The Croquet Championship - Qualifying Swiss

by Michael Town at Hurlingham [^]
22nd June (AC - Championships)

The draw for the first four rounds of the 2022 Croquet Championship Qualifying Swiss has been done and is available to view in the Commentary section of the CA AC Open Singles Championship tournament pages on CroquetScores .

The Doubles Championship Draw

by Michael Town at Hurlingham [^]
22nd June (AC - Championships)

The draw for the 2022 Doubles Championship has been done and is available to view in the CA AC Open Doubles Championship tournament pages on CroquetScores .

CA Membership Card Now Available

CA members may recall that in the past a CA Membership Card was issued every year to all CA members. This was rarely required to be shown, except to prove CA membership on entry to certain clubs, such as Hurlingham, which is where the CA Office was previously located. With the CA Office now being at Cheltenham, there hasn't been a real need for the CA to continue incurring the cost of issuing paper Membership Cards. However, in view of continued security concerns, some clubs have recently become stricter about controlling entry - often requiring their own members to show Club Membership Cards on entry. Therefore, particularly when CA members wish to visit such clubs for a major championship, it may now be useful to have a CA Membership Card again to provide proof of CA membership.

The intention is that if there is a requirement for CA members to show a CA membership card to gain access to a club where an event is being held, then this will be advertised in advance on relevant websites and in the event programme. This will include any specific requirements, such as whether the CA Membership Card has to have a photo, and whether any other form of identification is required.

Rather than incur the expense of producing thousands of paper Membership Cards, most of which would never be used, Dave Kibble has added a new facility to the CA website to generate your own CA Membership Card.

All CA Members can now bring their CA Membership Card up on their phone (or computer) by:

• go to the CA Directory in the "Members' Area" and log in
• click "My Details" in the "My CA" box
• select the "Membership Card" button

It is noted that CA members can upload their own photo - otherwise you still get a Membership Card but without the photo (like the old paper card). A new upload automatically sends an email to the CA Office support address with a link for a quick visual inspection: "Please check that the new member-uploaded photo is decent, legal and reasonable" - this has to be carried out by the CA Office fairly promptly. While uploading, the member is told "Make sure that you have the legal right to publish it on the website and that it will not cause offence". Please note that this new membership card facility is to address security concerns so it is important that this facility should not be abused.

This online Membership Card could be shown on a phone to gate staff as proof of CA Membership. CA members could also print the card (just press Control-P on a computer) and show a paper copy to the gate staff. It is also possible to take a screenshot image of the card on your phone and save it on your phone (e.g. in Files on an iPhone) so that you can bring it up even when not online. On most iPhones a screen shot can be taken by pressing the Top button and the Home button at the same time, and quickly releasing both buttons. On android phones, to take a screenshot, press and hold the power and volume down button at the same time.

It is hoped that CA members who may need to provide proof of CA membership will find this facility easy to access, and that it will help keep us all safe at major events.

Dave Kibble and Ian Lines

Mick Haytack won Ashby AC Handicap Weekend

by Arthur Rowe at Ashby [^]
21st June (AC)

This year 6 players turned up in the drizzle on Saturday to contest this event, which made the lawns much easier to play than in the hard dry conditions that we had recently experienced, and as a consequence only one game went to time over the whole weekend.

An Egyptian scoring system was used to help determine a winner amongst those with an equal number of wins. This led to an interesting final round with two possible winners and three possible second places spread across the 3 games. Two players emerged with 4 wins - Gediminas Smolskas from Bury who played very neat croquet most of the time and earned a handicap reduction to 7, and Mick Haytack from the home club who was the eventual winner with a higher index than Ged, and having also won the only game that Ged had lost.

Brian Havill won the Newport B-Class weekend

by Andrew Gregory at Newport [^]
20th June (AC)

Last year's runner-up Brian Havill won all his games this year to secure the trophy.

On Saturday Brian and Andrew Gregory won 3/3, though Jeff Farrington could have beaten both.

Brian beat Andrew easily on Sunday morning. Andrew won his last round game, and hoped Tony Elliott could beat Brian to leave a 3-way tie. Tony didn't oblige, but could console himself with winning the most HCPs over the weekend.

Game of the tournament saw Duncan Hector concede contact in order to peg out John Reddish, leaving 1 and peg v 2-back. Duncan eventually won +2, while John deserves credit as the only player not to have a game decided by Time.

Winner: Brian Havill 5/5

2nd: Andrew Gregory 4/5

3rd=: Tony Elliott, Duncan Hector, Cliff Jones 3/5

Thomas Cullis wins the Tunbridge Wells AC 14-point tournament

by Jon Diamond at Tunbridge Wells [^]
20th June (AC)

A slightly reduced field of 8 players from three clubs contested this on Monday 13th June in perfect weather. The lawns were running as true as usual, i.e. with the odd ball rolling off the edges of the lawns and a little slower than we'd like! The games were a mixture of Handicap and Advanced depending on the handicaps of the players which ranged from scratch to 18.

Thomas Cullis has a tremendous time winning all his five games, albeit beating Jon Diamond by just a single hoop after time in a really tight block game. He beat Simon Ling from Reigate Priory in the final by a slightly larger margin with Chris Barham from Tunbridge Wells in third place.

