Mark Suter won East Midlands Championship

by Dr Ian Vincent at Nottingham [^]
23rd June (AC)

Mark Suter bt Paddy Chapman +15tp +26tp in the play-off of the East Midlands Championship. The first two days were played in bright sunshine, after a very wet week, but Sunday was cloudier and as I write this it is just starting to spit with rain. The flexible swiss plate was won by David Maugham, who beat his wife Alison with a Sextuple in the final of the play-off. Many thanks to local member Diana Plant, and less local member Sophie McGlen (with a little help from Beatrice and Chris) for catering for us.

England Retain the AC Home Internationals

England debutant Daniel Gott in action (Photo: Samir Patel)

The AC Home Internationals Championship returned to Budleigh Salterton for the first time in 20 years. Recent work on the lawns at Budleigh has resulted in a superb grass texture, although heavy rain on the days before the event ensured easy hoops. It turned out that each team had one player who had played in that 1999 event (David Maugham (England), Ian Burridge (Wales), Simon Williams (Ireland) and, of course, Martin Murray (Scotland). 'Of course' because Martin has been a regular player since the Home Internationals was formed in 1980, which was also the only year in which Scotland have won the event.

However, this year the Scotland team set out to change that. Sam Murray got off to a flying start with an eleventh turn +26tp +26tp win over Samir Patel. Duncan Reeve was in control of his match with David Maugham - game up and starting a TP to win 2-0. And Scotland were in play in the first game of all three other matches. But then the wheel fell off the Scottish bandwagon. Errors in quick succession across all four matches returned England players to the courts. David went on to beat Duncan -16 +15tp +15tp, and the other England team including two debutants, Dominic Nunns and Daniel Gott completed clinical +26 wins in game 2. England 4, Scotland 1.

Ireland v Wales was closely fought, with both games and matches traded between two players. It all came down to the final match, between Jane Morrison and Rich Waterman. Jane had won the closely fought first game +5. Rich had the second under control but chose to peg out one ball leaving partner for peg. Jane duly proceeded to control the remainder of the game - taking a few hoops here and there, leaving Rich only a few unattractive shots at the peg. He narrowly missed several, but finally hit his last opportunity (+3), much to Welsh delight, but not that of the manager. The test was pegged down, tied at 2-all in matches, with the remaining match at 1-all. It never resumed.

Scotland v Wales was notable for two feats. Martin Murray, who was playing at position 5, completed a clinical +26tp +26tp win. The rest of the Scotland team did their best to follow in Martin's footsteps, and less than three hours after the test started, Scotland had won 3-0, although John Evans won his match shortly after to make the score 3-1. The now dead match between Garry McElwain and Chris Coull was abandoned in favour of fish and chips.

England v Ireland turned out to be much closer, with Ireland taking the first game in three of the matches, with Dominic Nunns locked in a titanic battle with Patsy Fitzgerald. Your correspondent was occupied in his own battle with Danny Johnston so cannot report too many details, but the summary at the time "they both hit everything". Daniel Gott did have his match under control with a +25tp in the first and almost +26tp in the second but failed to compete the peg out. Jane took a quick break to 4-back with a Diagonal Spread. Possibly unaware of Jane's heroics in her match against Rich, or perhaps inspired by the identity of his teammate, Daniel chose to Suter his peg ball (peg it out from where it lay). Jane took her break to the peg, Daniel missed his one shot (which was longer than the lift he turned down), and Jane finished. +1. "I'm not doing that again" was Daniel's quote after the match. By this time, Andrew Johnston had completed a +26tp +26tp win over David Maugham, with all four other matches tied 1-1. However, England won all four final games (+14tp, +16, +14, +26tp) to take the test 4-1.

In the final test, England v Wales was switch; four 2-0 results, three in England's favour to wrap up the Championship. The fourth match followed soon afterwards, for a tidy 4-1 result against all three countries.

The top two pairs for Ireland and Scotland had competitive matches, including Danny Johnston and Sam Murray trading the only two TPOs of the event. Scotland won both 2-1 to level the test, after Ireland's three and four had won their matches 2-0. This left the test tied 2-2 and 1-1, but with England having won the championship, some players having flights to catch and a risk of heavy rain, further play was abandoned.

Finally, special congratulations to the four players who won all three of their matches - Sam Murray, John Evans, Dominic Nunns (who didn't drop a game during the event) and Daniel Gott.

Jane Tewson won the GC B-Level Series Tournament at Leighton-Linslade

by John Cundell at Leighton-Linslade [^]
15 Jun 2019 (GC)

Our 6th B-Level tournament featuring twelve players attracted eight from outside clubs and four of our players. The following took part:

Michael Bilton (Richmond Park)
David Hill (Enfield)
Andrew Fall (Enfield)
Robert Chatwin (Wingrave)
Richard Skidmore (Wingrave)
Jane Tewson (Long Eaton Park}
David Boxell (Hunstanton)
Jane Collier (Colchester)
Roger Stroud (Leighton-Linslade)
David Ball (Leighton-Linslade)
Jean Ball (LeightonLinslade)
Judith Pengelly (Leighton-Linslade)

We were very lucky with the weather at the end of one of the wettest June periods for many years - we had wind and a little light rain that was even quite acceptable after the previous week's deluge!

The twelve competitors were drawn into two blocks of six, keeping clubs separated as far as possible and maintaining an equable level of handicaps.

At the end of the block play, block one had two players with four wins each, however Jane Tewson had beaten Roger Stroud and also had a better hoop difference.
Block two had a clear winner with Michael Bilton winning all five games. Was he to repeat his previous two wins at LL in 2017/18? Second place was between Robert Chatwin and Andrew Fall - both with three wins - however Robert had beaten Andrew - and also had a better hoop difference.
The play-offs for the first four places produced two hard fought games from the block winners - a repeat of the 2018 final between Michael Bilton and Jane Tewson that was won by Michael.
However Jane has upped her game this year and stayed in front, despite all Michael's efforts, to win 7-4. The third and fourth playoff was a win for the home club's Roger Stroud over Wingrave's Robert Chatwin.

1. Jane Tewson
2. Michael Bilton
3. Roger Stroud
4. Robert Chatwin

Tyneside Midweek Handicap Tournament

(Photo: Peter Wallace)

Eight players contested this year's tournament with handicaps ranging from -.5 to 14 in an American Block and it was the 14 handicapper, Julian Gibson, who prevailed on the unconventional tiebreaker of the most peg-outs. New manager Derek Johnson used this tiebreaker to encourage attacking play because of the double banked games and shorter time limits. This seemed to be successful as only five of the 28 games went to time.

Places in the Order of Play were decided by lot on the day. After two rounds the Middlesbrough duo of Andrew Killick and Julian Gibson were the only undefeated players so when they met in Round 3 Andrew held the whip hand by winning +1 on time. However he let Julian back in in Round 4 when Derek Johnson from the home club beat him +3 and Julian beat Bob Thompson +8. Rounds 5 and 6 saw the two of them each reach the peg in winning their games meaning it was all on the final round with Andrew having to win and peg out and hope that Derek could inflict the same damage on Julian as he had on Andrew. Andrew duly won by coming from a long way behind to pip Frances Colman of Phyllis Court but couldn't reach the peg. However it didn't matter because Julian saw off Derek +10T so that they both finished with six wins and Julian's five peg outs to Andrew's four gave him victory.

Thanks are due to the volunteers from Tyneside club who catered for the event, especially Brenda Johnson and Peter Wallace who were there for the duration.

Pendle Open Golf Croquet Tournament Report

by Abdul Ahmad at Pendle [^]
16 Jun 2019 (GC)

he extensive ground work carried out on the day before the tournament paid dividends this weekend. The prolonged scattered showers experienced had not effect on playing conditions. There was no evidence of waterlogging at anytime. The underfoot condition remained firm throughout.

Players approached the demanding scheduled enthusiastically and played expeditiously at all times. They weren't deterred by having to put waterproofs on or having to peel them off at regular intervals.

9 rounds of ALL play All were concluded by 6.30pm on Saturday. Tim King was undefeated with David Widdison and Paul Rigge in close pursuit.

On Sunday the high pollen count took its first casualty. Lorna Dewar who bravely combated the ailment on Saturday had to withdraw after 2 round were completed. The demanding schedule also forced 95 year old Will Drake to call it a day a few rounds later.

Play concluded at 5.15pm

David Widdison (Ripon -1) was declared winner with 13/14 wins, Tim King (Ashby -3) 13/16 was second, Paul Rigge (Pendle -2) 12/15 third and David Bell (Leicester Scr) finished fourth.

