Regulations for the GC Home Internationals

Eligibility

The Home International Championship is contested between National Teams of four players from each of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

Player eligibility is determined in accordance with Appendix 1 of the latest version of WCF Sports Regulations.

Format

The four Teams play a Test against each other Team.

Each Test consists of six Matches, with each singles Match being a best-of-three and each doubles Match a best-of-one Game. Should conditions allow and all Team Captains agree, the doubles matches can be increased to best-of-two games. The decision to adjust the length of the doubles matches must be made in advance of the first Test and remain in place throughout the event.

For each Test, each player plays a single Match against their opposite number (1v1, 2v2, etc.), and each doubles pair plays a single Match against their opposite number (1v1 and 2v2).

Each singles match counts for 1 match point and each doubles match 0.5 match points. So in a Test of 4 singles and 2 doubles matches there are 5 points at stake. If the doubles matches are increased to best-of-two games (see above), 0.5 match points are awarded for each game won and the total points at stake is increased to 6.

The order of Tests is selected by a public random draw at the start of the event.

Determining the Winner

The winner of the Championship is the Team which, in descending order of precedence:

• wins the most Tests;
• wins the most Games;
• wins the most net Games.

If still tied, the criteria are re-applied, this time considering only results from Tests between the countries tied. This may be performed iteratively if necessary.

Other finishing positions are found using the same method, having first determined the higher positions.

If any games are not started or are incomplete, then if it can be determined that the incomplete games could not affect the final result, then that result is the finishing order. Otherwise:

• Any incomplete Games or Matches are ignored for the purpose of determining a finishing order.
• Any incomplete Tests in which four or more Matches have been completed are declared to be a result (as a draw in the case of a 2-2, 2.5-2.5 or 3-3 scoreline, counting as 0.5 wins in step 1 above).
• Any incomplete Tests in which three or fewer Matches have been completed are ignored for the purposes of determining a finishing order.

Team Order

At the start of the event, each Captain declares their Team Orders for both singles and doubles to the Tournament Manager. The singles order should be by current singles form. Players can be partnered with any of their fellow team members for doubles, but the doubles order should be by average dynamic grade. The same Team Orders and doubles pairings apply to all three Tests.

Once all Team Orders are declared, the manager publishes them. Any Team Captain may appeal any other Team Order, in which case an Appeal Committee shall be formed to resolve the matter.

Substitutes are only permitted in the event of injury to one or more players, or otherwise by unanimous agreement by all other Team Captains. In the event of a substitute, the two Captains for the next Test may re-declare their Team Orders.

Hours of Play

On Day 1, play will begin at 9:30am and players should be available to play until civil dusk (see Note 1). On Day 2, players should be available to play from 9am until 7pm. Players who need to make earlier travel plans should inform the Manager at the earliest opportunity (and no later than before the start of the first match of the event). Departures before 5pm will only be allowed in exceptional circumstances and with the agreement of all Captains. Unsanctioned early departures will result in the forfeit of matches that could reasonably be played. The Manager and relevant Captains may agree to abandon matches that have no reasonable chance of finishing before 7pm.

Warm-up is permitted for 15 minutes before the scheduled start of each day.

Rules

All Matches are to be played under the current Rules of Golf Croquet. Approved Rules variations and other tournament regulations approved by the host country's governing body, and others agreed between the four Captains, shall apply.

Time Limits

Once a Test has been decided, the manager may decide to peg down any Matches in progress at a suitable opportunity (usually at the conclusion of a Game) in order to allow subsequent Tests to start. Unfinished Matches may be completed later in the event if time permits.

In general, time limits will not be applied, except when necessary to ensure that a winner will be declared for all Tests. When this is not possible to achieve without the imposition of excessively short limits (of less than 1 hour per game), the Manager should give priority to ensuring that a winner can be declared for the whole Championship.

Lateness

If a player is not available to play at either the scheduled start of a day's play (unless otherwise agreed with the Manager) or the start of a Test, the following shall apply:

	less than 30 mins	30-90 mins	more than 90 mins
1st offence	No penalty	One Game lost	Best-of-3 Match lost
2nd offence	One Game lost	Best-of-3 lost	N/A

Doubles matches cannot start unless all four players are available.

For the purposes of lateness, a Test is considered to have started when the Manager has put on the first game of that Test.

Players who are late should remain in their declared position within the Team Order. If it is known at the time of team Order declaration that a player will not be available for the duration of the event, then the missing player must be declared at the bottom of the Team Order.

Appeals

An Appeals Committee consisting of the Tournament Manager and each Team's Captain (or their representative) may be convened to adjudicate in disputes between two or more Teams or a decision of a tournament official.

If unable to reach a consensus, an Appeal Committee may reach a decision by majority vote. Should the Tournament Manager also be a Team Captain (which would make the Appeals Committee a body of four) the Tournament Manager is given a casting vote.

The decision of an Appeals Committee is final.

Note 1. The technical definition of civil dusk is when the sun is 6 degrees below the horizon. It marks the end of civil twilight (the period from sunset to civil dusk) and is therefore the time when (given the right conditions) natural light is no longer available and artificial light is needed. The time of civil dusk for most locations can be found at timeanddate.com/sun/?query=. In practical terms, the close of play on Day 1 is the manager's responsibility in liaison with the Team Captains and taking account of the state of the match (and any social plans). It is therefore likely to be much earlier than civil dusk. But players should be prepared to play until civil dusk if necessary to complete the HIs satisfactorily over the two days (e.g. if courts were flooded earlier in the day on Day 1 and bad weather is expected on Day 2, etc.).

Updated 19 Jan 24

Jonathan Powe