Chris Roberts wins Roehampton GC Open Series

by Tim Russell at Roehampton [^]
20th June (GC)

The inaugural Roehampton GC Open Series was held on the 18th and 19th June. Two dropouts during the week, left the event as a 14 player cross block, with a welcome family contingent of four Spanish players (father,son, aunt and uncle). Three players won five games on the Saturday, Tim Russell, Chris Roberts and Paul Gunn. All four Spanish players belied their handicaps and D grade rankings, with Steve Leonard falling particular victim to their excellent positional play. They found Roehampton's fast lawns to their liking. Six players finished on four wins with the younger Ignacio Gross missing out on a quarter final place on net hoops.

The quarter finals saw Tim Russell beat Carlos Ariza 7-4, 7-5; Nick Yates (playing in his first GC Tournament having taken up croquet in November) beat Paul Gunn 7-4, 5-7, 7-3, Chris Roberts beat Steve Leonard 6-7, 7-4, 7-3 and Jonathan Claxton beat Ignacio Gross senior 4-7, 7-4, 7-4.

The semi-finals saw Chris Roberts prevail against Jonathan Claxton 7-4, 7-5 with his customary hard hitting and the other semi-final saw Nick upset Tim, 4-7, 7-4, 7-3 with an astonishing display of accurate clearing (one missed shot in three games), perfect positioning and long hoop running. Nick is a fine croquet prospect and it was a little consolation to Tim that he has been training him in both codes of the game since he started in November.

Unfortunately, Nick couldn't keep up the degree of relentless clearing he showed against Tim in the final. A keen Padel player, he found out that two days of GC can be quite tiring and Chris's experience and good play ensured he ran out a comfortable 7-3, 7-4 winner. Well done Chris and thank you for being RoT.

The Bowl was an all Spanish affair with Ignacio Gross Sr beating Carlos Ariza 10-7. Another Roehampton newbie, Andrew Wilson won the Plate beating Ignacio Jr. 7-3, another very creditable performance in his first GC Tournament.

Crake Valley A level GC national qualifier

A large crowd at Crake Valley watch the GC action

Crake Valley C-Level

by David Cornes at Crake Valley [^]
20th June (GC)

10 players enjoyed the lovely, sunny surroundings at Crake Valley for a National C level qualifier.

Crake Valley B-Level

by David Cornes at Crake Valley [^]
20th June (GC)

Woking Mid Summer Open

by Simon Carter at Woking [^]
20th June (GC)

Historically, this popular event has been played as all-play-all over two days. However, as part of an upgrade to Ascot Cup Qualifier status, the format had been amended to block play. Our esteemed manager, Bernard Jones, did hid best at very short notice to accommodate the changes, but there were a few glitches and a 'wise counsel' of Bernard, Tim Russell and Liz Farrow stepped in to sort things out. We ended up with a hybrid of blocks and all play all and it worked out fine.

As seems to be the case with many tournaments, entries were down and we started with 13, moving to 12 on Tuesday when Colin Britt pulled out. Malcolm Bigg's steady and unflappable play saw him in the semi-final, but he elected to watch from the shade and so gave Jeff Dawson, the top seed, an automatic final spot. Meanwhile Simon Carter and Tim Russell had a close fought game for the other final spot, with Simon just prevailing.

The final was a re-run of last year's, between Woking favourite Jeff Dawson, and Dulwich's Simon Carter. Both players elected to play just one, single 19-point game. It was close all the way, with good hooping from both players and strong clearances ensuring that there was never more than a two hoop lead. Unsurprisingly, it went to 9 all with Simon having first approach to Hoop 19. Two solid positioning shots put the pressure on Jeff to clear, and with his balls just missing, it left Simon a fairly easy 3 yard hoop to win the match.

Thanks were given to Bernard, for his agile adapting of the format as we went along, and the catering team, who provided excellent lunches.

Sussex County beat East Dorset 4-3

by Liz Farrow at Sussex County [^]
20th June (GC - Inter-Club)

Southport & Birkdale beat Sheffield 4-3

by John Haslam [^]
20th June (GC - Federations Shield)

Spain beat England 14-12 in the 2nd GC Test

The victorious Spanish team

A full report will follow in due course. The Test format, teams and results are shown below.

Format: A 27-point test (18 singles, 9 doubles) played over 7 rounds. All matches were best-of-three 13-point games.

Teams in seed order:

England: John-Paul MOBERLY (c), Aston WADE, Will GEE, Stephen MULLINER, Stuart M SMITH, Richard BILTON. Doubles: MOBERLY & GEE, WADE & SMITH, MULLINER & BILTON.

Spain: Manuel ALVAREZ-SALA, Andres ALVAREZ-SALA, Jose ALVAREZ-SALA (c), Basilio IGLESIAS, Gonzalo ALVAREZ-SALA, Pedro LOZANO. Doubles: M & A ALVAREZ-SALA, J & G ALVAREZ-SALA, IGLESIAS & LOZANO

Match Results in the order they concluded (England players listed first, Test score in brackets):

Friday 17 June (6 x doubles):

MULLINER & BILTON lost to M ALVAREZ-SALA & A ALVAREZ-SALA 7-4, 5-7, 3-7 (England 0, Spain 1).