Special thanks go to Karen Bamforth who provided catering on both days. A barbecue lunch on Saturday cooked adjacent to lawn 2 whilst play was in progress.

Despite the indifferent weather, the event was a great exhibition of Golf Croquet played in an enjoyable spirit. Well done to all involved in making it a success.

Full Block results can be found on Croquetscores.com:

croquetscores.com/2019/gc/pendle-open/block

Ealing lost to Croquet Durham 3-4

by James Death at Nottingham [^]
19th June (GC - Federations Shield)

Ealing v Croquet Durham at Nottingham on 19/6/19

Harry Midgley (4) and Carole Mcloughlin (5) lost 3-7 6-7 to Peter Timms (1) and Roger Carpenter (2)

Jane Powell (6) lost 5-7 4-7 to Tony McCann (6)
Fred White Overton (6) lost 2-7 7-4 4-7 to Arthur Brewster (7)

Harry beat Peter 2-1
Carole lost to Roger 1-2
Jane beat Arthur 2-7 7-6 7-6
Fred beat Tony 2-1

Scores unknown on 3 of the afternoon matches

Ealing 3 Croquet Durham 4

Surbiton beat Sussex 4-1

by Don Beck at Surbiton [^]
17 Jun 2019 (GC - Inter-Club)

The Open Championships - Croquet Championship Qualifying Stage Draw

by Samir Patel at Surbiton Croquet Club [^]
17th June (AC - Championships)

The draw for the first six rounds of the Croquet Championship Qualifying Swiss is below.

Please note that the order in which your opponents are listed in this table will not necesarily be the order in which you play them.

Grades were taken from the latest ranking list on the morning after the closing date. The average grade of the field is 2196.5, and the AOG of each player's draw ranges from 2188 to 2206.7, a range of 18.7 points.

The Open Championships - Doubles Championship Draw

by Samir Patel at Surbiton Croquet Club [^]
17th June (AC - Championships)

Heather Hardy won the National Forest AC Handicap Singles Weekend

by Arthur Rowe at Ashby [^]
16 Jun 2019 (AC - Handicap)

A small field of hardy players contested the National Forest AC Handicap Singles weekend 15/16 June, when they were subject to torrential downpours mixed with occasional sunshine. The field was comprised of players from Ashby and Huddersfield, and so the first two games felt like a team match rather than a singles competition. There was a mixture of excellent and so-so play from all players, and everyone won at least one game. By the final game on Sunday, there were two players in the reckoning to win - Heather Hardy and Mick Haytack.

Mick needed to beat Richard Sanville in the last game, and for Heather to lose to Rena Souten. He did his bit in an exciting finish after Richard had pegged off one ball, hitting in and making 3 hoops and a posthumous peel before winning +1. Heather was one ahead when time was called in her game, but Rena didn't manage to make any more hoops and so Heather emerged as the winner. She also qualified for a Bronze award, completed her first two 26pt games, and finally earned a handicap reduction from 20 to 18.

Report for Surbiton Summer Handicap

Andy Dibben (left) presenting trophy to David Evans

The Surbiton Summer handicap was contested by 20 players with handicaps ranging from -1 to 20. Of the 50 games played, 8 were won by +1. The clear winner was David Evans with 6 wins out of 6 who, in the process, achieved a handicap reduction from 10 to 8. Elaine Phillimore came 2nd on 4 out of 5 - narrowly beating Philip Helen and Peter Spiller (also on 4/5 on quality of wins).

The weather was variable, a mixture of Sun, Showers, Wind and just plain dull. However, this was more than made up by the consistent high quality of the catering - lunches prepared by Monica on Saturday and Chris on Sunday with Susie on afternoon teas.

The event was managed by 'Timmy 2' - my laptop PC running a Swiss Tournament management program that scheduled all of the games, enabled players to enter their own results, minimised player waiting time and kept a constant display of the tournament status. 'Timmy 2' was a late stand-in for Tim Dutton who normally runs this event.

Perhaps most surprising was that all the players obeyed the PC's instructions and entered all the results without any mistakes.

Luckily for me (deputy manager) - 'Timmy 2' is teetotal and kindly passed on to me all drinks offered to the manager!

John Reddish wins Hunstanton GC Singles Level Play Championship

John Reddish beat David Boxell 7-6 in the final to become this year's club singles champion and representative at next year's EACF GC Champions Day. John played consistently well throughout the day. He only lost one game in the block phase and that on the 13th hoop against David Boxell whom he peeled through the winning hoop!

The original entry of 20 was reduced to 14. This caused the manager to go through several iterations of block sizes and ceding combinations, before settling on two crossed blocks of 7 players each. After 7 rounds the Winners of each block played the runners up of the other blocks in two semi-finals leading to the final. Block A was clear cut with David Boxell on 5 wins and Colin McDonald on 4 wins. Block B was a much more tightly contested affair with three players on 6 wins each. David Thirtle-Watts (+13) missed out by a single hoop on net hoop difference to John Reddish (+20) and Trevor Whittaker (+14). In the semi-finals: John Reddish beat Colin McDonald 7-2 and David Boxell beat Trevor Whittaker 7-5.

Despite the almost constant rain, there was some fine play on display including: good positional play, effective clearances, long range hoop-running and some magnificent jump shots. There were also some good performances by higher handicap players against lower handicap players - beware there are scalp-hunters out there in a points rich environment!

The full results are available on croquet scores at: croquetscores.com/2019/gc/uk-hunstanton-club-champions-singles-level-play/14-players-cross-blocked

We are grateful to David Thirtle-Watts for setting the hoops and lawns; to Gwenda and her helpers for a fine tea; and to the 'lawn elves' for their very discrete clearance of the lawns as play progressed through the later stages of the day.

Belsay Hall beat Croquet Durham 6-1

by Ian Hunter at Belsay Hall [^]
5 Jun 2019 (GC - Inter-Club)

Penrith beat Westmorland 9-2

by Ian Tupling at Unknown - not stated [^]
17th June (AC - Short Croquet Inter-Club)

Men's & Women's Full Results

by David Maugham at Cheltenham CC [^]
16th June (AC - Championships)

Men's & Women's Player Games

by David Maugham at Cheltenham CC [^]
16th June (AC - Championships)

Spaces Available in GC Vets at Hurlingham July 23/25

by Bill Arliss at Hurlingham [^]
16th June (GC)

Entries for the GC Vets reached its maximum of 24 quite early in the season but it now appears that four of the entrants have been accepted for the GC Worlds Qualifier held at the same time as the Vets. If you are interested, please enter via the CA web site

Bill Arliss

Tournament Director

Bury beat Nottingham w/o

by David Leach [^]
15th June (AC - Short Croquet Inter-Club)

Due to Nottingham Croquet Club unable to raise a team for the above match against Bury Croquet Club they have given Bury a walk-over.

yours

David Leach
Bury Croquet Club

Chester beat Bowdon 7-0

by David Boyd at Chester [^]
7 Jun 2019 (AC - Longman Cup)

LONGMAN CUP 2019, second round
Chester vs Bowdon match report
Chester and Bowdon played their match in the second round of the 2019 Longman Cup tournament on Friday 7th June at Chester, both clubs having a bye in the first round. Heavy rain was forecast for the afternoon so it was agreed to play the four singles games in the morning. The forecast was correct and the rain duly started at lunchtime, although by then Chester had a 4 - 0 lead. Despite this it was decided to try to complete the match in full ...'we are here to play croquet after all!'... but Bowdon's fortunes did not improved with the conditions and they were unable to reduce the deficit.
Score Sheet summary:
CHESTER BOWDON
David Boyd (5) & Sally Slater (20) bt Mike Shelmerdine (7) & Barry Mc Kenzie (8) +19 (26 - 7)
David Guyton (6) bt David Holland (4.5) +18 (26 - 8)
James Thomas (14) bt Andrew Thompson (6) +26 (26 - 0)
David Boyd bt David Holland +5 (23 - 18)
David Guyton bt Andrew Thompson +10 (26 - 16)
James Thomas bt Mike Shelmerdine +14 (24 - 10)
Sally Slater bt Barry Mc Kenzie +10 (26 - 16)

Final Result: Chester 7 - Bowdon 0

Kington Langley beat Medway 6-1

by Jane Hull at Kington Langley [^]
14th June (AC - Secretary's Shield)

14 June 2019 at Kington Langley

Kington Langley 6 v Medway 1

am
John Grimshaw/Tim Lacy Hulbert +1 on time v Roger Gentry/Eric Diston
Richard Jones + 22 v John Millen
Richard Smith + 13 v David Rimmer

pm
Richard Smith + 10 v John Millen
John Grimshaw + 6 David Rimmer
Tim Lacy Hulbert v Roger Gentry + 3 on time
Jane Hull + 2 on time v Eric Diston

Lionel Tibble won the Championship of Cheltenham

by Kevin Ham at Cheltenham [^]
2 Jun 2019 (GC - Championships)

The Championship of Cheltenham was won by Lionel Tibble. This qualifier for the Ascot Cup continues to be popular and again was played out with a capacity entry of thirty two, in four blocks of eight. We were pleased to welcome four players already qualified for the upcoming World Championship, and six more who have been selected for the qualifier tournament.

