East Dorset lost to Sussex County 3-4

by Gabrielle Higgins at East Dorset [^]
24th April (AC - Inter-Club)

1 Jeff Dawson & David Fuller beat Gabrielle Higgins & Dominic Nunns +26tp (DF)
2 Tudor Jenkins beat Jonathan Powe +8
3 Paul Castell beat Steve Leonard +19
4 Jonathan Powe beat Paul Castell +9
5 Gabrielle Higgins beat Jeff Dawson +5
6 Tudor Jenkins beat Steve Leonard +3
7 David Fuller beat Dominic Nunns +7

Les Heard wins Easter GC A-level at Wrest Park

Les Heard receiving his prize from Richard Keighley (Photo: Gill Brewer)

The draw for this tournament projected a Final between top seed Steve Leonard (East Dorset), whose handicap had tumbled from (-3) to (0), and Mike Bilton Gainsborough) (0), the recent winner of the A-Level at Phyllis Court and High Wycombe. They duly met, but not at the Final stage. Instead, a local hero was destined to come out on top.

A full field of 16 players braved a chilly wind for the Block stage. Block A was won by Mike Hills (Northampton) with 6 wins closely followed with 5 wins each by Terry Collis (Wrest Park) and Steve Leonard, whose first 5 games were all decided by the golden hoop. In Block B, an ever-improving Les Heard (Wrest Park) led with 6 wins, ahead of Mike Bilton and Mark Trevere (Dulwich) both with 5 wins.

The Quarter Finals produced the anticipated clash between Steve Leonard and Mike Bilton, which Steve won in 2 straight games. Mike Hills and Les Heard defeated their opponents in deciding games, and Terry Collis and Mark Trevere also progressed. Steve and Les won their semi -finals to produce an intriguing Final.

Steve cruised to a (7-2) win in the 1^st game, but Les levelled by dint of some impressive clearances and tactical play to win (7-6). In the decider, Les was always in front to win (7-4) and to take the engraved trophy. Andy Sherwood (Ashby) pipped Alex Wood (Colchester) to win the Plate Block.

James Death won the Cheltenham Easter Advanced

by James Death at Cheltenham [^]
22nd April (AC)

Thirty two players arrived on Easter Sunday to a chilly but sunny morning at Cheltenham for two days of competition. A knockout for the main event saw 8 seeds favourites to advance in the morning but Paul Rigge played himself into the tournament and out of the main event being beaten by Keith Ross who had given himself two days practice in the handicap event on the preceding days.

With no time limits throughout both days, play was relaxed and some players took the opportunity to enjoy their lawn time. Only one game on the first day had a limit imposed, as soon as the limit was given the standard rose and the game finished in just another 20 minutes. Dave Kibble beat Rob Wilkinson in the first quarter final to finish and James Death had a quick win over Charles Harding. As the light started fading on the first day, Andy Smith (another who played the handicap first) knocked out the second seed Omied Hallam and Sarah Hayes was locked in a drawn out battle with Neil Adams, eventually getting pegged down.

Sunday awoke to a wet drizzly morning and Sarah finally prevailed over Neil by 11am. Dave Kibble failed his triple to avoid finishing his semi final before the other started but won soon after. Sarah had the first ball around against James but he hit the lift and went to 1 back, the long shot was missed and an adventurous sextuple followed with a lot of balls and hoops getting closely acquainted.

The final started after lunch as a best of 3 and was over by 2.30pm with James in full flow and Dave's shooting deserting him after wonderful lunches from Eileen Magee.

All players knocked out continued in the consolation playing as much or as little as they wanted. Omied Hallam with 5/6 across the two days winning the consolation.

A big thank you to all the volunteers who helped setting up, feeding and watering the players and cleared down afterwards. It is always appreciated but not necessarily recognised that it makes tournaments run for the enjoyment of the players.

Samir Patel won the Surbiton Easter AC Open

Samir Patel with the Robert Prichard trophy

Twenty five players, with a handicap range of -2.5 to +2.0, arrived to bright conditions which warmed in the spring sunshine. Play started at a brisk pace for some with an early flurry of one-sided triple-peel wins. However there was enough challenge to the courts, leading to three of the first games only finishing when the 3-hour time limit was reached. The closest saw Ailsa Lines and Teddy Wilmot-Sitwell both miss peg-outs. Ailsa hit in the turn after time to score a crucial point to level the score at 25-25, and closed out the game +1 (on time?) shortly afterwards.