MOBERLY & GEE lost to J ALVAREZ-SALA & G ALVAREZ-SALA 4-7, 4-7 (0-2).

MOBERLY & GEE beat IGLESIAS & LOZANO 7-3, 7-4 (1-2).

WADE & SMITH beat M ALVAREZ-SALA & A ALVAREZ-SALA 7-5, 7-6 (2-2).

MULLINER & BILTON lost to J ALVAREZ-SALA & G ALVAREZ-SALA 7-6, 6-7, 3-7 (2-3).

WADE & SMITH lost to IGLESIAS & LOZANO 5-7, 6-7 (2-4).

Test score at the end of Friday: England 2, Spain 4

Saturday 18 June (12 x singles):

Stephen MULLINER beat Pedro LOZANO 7-3, 7-2 (3-4).

Will GEE lost to Manuel ALVAREZ-SALA 7-4, 7-6 (3-5)

Richard BILTON lost to Basilio IGLESIAS 6-7, 7-3, 6-7 (3-6).

John-Paul MOBERLY lost to Jose ALVAREZ-SALA 7-5, 6-7, 6-7 (3-7).

Stuart M SMITH beat Pedro LOZANO 7-4, 7-6 (4-7).

Will GEE beat Andres ALVAREZ-SALA 7-4, 7-3 (5-7).

Aston WADE beat Jose ALVAREZ-SALA 7-1, 6-7, 7-6 (6-7).

Stuart M SMITH beat Basilio IGLESIAS 5-7, 7-2, 7-4 (7-7).

Richard BILTON beat Gonzalo ALVAREZ-SALA 7-5, 7-6 (8-7).

John-Paul MOBERLY lost to Andres ALVAREZ-SALA 4-7, 7-5, 4-7 (8-8).

Aston WADE lost to Manuel ALVAREZ-SALA 7-2, 6-7, 0-7 (8-9).

Stephen MULLINER beat Gonzalo ALVAREZ-SALA 6-7, 7-5, 7-6 (9, 9).

Test score at the end of Saturday: England 9, Spain 9

Sunday 19 June (3 x doubles and 6 x singles):

MULLINER & BILTON beat IGLESIAS & LOZANO 4-7, 7-5, 7-3 (10-9).

MOBERLY & GEE lost to M ALVAREZ-SALA & A ALVAREZ-SALA 6-7, 5-7 (10-10).

WADE & SMITH beat J ALVAREZ-SALA & G ALVAREZ-SALA 3-7, 7-3, 7-3 (11-10).

Richard BILTON beat Pedro LOZANO 7-3, 7-5 (12-10).

Stephen MULLINER lost to Basilio IGLESIAS 6-7, 7-4, 3-7 (12-11).

Stuart M SMITH lost to Gonzalo ALVAREZ-SALA 6-7, 6-7 (12-12)

John-Paul MOBERLY v Manuel ALVAREZ-SALA 5-7, 7-2, 6-7 (12-13)

Will GEE lost to Jose ALVAREZ-SALA 6-7, 6-7 (12-14)

Aston WADE v Andres ALVAREZ-SALA 7-6, 5-7 (match not concluded)

Final Test score: England 12, Spain 14

Wrest Park lost to Woking 2-3

by Andrew Dutton at Wrest Park [^]
14 Jun 2022 (AC - Mary Rose)

MARY ROSE

Woking beat Wrest Park 3-2

Singles results

David Boyd beat Peter Aspinall + 5
George Collin beat Nick Harvey + 5
John Bevington beat David Boyd +12
Andrew Dutton beat Peter Aspinall +24

Nottingham beat High Wycombe 5-1

by Cathy Turski at Nottingham [^]
14th June (GC - Inter-Club Shield)

Teams

Nottingham

Cathy Turski (4)

Roger Watson (4)

Peter Hanley (5)

Paul Pinnock (5)

High Wycombe

Keith Toovey (2)

Michael Bowker (3)

Sharon Clark (4)

Michael Vickery (6)

Cathy & Roger bt Keith & Michael Bowker 7-5 5-7 7-5

Peter drew with Michael Vickery 7-6 3-7

Paul bt Sharon 7-4 7-2

Cathy bt Keith 5-7 7-6 7-3

Roger bt Michael Bowker 7-4 7-5

Peter lost to Sharon 5-7 6-7

Paul bt Michael Vickery 7-5 7-1

Moreton in Marsh Sponsored Walk

by Christine McCormick at Moreton in Marsh [^]
13th June (Other News)

A short introduction to the history of Moreton in Marsh in relation to Croquet.

The first world cup was held in Moreton and the rules of croquet were first codified in 1866 by Walter Jones Whitmore who lived in Chastleton House, a few miles from Moreton, now owned by The National Trust.

To celebrate the new croquet club in Moreton, raise funds for a clubhouse and publicise the game of croquet, we are arranging a team to walk from Moreton to Chastleton House. The team will play a game of croquet on the lawns of Chastleton House with a group of volunteers and staff, then walk back to Moreton and play a game of croquet at Moreton Croquet Club.

The event will take place on Saturday 16^th July. Moreton Croquet Club will be selling teas, coffee, soft drinks along with cakes and scones in the church next to Chastleton House.