As usual, the games were played with no time time limit. Being a player manager it is difficult to keep track of game progress and I am grateful for Tim King, who was the Tournament Referee, stepping in to peg down the game between Jayne Stevens and Richard Raby after two hours with the score at five-five.

With seven games, no time limit on Saturday and three best-of-three rounds on Sunday, there were no playoffs planned. However, as a 'Championship' a player should not be eliminated from the final knockout with only one loss. Since in an eight player block, it is possible for three to lead the block and be tied on six wins, as a contingency (and only in those circumstances) would there be a play off. In one block, I had an outright winner and four on four wins. No play off was necessary. However, the game that was pegged down was critical, and had to be played out to a small but dedicated audience. If Jayne won then she qualified; if not Peter Balchin would go through. It was past seven o'clock when the pegged down game was restarted. Hoop eleven took over twenty minutes to play but then the game was won in a further five minutes.

Progress to the knock out was, in the most part, in line with expectations. The top four ranked players, with three others from the top half of the draw. Roger Goldring was the eighth player in the quarter finals. These started at nine o'clock, single banked on the four front lawns. The eight person plate and consolation blocks started at nine thirty.

The quarter finals ended at just before lunch at twelve thirty and the semi finals started at around one o'clock. The weather deteriorated as the weekend progressed. Saturday was fine and sunny. Sunday was miserable with showers. This slowed the lawns but also made them slippery.

The final between Lionel Tibble and Mark Suter was a speedy affair. Lionel won 7-3, 7-4, in time for tea at four thirty. Euan Burridge had a clean sweep to win all the games in the plate.

The lawns were flat and even paced. The hoops were firm and (for me) challenging, but (for me) hoops always are a challenge!

My thanks to Annie Kasparian and Dawn Bentley as my scorers, and Jenny Clarke who did good work on CroquetScores.

Report on Sidmouth June Tournament

by Julie Horsley at Sidmouth [^]
9 Jun 2019 (AC)

Sidmouth Annual June Tournament started as usual with 2 days of Handicap Play followed by 3 days of Level Advanced Play.
The Handicap event was played to an Egyptian format. At the end of the first day Chris Donovan was in the lead having won all 3 games. On day 2 he extended this lead by winning his next 2 games and
winning the Dwerryhouse Cup. Colin Walls was in second place with 4/5 and Peter Nelson in third place with 3/4. All three were Sidmouth CC players.

The Class Event was due to start at 9.30 a.m. on the Friday but after heavy overnight rain and continuing rain during the morning, play did not start until after lunch.
There was a tie for first place in Block A between last year's winner Richard Wood (Sidmouth CC) and Martin Guentner (Sportsunion Wolkersdorf CC) both with 5/6 wins, but as Richard had beaten Martin, Richard received the Challenge Cup.

Block B for the David Rawkins Cup was won by Jon Ball (Sidmouth CC) with 5/6 wins.
Runner-up was Philip Harris (Sidmouth CC ) with 4/6 wins having beaten Nigel Amos ( Budleigh Salterton CC ) also with 4/6 wins.

Block C for the Fortfield Cup was won by Peter Cutting (Cornwall CC) with 4/5 wins.
Three players tied for second place, Jane Babbage (Sidmouth CC), Georgeen Hemming (Colchester CC) and Richard Way (The Bears CC) all with 3/5 wins.
Georgeen Hemming won the prize for the Fastest Game.
On the Saturday evening many of the players attended a Tournament Dinner at the Bedford Hotel,
David Temple, the President of Sidmouth Cricket, Croquet and Tennis Club presented the trophies.
Croquet Chairman - Peter Nelson thanked everyone for coming to the tournament with a special welcome to 2 players over from Austria. He also thanked everyone at the club who had helped in the organising/ running of the tournament.

David Maugham won the Bowdon June Advanced Weekend

by Ian Lines at Bowdon [^]
2 Jun 2019 (AC)

David Maugham won the Bowdon June Advanced Weekend, beating Ian Lines -8otp, +18tp, +25tp in the final.

The Consolation Egyptian was won by Alison Maugham.

All the results are on CroquetScores.

East Dorset AC June Week

by David Williams at East Dorset [^]
8 Jun 2019 (AC)

East Dorset AC June Week 3/8th June report. (all players East Dorset unless stated)

A - Class: Dorset Salver - Jonathan Powe retained his title as was expected, without dropping a game - 26tp,26tp,26,25,15 - Anthony Dix, David Harrison-Wood and David Kendrick were joint runners up. DH-W making the only quad peel of the tournament.

B - Class: Weldon Trophy - James Brind from Cambridge won all his games in fine style and looks well on the way to soon becoming a scratch player. Tim O'Donnell (Hamptworth) who only took the game up two years ago, was runner up and during the week achieved a fine triple peel.

C - Class: Cope Cup - Hannes Hamann played Sue Longcroft to decide the winner of this block winning +6 and, in the process, completed an all-round break without bisques achieving a C A Bronze Award.

Handicap Singles: 'X' Cripps Memorial Bowl - Another battle for Sue Longcroft this time against the steady play of David Kendrick. Having used all her 12 bisques and just needing to run rover and peg out, the "rover curse" hit, leaving David to fight back from some way behind eventually pegging Sue's peg ball out and winning by 2.

Handicap Singles: 'Y' Evans Rose Bowl - Won by a fast-improving Chris Weedon (Hamptworth) in his first year of croquet, beating his clubmate Tim O'Donnell +12.

Handicap Doubles: Summer Doubles Cups - Yet another "first" with Mike Rice in his first year and first tournament partnering James Brind, against John Pollard and for her third final, Sue Longhurst, with one and a half bisques against them. Rice and Brind failed a double peel but eventually got both balls to peg and a subsequent big hit in by newcomer Mike from hoop 2 to corner 4 earned them the win +8.

Handicap Doubles Plate: The week was concluded with John Freeman and David Harrison-Wood beating Chris Weedon and Tim O'Donnell in a proverbial +1 on time.

The week didn't produce the "barmy" June weather we were all hoping for with bitterly cold winds coming off the sea, and a day of rain that threatened to take the tournament into the Sunday. However, the ever-skilful management of the extremely tolerant Andrew Gregory brought the week to a close as planned.

Lots happened over the 6 days, John Freeman had a "grievous", Hannes Hamann earned a Bronze Award, Sue Longcroft was runner up three times and we had a visit from the Red Arrows Display Team on finals day flying low over the courts, great planning Nigel Parkins! James Brind in his short winner's speech paid credit, on behalf of the guest players, for the warmth of the hospitality they had all received throughout the week and complimented the club on the condition of the courts.

East Dorset were delighted to have hosted the week and hope that other players will take advantage of the club and it's first class facilities in the future and the flexibility that Andrew offers all participants to fit in with any special requirements for time off during the week.

CA Over 50s Handicap Weekend

by Terrey Sparks at Hunstanton [^]
9 Jun 2019 (AC)

- 7th- 9th June 2019
John Henderson Sneaks It

16 entrants from as far as Cumbria, North Yorkshire, Nottingham and London entered for this years Over 50's Handicap Tournament staged using The Hands-Irwin Egyptian Format. Unfortunately, the first two day were a bit of a trial with high winds mingled with quite heavy showers however, being experienced tournament croquet players having travelled some distance nothing was going to interfere with play and quite a few game were completed. The final day was a complete turn-around basked in glorious sunny hunny weather.

Play was keen and very competitive and over the three days the lead changed several times. After the first day the first place was occupied by Phil Cordingley (Hampstead Heath), closely followed by Ken Anderton (Bury) and Neil Chalmers (Norwich) with John Henderson (Penrith) remaining in touch with the leading group.

