Vacancy for Executive Director for Inclusion and Standards

by Beatrice McGlen [^]
8th October (CqE Official News)

With Gabrielle Higgins' appointment as Secretary and an officer of Croquet England, a vacancy has arisen on the Executive for a Director for Inclusion and Standards.

The Board of Trustees recently published Croquet England's 5-year strategy More Croquet. High standards and a safe and inclusive environment provide the framework for the 7 themes of that strategy.

The role of the Executive Director for Inclusion and Standards will include:

• Cascading the aims and objectives of Croquet England's strategy to clubs via the newly introduced Club Mark scheme.
• Setting up and chairing a cross-sectional working party to establish a continuous improvement action plan for promoting the inclusive nature of croquet and monitoring progress. The Moving to Inclusion framework and resources are available to identify areas of strength and areas for improvement.
• Working with the handicap and laws/rules committees to maintain the essential standards of the game, particularly regarding training and refreshing skills for referees, handicappers and tournament managers.
• Liaising with the Equipment Advisory group.

It is expected that the successful applicant will have some experience of leadership and management, and a particular interest in ensuring the foundations of high standards and inclusivity are spread throughout the culture of our organisation.

The Executive is currently underrepresented in a number of aspects and applications are particularly encouraged from female and minority ethnic players. A familiarity of both codes of croquet is important and active participation in GC events would help strengthen the balance of the Executive. However, prowess on the croquet court is not a requirement. Being able to work as part of a team and good communication skills are essential.

Although a background in sports governance would be useful, training will be available in this aspect of the role. Knowledge of safeguarding children and adults, beyond basic training, is desirable.

The Executive meets monthly but there is frequent communication between members of the Executive outside meetings. In addition, Directors should expect to spend sufficient time working with their committees or performing their other duties to be able to provide a monthly report to keep the other members of the Executive team well informed.

All members of the senior management team are expected to declare conflicts of interest and to undergo safeguarding training. Executive positions are voluntary.

There has never been a better time to be involved in moving our sport forward. As a member of the Executive team, you will be at the heart of Croquet England, helping to bring aspiration to reality. If you would like to find out more, then the retiring Executive Director Gabrielle Higgins, (gabrielle.higgins#croquetengland.org.uk ) or the CEO, Beatrice McGlen (beatrice.mcglen#croquetengland.org.uk are only too happy to have an informal chat. An application letter and short CV should be sent to the CEO by November 17^th.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 12th October 2024 at 10:00 am

by Mark Suter [Operations Manager] [^]
25th September (CqE Official News)

In accordance with Clause 11(1) of the Constitution of the CIO the Second Annual General Meeting of Croquet England will be held via Microsoft Teams at 10 a.m. on Saturday 12 October 2024.

Those subscribers who applied for voting membership of the CIO pursuant to Clause 9(1)(a) of the Constitution and declared their acceptance of the duty of members set out in Clause 9(3) of the Constitution on or before the date of this Notice are invited to attend the meeting and to vote on the resolutions set out in the Agenda. Alternatively, voting members are entitled to appoint a proxy.

The resolutions put to the vote of this meeting shall be decided on a show of hands, unless a poll is duly demanded.

While not strictly Croquet England business, any member who wishes to ask any questions about the final accounts of the Croquet Association for the year ended 31 December 2023 will be welcome to do so under item 6.

A link to the commentary for the final accounts of the Croquet Association for the year ended 31 December 2023 can be read here.

Vacancy for Independent Examiner of Croquet England

by Robert Fulford [^]
4th June (CqE Official News)

We are looking for a qualified person to become the first independent examiner of Croquet England CIO.

Croquet England was formed in March 2023. Most operations in 2023 were still carried out by the Croquet Association and there were very few transactions for Croquet England in that year. We anticipate the work required for the independent examination for the period ending 31 December 2023 will take around one week to be completed by the end of August 2024. We would still be interested to hear from candidates for whom this is too short notice, as strictly an independent examination for 2023 is not required.

From 1 January 2024 operations were taken over by Croquet England. We have a gross annual turnover of close to £500,000. The 2024 independent examination is likely to take 3 weeks with the work undertaken between January and June 2025, then following this pattern for future years.

The independent examiner needs to be a member of a body listed in the 2011 Charities Act and permitted to act in that role by the body. This list includes all the main accountancy bodies.

For further information, or to apply for the role, please contact Robert Fulford (Treasurer) or Samir Patel (Chair).

U21 GC World Championship

by Chris Clarke at Sarasota, Florida [^]
10th October (CqE Official News)

Congratulations to Jack Good and Sam Cuthbert on being awarded Ranking places for the U21 GC Worlds to be held in April in Sarasota, Florida. England has been allocated two Member places - please contact me if you wish to be considered for one of these places by 10th November.

Chris Clarke

Chair of GCSC

Quiller Barrett's Celebration of Life livestreaming

by James Death [Admin] [^]
9th October (Other News)

Quiller Barrett's Celebration of Life service is being held tomorrow (10th October) and is being livestreamed from 1.30pm. It will also be available as a recording as well afterwards.

The link for the livestreaming is

https://boxcast.tv/view/rqb-celebration-of-life-dlf6dmzmftujaquco6de

Sussex County beat Chester 4-2

by Brian Aikens at Wrest Park [^]
6 Oct (GC - Inter-Club Shield)

Congratulations to Sussex County CC on their victory over Chester CC in the final played at a neutral venue, Wrest Park in Bedfordshire, on Sunday 6th October 2024.

The earlier rounds were regional and, in their respective paths to the final, Sussex County had had wins against Cheam, Surbiton and Guildford while Chester had battled through against Ashby, Durham and Watford.

In the morning's play of the final there were some very hard fought games with each individual match having one 7-6 scoreline. However, Sussex County just edged it and we went into the lunch break with a 2-1 lead meaning that, in the afternoon's play, Sussex County needed to win two of the remaining four individual Singles matches to clinch the match.
Vincent L'Estrange came up with the first of the required two wins in his match against Martyn Seal and Simon Ancell scored the winning hoop in his three set match against Mark Lloyd to win The Murphy Shield for Sussex County for the first time in the fourteen year history of the competition. The final score was Sussex County 4 Chester 2 with one individual match not completed.