A combination of a new lawn rotation scheme for winter play, a late Easter, and some favourable early-season weather created some of the best playing surfaces seen this early in the year. Although fast growing grass and some Monday morning rain slowed them for the final day's play. It's also possible that it was excellent catering, including Vicky's spicy bean stew and Monica's chicken curry which did more to slow down the players!

Played as a Flexible Swiss starting with a random draw (as usual for this event), Samir Patel and Mark Avery kept a step ahead of their opponents, conceding only 38 hoops and completing 9 TPs and one TPO between them to set up a repeat of the 2024 final. This was played under the Super-Advanced laws and after a quiet/defensive opening, Samir hit on both turns 5 and 7 to complete a +26tp win. Samir was also managing, so thanked all involved before presenting the Robert Prichard trophy to himself (pictured).

Congratulations also to Adam Swinton, returning to the game after a six-year break. He completed his first ranking triple peel to be awarded a gold merit award, and will surely be rising up the rankings soon.

Nicky Newberry won the McClements Cup

by Minty Clinch at Cheltenham [^]
22nd April (AC - Handicap)

Cheltenham Croquet Club opened its Easter season with a fierce handicap competition for the McClements Cup. 22 players arrived on a bitter Good Friday to find James Death, a last minute replacement for Peter Petrie, in full control of the organisation as well as the catering he'd already signed up for. Nine hours later, he announced the skilful octet who'd fought their way to the Saturday knockout to three heavily muffled survivors in semi darkness.

Most would have put money on Sarah Hayes and Dave Kibble; others who had risen to the occasion included the Nottingham couple, Mike Hedge and Nicky Newberry, Liz Webb from Bowdon, Kibble's fellow Bristolian, Neil Kingston, and Cheltenham's own John Gilden and Brent Watkins.

By the time James served his pork pie lunch on Saturday, eight had become four, with the two minus handicappers, Dave and Sarah, in one semi and Neil (2.5) and Nicky (18) in the other. James, who'd endured a 26-0 defeat by young titan, Harvey Smith, when he filled in as a spare in the consolation event, grabbed a pint and sat down to wait. And wait. Games between experts are often played with swift dispatch, but not this one. 'It'll be over when one of us stops messing up', Sarah commented on her way to a narrow win. An all women's final? Only if Nicky's forest of bisques could hold out against Neil's rare errors. As it did. James sighed and pulled another pint. Nearly everyone else went home.

So there was a shortage of due trumpets for Nicky as she raised the trophy around 7.30. An early lead for Nicky with her bisques was whittled away to almost nothing but she held on for a 23-22 victory as time ran out. A wonderful victory as high bisquers rarely hold their nerve to ride so high against an irrepressible force like Sarah Hayes. Thank you James. Even the also rans had a great time.

England Team for the GC Home Internationals named

by Chris Clarke at Balgreen, Scotland [^]
21st April (International)

The following England Team has been selected for the GC Home Internationals to be held at Balgreen 19-20 July. We wish them the best of luck. Many thanks to all the players who made themselves available.

Euan Burridge

Sam Cuthbert

J-P Moberly (Captain)

Stuart M Smith

Reserve: Steve Leonard

Andrew Hobbs won the Southwick Salver

Stephen Wright congratulates Andrew Hobbs

The 2025 running of the Southwick Salver was blessed with warmer temperatures than is sometimes the case, and with a healthy smattering of sunshine. SCCC was delighted to welcome a field of 29, the largest for some time, including visitors from Portugal, Switzerland and many parts of the UK.

The Salver has been won by its fair share of world champions, but also has a friendly, fun atmosphere, offering a chance for a range of handicaps to try their luck against, in some cases, significantly stronger opponents on paper. The consolation Egyptian format allows the flexibility for players to play the sort of games and opponents they want to, whilst anyone who plays above their handicap level has a chance to win a bottle of wine along with the main event winner.

Adding to the atmosphere over the weekend were local members coming and going, notably for 'croquet and cakes' (name check for the great Fran Box), more international visitors, colourful bunting, some particularly nosy seagulls, and a dusk visit from a bushy-tailed fox as the last Saturday night drinks were downed.

Some of the weekend's most enterprising play came from Ian Burridge, the only player to make two triple peels. He was unlucky to run into the generally rock-solid break play of eventual winner Andrew Hobbs in the quarters. Credit should also go to Ged Smolskas who defeated No.1 seed Dom Nunns in their quarter, earning a handicap reduction to -0.5, in a game featuring an end-to-end hit-in by Ged as a key moment. Stephen Wright had bested No.2 seed Nigel Polhill in their semi-final to earn the right to play Andrew.