After day two the lead was unexpectedly taken over by John Reddish (Norwich) closely followed by Phil, John and Ken.
As we approached the final games of day three it became a two horse race between Phil Cordingley, playing off -1 handicap and John Henderson on 12. John using his bisques carefully and wisely managed to keep Phil off the lawn whilst he carefully worked his way through the hoops to win the day +25. In 3rd place was Charles Ostler (Pinchbeck).

The presentation was done by a Past President Hugh Carlisle.

The Hunstanton lawns were in excellent condition and played well, full compliments to Jeff Race the groundsman.

Nailsea C-Class advanced weekend tournament

by Mike Tracy at Nailsea [^]
9 Jun 2019 (AC)

Nailsea and District Croquet Club hosted one of its annual tournaments for the Michael Poole Cup, a competition for advanced rules Association Croquet for players with handicaps in the range 5 to 12 on 8th And 9th June. Of the 10 entries 5 came from the home club, the others from Bristol, Bath, Blewbery and Nottingham. Rain fell steadily throughout Friday morning, but a window in the weathergave the hard working club members to prepare the lawns for a 9.30 start on the Saturday when the weather was thankfully dry but cool and very windy.

The manger had decided to use the Swiss format, not because he thought it was particularly appropriate but because he could not think of anything better for 10 players over 2 days! The first 3 rounds (of 3 hour matches) were played on Saturday at the end of which Bob Whiffen of Bristol was leading with 3 wins, with Libby Howard-Blood, Kathy Wallace, Brian McCausland and David Hunt (all of Nailsea) chasing on 2 wins. The hoops were (as usual) firm but set on the generous side of 1/16", but even so only 3 games were won with a peg out, 2 by Kathy Wallace and 1 by David Hunt.

Play restarted on Sunday in pleasant conditions and Bob continued his winning ways in the morning but in the chasing group only Kathy won. The last round started at 1.30 and an hour later the rain set in and continued until the close of play. Bob and Kathy both won their games, so the trophy went to an undefeated Bob with Kathy as runner up. Kathy also won a token prize for the fastest win as did Mike Salisbury of Bristol for the best win against a lower handicap rated player.

Despite the unseasonal weather everyone was in good spirits to the end and enjoyed each others' company, Nailsea's recently levelled lawns and the excellent catering.

Chris Roberts Won the Wrest Park GC A-Level

by Richard Keighley at Wrest Park [^]
9 Jun 2019 (GC)

A strong field of 16 players assembled in damp and blustery conditions for the block stage of this tournament at Wrest Park.

In the "A" block, joint top seed Nick Archer (Watford) lost his first three games but won three out of four of his remaining games, only to find that he had missed out on qualification for the knockout stage by a single hoop on countback. Chris Roberts (Phyllis Court) won all seven of his games, and he led the other qualifiers who were David Bell (Leicester and Ashby) with 6 wins, Les Heard (Northampton and Wrest Park) with 4 wins and Mike Hills (Northampton) with 3 wins.

In "B " Block, Tim King (Ashby) won all seven of his games followed by Roger Goldring (Phyllis Court) with 5 wins, John Noble (Letchworth) with 4 wins and David Thirtle-Watts (Hunstanton) with 3 wins.

Sunday dawned sunny and warm and the standard of croquet matched the weather. In the Quarter-Finals, Chris Roberts defeated David Thirtle-Watts (7-2, 7-6) and Roger Goldring beat Les Heard (7-4,7-3). John Noble was taken to 3 hard- fought games by David Bell (7-4, 6-7, 7-2) and Tim King recovered stongly after losing his first game to Mike Hills (4-7, 7-3, 7-0).

In the Semi-Finals, John Noble played extremely well to beat Tim King (7-5,7-5) and club mates Chris Roberts and Roger Goldring fought out a long and very close match which Chris won (5-7, 7-5, 7-5).

The Final was a classic between two players on top form, both matching each other with long clearances and impressive hoop running. In the deciding game, Chris took a 4-1 lead but John fought back to level at 5-5, then ran the 11th hoop and had a clear chance to seal victory at the 12th. He missed and Chris took him to the 13th hoop which he ran successfully at 7.15pm to clinch a fine win(7-4, 5-7,7-6)

Manager, Richard Keighley, presented both players with an engraved glass and thanked both his club colleagues and spectators for their considerable help and support and Tim King for acting as Referee of the Tournament and for submitting full details to Croquet Scores.

David Brame Won the Ashby 'C' level GC tournament

by Mick Haytack at Ashby [^]
8 Jun 2019 (GC)

On a cold wet day at Ashby, nine intrepid players competed in a very entertaining 'C' level tournament. Due to another engagement, Lesley Leitch was only able to play in the morning but Jenny Biggs made a more than adequate replacement in the afternoon.

After everyone had played seven tightly fought games, two players had six wins. David Brame beat Julie Boulton 7-5 in a deciding game to take home the trophy. Sandra Cornes with five wins was third and Izzy Poyntz finished fourth. The other players, who all managed at least one win, were Sue I'Anson, Susan Boxell, Sarah Brame and the previously mentioned Lesley and Jenny. The standard of play was exceptionally good for a 'C' level event and all the participants are to be congratulated for braving the difficult conditions and making this a very enjoyable event.

Ashby beat Belsay Hall 5-0

by Ray Mounfield at Ashby [^]
11 Jun 2019 (GC - Inter-Club Shield)

Ashby CC beat Belsay Hall CC in the Murphy Shield .... 11th June 2019
Report by Ray Mounfield (at Ashby)

Ashby welcomed Belsay Hall team to their Moira croquet courts. The Belsay players had travelled down the previous day, so were refreshed and ready to go. However the weather was not particularly kind, with rain and wind most of the day.
Ashby started well, winning each of the morning singles matches in two games. The doubles spread across lunch but was also eventually won by Ashby. In the afternoon the Ashby C & D players again won their matches in two games (although Brenda did push Martin to hoop thirteen in their first game).
With the contest already decided in favour of Ashby the captains decided that the other two singles games be settled as draws, with one game each, allowing Belsay to head home at a reasonable time.
Ashby now meet Hunstanton in the Quarter Final.

Results (Ashby team names first).

Morning
Christine Mounfield (2)& Jane Tewson (3) beat Eric Nixon (2) & Derek Johnson (5) ... 7-5, 4-7, 7-5
Ray Mounfield (3) beat Brenda Johnson (9) ... 7-2, 7-3
Martin Wroughton (4) beat Anthony Turner (7) ... 7-5, 7-5

Afternoon
Christine Mounfield drew with Eric Nixon 6-7, 7-5 (3rd game not played)
Jane Tewson drew with Derek Johnson 7-5, 6-7 (3rd game not played)
Ray Mounfield beat Anthony Turner ... 7-3, 7-5
Martin Wroughton beat Brenda Johnson ... 7-6, 7-5

The Du Pre Knockout 2019

by David Maugham at Cheltenham CC [^]
12-16 Jun 2019 (AC - Championships)

last updated at 22:53 on 16/06/19

The Mixed Doubles Championship 2019

by David Maugham at Cheltenham CC [^]
12-16 Jun 2019 (AC - Championships)

last updated at 22:53 on 16/06/19

The Women's Championship 2019

by David Maugham at Cheltenham CC [^]
12-16 Jun 2019 (AC - Championships)

last updated at 22:53 on 16/06/19

The Men's Championship 2019

by David Maugham at Cheltenham CC [^]
12-16 Jun 2019 (AC - Championships)

last updated at 22:53 on 16/06/19

Roehampton beat Dulwich 4-3

by John Pearson at Roehampton [^]
8 Jun 2019 (GC - Inter-Club)

CA Council Elections

by Dr Ian Vincent [^]
7th June (CA Official News)

Nominations are open for election to the new CA Council

Ashby beat Letchworth 6-1

by Dr Tim King at Moira, Leicestershire [^]
7th June (GC - Inter-Club)

After losing their only match on court in 2018 (a semi-final against Nottingham), four-time champions Ashby were back to their traditional best in beating Letchworth in this wet first round match of the 2019 GC Inter-Club. The two clubs had most recently met in the 2017 final, a close match in which Ashby had completed their fourth straight win against Letchworth.

The Letchworth team must have had a spring in their steps, however, when they realised that Will and Rachel Gee would not be in the Ashby team for this latest encounter. Those two players have a combined record of 11 wins and 2 losses against Letchworth (while non-Gees are 6-8).