The trophy was presented by George Collin who represented Wrest Park in hosting the match as well as representing Croquet England in his capacity as Trustee.

Thank you, Tim Brewer and all at Wrest Park, for hosting the final and to Jonathan Powe, from Croquet England, who organised this year's competition which was entered by twenty clubs. Final thanks must go to Chester and their non playing Captain, John Hampson, for a very enjoyable match.

Jamie Burch won the South of England Championship

by Nigel Matthews at Compton [^]
7th October (AC - Championships)

The appeal of playing croquet on the Sunshine Coast in September drew an international field this year, with players from England, Scotland and New Zealand competing for the prestigious South of England AC Championship. Once again Compton CC were exemplary hosts, providing beautiful lawns, sumptuous lunches and even ensured two days of warm sunshine. A bit of rain overnight did catch out a couple of players who hadn't realised that sitting on wet seats would lead to a final day of soggy bottoms.

The Championship knockouts were hard fought, with Jamie Burch and Mark Avery, the two highest ranked players, meeting in the final. Played as best of 3, the crowd were excited at the prospect of some high quality croquet. The first game lasted 3 hours. Hmmm. But then their form returned for two exciting games, one with a two-ball ending from hoops 1&2 respectively. Jamie won through with a highly impressive 11 hoop break to peg out and duly won the trophy 2-1.

The plate was won by Nigel Polhill (always good to have a Nigel winning) beating Sam Murray in the final which finished after everyone else had gone home.

This was my first South of England championship and I'll definitely be back next year.

Timothy Luke won the ARK

by Martin Burger at Surbiton [^]
2nd October (AC)

Format : flexible Swiss

Players: 16

Result
Winner : Timothy Luke (hcp 4.5) (5/5) runner up : Joel Taylor (hcp -2) (5/6) 3rd Stephen Harbron (hcp 3) (4/5).

Despite some concerns about conditions because of flooding the previous day , the ARK went ahead with the main moisture being dew. We had not been able to mow and mark new lines however. The rain held off until shortly after the close on Sunday.

The field was smaller than usual and the handicaps were in the unusually low (for any sort of handicap tournament) range from -2 to 7.

The two minus players both did triple peels, three for Joel (although one was OTP) and one for Jordan (after he got his gold award in this tournament last year - he seems to have had a remarkably good season)

Two games were pegged down overnight including one involving the eventual winner so after 4 rounds we had 2 players on 4/4 so a final in the afternoon between Timothy Luke and Stephen Harbron, eventually won by Timothy . Unusually although winning all 5 of his games he never reached the peg and had a total hoop count of 71 , illustrating the attritional nature of his play.
The Andy Dibben flexible Swiss scheduling system was used with reasonable success.
We also must thank the cooks for their usual Surbiton lunches.

European Club League Hosts Wanted

by James Death [Admin] [^]
1st October (Other News)

2025 will see the European Club League enter its 3rd season and we are currently looking for hosts for the Qualifying Heats. A heat comprises 4 teams (the host + 3 others) of 4 players and takes place over a weekend during March-July. Each team plays a match against the other three teams over the course of the weekend. The allocation of teams to each heat is designed to ensure that the teams in each heat are from different countries throughout Europe, so if your club is interested in playing against clubs from overseas hosting a heat is an opportunity to do so. To host a Qualifying Heat you require a minimum of two full size courts.

Teams of various strength take part and the winning team from each heat progresses to the Grand Final, which will be held at Sussex County Croquet Club (England) on October 10-12th 2025. Various details of the 2024 event, including the rules (which are expected to remain largely unchanged for 2025) can be found here:

https://worldcroquet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/ECL-2024-Ikskile-report-003.pdf

https://worldcroquet.org/european-golf-croquet-club-league-results-from-the-heats/

https://worldcroquet.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/GC-European-Club-League-Rules-for-2024-Season-Final.pdf

If your club would be interested in potentially hosting a heat, or if you would like further details, please contact Ian Burridge (burridge.ian#googlemail.com) Responses are wanted by the end of October.

Demographics and ICE

by Beatrice McGlen [^]
30th September (CqE Official News)

A strange title you may think! However, they are both connected by information.

In Case of Emergency (ICE)

It is fortunately a rare occurrence that a player suffers an emergency at an event or club, but when it does there may be a need to contact a family member and this information is not always available. We have added a facility to the database so that you can give 'In Case of Emergency'(ICE) contact details. These details will only be accessible to a tournament manager for the duration of that tournament. There is an additional option for these contact details to be accessible to the secretary of your club to cover non-tournament situations.

Completing your ICE data is not mandatory but we strongly encourage everyone to do so, particularly anyone who plays at any event away from their home club. In future any entry on the tournament entry system will be accompanied by a reminder.

Demographic data

The new Croquet England strategy has inclusion as one of its seven pillars. In order to implement and monitor this we need to collect basic demographic data. We ask everyone to fill in just three items: year of birth, gender and ethnic origin. This will only be visible to you but the data administrator will be able to extract the statistics. Again, this is not mandatory but we encourage everyone to do so.

How to do it

Good idea but I don't know how to do it? Go to How to update your personal data for a step-by-step guide.

East Dorset beat Southport 4-3

by Chris Weedon at Northampton [^]
29 Sep (AC - Longman Cup)

LONGMAN CUP FINAL

East Dorset beat Southport 4-3, to win the Longman Cup for the first time since 2005

Venue: Northampton Croquet Club

Weather: Beautiful, but getting cloudier during the day

Courts: Good. Neither too fast nor too slow

Match info: Time: All matches 3hr 15

Handicap: Difference

Teams and handicaps

East Dorset: Chris Weedon (capt) 4
Christine Rice 6
Mike Rice 6
John Freeman 16

Southport:
Bill Nicholl (capt) 7
Peter Williams 9
Eddie Green 10
David Venables 10

Results (ED first):
Chris and Mike (trad) lost to Bill and David (ASD) 9-18
John beat Peter 26-1
Christine beat Eddie 18-17

Chris lost to Bill 21-22
Christine lost to Peter 20-26
Mike beat Eddie 20-16
John beat David 26-6

In the doubles, Chris and Mike started to fall behind early on, and the gap only increased throughout the game. Neither player strung a break together, despite some good hitting in, followed by a lack of consolidation!