In the final itself, Andrew had looked in full control at game up and on a potentially winning break, for 2b and peg when disaster struck in the form of a wrong ball error. Stephen gave him no further opportunity and equalised. However, Andrew gathered himself calmly and saw the match out.

There was some interest in manager Dom Nunns's spreadsheet handling of the Egyptian format arithmetic. The software may shortly make its Swiss debut, if that isn't too confusing a sentence. In its wisdom, it duly declared Alan Chance the winner. Intriguingly, had the semi-finalists been eligible, Ged would have just pipped Alan on the Egyptian points system, and so was duly awarded the Easter egg for 3^rd place. Happily, Nigel declared he didn't care because he didn't like chocolate anyway.

Andrew wrapped up the weekend with a gracious speech thanking groundsman Ben Harwood and his CTC team for such excellent lawns for the time of year, Clive Hayton of SCCC and the catering team led by Rachel Pointon.

Roehampton win first GC European Club league heat

by Tim Russell at Roehampton [^]
14th April (GC)

Roehampton welcomed two Spanish clubs, Club de Campo Vigo and El Tiro, and Newbridge from Dublin for the first heat of this years GC European Club league. The fine spring weather ensured the lawns were quick and new Quadway hoops were set firm.

The hosts proved too strong for the visiting clubs, losing only 3 games out of 30, so progressing to the finals at Southwick in October. Full results available on Croquet scores. Newbridge beat both Spanish sides and Vigo beat El Tiro 6-4 in a tight final match.

All clubs attended dinner at the Club on Saturday night and everyone enjoyed the fine weather, immaculate lawns and friendly competitive play. Now in its third season, the GC European club league is proving a very welcome addition to the croquet calendar.

James Death makes it a 'Hat trick' of Barter Cups

James Death scores a 'Hat trick' of Barter Cups

Despite a rare loss early on in his block, he progressed though as a block winner, along with the other undefeated block winners; John Taylor, Martin French and Ivor Brand. However, it was the newcomer Andy Dochniak that had the pleasure of becoming the hat trick victim in the final, losing 1-7,2-7.

While the consolation plate final was won 10-5 by Paul Gunn over Richard Brand. Finally, my thanks to all that entered and followed the manager's rules!!! (Full report and explanation to follow in the June Croquet Gazette) All results are on Croquet Scores.

Mark van Loon won the Ealing Advanced Weekend

Robin Brown enjoying his lunch

Blue skies, warm sunshine and fast lawns. Hardly what we expect from the first tournament of the season! But such was the case at Ealing on the first weekend in April.

Only 9 players competed this year. A development squad weekend at Cheltenham, a Colour Order AC event at Surbiton, a holiday in Mauritius and a 60th birthday party in Berkshire had all conspired to lure away some of the regulars. Among the field, it was good to see a couple of new faces at this tournament; Jonathan Smith and Gediminas Smolskas.

Hopefully, both will return next year.

Last year's winner, Debbie Lines, soon showed she meant business. Late start, Robin Brown, had barely arrived when Debbie completed her 7th turn TP against Nigel Polhill. Only 2 other TPs were scored during the weekend, by Andy Myers and Ian Lines. Possibly due to Winter cobwebs but, no doubt, the well set hoops also played their part. Day 1 ended with Debbie, Andy and Nigel all on 2 wins out of 3. Only Mark van Loon was unbeaten on 3 out of 3. By the time the afternoon games commenced on day 2, it was still possible for any of 4 players to win the event.

Nigel needed to beat Mark to create a 3 way tie between Mark, Nigel and the winner of Debbie vs Andy. But Mark saw to it that this didn't happen, maintaining his unbeaten run to lift the trophy.

Without a doubt, the stars of the weekend were Ealing's new catering team. Saturday's lunch was a hearty chicken dish followed by cheesecake and fruit salad. Sunday's salmon was cooked to perfection and followed by pavlova. One player even declared it the best meal he'd ever had at a croquet tournament. And all accompanied by complementary wine courtesy of the manager (and Middlesex team sommelier).

Full results available on Croquetscores.

Following the U21 WCF Golf Croquet World Championship

Following the U21 WCF Golf Croquet World Championship

U21 Croquet: 28 Players, 9 Countries, 1 World Championship

Declan MacPhee [Nottingham], Jack Good [Bowdon] and Sam Cuthbert [Cheltenham] are England's three competitors in the Championship, who will all be hoping to bring home the title of the U21 Golf Croquet World Championship.