Facing the prospect of missing this fire power, non-playing captain Ray Mounfield made an inspired selection by picking Paul Durkin, who went on to beat the higher ranked John Noble in the morning rubbers.

This victory (completed even though the captains offered holding back the deciding third game because the other two rubbers were already completed) was arguably pivotal to the Ashby victory as it gave them a 3-0 lead at lunch time and sent their players into the afternoon session full of confidence.

The other potentially crucial moment in the day was a hoop 6 in the first game of the doubles. Tim King peeled an unlikely opponent ball and this proved to be irretrievable in terms of the result of the game. His reaction, however, was crucial. He showed no flicker of emotion and went on to play solidly for the rest of the rubber.

The other key feature of this rubber were the jump shots.

Ashby started weakly with a couple of misses and then Nick Mounfield played a glorious, long bouncing bomb to win the first game at the eleventh. Ashby responded strongly for the rest of the rubber and, when King nailed a long one to give a 3-0 lead in the deciding game (with Mounfield, next to play, without a clear approach to hoop 4), the home team was on course for a reassuring second point to add to the one won by David Bell against John Skingsley.

After lunch, Ashby went on to offer almost no glimpse of a potential come back to the visitors as the afternoon action proceeded. Mounfield was the only Letchworth player who showed much promise in the first games, although even he went on to lose this game along with all his other teammates.

This left the main uncertainty as being who would score the winning point and, not for the first time in his career for Ashby, this proved to be Mike O'Brian, comfortably beating David Tutt, who was enjoying the steady rain no more than any of the other players.

Bell and Durkin shortly followed by also completing their rubbers in straight games.

Mounfield levelled his rubber and, after weighing up preventing versus enabling a whitewash, he proceeded to secure the consolation point for his team by playing a series of controlled clearances and precision blocks, demonstrating his AC pedigree.

The overall result though was a strong triumph for the Ashby team, with the even better news for them being that they now expect Will and Rachel to be back from Australia in time to play in the next round against Northampton. This is a tie that has never occurred before in the GC Inter-Club although it will resonate with old timers who still remember when Northampton was part of the East Midlands Federation.

Full results on CroquetScores.

CA Appoints Rich Waterman As The New AC IPD

CA Appoints Rich Waterman As The New AC IPD

Rich Waterman of Colchester Croquet Club has been appointed as the new AC International Performance Director (IPD) in succession to Alison Maugham.

Rich and Alison will manage the transition/handover in the next couple of months.

Our thanks to Alison for the hard work she has put into the role in recent times.

Like the majority of CA roles, it is a volunteer activity and carries no remuneration.

Rich will report to the Chairman of the Management Committee.

As the incoming IPD, Rich will:

• Be responsible for England's performance at international AC events, whether singles or team;
• Formulate and implement a strategy to improve international performance in the short/medium term (i.e. the next Mac cycle) and medium/long term (i.e. future Mac cycles) including resourcing with volunteers as appropriate;
• Liaise with all parts of the CA necessary to ensure support of improved international performance, influencing recruitment strategies, the tournament programme, International matches, selection policy, bursary funding, etc.;
• Share relevant identified best practice with the GC International Performance Director.

The Role is expected to influence recruitment strategies, the tournament programme, international matches, selection policy, and bursary funding, and complements the existing activities of the Coaching and other Council Committees.

Our best wishes to Rich on his appointment.

Bowdon beat Huddersfield w/o

by Richard Saul at NA [^]
6th June (AC - Short Croquet Inter-Club)

Please be advised that Bowdon have received a walkover from Huddersfield
owing to an injury to one of their team.

CA Council Elections

by Dr Ian Vincent [^]
5th June (CA Official News)

Nominations are open for election to the new CA Council. Please follow the link for information about:

• the role of the new council
• the skills being sought from those elected to it
• the electoral process
• the list of constituencies, with links to pages showing any nominations already received
• how to find out, and if desired change, the constituency you are registered to vote in
• how to submit nominations.

Nominations close on 30th July, after which there will be a ballot in those constituencies in which there are more candidates than vacancies.

Letchworth beat Newport 6-1

by Keith Rhodes at Letchworth [^]
5th June (AC - Longman Cup)

Letchworth beat Newport 6-1

Match played at Letchworth 5 June 2019
Letchworth names first

David Mathews (4) & Colin Davies (9) beat Chris van Essen (5) & Roy Darling (18) +18
Jeremy Scott (3.5) beat David Haslam (18) +3
John Noble (12) beat Bernard Yallop (10) +22

Jeremy Scott lost to Chris van Essen -4
David Mathews beat Bernard Yallop +11
Colin Davies beat Roy Darling +12
John Noble beat David Haslam +14

Guildford beat Cheam 4-3

by Andrea Huxley at Guildford [^]
5th June (GC - Inter-Club Shield)

Penrith beat York 8-3

by Mark Suter [CA Manager] [^]
4th June (AC - Short Croquet Inter-Club)

Newport beat Colchester w/o

by Mark Suter [CA Manager] [^]
3rd June (AC - Mary Rose)

Wrest Park beat Bristol 4-3

by John Bevington at Wrest Park [^]
2 Jun 2019 (AC - Mary Rose)

Wrest Park beat Bristol 4-3 in the Mary Rose
played at Wrest Park on Sunday 2 June 2019

George Collin (1.5) & John Bevington (1) lost to Martin Leach (.5) & Wayne Wiseman (.5) -2(t)
Nick Evans (1.5) lost to Eric Soakell (3) -24
Tim Brewer (2.5) beat Richard Williamson (3.5) +20

George Collin lost to Martin Leach -6
John Bevington beat Wayne Wiseman +5(t)
Nick Evans beat Richard Williamson +5
Tim Brewer beat Eric Soakell +16

The match got under way at 10am, Bristol having travelled over from an overnight stay in Hitchin. The weather was fine and warm but breezy. Three and a half hour time limits were agreed. The lawns were parched and it was sometimes hard to judge the pace. Lawn 3, on which the doubles and top two singles were played, is less even than the others causing vertical take-offs and unexpected swerves to either side. This led to some cautious play as it was important to retain the innings.

In the doubles John got to 4-back, followed by Martin, but play got bogged down with George only making hoop 1 after nearly two hours. It remained quite close till near the end when a late surge saw Bristol take the win. The singles were divided so Bristol were 2-1 up at lunch, taken at around 2pm and provided by Bryan Harral, Wrest Park's non-playing captain.

Tim then won again, and with Nick beating Richard and Martin winning against George the match stood at three all. John was behind but had made up ground when he played the wrong ball in a take-off after making 2-back, handing Wayne all the balls. Wayne, with one ball on 4-back, accepted the gift and had established a five point lead when he made to run 2-back with control off John's backward ball but just failed to get through. John hit and went from hoop 4 to the peg (with time being called during the turn) and pegged out, leaving partner on the east boundary and Wayne wired across the peg. Wayne lifted the 2-back ball and missed.

Chelmsford lost to Watford 3-4

by Geoff Johnson at Chelmsford [^]
2 Jun 2019 (GC - Inter-Club)

Ashby lost to Westmorland 2-5

by Martin Wroughton at Ashby [^]
2 Jun 2019 (GC - Federations Shield)

Sussex beat Reigate 4-3

by David Gillett at Sussex County [^]
2nd June (AC - Longman Cup)

Longman Cup
Sussex County Croquet Club v Reigate Priory

SCCC 4 Reigate 3
Sunday 2nd June 2019 at SCCC

SCCC names first:

David Gillett & Chris Rolph lost to Andrew Gray & Martin Peacock -17
Deborah Marcus lost to Doug Dykes -8
Morgan Case beat John Bristow +21

David Gillett lost to Andrew Gray -5
Deborah Marcus beat Martin Peacock +14
Chris Rolph beat John Bristow +18
Morgan Case beat Doug Dykes +11

Bristol beat Colchester 4-3

by Jack Wicks at Blewbury [^]
1st June (AC - Inter-Club)

East Dorset beat Hurlingham 4-2

by David Williams at East Dorset [^]
31 May 2019 (AC - Mary Rose)

David Kendrick & Tom Weston beat Andrew Wise & Alan Chance +13
Nigel Parkins lost to Hugh Carlisle -11

David Kendrick lost to Andrew Wise -11
Tom Weston beat Alan Chance +14
David Williams beat Hugh Carlisle +15
Nigel Parkins beat Veronica Carlisle +4

With the lunchtime score at one all, Kendrick/Weston East Dorset winning the doubles +13 and Hugh Carlisle Hurlingham winning a morning singles game +11 against Nigel Parkins, we planned to use the pegged down game as a match decider should the need arise.