We would like to invite croquet players to support this historic event by donating to https://www.spacehive.com/get-moreton-croquet-a-clubhouse

If you would like further information on this event please contact -

moretoncroquetclub#gmail.com

Colin Spencer wins the Heart of Yorkshire AC Tournament

Colin Spencer proudly displays the Heart of Yorkshire 2022 trophy

Colin Spencer of Downham CC stormed to victory in the Heart of Yorkshire Tournament on 11-12 June by winning all six of his games. The York lawns were nicely fast, the fine weather held, no fewer than five players gained Merit Awards, and home-made cake rounded off a thoroughly enjoyable weekend. Runner-up was nineteen-year-old Wendy Robertson of York CC, another up-and-coming player to watch.

David Cornes won the Pendle and Craven CC Open Series

Libby Dixon presents the trophy to David Cornes

Kim Taylor of Enfield won the GC B-Level (3+) Series Tournament at Leighton-Linslade CC

by John Cundell at Leighton-Linslade [^]
13th June (GC)

Our 8^th B-Level tournament featuring twelve players attracted eight from outside clubs and four of our players - ranging from Enfield, High Wycombe, Hunstanton, Moreton, Stony Stratford - and Leighton Linslade.

We had good weather in that it was dry, but with a strong cooling wind for much of the day. The twelve competitors were in two blocks of six. At the end of the block play, the first block had one player with four wins - Chris Webbley of High Wycombe, and three players with three wins each, with Bill Ironside of Leighton-Linslade beating Gill Hindshaw of Moreton and Judith Pengelly of Leighton with better hoop difference. Block two had a perfect result of 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, and zero for the six players - with the winner being Kim Taylor from Enfield followed by Sharon Clark from High Wycombe.

The play offs for the first four places produced two hard fought games from the block winners - with Kim Taylor beating Chris Webbley 7-2. The third and fourth play off was a win for Sharon Clark over Bill Ironside by 7-3.

Kim was presented with a commemorative engraved crystal whisky glass.

Spectating the England v Spain GC Test Match

by James Death [CA Admin] at Hurlingham [^]
13th June (GC)

To view the England v Spain GC Test match this weekend (17-19 June) at Hurlingham, you need to let them know in advance of your plan to attend.

Please contact Katja at Hurlingham directly (Katja.Harju#hurlingham.org.uk) and let her know which day(s) you wish to attend.

Please be aware, there is no parking on site for spectators.

Watch LIVE

Video streaming by the CA & Hurlingham Club

Online:
Access Hurlingham via https://hurlinghamclub.org.uk/hurlingham-home/croquet-test-match
Or:
Follow the CA for schedule and link (@CroquetEngland)

High Wycombe lost to Watford 3-4

by Simon Hathrell at High Wycombe [^]
13th June (GC - Inter-Club)

Teams & handicaps:
High Wycombe:
Raouf Allim (-2)
Ian Shore (-1)
Paul Gunn (0)
Edward Olhausen (4)

Watford:
Nick Archer (-3)
Jason Carley (-2)
Simon Hathrell (0)
Steve Dennis (3)

Scores (Watford names first):
Nick Archer & Jason Carley beat Raouf Allim & Ian Shore 7-3, 2-7, 7-3
Simon Hathrell beat Edward Olhausen 7-3, 7-3
Steve Dennis lost to Paul Gunn 3-7, 3-7

Nick Archer lost to Raouf Allim 6-7, 7-4, 6-7
Jason Carley beat Ian Shore 7-6, 7-4
Simon Hathrell beat Paul Gunn 7-5, 4-7, 7-5
Steve Dennis lost to Edward Olhausen 7-6, 3-7, 4-7

Simon Turner won the Roehampton GC C-Level Tournament

by Tony Salem at Roehampton [^]
10th June (GC)

Players from seven different clubs entered this event with handicaps ranging from 5-14 as no fewer than nine players had received handicap revisions since allocation day The lawns were fast and initially some players had great difficulty in laying up to the hoops. Only Richard Jenkins (Hamptworth) and Mark Keogh (Caversham)managed to win all three games in the blocks during the morning session, but sadly failed to continue with that level of performance in the afternoon. It was interesting to see how many people tried angled jump shots, but sadly with little success. Full credit for perseverance in attempting the almost impossible! Some players were new to this type of tournament and took on occasions a great deal of time in deciding how to play their next turn. Time warnings had to be given in a few matches as it would have delayed the planning of subsequent rounds. The final was played between Simon Turner(Ealing) handicap 5 and Bernie Philips(Guildford) handicap 10. It was a very close contest with Simon coming out on top winning 7-5. However the consolation for Bernie was that his handicap at the end of the tournament was reduced as he amassed four wins including one against a 5 handicapper.