Read more about our players https://www.croquetengland.org.uk/news_and_media/u21-croquet-28-players-9-countries-1-world-championship/

The event will be livestreamed from the Sarasota Croquet Club, Florida >> https://www.youtube.com/#rdilleyuscacroquet5319

Swindon and Kington Langley's One Ball Croquet Competition raises more than £250 for charity

Swindon One-Ball

The croquet season traditionally starts with a One Ball competition for charity. This year the chosen charity is the Alzheimer's Society and all players were asked to wear blue - the Society's colours.

Swindon and Kington Langley Croquet Club join together for this annual event which, this year, was held in Swindon with competitors from both clubs. Competitors, and others, make donations which this year raised a staggering £250 for the chosen charity demonstrating the commitment of members of both clubs to community action.

One Ball is a fun game combining both croquet codes (Association and Golf) with players playing with one ball rather than using the usual colour pairing.

This year the competition took place under clear blue skies (appropriate as the Alzheimer's Society colour) but with a cold east wind frequently gusting to gale force which made life somewhat difficult for the players.

After six round of very close and competitive play, two players - Ted Crossley from Kington Langley and Tony Mayer from Swindon) ended on 5 wins but with Ted slightly ahead on hoop difference. Third place went to Terry Theobold from Swindon with 4 wins. This was an excellent performance as Terry had previously only had an hour or two's practice having never played this variation of the game before.

Having raised more than £200 entitles Swindon and Kington Langley to three places in the Southern Final. Ted and Tony will be there but with Terry otherwise committed the third place goes to Julia Cook from Kington Langley with three wins but with the best hoop difference and head to head result.

Thanks to all the players from both clubs, the Swindon ladies who provided the catering throughout the day plus other spectators for braving the cold wind.

It was a fun day, enjoyed by all and in aid of a very good cause.

Cheshire Open 5th-6th April

Angharrad Walters - Winner of the Cheshire Open (Photo: Carol Sinclair)

Last weekend saw the first of Bowdon's 2025 tournaments, the Cheshire Open (GC) being held in surprisingly sunny conditions. Fifteen players assembled, representing 11 different clubs, with a range of handicaps from -3 to 8. Five debutants were welcomed onto the tournament scene. Two blocks of 7 & 8 were completed on the Saturday, with the top 4 qualifying from both blocks without too much trouble. However, a special mention must go to Pam Dawson, who surprised herself (and many others) by beating top seed Angharrad Walters 7-5 in her last game of the day on Saturday.

On Sunday, the main event moved into a Bo3 knock out. Both the semi-finals went to 3 games, with Angharrad beating Giles Pepperell 3-7, 7-5, 7-4 and Ian Burridge beating Stephen Wright 7-2, 6-7, 7-2. The final was closely contested between the two Welsh Internationals and looked to be heading for a decider when Ian led 6-4 in the second. However, after Ian had missed a short but angled attempt at hoop 13, Angharrad steadied herself and ran the hoop from near the north boundary to win 7-4, 7-6.

Congratulations also Robbie Dodds, who beat Sarah Clements (7-6, 7-3) to win the Shield.

The managed opted to carry forward the relevant completed games from the Saturday into the Plate Block, leaving just the cross-block games to be played. Octogenarian Fred Owen matched fellow debutant David Beddy with four wins from four on the Sunday, but narrowly missed out in the final play-off, losing 7-5 to David.

Full results are on https://croquetscores.com/2025/gc/cqe-cheshire-open

Thanks to all who participated, the Grounds Team (in particular John Greatbanks, Charles Harding & Brian Medley), Sheila Dix for the cakes, and Angharrad for managing.

The presentations were made by Bowdon's new President, Lorna Frost. Angharrad announced that she had decided to name the new trophy after her mother-in-law, Dina Crowson, who had called her earlier in the week to relate a childhood memory. She had been taken from Nelson to Southport, by her father, to see the flowers on Rotten Row and came home having seen her first glimpse of croquet being played.

Watford lost to Hurlingham 3-4

by Aston Wade at Watford [^]
10th April (GC - Inter-Club)

Full results can be found at:

GC Inter-Club: Watford vs Hurlingham - Croquet Scores

Lawn Maintenance Seminar

Lawn Maintenance Seminar 24th June 2025

A free one-day Lawn Maintenance Seminar has been planned for Tuesday 24th June 2025 at York Croquet Club. This is free to attend for a representatives of clubs registered with Croquet England.