In the afternoon we saw Hurlingham's Andrew Wise beating David Kendrick + 11, and East Dorset's Tom Weston beating Alan Chance +14 and East Dorset's David Williams beating Hugh Carlisle.

With the match standing at 3/2 to East Dorset the game between Nigel Parkins and Veronica Carlisle had a major significance for the pegged down game particularly when Veronica looked to be in the game winning position with both clips on Rover and Nigel some way behind. However, should she win she then had to play the pegged down game against David Williams as the decider.

The afternoon drew on and with the clock approaching 7pm and the players flagging, Nigel put in a grand finish to win +4 producing a 4/2 result to East Dorset.

We at East Dorset enjoyed entertaining the Hurlingham team and were sad that they didn't have time to pick up the planned fish and chips from our local award-winning fish shop to enjoy on the way home to London in heavy Friday night traffic!

David Williams

Captain East Dorset

Nottinghamshire Won the 2019 Inter-County Championship

by Sue MacKay at Sussex County / Eastbourne [^]
28 May 2019 (AC - Championships)

Nottinghamshire won the 105th AC Inter County Championships for the 9th time over the Whitsun weekend. Their team of Richard White (c), Keith Aiton, Paddy Chapman, Miranda Chapman, James Death, James Hopgood and Patrick Hort had secured the trophy by the end of the third day, having won all their matches, and so only had the clean sweep to play for on the final day. In this they succeeded, and over the entire event they only lost four games, ironically all to teams in the relegation zone. Richard and Keith were undefeated. Nottinghamshire effectively won the trophy on the second day when they beat the runners-up, Surrey, 3-0.

The Second Division was a much more nail-biting affair. Glamorgan, relegated last season, lost their first match to Shropshire. Their team of Chris Williams (c), John Bowcott, Kevin Ham, Tudor Jenkins, Garry McElwain, Sarah Melvin and David Walters then won their next eight matches in a row, including a crucial win against Essex, at that point equal on 7 wins, on the final morning. With 8 wins going in to the final match they would win the division unless they lost 0-3 and Essex won 3-0, but Gloucestershire's David Kibble pegged out early against Essex to secure the shield for Glamorgan. It did look, however, as if Glamorgan were going down in all three games against Yorkshire, but Chris Williams and Sarah Melvin were able to scrape a win +2 on time to maintain their unbeaten record as a pairing, winning seven games as second pairing and three as first pairing. They had occasion to be grateful to Dave Kibble of Gloucestershire yet again at Compton on the third day. They had been sent in as a sacrificial first pairing against Kibble and Suter in order to strengthen the other two pairings. Dave played an immaculate break to 1-back and was seemingly about to set up a perfect sextuple leave for Mark Suter when he inexplicably missed an easy shot before setting up the cross wire, leaving Sarah all the balls at Hoop 1.

Amazingly five teams finished on 7 match wins in the Second Division. Shropshire had started off really well, and were unbeaten for their first five matches, but then had a run of three losses and finished on 7 wins. Berkshire also finished on 7 wins, as did Essex, Gloucestershire and Yorkshire. Gloucestershire had the best game tally and were runners-up, gaining promotion to the top flight next season. In the battle for third place, Essex and Yorkshire had an identical game tally, but Essex won the promotion spot by virtue of having beaten Yorkshire. Yorkshire's captain John Davis was jubilant, as his team didn't really want promotion, so he reckoned that losing out by having an identical score to a promoted team was a perfect result, and more than made up for losing -2 on time in the last game against Glamorgan!

Warwickshire were awarded the wooden spoon and sadly were the only team without any match wins, although they did win a game in the majority of their matches. The relegation battle was not decided until the final matches had finished. Dorset, promoted last season, were without their captain, Jonathan Powe, after the first day, as he had to return home for family reasons. They only had one win going in to the last round of matches, and so were definitely relegated, but they went out in a blaze of glory with a win against Somerset. Somerset were without Marcus Evans this year, but still had an impressively strong team on paper, and so everyone was amazed when they failed to win a match on the first two days. In the afternoon at Compton on the Bank Holiday Monday they decided to opt for alternate stroke doubles in some of their games, and this seemed to work, because they won two matches, and games involving David Goacher went more quickly! They lost to Oxfordshire and Dorset on the last day, however, and were relegated to the Second Division for the first time in their history. Four wins were possibly not going to be enough to avoid the third relegation place, and so Hertfordshire and Suffolk were frantically counting games won, but in the end Sussex only managed three match wins and returned to the Second Division.

There was an interesting match at Compton on the Sunday. Cheshire's captain, Colin Irwin, had been taken ill before the tournament, but they still had a squad of six. However, Chris Coull was unable to play on the Sunday and so a desperate plea had gone out for a replacement. David Mooney was able to play, but only till about two o'clock. In the morning, with six players, Cheshire went down 0-3 to Oxfordshire. For the second game, against Hertfordshire, David Mooney was able to partner Ian Lines for forty minutes before having to leave, but managed to depart with his clip on 4-back, leaving Ian with a standard TP to win, and Cheshire won the match 2-1. In the final match against Lancashire Ian was totally on his own, and was up against Chris Clarke and James Hawkins. James stopped at 1-back and Chris embarked on a sextuple, succeeding with the first four peels, but he just clipped a ball that he wanted to rush after the 4-back peel and was forced to do a long take-off to 3-back, which landed inches short. Nevertheless Lancashire won the first game easily. The other two games were double banked on Lawn 2, with lots of spectators watching from the warmth of the clubhouse. David Maugham did a TPO on Lee Hartley's ball, leaving Lancashire's Paul Rigge on Hoop 2, and proceeded to shepherd John Dawson round in dribs and drabs. Paul eventually got a decent break going after John failed rover, only to fail rover himself, and after much cat and mouse Cheshire won. Meanwhile Jenny Clarke had done a TPO on Ailsa Lines' ball that had gone almost unnoticed in the excitement of the double banked game. Ailsa's partner Annabel McDiarmid was on 4-back, whereas Cheshire's Nick Harvey had yet to get started. Jenny guided him round one hoop at a time, largely laying up hidden from Annabel, but time was getting short. Annabel had managed to run 4-back and penult in the meantime, but as time was called Nick had a long attempt at rover, which he made, and so Cheshire won the match with five players.

Suffolk were still marvelling on the final day at how they had managed to beat Somerset 3-0 the day before at Compton. Once again it was the double banked games on Lawn 2 that provided the most entertainment, and probably set a record for the number of failed peg-outs. Somerset's Ed Duckworth did the three peels of a triple but then rushed his partner against the upright of rover, leaving himself a long and difficult peg-out attempt. He failed with the front ball and pegged himself out, leaving Jim Field on peg. Mark Avery shepherded A.R.K. Miller around one hoop at a time, with tactics to the fore, leaving Jim with numerous long shots at the peg. Meanwhile Suffolk's Chris Farthing also completed three peels of a triple but only pegged out one ball. Kristian Chambers hit in and started a break, but sent a ball off the lawn, and Phil Eardley finally hit in and took off to the peg. Meanwhile A.R.K. had gradually got round, but also missed the peg! Suffolk eventually won all three games, and lunch could finally take priority. Even then there was still one game unfinished, as in the match between Glamorgan and Hampshire Sarah Melvin dug the balls out of four corners to run four hoops from 2-back in the turn after time, which left all four clips on rover. Chris Williams scored the golden hoop.

Of course the Counties had its usual non-croquet moments. Simon "Big Dog" Hathrell turned up on the first morning wearing a grey fluffy dog onesie. No sooner had he taken it off to commence play than a real dog ran onto Lawn 9 and started trying to play with the balls! An unholy racket was later heard on Lawn 10 as three crows tried to attack a fledgling magpie which couldn't get off the ground, so the players were standing guard with their mallets to protect it.

The lawns at both venues were looking superb and thanks are due to both groundsmen. Southwick had also taken delivery of brand new Aldridge hoops, which were being used for the first time. Compton have remodelled their bar and gents' changing area, and the facilities are now really good. Catering at both venues was wonderful as usual, with Hilary and Tim Smith at Compton celebrating their twentieth year of providing lunches. Also celebrating his twentieth anniversary was tournament director Bill Arliss, the oldest competitor, and he has decided to retire as director and hand over to Mike Town. He was given a huge round of applause at the closing ceremony, where the players also thanked the manager, Chris Williams, and all those involved in making the tournament such a success.