John won convincingly, using his bisques well. Sadly, Peter barely scored, though this was to change in his second game!

Christine went 16-1 down to Eddie, but pulled back to win +1 in an extraordinary recovery. That gave East Dorset a 2-1 lead at lunch.

John continued his morning form, and again used his bisques really well, and won his second game of the day.

Christine was starting to catch up in her game, but lost out -6 to Peter, who had clearly had Shredded Wheat for lunch after his morning defeat.

Mike was 16-1 down to Eddie, as Christine had been to him in the morning. But he also came out on top, also winning on time. It was the good news that East Dorset wanted... they had won the Cup after two years of coming second.

Chris had been behind in his game from the start, but playing better than he did in the morning, and twice brought the scores level. Indeed with a couple of minutes to go he was 1up. However Bill hit in and scored 2 hoops and sent a ball to each corner... game over! Time for tea and cakes.

Thanks are due to:

Southport, for being worthy and sporting opponents. It could have gone either way.

Paul Shard, from Northampton CC for managing the game in all aspects

Lionel Tibble, for refereeing wisely

The ladies, whoever they were, for baking the cakes.

and Hilary, who continues to manage the Longman year after year.

Nottingham beat Surbiton 4-3

by Sophie McGlen at Blewbury [^]
28th September (AC - Mary Rose)

1 Julian Sheraton-Davis beat John Filsak +4
2 Bob Thompson beat Mary Knapp +11
3 Don Beck and David Mooney beat Sanaa Hallam and Sophie McGlen +5
4 Bob Thompson beat Julian Sheraton-Davis +4
5 John Filsak beat Mary Knapp +7
6 Sophie McGlen beat David Mooney +14
7 Don Beck beat Sanaa Hallam +4

Nottingham beat Bowdon 5-2

by Chris Williams at Bowdon [^]
28th September (GC - Inter-Club)

This match was played on Saturday September 28th at Bowdon. Ian Burridge gave the visitors a good start with victory over Nigel Matthews. When Lorna Dewar followed this up with a close 7-6 7-6 victory over Angharrad Walters the visitors, who had certainly begun as underdogs, probably became slight favourites to win the match. Jack Good and J-P Moberly won the doubles in straight games to set up what was likely to be a close finish in the afternoon.

Peterborough beat Middlesbrough 5-2

The victorious Peterborough team (Debbie & Ian Lines, Justin Beaumont, Adrian Kirby)

Peterborough played Middlesbrough at York on 25th September in the final of the 2024 Secretary's Shield - a national AC Handicap competition for clubs who won their regional championships in 2023. It was Peterborough's second year in the competition and their first in the final. Middlesbrough were three-times losing finalists and were hoping to go one better this year, but it was not to be. Peterborough emerged victorious by five games to two.

Representing Middlesbrough were Andrew Killick (-1.5), Dennis Scarr (-0.5), Julian Gibson(captain) (7) and Brian Gardner (9). The Peterborough players were Debbie Lines (-2.5), Ian Lines (-1.5), Adrian Kirby (captain) (0) and Justin Beaumont (20) - a very dangerous 20 as it turned out.

In the morning doubles, and applying the handicap-base-6 rule, Debbie and Justin, playing alternate-stroke, had a slight bisque advantage, with three to Julian and Brian's two. Peterborough beat Middlesbrough +12 - with Justin almost matching Debbie for shot-making, but continuously guided by her in what to do. The morning singles, double-banked on the further - and slower - court, saw Andrew taking an early lead against Ian, only to succumb to a ten-hoop-and-lay-up break and a double-peel to finish by Ian +19. Dennis was well on top against Adrian in the other game, until the latter perked up enough to play round and achieve a double-peel-and-peg-out of Dennis's front ball. Adrian then made a complete horlicks of the leave, and of a subsequent turn, which let Dennis in to finish +14 in a couple of turns from 3-back. .... 2:1 to Peterborough at lunch.

In the afternoon, Debbie proved too strong for Andrew, winning +15, and Ian carefully and clinically repeated his ten-hoops followed by double peel to beat Dennis +17. Julian's 7 bisques against Adrian were just enough to get him to peg and peg, at which point Adrian took a twenty-yard 'last shot' at Blue and Black a foot or so either side of Rover - thinking 'this is a quadruple target' - and miraculously angled through the hoop hitting Black. The fight-back was short lived, with a shortish roquet miss giving Julian the chance he needed to finish +22.

What about Justin (with 14 bisques) v Brian (with 3)? Well... Justin is a good GC player (B-class standard), but he had played only five AC singles games in his life, and until the middle of this season was unsure how to construct breaks or make good tactical choices. In the last-eight round of this event, he had started to get the hang of things - just well enough to win his singles game - and in the final he was unstoppable, storming round in well under an hour to a +24 win, with an embarrassingly large number of bisques still standing. Ian is a CqE Handicapper, and is thinking of cutting Justin from 20 to 14. Well done, Justin, and commiserations to Brian, and to the Middlesbrough team.

The thanks of both teams go to Fiona Crompton and the kind folks at York Croquet Club, for providing the venue - and, despite the forecast, fine weather - and also to Brian Havill, for directing the competition.