Roehampton beat Dulwich 4-0

by Tim Russell at Roehampton [^]
10th June (GC - Inter-Club)

GC Inter-Club Championship Quarter Final

Roehampton v Dulwich

Thursday 9th June

Evening match held at Roehampton

Result: Roehampton won 4-0

Scores (Roehampton names first)

Joel Taylor beat Guy Scurfield 7-3, 7-5

Mark van Loon beat Jonathan Claxton 7-5, 7-4

Harry Fisher & Tim Russell beat Pierre Beaudry & Simon Carter 7-6, 3-7, 7-4

Mark van Loon beat Guy Scurfield 7-6, 7-6

Harry Fisher v Pierre Beaudry 7-4

Tim Russell v Simon Carter 6-7

Joel Taylor v Jonathan Claxton 4-7, 7-4

Whilst the result was comprehensive, it was a closely contested match on Roehampton's fast lawns. The match ended under Roehampton's floodlights but not before the players were soaked by the automated watering system coming on at 9pm. Oops. Apologies Dulwich. With the groundstaff having all gone home ( and having forgotten a match was being held), it was left to Roehampton's Chief Executive to turn the taps off, getting his suit soaked in the process. With Mark van Loon winning a tight match against Guy Scurfield, after Guy came back from 6-4 down in the second game running hoop 11 from the North boundary at about a 30 degree angle and following up with an excellent hoop 12, the other matches were abandoned.

Call for Nominations for the Council Elections

by John Reddish [^]
8th June (CA Official News)

Call for nominations for the CA Council Elections in 2022

Four of the members elected in 2019 to serve on the CA Council will reach the end of their term in October this year. They are: Dennis Scarr (North and Yorkshire) Dave Kibble (South West) Peter Allan (South) Ian Cobbold (South East). Elections will be held this summer to fill these vacancies, for a term of three years. Those currently serving are eligible for re-election. Dennis Scarr and Ian Cobbold have announced that they will not be seeking re-election.

The Role of the Council and its members

The Council has overall responsibility for the affairs of the Association, with a focus on high-level policy, strategic initiatives, scrutiny and transparency. Implementation of that policy is the responsibility of an Executive Board, which the Council appoints. The working committees report to the Executive Board. There are 12 voting members of the Council. They are elected by individual CA members in constituencies made up of one or more Federations. They are to represent the players, clubs and Federations in their Constituency, balancing the interests of them and those of the CA as a whole. Standing for election Membership of the Council offers a significant opportunity to shape the future of the CA, in the interests of its members as a whole. Members with an active interest in the future of the CA are encouraged to stand for election. A list of the skills needed for this role has been drawn up and may be seen on the CA website.

If you are interested in serving in this way, please read on to find out more about the election process and contact Samir Patel, the Chairman of Council, for further information about the role.

Timetable

The timetable for the elections this year is that nominations will close on 4 August and, in the event of a contested election, voting will commence on 10 August and finish on 31 August, so that the results are known in good time before the new Council takes office after the AGM on 15 October 2022.

Nominations

Nominations for election by a Constituency should be e-mailed to returning.officer#croquet.org.uk and to the Secretaries of the relevant Federation(s), identifying the Constituency, the person nominated, and their proposer and seconder, who must both be individual CA members registered to vote in the Constituency. A personal statement, of no more than 300 words, may be attached for publication and the nominee must have confirmed their willingness to stand.

Electoral register

CA members living in the UK are allocated to a Constituency based on the Federation membership of their primary club, failing which the leading part of the postcode of their home address. You can see the Constituency for which you are registered by viewing your details on the CA website, which you can do, when you are logged into it, by clicking on your name, which appears next to the login/out button on the top right of most pages. It will not be possible to change your Constituency during this election.

Voting

If a ballot is necessary for your Constituency, you will be able to vote online or by post. Further details will be published on the website. You will only be able to receive an e-mail giving a link to the voting application if you have an up to date e-mail address recorded in the CA Directory (though you can still be ex-directory if you do not want it published). Please ask your club secretary to set it for you if you can't login to the website to do it yourself.

Surrey won the AC Inter-County Championship

by Chris Williams at Sussex County & Compton [^]
8th June (AC - Championships)

Surrey won the 108th Inter County Championship at Sussex County and Compton over the Jubilee weekend. This was their 23rd outright win in the event, which was first held in 1897 and their fourth win since the current two division format was created in 1997.

At one point it looked as if Surrey would win all nine matches, but they surprisingly lost their final match to Oxfordshire 3-0, who finished a creditable third. Middlesex, the holders, got off to a great start winning all three matches on the first day 3-0, but successive defeats to Surrey and Essex put them out of contention, unless Surrey slipped up, and so finished runners up. Relegated from Division 1 were Glamorgan, Gloucestershire and Suffolk. The final round produced a very exciting finish at the bottom. Whoever won the match between Glamorgan and Lancashire would stay up, and whoever lost would go down. In the end Lancashire won 3-0, though all three games were close at -8, -7 and -7.

Following the withdrawal of Shropshire, Hampshire and Cheshire it was decided to run Division 2 as an 8 team event; promoting Sussex to replace Cheshire in Division 1. Somerset won all seven matches to finish first and a probable match with the CA Women's team next year. Also promoted were Berkshire and Yorkshire. Kent finished bottom for the first time since 2016 and are now holders of the wooden spoon.

The CA Select team benefited from Hampshire and Cheshire's absence and had the services of Ian Lines, David Maugham and Mike Town. Various players helped out with the other places, including Gareth Denyer (Glamorgan and Sussex qualified), over from Sydney, who was pleased to find himself partnering David Maugham.