Roehampton AC B-Level event

by John Pearson at Roehampton [^]
26 May 2019 (AC)

The B Level AC, the last event in the Roehampton Club's 9 day long Summer Tournament, was played over 24-26 May for the Brooke Cup, first played for in 1933. The clear winner was Dr David Houston of Edinburgh with 6 wins out of 7 (losing only in the last round to the holder, Tony Salem of the home club), with the 2 runners-up, Peter Honey of the home club and John Bowcott of Hurlingham (curiously also the runners-up in 2015) recording 5 wins each.

Roehampton AC B-Level event

by John Pearson at Roehampton [^]
26 May 2019 (AC)

The B Level AC, the last event in the Roehampton Club's 9 day long Summer Tournament, was played over 24-26 May for the Brooke Cup, first played for in 1933. The clear winner was Dr David Houston of Edinburgh with 6 wins out of 7 (losing only in the last round to the holder, Tony Salem of the home club), with the 2 runners-up, Peter Honey of the home club and John Bowcott of Hurlingham (curiously also the runners-up in 2015) recording 5 wins each.

Wrest Park GC C-Level Tournament (National Series)

by Richard Keighley at Wrest Park [^]
22 May 2019 (GC)

A full field of 16 players took advantage of the fine weather and fast courts to take part in this National Series tournament on 22nd May 2019.
Seeds predominated in block play with Linda Gavigan (Chichester and Fishbourne), Bruce Bennet (Edinburgh) and Dr Edwin Bone (Eynsham) proceeding to the knockout stage with 3 straight wins each. They were joined by Tony Meredith(Wrest Park) who defied his ranking to also record 3 wins and the remaining places were taken by Glynis Davies (Northampton), Sheila Beal(Leighton Linslade) and Peter Jones(Wingrave) with 2 wins each, and a very fortunate Terry Collis(Wrest Park) with one win but a one hoop advantage on countback.

However, this was a game of two halves. Terry promptly dispatched Linda 7-3 and Bruce 7-0 to gain a place in the Final. He was joined by Edwin who defeated Glynis 7-4 and Sheila 6-5.

Terry's winning streak continued and he beat Edwin 7-5. The pair will meet again at the National Final at Cheltenham in September, as Edwin had already qualified by winning the Surbiton C-Level.

Bruce beat Sheila 7-3 to gain 3rd place. Jill Branham (Wingrave) won the Plate with 3 straight wins. The tournament was ably managed on the day by Richard Skidmore, assisted by Rob Chatwin and the state of the lawns was a credit to the groundstaff especially John Bevington and George Collin.

Finishing Order:
1. Terrence Collis
2. Dr Edwin Bone
3. Bruce Bennet
4. Sheila Beal

Match Report East Dorset B-Level

by Gary Brennan at East Dorset [^]
26 May 2019 (GC)

Fourteen players took part in East Dorset's 'B' Level Tournament on 25-26 May; four excellent courts and a weather considerate weekend, meant a relatively hitch-free programme of matches all played to a high competitive standard. Players travelled from clubs extending from Chelmsford in Essex to Beckford near Cheltenham, to Dowlish Wake in the west and Chichester in the south.

Day 1 split the fourteen into two blocks of seven all playing all; the standard was high and four players emerged from each block to contest the Championship on Day 2: Karen Jones (with 5 wins), Jane Collier, Andrea Huxley, Bridget Goodman, Gill Hindshaw (all with 4 wins), Neil Humphreys, John Mariner and Keith Bryant (with 3 wins). In the first of the Semi-Finals Andrea overcame Bridget in two straight games (7-5, 7-2) whilst Karen and Neil fought it out over three games with Neil finally prevailing (6-7, 7-4, 7-3). In the play-offs the games quickly developed into long struggles around hoops, complemented with good clearances and accurate positional play. In the end Jane Collier prevailed over John Mariner (7-3) and Gill Hindshaw overcome Keith Bryant ((7-4). The 3rd/4th play-off between Karen Jones and Bridget Goodman went to Karen (7-2). The week-end finale saw defending champion Andrea Huxley take on Neil Humphreys in a three-game thriller which see-sawed between the two players; in a tightly fought third game Neil prevailed to win the championship at the twelfth hoop (4-7, 7-4, 7-5). In the Plate Competition (also Day 2), Richard Jenkins (Hamptworth) pipped Patrick Knight (Camerton & Peasedown) into first place on net hoop points. Both had four

The following handicap changes were duly noted: Bridget Goodman (Ealing) 6 to 5; Patrick Knight (Camerton & Peasedown) 5 to 4; Richard Jenkins (Hamptworth) 5 to 4 and Gordon MacRea (Beckford) 5 to 4.

Finally, my congratulations to Neil Humphreys for his hard-fought victory and I would also like to extend my thanks to all of the players for the excellent croquet; the groundsman Robin for the superb courts; the Caterer Andrew for the delicious food, the referee Keith Southern for officiating all those 'difficult moments', the Croquet Section Chairman John Clode for making the presentations and Mark Hamann for 'live streaming' the final on face book.

Simon Carter wins Hunstanton A-Level Tournament

by David Boxell at Hunstanton [^]
26 May 2019 (GC)

Simon Carter won this A-Level Series Tournament with 14 wins, the runner up was Nick Archer with 12 wins.

This year's tournament was contested by 16 players in an all-play-all format over two days. At the end of the first day Nick Archer was leading with 8 wins, followed by Simon Carter on 7 wins, with Stephen Custance-Baker and Don Beck on 6 wins each. Saturday's sunshine was replaced by intermittent showers. Fortunes changed during the later rounds. The last few rounds proved decisive and the 15th round match between Simon and Nick determined the first and second places. Third place went to Stephen Custance-Baker with 11 wins. Donald Beck finished 4th with 10 wins.

There was one reported handicap change: Noel Gill from 2 to 1 as a result of winning 9 games and coming joint 6th with Stuart M Smith.

We are grateful to the players for giving a demonstration of some very fine croquet. They also managed to give the GC Rules Committee some food for thought in respect of the wrong ball rules and the penalty area restart, with two incidents on two different lawns during the same round.

Our thanks are also extended to the band of volunteers and 'lawn elves' for all their work before, during and after the tournament.

Blewbury lost to Harwell 3-4

by Peter Allan at Blewbury [^]
29 May 2019 (AC - Longman Cup)

Report by Peter Allan at Harwell

First round match of the 2019 Longman Cup between Blewbury and Harwell, played at Blewbury on 29th May

Harwell won the match 4-3

Results: Harwell players are named first

Doubles:
Tom Griffin(20) and Peter Mansfield(18) lost to Bruce Gallop(7) and Carol Jamieson(22) 13-14

Singles:
Peter Allan(16) beat Steve Fisher(11) 15-14
Roy Platon(18) beat Brian Jamieson(12) 24-12

Peter Allan(16) beat Bruce Gallop(7) 26-0
Tom Griffin(20) beat Carol Jamieson(22) 26-9
Peter Mansfield(18) lost to Brian Jamieson(12) 20-26
Roy Platon(18) lost to Steve Fisher(11) 10-15

Roehampton beat High Wycombe 4-3

by John Pearson at Roehampton [^]
12 May 2019 (AC - Inter-Club)

Roe names first :

Harry Fisher & Tim Russell beat Duncan Reeve & Raouf Allim +11
Peter Siddall beat Alan Clark +11
Mary Knapp lost to Mike Porter -1T

Harry Fisher beat Duncan Reeve +3 TP
Tim Russell lost to Raouf Allim -20
Peter Siddall beat Mike Porter +20
Mary Knapp lost to Alan Clark -10.

Roehampton won 4-3.

Sussex beat Hurlingham 4-3

by Liz Farrow at Not stated [^]
24 May 2019 (AC - Inter-Club)

AC Interclub May 24th 2019

Sussex County bt Hurlingham 4 -3

Chris Coull & Paul Castell lost to Mark Ormerod & Tom Coles -16
Liz Farrow bt Nigel Polhill +7
Clive Hayton lost to Nelson Morrow -4

Paul Castell bt Tom Coles +19
Liz Farrow bt Nelson Morrow +7
Clive Hayton lost to Nigel Polhill -20
Chris Coull bt Mark Ormerod +2

York lost to St Albans 2-5

by Mark Suter [CA Manager] [^]
29th May (AC - Secretary's Shield)

Cheltenham lost to Northampton 1-6

by Ivor Brand [^]
29th May (GC - Inter-Club)

Hunstanton beat Enfield w/o

by Noel Gill [^]
28 May 2019 (GC - Inter-Club Shield)

The 1st round Murphy Shield match between Hunstanton CC and Enfield CC was forfeited by Enfield.