Debbie Lines (-2.5) and Justin Beaumont (20) beat Julian Gibson (7) and Brian Gardner (9) +12

Ian Lines (-1.5) beat Andrew Killick (-1.5) +19

Adrian Kirby (0) lost to Dennis Scarr (-0.5) +14

Debbie Lines beat Andrew Killick +15

Ian Lines beat Dennis Scarr +17

Adrian Kirby lost to Julian Gibson +22

Justin Beaumont beat Brian Gardner +24

Phyllis Court A beat Meldreth 5-2

by Chris Roberts at Northampton [^]
19 Sep (GC - Federations Shield)

There is a digest of all the results on Croquet Scores here -

croquetscores.com/.../phyllis-court-vs-meldreth

?PCC - Chris Roberts (-1), Andy Jones (2), Patricia Mulcahy (4), Paul Franklin (7)
Meldreth - David Edwards (4), Sue Bishop (4), John Bishop (4), Roger Wallbridge (5)

MacRobertson Shield Squad Availability is now open

by Chris Clarke at England [^]
24th September (CqE Official News)

The Mac selection committee comprising Keith Aiton, Ian Burridge, Robert Fulford, Ian Lines and myself as Chair has recently been approved by the Exec.

I have listed a "Mac Squad" on the availability list on the CqE website. My desire is that the members of this squad fall into at least one and hopefully more of the following categories;
a. You believe that you can provide either tactical, technical or mental advice to help improve the play of other members.
b. You are improving and believe that participation in such a squad will improve your game, either with a view to 2026 or 2030.
c. You are actively attempting to gain a place in the 2026 Mac.

I would expect positive contributions to group activities/discussion from members. I would hope to have at least one Squad meeting prior to the team being announced a couple of weeks after the 2025 AC Worlds.

Please can you advise your availability for the Mac Squad on the CqE Availability page. Availability closes at midnight on 20th November 2024. The Squad activity period will start on 27th November 2024 and end at the start of the 2025 AC Worlds. The CqE Selection Policy states that "The SSC is entitled to select a player for an England team who is not part of the WTC Squad."

If you would like further information, please contact me. The CqE Selection Procedure can be found on the CqE website.

I am expecting Squad meetings to combine ranked games and modified games together with tactical discussions led by players. I anticipate that I will organise meetings myself and help lead the formation of playing plans. Keith Aiton has kindly volunteered to help the team as well.

Chris Clarke
Chair of Mac Selection Committee

Sean Doherty won the AC All-England

Sean Doherty (Ealing) holding the All-England Cup with the other finalists.

The final of the All-England AC handicap competition was contested at Blewbury over the weekend of 21-22 September 2024. The weather forecast was ominous - thunderbolts and lightning (very, very frightening) - but in the end we had some rain that did not stop play at any point.

Eight players had made it through the first round and the area finals. They are:

Brian Jamieson, Blewbury (10)

Charles Briggs, Caversham (14)

Colin Carver, Enfield (22)

David Graham, Ealing (11)

Diana Wilson, Roehampton (2.5)

Margaret Murray, Kingston Langley (11)

Peter Rothwell, Wrest Park (3.5)

Sean Doherty, Ealing (12)

The tournament was played as a five-round Swiss. There were plenty of close games with exciting finishes and once the tussles were over, three players emerged on four out of five wins. These were Colin Carver, Margaret Murray, and Sean Doherty. Inevitably, who beat whom did not break the tie, so the next step was to look at the 'quality of wins'. This eliminated Colin, and since Sean had beaten Margaret, Sean was the winner. This is all the more creditable since Sean forgot to bring his mallet on Sunday and played with a mallet borrowed from Carol Jamieson.

Peter Rothwell won the Wrest Park Handicap Tournament

Wrest Park on a sunny September day (Photo: John Bevington)

"The ambition of most up-and-coming players is the triple peel." So wrote John Solomon in 1966, and it is as true today as it ever was. Keith Wylie said of the standard triple that "on an easy court it calls for no more than a few simple strokes played with reasonable accuracy". This somewhat disingenuous description may hold true for a select few, as shown by the peeling statistics in the rankings, but for those of us no longer up-and-coming (if indeed we ever were) the triple can over time become something to be merely contemplated rather than actively striven for.

So hats off to Peter Rothwell who won his first handicap tournament at Wrest Park a year ago playing off 12 and entered this year's September handicap tournament with his handicap now down to 3½. He completed his first triple peel in his first game, going on to win the tournament again after winning his remaining four games. However, one can't ignore the fact that but for Hunstanton's David Boxell this would have been an intra-club tournament as five of the six players were Wrest Park members. What does this say about the future of AC handicap tournaments?

Peter Rothwell (3½) beat Tim Nurse +26TP, Peter Aspinall +6t, David Boxell +14, David Woolley +10, George Collin +26

Tim Nurse (7) beat Peter Aspinall +11, David Woolley +3, George Collin +21

Peter Aspinall (11) beat David Boxell +3, David Woolley +3, George Collin +7

David Boxell (18) beat David Woolley +10t, Tim Nurse +10t

David Woolley (10) beat George Collin +20

George Collin (½) beat David Boxell +4

Douglas Shand won the GC B-Level Series final

Douglas Shand receiving the trophy from Jeff Dawson

The 'B' level finals were played at East Dorset Croquet Club over the weekend of 21^st September. 17 players had both qualified to play in it and had indicated that they wished to do so, so from the outset the numbers were rather awkward to manage. This was the first time more than 16 players had had to be accommodated in the finals. We played two qualifying blocks of 8 and 9 players respectively. This meant a relatively easy 7 rounds for B block, but 9 rounds for A block because of the added byes with each round having one player sitting out. The aim was to play 8 rounds on Saturday, leaving 1 round for Sunday morning. However the A block quickly fell behind, which meant that the manager had to put a 1 hour time limit on all A block games, and for the last 2 rounds of the day a 50 minute time limit. Even so play was not completed until it had gotten quite gloomy around 7:25 that evening.

One player indicated at lunch time on Saturday that he would like to pull out, but was persuaded to play to the end of the block if that could be done on the Saturday (I understand an issue had arisen at home which he had to attend to). Play was re-arranged so that he had the final round bye and hence should be able to complete his block (which he eventually did). However things were further complicated when another player indicated he was not feeling well and withdrew from the block (and the event) at 6pm with 2 of his games left to play. I understand he tested positive for Covid the next day, so I wish him well.