Hopefully next year Shropshire, Hampshire and Cheshire will return and we will be able to revert to a 22 team event. The switch of the event to the Jubilee weekend did cause some organisers difficulty in raising teams and so some were weaker than normal

Thanks to the Sussex and Compton clubs for once again welcoming all the players and providing such good lawns and facilities.

Final Positions

Division 1

Division 2

Positions are decided on 1) Match wins, 2) Game wins, 3) Who beat Whom

The team squads were

Division 1

Essex
Rich Waterman (C), Andrew Dutton, Robert Fulford, Jonathan Hills, Debbie Lines, Aston Wade, Craig Winfield

Glamorgan
Chris Williams (C), John Bowcott, Ian Burridge, Tudor Jenkins, Brian Shorney, Richard H Smith, Angharrad Walters

Gloucestershire
Dave Kibble (C), Louise Bradforth, Craig Edwards, Roger Mills, Wayne Wiseman, Wendy Wu

Hertfordshire
Simon Hathrell (C), Gary Bennett, Will Gee, Alison Maugham, Nick Mounfield, Richard M Smith

Lancashire
Paul Rigge (C), Bob Burnett, Lorna Dewar, Richard Harding, Ailsa Lines, Annabel McDiarmid,

Middlesex
Nick Parish (C), Gavin Carter, Eugene Chang, Tom Coles, Phil Cordingley, Harry Fisher, Gabrielle Higgins, Nigel Polhill

Nottinghamshire
Richard White (C), Keith Aiton, Martin Beacon, Euan Burridge, James Death, Dave Gunn, Patrick Hort

Oxfordshire
Dayal Gunasekera (C), Raouf Allim, Martin Lester, Sophie McGlen, Mark van Loon, Chris Roberts, Charlie von Schmieder, John Wells, Stephen Wright

Suffolk
Philip Eardley (C), Mark Avery, Hugh Gilbert, Andrew Gray, Paul Hetherington, Martin Leach, Lewis Palmer, Albie Willett

Surrey
Samir Patel (C), Jeff Dawson, Andy Dibben, Stephen Mulliner, Sam Murray, George Noble, Chris O'Byrne, Duncan Reeve

Sussex
Roger Wood (C), Paul Castell, Alan Cottle, Phil Dunk, Mark Hamilton, David Marcus, Dominic Nunns, Peter Pullin, Ian Vincent

Division 2

CA Select

Mike Town (C ), Gareth Denyer, Clive Hayton, Ian Lines, John Low, Deborah Marcus, David Maugham, Chrissie Merrington, Gerald O'Brien, Peter Pullin

Berkshire
Joe King (C), Peter Allan, Robin Brown, Anthony Hardwicke, Richard Huxley, Andy Myers, Mark Ormerod, Joel Taylor

Dorset
Jonathan Powe (C), James Brind, David Harrison-Wood, David Kendrick, Dave Trimmer, Tom Weston, David Williams

Kent
Robert Alexander (C), Pierre Beaudry, John Daniels, Jon Diamond, Liz Farrow, Brian Havill, Andrew Hobbs, Philip Mann, Tobi Savage

Somerset
David Goacher (C), Kristian Chambers, Ed Duckworth, Marcus Evans, Jim Field, James Galpin, Roger Tribe

Warwickshire
Ken Jones (C), Neal Bacon, Martin Granger-Brown, Andrew Gregory, Adrian Morris, Ian Slater, Roger Tedstone

Wiltshire
Andrew Willis (C), Richard Dickson, John Grimshaw, Jonathan Lacey, Tim O'Donnell, Andy Smith

Yorkshire
John Davis (C), Rod Ashwell, Robert Essler, Callum Johnson, David Warhurst, Robert Wilkinson

Nottingham beat Letchworth 6-1

by Mark Lansdale at Nottingham [^]
8th June (AC - Longman Cup)

AC Home Internationals at Carrickmines

by Chris Williams at Carrickmines [^]
8th June (International)

The AC Home Internationals take place at Carrickmines in Ireland this coming weekend. The teams, in ranking order, are
below. Figures in brackets are their national ranking position.

England
David Maugham (C) (#9)
Dominic Nunns (#10)
Nigel Polhill (#23)
Andy Myers (#34)
Aston Wade (#39)

Ireland
Danny Johnston (C) (#2)
Simon Williams (#3)
Patsy Fitzgerald (#4)
Sandy Greig (#5)
Nathaniel Healy (#7)

Scotland
Alastair Burn-Murdoch (#5)
Stephen Wright (#6)
Campbell Morrison (#9)
Andrew Symons (#12)
Martin Murray (C) (#13)

Wales
Ian Burridge (C) (#1)
Angharrad Walters (#2)
Chris Williams (#4)
Rich Waterman (#5)
Paul Pristavec (#14)

The Next President of the CA

The CA Constitution provides that, in the event of a vacancy in the office of President, candidates may be proposed by Individual Members of the Association but they must give written notice of their proposal by 1st June preceding the Annual General Meeting.

Earlier this year our current President, Quiller Barrett announced his intention to stand down with effect from the next AGM in October 2022. I have received, in due time, one nomination for the Office of President (from the Chairman of the Board, Beatrice McGlen, seconded by the Chairman of the Council, Samir Patel).