Enfield were, sadly, unable to field a team.

Selection of GB team for Solomon Trophy v USA

Pinehurst Resort (pictured during the 2015 Solomon Trophy) (Photo: Samir Patel)

The following team will represent Great Britain in the Solomon Trophy against the USA at Pinehurst (30 Sep - 4 Oct 2019).

The GB team selected is as follows:

• Ian Burridge
• Alain Giraud
• Samir Patel (Captain)
• Jonathan Powe
• Duncan Reeve
• Mark Suter

Congratulations to all those selected.

Open Championships Survey

by Samir Patel [^]
27th May (CA Official News)

The CA's Association Croquet Tournament Committee have launched a survey about the Open Championships.

The last survey about the Open Championships was conducted five years ago, in 2014, and this survey is intended to refresh our understanding of the views of players, to help us inform the planning process for the Championships from 2020 onwards. Responses are sought not only from CA members who regularly play in the Open Championships, but also from past and potential future players, including overseas players who may be interested in entering them in the future.

There are eight groups of questions:

1. About you
2. Schedule
3. Timing
4. Venues
5. Super-Advanced
6. Format
7. Alternate Stroke Doubles
8. Any other comments

The survey is expected to take about 15 minutes to complete. If you wish to discuss any of the questions or your thoughts on these or other topics, either before or after the survey closes, please talk to the committee Chair (Beatrice McGlen), the Opens Tournament Director (Samir Patel) or any other member of the Tournament Committee, or send them an e-mail.

The survey will close in one month, on 26 June.

Stephen Mulliner won the European GC Championship

by Stephen Mulliner at Budleigh Salterton [^]
27th May (GC)

Stephen Mulliner beat Richard Bilton 7-3, 7-6 in the final of the 2019 European GC Championship to record his fifth win in the event since 2007. In the semi-final, he defeated Basilio Iglesias of Spain 7-4, 7-6 while Richard had a tough battle with Tim King before winning 7-5, 2-7, 7-5.

Lionel Tibble beat Manuel Alvarez-Sala (ESP) 7-4, 3-7, 7-3 to win the Shield (5-8th places) and Peter Dowd beat Lorna Dewar (SCO) 6-7, 7-5, 7-3 to win the Bowl (9-16th places).

Eje Elebo (SWE) defeated Andrejs Savinovs (LVA) 7-6, 7-4 in the Plate final.

Bath beat Ealing 6-1

by Paul Francis at Bath [^]
26 May 2019 (AC - Longman Cup)

Bath v Ealing (Longman Cup) Sunday 26 June at Bath

Bath beat Ealing 6 -1.

Resuts: Bath player named first

Morning

Paul Francis (4.5) lost to Roger Meyhew (9) 16- 19
Philip de Glanville (7) beat Carole McCloughlin (9) 26 - 7
Hester Henebury (9) and Margaret Murray (14) beat Simon Tuke (5) and David Graham (14) 17 - 11

Afternoon

Paul Francis beat Simon Tuke 26 - 13
Philip de Glanville beat Roger Meyhew 26 - 8
Hester Henebury beat Carole McCloughlin 24 - 12
Margaret Murray beat David Graham 22 - 4

Belsay Hall beat Tyneside w/o

by Eric Nixon at NA [^]
27th May (GC - Inter-Club Shield)

St Albans beat East Dorset 6-1

by Chris Frost at Guildford and Godalming [^]
25 May 2019 (AC - Longman Cup)

St. Albans beat East Dorset 6-1: match played at Guildford and Godalming.

St. Albans names first.

Chris Frost (4) and Geoff Morrison (18) beat John Spiegal (6) and John Freeman (14) 21-13
Stephen Mills (16) beat John Pollard (4.5) 26-7
Stuart Stafford (18) lost to Alan Jones (8) 16-12

Chris Frost (4) beat John Pollard (4.5) 26-7
Stephen Mills (16) beat John Spiegal (6) 26-3
Geoff Morrison (18) beat Alan Jones (8) 26-11
Stuart Stafford (18) beat John Freeman (14) 24-10

Bury beat Southport 5-2

by Barbara Haslam at Not stated [^]
25th May (AC - Longman Cup)

Nottingham beat Colchester 4-3

by Mark Lansdale at Nottingham [^]
23 May 2019 (AC - Longman Cup)

Nottingham beat Colchester in an extremely tight match:

Nottingham names first

Viv Staley (11) & Mark Lansdale (12) beat Georgeen Hemming (5) & John Andrews (9) +7 on time
Alex McIntyre (7) beat Ann Brookes (7) +2 on time
Mike Hedges (8) lost to Jane Collier (18) +4 on time

Nottingham lead 2-1 at lunch

Mark Lansdale (12) lost to Jane Collier (18) +2 on time
Viv Staley (11) beat Ann Brookes (7) +1 on time
Alex McIntyre (7) lost to Georgeen Hemming (5) +6 pegged-out
Mike Hedges (8) beat John Andrews (9) +23 pegged-out

Final score: Nottingham 4 Colchester 3

Bryan Harral won the Wrest Park AC Handicap Tournament

by John Bevington at Wrest Park [^]
18 May 2019 (AC - Handicap)

The winner, as last year, was Bryan Harral, who won four of his five games, losing only to John Tew, and also beat Peter Aspinall, the only other player with four wins. Richard Keighley was the next best of the higher handicappers with three wins from four. His first game and only loss was against John Bevington, but it dragged on so long (there were no time limits) that by the time it had finished everyone else had started their next game.

There were 16 entries and Wrest Park members made up half the field. Handicaps ranged from -.5 to 18 with seven between 4 and 6. Playing conditions were ideal, but the dry weather prior to the tournament made it difficult to keep the hoops firmly set. A prolonged heavy shower early on Saturday afternoon came close to making the lawns unplayable for a while, but thankfully it did not last.

Thanks to all who helped with the catering, especially Peter Aspinall, who prepped Sunday's lunch at home before coming out to help set up the lawns ready for play.

Bryan Harral (-.5) 4/5

Peter Aspinall (11) 4/5

Richard Keighley (12) 3/4

Hugh Manson (6) 3/5

John Tew (6) 3/5

Jonathan Toye (6) 3/5

David Frost (4) 3/5

Eric Audsley (2) 2/4

John Bevington (1) 2/4

Geoff Strutt (10) 2/5

Andre Machell (6) 2/5

Jonathan Lambton (5) 2/5

Robert Skeen (5) 2/5

George Collin (1.5) 2/5

George Woolhouse (2.5) 1/5

Mel Christie (18) 0/5

Caroline Harper Won the CA GC Grass Roots at Hunstanton

by David Boxell at Hunstanton [^]
23 May 2019 (GC)

his event was won by Caroline Harper who beat David Brame 7 - 5 in the final. There were 10 entrants. The winner and possibly the runner up will qualify for the National Final at Bath Croquet Club on Sunday 1st September 2019.

The 5 rounds of cross-blocked games resulted in David Brame being the clear winner of Block A with 5 wins and Susan Boxell the runner-up with 3 wins. Block B was more closely contested, Caroline Harper won with 4 wins and Janet Carpenter was the runner up with 3 wins on hoop difference over Christine Thirtle-Watts.The semi finals were contested by David Brame 5 - 3 Janet Carpenter and Caroline Harper 7 - 0 Susan Boxell.The final was won by Caroline Harper beating David Brame 5 - 7.The 3rd / 4th place play off was between Janet Carpenter who beat Susan Boxell 7 - 5. There were three GC handicap changes: David Brame from 8 to 7; Caroline Harper from 12 to 11; & Bob North was cut from 14 to 12 on general play. We were blessed with good weather and are grateful to David Thirtle-Watts for setting the hoops and lawns, Gwenda Mackenzie for a fine tea and all the other unsung heroes who pitched in to do their bit.

Watford lost to Wrest Park 3-4

by Peter Aspinall at Watford [^]
22nd May (AC - Longman Cup)

Welcome New Members

by Alison Jones [^]
23rd February 2018 (CA Official News)

The Croquet Association extends a special welcome to our new Standard Members.

The welcome page tells you about logging into the members' area.