (York Croquet Club), Euan Burridge (Nottingham Croquet Club) and Richard Bilton (Gainsborough Croquet Club).

The win is an unbelievable achievement, as the newly formed 2024 team have now won all county test matches they have ever played.

Aston Wade thanked Sussex County Croquet Club in his closing speech as he accepted the trophy, appreciating the huge amount of work required by the volunteers from the club to host the championship. He also thanked his team mates and the competitors who made the event so enjoyable and exciting.

Congratulations to the Lincolnshire Super Team.

Phyllis Court lost to Bowdon 1-5

by Nigel Matthews at Phyllis Court [^]
15 Jun (GC - Inter-Club)

After winning the toss, Phyllis Court hosted the semifinal encounter against Bowdon at their beautiful club. The day started with an Eggs Benedict breakfast on the terrace and a little reluctance by the players to move on to the lawns. I think Alison had sneaked in a glass of bubbly giving her the belief of being able to run hoops from anywhere- which she duly did. The morning was level, with the doubles halted at one game all. Well, we had to return to the terrace for some more Phyllis Court hospitality. The afternoon saw some close games, but Bowdon prevailed, Jack coming back from 6-2 down with some high quality long clearances and hoop running to win the match.

Whilst enjoying yet another beer on the terrace after the game, I wondered if we could arrange to lose the toss again next year?

Trustee Elections

by Gabrielle Higgins [^]
15th August (CqE Official News)

High Wycombe beat Bury 4-3

by Ed Olhausen at Northampton [^]
15th August (AC - Mary Rose)

Bowdon Short Croquet

by Alex McIntyre at Bowdon [^]
14th August (AC)

A field of 25 gathered at Bowdon Croquet Club for their Short Croquet Tournament as the clouds parted and the sun once again graced the lawns.

Two Trophies were at stake with the 'Bowdon Short Croquet Trophy' being run as a flexible Swiss alongside the 'NWFCC Millennium Short Croquet Trophy' taking place concurrently as a single life knockout.

Having been furnished with a 2-peels handicap, my first ever game of short croquet converted me to the format quickly and I watched in awe as the two 4-peel handicappers breezed around the lawn.

One of these wily tacticians, Alan Mayne, reached the final of the knockout against Sylvia Steer, resulting in a clash between octogenarians in which Alan final triumphed on the Thursday Afternoon.

In the Swiss, Alan Dix triumphed with 6 wins and a single loss (to me!)

Thanks to Brian 'Deadly' Medley (aka the Diva) for managing and to the lawn manager at Bowdon for preparing such lovely lawns.

Cheltenham High Bisque

by Adam Moliver at Cheltenham [^]
14th August (AC - Handicap)

August saw the two day Cheltenham High Bisque tournament. Managed by Adam Moliver with help from Darryl Whitehead. This is a mix of play and coaching.
Day one was three games of 18 points, full-bisque, base five.

Day Two was 22 point games for the semi finals and final while others had coaching and/or coached/supervised games .

Two hot days, especially the second day, led to a final between Elaine Smith (Cheltenham) and Colin Carver (Enfield). Colin won and as a result had a two step handicap change; long overdue!

Along the way we had one accidentally pegged-out game leading to a one-ball game finish and another game ending in an exciting golden hoop.

Players struggeld with fast lawns ond day one, but overnight storms and a pre-set irrigation schedule led to more forgiving conditions on day two .

For those new to AC this is a good way to get into tournament play.