Croquet England Selection Policy

Version 1.1, Jan 2026

Statement of Intent

Croquet England operates a free, fair and rational process for selection and seeded events. All eligible players are entitled, and encouraged, to make themselves available for consideration and the merits of all available players are considered on an equal basis.

When selecting teams, it is the aim of the Croquet England Selection Policy to achieve the best possible performances in world team championships.

Scope

This Selection Policy applies to all events subject to selection or seeding by Croquet England, in all forms of croquet, including invitation and representative events.

Where Croquet England is making selections for a multi-national team, such as Great Britain, such selections are conducted with the agreement of the other relevant governing bodies.

All Croquet England's Selection Committees will conduct their proceedings and make their selection decisions solely in accordance with Croquet England's Practice Book, this Selection Policy and its associated Selection Procedures. They will adhere to all other Croquet England policies, in particular the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy.

1. Eligibility

In all cases, players who wish to be considered for events subject to selection must be Subscribers of Croquet England (i.e. Standard, Premium, U25 or Overseas Members or Associates). Players with reciprocal rights[1] are considered equivalent to subscribers of Croquet England. For Great Britain teams, players may be members of one of the other national croquet associations in Great Britain.

The relevant Tournament Committee may, with the consent of the Executive, prescribe additional eligibility rules for specific domestic selection events, for example rules relating to gender. For the purposes of any eligibility rules relating to gender, the Policy for transgender people competing in domestic competitions shall apply.

For all international events, players are only eligible if they also satisfy any eligibility rules imposed on the event by its organising body, such as the World Croquet Federation (WCF).

WCF eligibility rules also apply to:

England events: AC and GC Home Internationals, Test matches between England and another country or countries.
Great Britain events: Solomon Trophy (Test match between Great Britain and USA)

2. Events Subject to the Selection Policy

The table below shows the events subject to this Selection Policy, the responsible organising body, the selection committee, the ethos for selection and the applicable eligibility rules:

Table 1 - Events subject to this Selection Policy

Event	Organising Body (and Responsibility if different)	Selection Committee	Selection ethos	Eligibility Rules
MacRobertson Shield (AC World Team Championship) England Team of 6	WCF (International Committee)	MacRobertson Shield Special Selection Committee	Team most likely to win	WCF
Openshaw Shield (GC World Team Championship) England Team of 4 (squad maximum of 6)	WCF (International Committee)	Openshaw Shield Special Selection Committee	Team most likely to win	WCF
Solomon Trophy (GB v USA) GB Team of 6	International Committee	AC Selection Committee	Preference may be given to England World Team Championship (WTC) contenders for the last match before each WTC, otherwise team most likely to win	WCF
Test Matches between England and another country or countries England Team of 4 or 6 players	International Committee	AC Selection Committee or GC Selection Committee	Team most likely to win with consideration of overarching goal of winning the WTC	WCF
AC Home Internationals England Team of 5	International Committee	AC Selection Committee	Team most likely to win with consideration of overarching goal of winning the WTC	WCF
GC Home Internationals England Team of 4	International Committee	GC Selection Committee	Team most likely to win with consideration of overarching goal of winning the WTC	WCF

WCF World Championships English players	WCF (International Committee)	AC Selection Committee or GC Selection Committee	Ranking places awarded by WCF. Membership places to players likely to do best in the event. Wild card nominations for players with significant development potential	WCF
European Championships English players	ERC (International Committee)	AC Selection Committee or GC Selection Committee	Ranking places awarded by ERC. Membership places to players likely to do best in the event or players with significant development potential	WCF
Open Championships and Croquet England doubles Fixtures	Tournament Committees (AC/GC)	AC Selection Committee or GC Selection Committee	Selection places for player/pair likely to do best. For AC Open Championship, seeding based on players most likely to win.	Croquet England

Eights, Sixes, & Selectors' Weekends	Tournament Committees (AC/GC)	AC Selection Committee or GC Selection Committee	Best overall published results since last invitation event was selected.	Croquet England
CqE Representative and Other Matches (e.g. CqE v CAI, CqE Women v Inter-Counties Div-2 Winners)	Tournament Committees (AC/GC)	AC Selection Committee, GC Selection Committee or Team Organiser	Teams matched to expected strength of opposition. May include development players	Croquet England

3. Changes to Selection Policy or Procedures

The current Selection Policy and associated Selection Procedures will be published on Croquet England's website. The Selection Policy may be varied from time to time by the Board of Trustees.

Changes to the Selection Procedures may be recommended jointly by the Selection Committees and submitted to the Executive for consideration via the Executive Director for Competitive Croquet.

Any changes to the Selection Policy or Selection Procedures will be formally announced on Croquet England's website within 48 hours. The revised documents will have an incremented version number and will be publicised accordingly. Each revision will take full effect from the date of publication.

[1] Note that reciprocal rights are only conferred for one visit of up to 60 days per membership year.

References

Selection Procedures

WCF Eligibility Rules in the WCF Sports Regulations

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy

Gender Policy

Issuing Authority: Board of Trustees

Approved by: Board of Trustees

Date approved: 31 January 2026

Next review date: January 2029

Version: v1.1

Reason for Change: Resolution of selection ethos for Solomon Trophy; merger of provisions for England Test matches to facilitate addition of future matches; addition of selection places for Open Championships and Croquet England Doubles events.