Sunday morning dawned with torrential rain, which meant that when we arrived at the club to resume play at 9am on Sunday, all the lawns were waterlogged and unplayable. Fortunately the rain eased by around 9:30, and one lawn became playable again around 9:50. This lawn was used to complete the unfinished block A games. The manager had to apply the matchpoint system to work out the final positionings in the block (since 2 games could not be completed due to the absence of the player who had withdrawn). However this proved not to be critical in determining final playing order. By about 11:30 the other 3 lawns became playable, and we were able to proceed into the knock-out stages of the competition. These were played through to completion, but only by making each round of the main knock-out time limited single 19 point games, which wasn't ideal.

Douglas Shand came out as the well deserved winner, winning the final against Trevor Smith 10-5. Congratulations Douglas!

There was quite a bit of discussion about the format of the competition, and it was generally considered that in future it would be preferable to limit the final to 16 players, which might mean reducing the number of qualifying competitions, or amending the criteria as to who qualifies to play (so that winning a qualifying competition would not automatically guarantee a place). Something for the organisers to think about perhaps.

Gabrielle Higgins is appointed Secretary to the CIO

Gabrielle Higgins is appointed Secretary to the CIO (Photo: Samir Patel)

Croquet England's trustees have appointed Gabrielle Higgins as Secretary to the CIO and to the Board of Trustees. The role is responsible to the CIO through the Board of Trustees for providing independent leadership and guidance in matters relating to administration, encouraging the highest standards of integrity, effectiveness, and openness, and has a duty to ensure the CIO's regulatory compliance.

A charitable incorporated organisation (CIO) is a corporate form of business designed for charitable organisations in England and Wales. CIOs are regulated by The Charity Commission. The Croquet England CIO was formed in March 2023, following a vote by Croquet Association members in 2022, and took over all day-to-day operations for Croquet in England from 1 January 2024.

Peel Memorials

by Mark Lansdale at Nottingham [^]
19 May (AC - Handicap)

The Peels Memorial Handicap Tournament 2024 took place in Nottingham between Thursday 16th May to Sunday 19th. There were 7 entries for the Womens Competition, 13 for the Men's competition and 8 pairs contested the Doubles. Consistent with the last three days weather, the event progressed in a friendly and sunny atmosphere.

This in part may have the reflected the relief felt by all after the first day; not least the manager. A deluge of biblical proportions started mid-morning and did not lift all day. Stout contestants kept going,the next morning but quickly the lawns became unplayable. Two of the six lawns remained flooded all day. The other four, being newly laid and with better drainage, performed better and intermittently playable until the cold, wet, and finally the dark, stopped play with a significant number of matches not even started.

Fortunately, the next mroning, the weather improved and everyone got down to making up the lost time. With a small bit of improvisation (semi finals were played as shorter 18 point games to enable all three finals to be played on Sunday in golrious sunshine. In the morning, Nicky Newberry and Mike Hedge beat Viv Staley and Andrew Willis 19 hoops to 11 on time to win the Doubles. In the afternoon Sarah Butler and Phillipine Hallam fought out the Ladies' Final, with Sarah winning 16 hoops to 11 on time. Finally, in lengthening shadows, Andrew Beaumont beat Roger Staples 24 hoops to 17 on time.

Over the last three days, the Nottingham lawns, particularly the new lawns, played superbly; and the catering was of its usual high standard. So hopefully all contestants - especially those travelling long distances to play - felt it was a successful event. Much more than the manager could hope to expect on the first evening when he was driving home shivering in a puddle while trying to work out how the events were going to get completed in time. He has since been told that it is all part of of a 'manager's learning trajectory'. Perhaps, but he would have preferred it otherwise.

Availabilty is now open for the 2025 ERC European GC Championship

by Chris Clarke at Budleigh Salterton [^]
20th September (CqE Official News)

Availability is now open for the 2025 ERC European GC Championship to be held at Budleigh 15-18 May 2025. England are likely to be awarded 3 Ranking places and 3 Member places for this event. Please use CE's normal availability portal to register your availability.

Please note that availability will close on 10th November.

Chris Clarke

Chair of GC Selectors

Sandra Guildford won the GC All England

Sandra Guildford receiving the GC All England trophy

The Final weekend for the GC All England Handicap began in cool but sunny weather at Guildford and Godalming CC. 14 players gathered together with hopes of taking home the trophy after hard fought games spread over the two days.

This was the second year that the competition was played to Advantage rules so the players were accustomed to the use of starting scores and having the correct number of pegs needed for the hoops they must score. We were fortunate to have a referee for each lawn to help players and to monitor timing. Many thanks go to Richard Carline (ROT), Peter Adams, Andrew Jackson and Mike Huxley for giving up their time to act as referees.

Competitors had handicaps ranging from 2 to 12, so starting scores were often challenging for the lower handicapped players. The most extreme was Ray Ore (Cheam) playing off 2 against Sandra Guildford (Woking) playing off 12 - starting score -4 to +2! A win to Sandra followed!

At the end of day one all players had won at least two games. John Richmond (Cheam) and Sandra were both on 4 wins and Fiona Hancock (Kington Langley), John Picken (Ashby), Patricia Mulcahy (Phyllis Court) and Richard Perkins (GGCC) were all on 5 wins out of 7. The tournament was still wide open.

On day two players arrived in good time for a prompt start - there was work to be done! By lunch time 3 games had been played and Cliff Hunter (Surbiton) and Sandra had each won all 3 games.

The leader board was then showing two players on 7 wins (John Picken and Sandra) with Patricia, Gareth Hobby (Caversham), Richard and Cliff each on 6 wins. Still all to play for.

In fact with the ups and downs of Advantage croquet nothing is to be taken for granted. As the players went into the final game Sandra and Richard were both on 8 wins and Clff, Patricia and Fiona were all on 7 wins. There was still time for a surprise winner.