The nominated candidate is Patricia Duke-Cox. She will be well known to many members. She was the East Midlands representative on the Council (from 2000 to 2006); an elected member of the Council (from 2006 to 2012) and the Chairman of Council (from 2008 to 2010). She is currently a Vice-President of the CA (elected in 2018) and the member of the Council for the East and West Midlands Constituency (elected in 2019). She is also the current Secretary to the Council.

There being no other candidate, Mrs Duke-Cox will be declared elected as President of the Croquet Association (with appropriate acclamation) at the AGM on 15 October 2022.

Stephen Custance-Baker wins the Sidmouth GC A Level 0+

Stephen Custance-Baker receiving the trophy from Peter Nelson (Photo: Ed Dolphin)

With the Sidmouth Jazz and Blues festival serenading us in the background, a full compliment of 16 players contested this year's Sidmouth A level series 0+.

Day One's block format was hotly contested but the two top seeds came out on top and that is a theme that followed throughout the tournament. Colin Britt marched his way through block A winning 6 from 7 and Stephen Custance-Baker followed suit also winning 6/7. Colin was joined in the Knockout stages by Philip Harris 5/7, Anthony Hardwicke 5/7 and Chris Jackson 4/7 from Block A. Stephen was joined by Andrew Loakes 5/7, Steve Pearson 4/7, and Mark Buckley 4/7 from Block B.

Day Two. The remaining 8 players battled it out for the Plate in which Mike Bilton showed strength from the start winning all 6 of his games beating Louise Smith in the Final and looked pleased as punch with his medal.

The main Knockout Quarter finals saw Colin Britt, Andrew Loakes, Steve Pearson, and Stephen Custance-Baker prevail over Mark Buckley, Anthony Hardwicke, Philip Harris and Chris Jackson respectively. Philip would go on to win the Bowl with a 7-5, 7-6 win over Anthony.

Semi-finals. Colin Britt overpowered an up until now impressive Andrew Loakes 7-2, 7-5, whilst Stephen Custance-Baker showed poise to beat Sidmouth's own Steve Pearson 7-5, 7-3.

The Final pairing ended up as no surprise with the top two seeds reaching the Final. Both players showed control and produced tight games. After taking game one 7-5 Stephen then took an early lead in game two at 3-1. Colin fought back strongly and if it wasn't for a superb jump shot by Stephen at hoop 10, Colin would have taken a 6/4 lead at the turn, instead it was levelled up at 5-5. The next two hoops were shared for 6-6, taking us to a Golden Hoop finish which Stephen calmly ran to win the game 7-6 and take the title.

Congratulations to Stephen and thank you to everyone who came to support our tournament.

Proposal to elect Dr Ian G Vincent as a Vice-President of the Croquet Association

Dr Ian Vincent

The CA's Council is delighted to nominate Ian Vincent as a Vice-President of the Croquet Association.

As set out in clause 17(b) of our Constitution, this nomination shall be treated as a motion at the Annual General Meeting to be held in October 2022.

Nick Archer wins GC Championship Tournament at Wrest Park

Nick Archer receiving his prize

Sixteen enthusiastic croquet players managed to slip away from the celebrations marking the Queen's Platinum Jubilee to take part in an inaugural GC Championship event at Wrest Park. They included Helen Reeves from New Zealand and David "Hoppy" Hopkins from South Africa.

A grey sky and a strong breeze greeted the players as Block play commenced. In Block A, Lionel Tibble (-3) won all his games except one against Les Heard (-1) who ended with a similar record of wins. Joining them in the Quarter -Finals were Tim Crowdy (1) with 5 wins and Tim King (-2) with 4 wins, narrowly pipping Paul Durkin (0) on net hoops.

Block B found Nick Archer to be on consistently good form and he topped the list with 6 wins. Chris Roberts (-2) progressed with 5 wins, an achievement equalled by Glynis Davies (2) who surprised 4 lower-handicapped opponents with the improvement in her play. Helen Reeves won 4 games to take the final place in the knockout.

A sharp shower had interrupted play on the Saturday but an overnight deluge followed by prolonged lighter rain created a watery landscape on Sunday morning. Fortunately, the puddles disappeared within an hour and play began promptly after a certain amount of groundwork.

Helen took advantage of a slight dip in form by Lionel to beat him 5-7, 7-6, 7-3 and Glynis beat Les 7-3,2-7, 7-5. Nick overpowered Tim King 7-3,7-4 but Chris and Tim Crowdy had a good battle before Chris won 4-7, 7-4,7-3.

In the Semi-Finals, Helen recovered from a shaky start against Chris to take him to the 13th hoop in two successive games but lost the decisive one. In contrast, Glynis surprised Nick by winning their first game 7-3, but Nick recovered sufficiently to win their next games 7-3, 7-5.

The Final pitched Nick against Chris for a repeat of the GC Open Final at this venue a year ago. The result was the same with Nick winning deservedly 7-6, 7-4. The playoff for 3^rd and 4^th places was predictably close before Helen won 7-6, 4-7, 7-5. Glynis was compensated with a handicap reduction from (2) to (1). The Plate was contested on a Block basis and it was won by Dr Ron Carter with 5 wins.

Prizes were presented to Nick and Chris and thanks expressed to Tim King as Referee of the Tournament, to Ron Carter for kindly submitting results to Croquet Scores and to the Manager and Wrest Park members for their various roles in staging the tournament.