The seminar is for attendees to:

• Receive expert practical advice
• Share good practice
• Have an opportunity to ask questions relating to your lawns
• Free with complimentary light lunch and refreshments

The planned schedule is as follows:

9.00am Registration & Refreshments
9.30am Introduction & Welcome
9.45am Croquet Lawn/Court Maintenance & Surface Preparation
11.00am Refreshments
11.15am On the Lawn Demonstration
12.30pm Complimentary Lunch
1.00pm How to get the best performance from your mower
1.30pm End of Season Renovation of a Croquet Lawn/Court
2.30pm 'Turf Clinic' - Questions & Answers

If you would like to attend or nominate representative from your club, please complete the details at the bottom of the programme or email alison.pickering#howardsongroup.com.

Click to download the programme and entry form:

One Day Lawn Maintenance Programme York (PDF)

One Day Lawn Maintenance Programme York (Word)

Action for AC webinar link

by Debbie Lines [^]
9th April (AC)

An 'Action For AC' webinar was held on Monday 31^st March at 7.30pm. It was extremely well attended, and some really good ideas were raised and discussed.

The webinar was recorded and can be viewed on the Croquet England YouTube channel - https://youtu.be/MlIfS2EIy1g?si=E15rwo6yBNBoiWcS

If you would like to find out more about this initiative, whether as a volunteer, or someone who needs AC support, then please get in touch by emailing Debbie.lines#croquetengland.org.uk

England has high hopes for retaining the U21 World title

England has high hopes for retaining the U21 World title

England has high hopes for retaining the U21 World title

Three of England's junior Croquet players will be competing in the U21 Golf Croquet World Championship in Florida from Monday (14 April 2025), including England Croquet's most improved player Jack Good.

Jack Good from Bowdon Croquet Club (world ranked #15) and Sam Cuthbert from Cheltenham Croquet Club (world ranked #70) will be joined by Declan, Nottingham's up and coming player and winner of the 2024 Junior Croquet Championship.

Read the full story

Advantage GC - Trial of Target Scores Method approved by WCF

by Roy Tillcock [^]
8th April (GC)

In response to recent croquet social media postings the WCF Advantage Committee proposed a trial of an alternative scoring method for Advantage play (Target Scores) which has been approved by WCF Management.

The method avoids the use of negative numbers by starting the game at 0:0 but without changing its play or result in any way.

All Federations have been sent details and documentation.

To take part in the trial clubs should apply to Roy Tillcock (advantagegc#worldcroquet.org)

Middlesbrough 1 Ball Tournament 5th April

Players in the Middlesbrough 1 ball

Following a long held tradition, Middlesbrough's first Tournament of the season is a Charity 1 Ball. Consequently, 12 players from Clubs within the Croquet North Federation area met at Albert Park, Middlesbrough yesterday.

Weather throughout the week suggested almost perfect conditions with the potential for heatstroke or at least sunburn being the biggest threat. The weather forecast the day before the tournament was in total agreement - the fine weather would continue through Saturday.

This is the North East - nobody was fooled or lulled into a false sense of security with all competitors arriving weighed down by several layers of clothing and even the odd bobble hat.

Divergence from the standard 'all white' attire was encouraged to acknowledge the chosen charity, the Altzheimer's Society. Consequently, a splattering of blue was seen across the four lawns.

We had 12 players with AC Handicaps ranging from minus 1.5 to 20 ( before adjustment for 1 Ball ) in an 'all play all' format. No time limits were set although the Manager reserved the right to review this if necessary. As it happened we started at 9.30am, managed continuous refreshment pauses, had a running lunch break and still had everything cleared up and heading for home before 5pm.

The Tournament winner was Dennis Scarr from Middlesbrough Club with 9 wins from 11 matches.

Other results:-

Andrew Carpenter - 7/11

Don Wright - 6/11

Chris Stuttard - 6/11

David Millener - 5/11

Julian Gibson - 5/11

Stephen Pratt - 5/11

Andrew Killick - 5/11

Nigel Durie - 5/11

Nigel Roberts - 5/11

Pat Memery - 4/11

Phil Errington - 4/11

Thankyou to all those who took part, helped out and to the spectators who turned up to support the day.

Hopefully the biggest winner on the day was The Altzheimer's Society.

