Wrest Park beat Watford 4-0

[<<] [>>] by John Bevington at Wrest Park
29th June (AC - Mary Rose)

John Bevington (1) and Eric Audsley (1½) beat Brian Havill (2) and Stephen Mills (2½) 26-22

Tim Nurse (5) v Arthur Reed (3) pegged down & unfinished

George Collin (1½) beat Gary Bennett (3½) 26-16

John Bevington v Brian Havill unfinished (18pt game)

Eric Audsley beat Stephen Mills 14-6 (14pt game)

George Collin beat Arthur Reed 26-5

Tim Nurse v Gary Bennett unfinished

Condition Red was still in force, and for Eric, George, Tim and Stephen it was a return after surviving similar conditions at Wrest Park's tournament on Tuesday and Wednesday. Everyone was grateful for what was left of the bags of ice and bottles of squash. The lawns were fast and tricky: gentle shots were likely to curve one way or the other and the hoops lost their firmness as the day wore on. Breaks were hard to establish and harder to keep going. We agreed to follow the standard procedure for the Mary Rose and dispense with time limits, with the inevitable consequences.

In the doubles it was two hours before a lift was conceded and progress in the morning singles was at a similar rate. George eventually finished and we adjourned for a very late lunch, the other game being pegged down. As the doubles looked close to finishing it continued but dragged on after Eric stuck in rover and Watford caught up, but Eric finally got in again and pegged out for a narrow win. In the afternoon singles George decided to adopt a more gung-ho approach which paid dividends with a quick win against Arthur to leave Wrest Park 3-0 up. The doubles players agreed to play shortened games (it was well after 4pm when they started) to give a chance of a result before nightfall, and after Eric beat Stephen in a 14 point game the other games were abandoned, not without relief.