However Sandra held her nerve to get the ninth win (result 7-6) while Richard lost out in his last game (result 6-7). Patricia, Cliff and Richard all ended on 8 wins and the manager - with the help of a trusty calculator and Mike Huxley (the score keeper) did the maths to find the final order of the day.

1^st Sandra Guildford

2^nd Patricia Mulcahy

3^rd Cliff Hunter

4^th Richard Perkins

There then followed 6 players all on 7 wins.

What a close call!

Nottingham beat Blewbury 7-4

Blewbury and Nottingham teams at the Short Croquet Final. Andrew Beaumont holding the trophy

The final of the short croquet inter-club competition was held today, 19th September, at Nottingham. Nottingham beat Blewbury 7 games to 4.

Nottingham retain the trophy, which was presented by Croquet England Vice-President Ian Vincent.

Blewbury: Andrew Petit (2.5), Andy Evason (2), Joe King (3 peels)(captain), Brian Jamieson (2.5)
Nottingham: Andrew Beaumont (0.5)(captain), Julieann Trembling (6), Mick Owens(2.5), David Park (3.5)

Nottingham beat Southport 8-8

by Andrew Beaumont at Unknown - not stated [^]
18 Sep (AC - Short Croquet Inter-Club)

Nottingham beat Southport. Each side won 8 games. On the decider, Nottingham had 150 "hoops" (ie points including peg points) to Southport's 140.

Hurlingham lost to Roehampton 2-5

by Tim Russell at Hurlingham [^]
15th September (AC - Inter-Club)

Roehampton beat Hurlingham 5-2 in the AC Inter Club semi-final at Hurlingham on Sunday 15th September.

Results (Roehampton names first)

Harry Fisher & Christian Carter beat Nigel Polhill and Tim Coles +17
Mark van Loon beat Guy Hewitt +17TP
Tim Russell lost to Alan Chance -26
Harry Fisher lost to Nigel Polhill -15TP
Christian Carter beat Tom Coles + 26TP
Mark van Loon beat Alan Chance +24TP
Tim Russell beat Guy Hewitt +17TP

WCF Golf Croquet World Championship 2024

by Alison Maugham [^]
13th September (World Championship)

The following message is from Damon Bidencope, President of the United States Croquet Association

Dear Fellow WCF Members,

The USCA is looking forward to hosting the world's elite GC talent next month here in the US at our largest USCA club - The Chesapeake Bay Croquet Club. The USCA, the Association's Executive, WCF 2024 GC Event Committee, Event Volunteers and Officials, and our USCA membership has worked diligently in preparation. We also are very pleased to have the presence and support from our event sponsors. I fully expect that the comradery your representatives bring to the event in concert with those formerly mentioned will result in a great time for all.

The USCA has committed approximately $16,000 in venue funding and another $60,000 in other event related expenditures that will support our goal of making this event successful. Those we cannot welcome at the event can join us on the live streaming that is planned on the USCA You Tube Channel - "rdilley USCA Croquet".

Below is a link to the Event Program Preview Edition electronic version. Please circulate this to your membership and any croquet interested parties so they can share information about the players, the event, and the game of croquet. Separate pdf copies can be downloaded from the linked site.

Digital Edition URL: https://issuu.com/uscacroquetnews/docs/2024_croquet_news_fall_edition-cnm24v3?fr=sNjc3ZTc3NjE1NjY

We will have full color printed copies for the participants at the event.

Sincerely,
Damon

Damon Bidencope
Proud USCA Member
President
United States Croquet Association

http://www.CroquetAmerica.com700 Florida Mango Road
West Palm Beach, Florida 33406
561.478.0760

Rick Harding won the Spencer Ell

The Spencer Ell players and trophy

"Come down, O Muse, describe the Spencer Ell

And tell us who played badly, who played well."

No, on second thoughts we won't have any more poetry this year, after last year's limericks describing the Treasurer's Tankard. Talking of which, three of us were competing at Pendle in the 2023 TT, and the improvement in the lawns was remarkable. Last year there were problems with the mowing, but this year the lawns were superb - a great credit to the club, backed up by excellent catering facilities. Many thanks to all who worked so hard to make it such an enjoyable five days of competition.

And the competition was indeed fierce. Here are the players and their

handicaps:

Neil Adams (-1.5) Sam Cuthbert (3.5)

Robert Essler (0.5) Rick Harding (-1)

Andrew Killick (-1.5) Paul Rigge (-1)

Mike Town (-1.5) Andrew Winn (-1)

Or, as all players seem to have very distinct styles, stances and mannerisms, shall I call them (in no particular order) Mr Thoughtful, Mr Flowing, Mr Unconventional, Mr Methodical, Mr Precise, Mr Determined, Mr Confident and Mr Accurate? (Sorry, guys, I am not revealing who's who!) Anyway, play began on 5^th September…

Thursday

The skies were grey, the winds were strong. Neil was the first to make his mark, winning his first two games, both with triple peels. I (Andrew K) was the unfortunate victim in that second game, playing just four shots after my marathon 4-hour first game against Robert. However, by the end of the day six players were tied for the lead with two wins each; and Paul had notched up a TP as he won his evening game against Robert.

Friday

A day of beautiful sunshine - but alas, I lost all three games, as did Paul and Robert. Top of the class were Mike and Rick, both with three wins, and Rick had two TPs to his credit. Sam, Neil and Andrew W were in the middle, having won two games each, and Andrew W had achieved a TP against Sam.

Saturday

Another cloudy day with some drizzle. Lunchtime brought the first half of the tournament to an end, and the standings were as follows: Rick (6 out of 7), Mike and Neil and Andrew W (5), Andrew K (3), Sam and Paul (2) and Robert (0). I had a good day for a change, with three wins. So did Rick, with yet another TP in his morning game against Mike. He was the clear leader with 8 wins out of 9, but Mike (7) and Andrew W (6) were breathing down his neck. In the evening Paul had arranged a Chinese meal which I gather was much enjoyed.

Sunday

The day dawned very gloomy and grey. There was heavy rain, and the water roller couldn't entirely cope with it, so play was slow. Did I say slow?