Exciting Updates to the GC Merit Award Scheme for 2025

by Louise Smith [^]
7th April (GC)

The Golf Croquet Tournament Committee (GCTC) has taken over responsibility for the prestigious GC Merit Award Scheme, implementing key updates to ensure it reflects the modern competitive landscape. With new additions and adjustments, the scheme now includes competitions introduced since its original inception, making it more comprehensive and rewarding than ever.

New Award Structure

To better recognise players' achievements, the following updates have been introduced:

• Diamond Award (newly introduced) - positioned between Gold and Platinum. This will be awarded to winners of Championship and Open Series events, as well as the Third Eight (previously received a Gold award).
• Platinum Award - now extended to winners of the GC Open Singles Championship and the English National Singles Championship (ENSC), in addition to the First and Second Eight.
• Gold Award - now includes the GC Veterans Championship winner.
• Bronze Award - now attained by the GC All-England Handicap Winner.

Hierarchy of Awards and Qualifying Events

Players will receive an award upon their first victory in the following events:

Platinum

• GC Open Singles Championship
• GC English National Singles Championship
• GC First Eight (The Ricki Savage Memorial)
• GC Second Eight (The Kate Jones Memorial)

Diamond

• CqE GC Championship Series Tournament (ENSC Qualifier)
• CqE GC Open Series Tournament
• GC Third Eight (The Suzanne Roberts Memorial)

Gold

• CqE GC A-Level (0+) Series Tournament, or the A-Level Series National Final
• GC Veterans (O60) Championship

Silver

• CqE GC B-Level (4+) Series Tournament, or the B-Level Series National Final

Bronze

• CqE GC C-Level (7+) Series Tournament, or the C-Level Series National Final
• CqE GC All-England Handicap Final

Claiming Your GC Merit Award

Players and Tournament Managers are strongly encouraged to familiarise themselves with the scheme and ensure awards are claimed promptly. To qualify, the event must be listed in the Croquet England Fixtures Calendar and meet the conditions outlined in the scheme.

To claim your award:

• Notify the Tournament Manager of your achievement.
• Provide your address details.
• Tournament Managers can download the claim forms from the Croquet England website.
• Submit the completed form via email to office#croquetengland.org.uk.

Act Now - Get the Recognition You Deserve!

This is a fantastic opportunity for players to gain official recognition for their hard-earned victories. Don't miss out - claim your GC Merit Award and celebrate your success on the croquet court!

GC Test Match against USA announced

by Chris Clarke at Budleigh Salterton [^]
4th April (CqE Official News)

The International Committee is delighted to announce a two-day GC Test match against World Champions, the USA. This will take place on 5-6 August at Budleigh Salterton directly prior to the Solomon Trophy and will consist of four or five players per team, depending on USA availability. The event is live on the CqE availability page, and the closing date for availability is 19th May.

Spectators will be welcome.

Chris Clarke, Chair of GCSC

Dom Nunns, Chair of International Committee adds:

We're excited at the prospect of this mouth-watering challenge for the England GC team in facing the newly crowned World Team Champions. The USA team played spectacularly in winning their title in Tasmania earlier this year, and have no fewer than three individual world GC champions at their disposal, as well as two of the world's top three in the GC rankings at the time of writing. Anyone who faces them will need to be on their mettle, but we have every faith in our team! The match should be well worth watching.

For some years, Croquet England has been working towards increasing the chances of success by England teams in World Team Championships. A key part of that has been to increase the opportunities to compete against the very best international teams. In a GC context this has meant arranging England matches against Egypt and Spain, and this USA match continues that trend. CqE aims to maximise these opportunities whilst working to a proportionate budget.

The IC wishes to clarify that, whilst timed to immediately precede the Solomon Trophy for reasons of practicality, this match is not 'attached' to the Solomon Trophy in any formal sense. Many are aware of past 'American rules' matches in the USA in which the exact same Solomon players have competed as a 'warm-up' / friendly event on the day before the Solomon starts. A key difference here is that the selection for this match is intended to be based on the strongest England GC team available, and unrelated to the selection for the AC Solomon Trophy. The Solomon Trophy remains a GB v USA fixture and will be selected accordingly.

Dom Nunns, Chair of International Committee, 21 April 2025

AC World Championship places announced

2025 AC World Championship places announced

Congratulations to all Croquet England players selected at this stage for the forthcoming AC World Championships, including defending champion Robert Fulford! Details regarding the event and the confirmed players can be found at the link here. Croquet England will also select two players to take up their Member Places by 28 April.

Southport beat Croquet Durham w/o

by Susan Wilkie [^]
28th March (GC - Murphy Shield)