Though play had begun at 9.30am, most of the third games of the day could only get going at 5.59pm! Somehow almost everyone finished before darkness fell, and Sam, Neil, Mike, Paul and Rick won two out of their three games. Neil and Rick both notched up another TP. That meant that after twelve rounds it was very close at the top. Rick led the field with 10 wins, followed by Mike (9), Neil (7) and Andrew W (7), while the rest of us lagged behind.

Monday

It proved to be a worthy and nail-biting climax to the tournament. More rain, alas, but there were some amusing episodes. Andrew W did something I have never seen before - a deemed lift shot, where he took his ball to corner 3 but feared that he might miss his target and end up in corner 4 near Sam's hoop, so he didn't actually play a shot. And shortly after that Sam did a gentle hoop run: for those of you who don't know, Sam's usual style is to hit hoop runs or shots to the boundary so hard that they end up in the next county - well, the far side of the adjoining lawn anyway! There were great cheers when Robert got his first win - he had come in as a late substitute for a player who had to withdraw, and he might have preferred to play in a different Eight. There were gasps of surprise when Paul attempted to jump over hoop 1 to roquet a ball about twelve yards away: the jump was fine, and he very nearly got the roquet. But the three-ball finish in Mike's game versus Paul was amazing, as well as being crucial for the outcome of the tournament.

Paul, on peg and rover, got stuck on the wire; Mike made hoop 4 back and took position not all that close to penult; Paul didn't want to tap his ball into a runnable position at rover, so he retreated to join his partner ball in corner 2; Mike could have shot at the two balls in corner 2, but instead he ran penult and ended up at an angle about eight yards from rover; after some thought he attempted the hoop run and went right through to the south boundary; he could just see the peg some 17 yards away, had a go…and hit it! What a finish, enabling him to get within one point of Rick, who had just done a TP against me (on the soggiest lawn I have ever experienced) and was due to meet Mike in the final round.

And then the sun came out. After lunch Neil did another TP to beat Sam; I got to peg and rover against Paul and won when he gave me another chance by hampering himself after running hoop 1; Andrew W beat Robert in the very last game to finish; and meanwhile, calmly getting on with things away on lawn 2, Mike played a well-controlled game against Rick to win 26-2. That meant he had drawn level with him on 11 wins out of 14, and they played a decider. This time it was Rick who kept control of the game, and he won 26-0 with a sometimes adventurous TP.

So the final scores were Rick and Mike on 11, Andrew W and Neil 8, Andrew K 7, Sam and Paul 5 and Robert 1. Sam had the honour (or punishment?) of having his handicap reduced to 1; and Rick Harding was the victor with his often faultless play and five TPs - a winner well worthy to follow in the steps of our illustrious predecessor Spencer Ell, who lost two arms in the First World War but still managed to become a fine player of this wonderful game.

Jamie Burch is the Golf Croquet Open Champion 2024

Jamie Burch - GC Open Champion (Photo: Chris Roberts)

Having represented England one week before in a test match against Spain, Jamie, from Reigate Croquet Club, went on to win the Golf Croquet Open Championship 2024.

Jamie has now represented England in both codes of Croquet, he played his first competitive game of Association Croquet in 1997 and has since achieved a world ranking of #4. In recent years he has competed at championship level in Golf Croquet and is now ranked #13 in the world for GC.

In 2023 Jamie was awarded 'Sportsperson of the Year' at the Reigate & Banstead Sports Awards, having been nominated by his home Croquet Club and other local individuals.

Sophie McGlen won the Selectors Weekend

Sophie McGlen with the Selectors Weekend Trophy (Photo: Alex McIntyre)

So, the common thinking is that the further south you go, the more clement the weather…. Unless that is you're playing in the selectors at Bath in September 2024. Whilst the Tankard at Colchester basked in 25 degree sunlight, and Pendle shone like a jewel in the north for the Spencer Ell, the Friday morning games at Bathwick involved serious wet-weather gear, with torrential rain falling for most of the morning and temperatures struggling to get above 16 degrees.

Fortunately, 3 of the 4 lawns were up to the task and played beautifully, whilst the reduced field of 13 got to grips with the event. Played as a very flexible Swiss due to the odd number of entries, the first day's play ended with Sophie McGlen on 3 from 3 with a healthy pack chasing on 2 from 3, largely thanks to Mike Porter's ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, a trait he would continue into the second day.

One such match on the Saturday against Simon Tuke went to time with Mike 7 hoops ahead, paired up on the west boundary. A 25yard hit in followed, with Simon taking pink from 1-back peeling partner through 3-back and accidentally pegging his ball out to force the golden hoop. Two balls against one…. What could go wrong…..?

Our illustrious manager, Andy Dibben noted that there had been two grievous's by the Saturday evening and indeed Peter Thompson had expertly engineered a 6 yards cut rush into the peg on the Friday. However, by asking all players about the second, it quickly became clear that the rigours of managing the tournament had made Andy hallucinate…

Meanwhile Bob Thompson took pegging out to heart and expertly pegged out Peter … forgetting the unfortunate fact that he had yet to make rover with his own ball, prompting much hilarity from the gallery.

The Saturday afternoon brought the neighbouring Bath Rugby Club sound system into play, banging out Oasis, the Beatles and other crowd-pleasers at which point Alex McIntyre decided to play croquet (albeit briefly) in his victory over Charlie.

Guy Hewitt also came into form in the afternoon and by close Sophie was on 6/6, Robbie ' the Casting King' Dodds (think Djokovic pre-serve routine), Alex & Guy making up the numbers on 4/6 and the semi-finals were set for the next day.

Sundays forecast loomed but the morning weather held and Sophie shot out of the blocks against Guy getting to peg & 4-back in double quick time. A bevelled one yarder let Guy in who two balled for a while until pairing in corner 2, leaving a double(ish) from B-baulk. Sophie' finishing turn included a 9 yard return roquet from the boundary to push partner to peg.

In the other semi-final, Alex never really got started and Robbie made steady progress to win.

As the 3rd place play off got underway, Guy and Alex began to question the wisdom of their previous night's alcohol consumption and played a typically scrappy game involving lots of huffing…. or so we thought. After struggling to 4-back Guy missed the lift and Alex completed the only triple peel of the tournament, which included the textbook 15 yard rover peel….

In the final, Sophie once again took first blood with a flawless break to 4-back. Robbie hit the lift but could only make it to 3, sticking on the wire. Yet another McGlen hit-it reclaimed the innings and she went to peg.

Robbie hit the lift and took red to 4-back but this time Sophie's shooting deserted her and Robbie started a TP turn but missed a short roquet approaching 5, leaving Sophie a short hit-in with the peg ball and pairing up in corner 3. After Robbie missed, Sophie held her nerve by two-balling 4-back and Penult and taking off to oppo in corner 1 to make rover and win.

All the players agreed that Bath had been excellent hosts, with Andrew Willis looking after the bar, Philip managing the lawns in tricky conditions and Gill helping Andrew with the lunches. We were all left wondering why such a fantastic venue did not offer more AC tournaments during the season…. food for thought!

England retain the Trophy for the Golf Croquet Test Match against Spain

Captained for the fourth time by J-P Moberly, England retained the trophy once again. This is the fourth time the test match has been contested, with England now winning 3 of the 4 tests.

The three day event at Roehampton Croquet Club was livestreamed on the Croquet England YouTube channel, viewed by over 6,000 Croquet Fans from around the world. Chris Clarke, England's Chair of Selectors, provided exceptional commentary throughout the event which kept the viewers up to date with tactical developments and player statistics. Chris commented on the expertly prepared lawns at Roehampton which were running at 13 seconds.

England showed an excellent performance winning 17 matches to Spains 10. This was the first time that the home side has won.

Stuart M Smith, England's fifth seed, was the one player to win all singles matches and only dropped one doubles match with partner Tobi Savage.

Spain's Jose "Pepe" Riva won all three of his singles matches 2-0, a superb performance playing at number 1.

Both teams will be competing in the GC World Team Championship in Tasmania in February 2025. Only the top four available players will make the final team.

Team details:
England

J-P Moberly (C) [Bowdon Croquet Club]

Jamie Burch [Reigate Croquet Club]

Euan Burridge [Bowdon Croquet Club]

Aston Wade [Hurlingham Croquet Club]

Stuart M Smith [Sidmouth Croquet Club]

Tobi Savage [Ramsgate Croquet Club]

Mark Avery won the Woking Autumn Advanced

Sara Anderson (manager) and the players at Woking

We had a full tournament with 16 players ranging from -2.5 to 1 (the best group we have ever had)

Congratulations go to Mark Avery who returned from winning last year to successfully defend his win with a 100% win rate. Nigel Polhill was runner up close on Mark's heels with 5 out of 6 wins.

The lawns all had there own challenges which made for only 9 tp's being completed across the whole tournament.

Players came from all over the country and across the waters from Ireland and Isle of Wright.

This year we changed the format of the tournament from blocks and knockouts to a Flexible Swiss event allowing for players to play more matches as well as speedy players not having to wait so long for their matches.

The bad weather predicted never arrived and instead we had lovely sunshine to play in which encouraged members to come and spectate.

Sara Anderson mult-tasked managing the tournament and playing with Ben.

All results are on Croquet Scores.

Debbie Lines won the Nottingham Advanced weekend

by Alex McIntyre at Nottingham [^]
9th September (AC)

A reduced field of 20 players contested this year's Advanced Weekend at Nottingham as the club is currently re-laying lawns 1-5, which should be back in action next by season.

Played as a flexible Swiss on what turned out to be a very pleasant weekend, the Momento Mori cup was retained by Debbie Lines who was unbeaten over 6 matches, avoiding a three-way play-off by beating Omied Hallam in her last match. Nick Parish was runner up with a single loss.

Edward & Samir Patel won the National Forest GC Doubles

by Ray Mounfield at Ashby [^]
9th September (GC - Tournaments)

The fifth National Forest GC Doubles (subtitled "Total Zero Plus" to reflect minimum joint handicaps) was played on the last weekend of August at Moira. Eight pairs, including players from the North East, Wales, London and the Midlands, competed for the trophy.

Manager, Ray Mounfield used the same format as in recent years. On Saturday, using just two lawns, two blocks of four pairs played two games against the other teams in their block.

Block A : Mike O'Brian & Christine Wood, Arthur Rowe & Judith Rowe, Jane Pringle & Jane Bailey and Andrew Grant & John Palframan

Block B : Tom Grievson & Martyn Seal, Samir Patel & Edward Patel, Ross Bagni & Marilyn Robinson and Chris Jackson & Pauline Donner

The two Janes emerged as winners on five wins in Block A, with Arthur and Judith as runners-up. In block B, with four wins each, Ross & Marilyn and Samir & Edward qualified for the semi-finals.

On Sunday the semi-finals were both completed in two games and with Samir & Edward and Arthur & Judith winning their matches.

So the final was a two family tussle between the Patels and the Rowes. Samir and Edward took the first game with relative ease, but the second game became a tighter affair. At hoop twelve it looked to be going to the golden hoop until an uncharacteristic miss by Judith allowed the father and son partnership to take the game. So Edward, at 16, (the youngest player by far) and Samir were deserving winners of the unique trophy.

The losing semi-final pairs played a third place decider which was won by Jane Pringle and Jane Bailey.

In the plate Mike and Christine won 4 of their 6 games , but with 5 wins the plate went to Andrew and John.

The weather was somewhat unkind, with persistent rain throughout most of Saturday but not quite bad enough to hold up play on either day.

Full results (CroquetScores)

Selections for 2024 AC Invitation Events

Live-streaming the President's Cup

The President's Cup will be livestreamed from the Croquet England YouTube Channel, please subscribe to receive notification when the channel is live.

Note: The President's Cup and Selectors' are in alphabetical order, others (including reserves) are in order of merit.

Eights Week Conditions

Previous winners are in the history section.