Anthony Miller won B-Level Advanced at Middlesborough

Anthony Miller

The One Day B Level A.C. Advanced Tournament was held on Sat 21^st May at Albert Park, Middlesbrough.

We had 8 players from the Croquet North Federation area plus a regular supporter of Middlesbrough Tournaments from Cumbria. Handicaps ranged from 0 to 10 with two players dipping their toes in the water of Advanced Tournaments which is very encouraging.

The tournament is known to be fast moving with quite testing time limits of two and a quarter hours with no programmed break for lunch. We used 3 of our 4 lawns leaving one lawn available for social play which meant one lawn was always double banked. 50% of games went to time.

Those taking part were

Dennis Scarr ( 0 ) and Julian Gibson ( 10 ) - both Middlesbrough

Phil Errington (1.5), Derek Watts ( 1.5 ) Terry Vernazza ( 3 ) and David Millener ( 7 ) from Tyneside

Steve Skelton ( 2.5 ) Ian Hall ( 3.5 ) from Cumbria

Anthony Miller ( 2.5 ).

The weather was dry and improved as the day progressed.

Given we had 8 players and 3 games was the target we used a Seeded Knockout and Plate format.

Only two of the top 4 seeded players progressed from the first round and then only 1 progressed to the final.

RESULTS

Dennis Scarr bt Julian Gibson 26 - 11

Anthony Miller bt Steve Skelton 14 - 13 (t)

Terry Vernazza bt Derek Watts 16 - 8 (t)

Phil Errington bt David Millener 26 - 7

Anthony Miller bt Dennis Scarr 25 - 22 (t)

Terry Vernazza bt Phil Errington 25 - 15

Anthony Miller bt Terry Vernazza 26 - 10

Steve Skelton bt Julian Gibson 14 - 12 (t)

Derek Watts bt David Millener 26 - 16

Dennis Scarr bt Phil Errington 26 - 20

Steve Skelton bt Derek Watts 22 - 14 (t)

Julian Gibson bt David Millener 20 - 11 (t)

Winner - Anthony Miller

Beaten Finalist - Terry Vernazza

Handicap Changes:-

Anthony Miller from 2.5 to 2

Derek Watts from 1.5 to 2

Golf Croquet Worlds website

by John Low at Southwick [^]
6th June (GC)

For more information about the upcoming Golf Croquet World Championship, there is a dedicated website for the event.

https://gcworlds2022.org/

Guildford beat Compton 6-1

by Andrea Huxley at Guildford [^]
6th June (GC - Inter-Club Shield)

Watford beat Phyllis Court 5-2

by Geoff Johnson at Watford [^]
6th June (GC - Inter-Club Shield)

Teams & handicaps:
Watford:
JOHNSON Geoffrey 2
CONNOLLY Kevin 3
DENNIS Stephen 3
MACHELL Andre 4

Phyllis Court:
LILLEY Rick 2
IYER Raghu 3
BROWNE Dianne 3
CHRISTMAS Michael 5

Scores (completed singles games only):
15 games

1 DENNIS Stephen beat CHRISTMAS Michael 7 5
2 CHRISTMAS Michael beat DENNIS Stephen 7 4
3 DENNIS Stephen beat CHRISTMAS Michael 7 6
4 BROWNE Dianne beat MACHELL Andre 7 4
5 BROWNE Dianne beat MACHELL Andre 7 5
6 JOHNSON Geoffrey beat LILLEY Rick 7 2
7 JOHNSON Geoffrey beat LILLEY Rick 7 4
8 CONNOLLY Kevin beat IYER Raghu 7 1
9 CONNOLLY Kevin beat IYER Raghu 7 3
10 BROWNE Dianne beat DENNIS Stephen 7 5
11 DENNIS Stephen beat BROWNE Dianne 7 5
12 BROWNE Dianne beat DENNIS Stephen 7 5
13 MACHELL Andre beat CHRISTMAS Michael 7 5
14 CHRISTMAS Michael beat MACHELL Andre 7 6
15 MACHELL Andre beat CHRISTMAS Michael 7 6

2023 Association Croquet Women's World Championship

by James Death [CA Admin] at United, Christchurch [^]
6th June (World Championship)

The 2023 Association Croquet Women's World Championship has been announced for 7-14 January 2023. Those players who represent England and wish to play should make their availability known through the Selection Availability page.

The cutoff to make your availability known is 10th July

For more details see https://worldcroquet.org/world-championships/upcoming-events/2023-womens-ac-world-championship/

The Legal Status of the CA: Moving Forward

by John Reddish [^]
1st June (CA Official News)

The Council has decided to propose (i) that the Chairman of the Council and the Honorary Secretary should be authorised to make an application to the Charity Comnmission to register Croquet England as a new Charitable Incorporated Organisation and (ii) that, if the application is successful, the Executive Board should be authorised to transfer all of the assets and liabilities of the CA (by stages) to Croquet England so that Croquet England CIO will eventually replace the CA completely. This major change has been under consideration for some time. Members are about to be asked for their approval.

Special General Meeting - this will be held via Zoom on Monday 18 July 2022 at 6 p.m. The meeting link will be sent to all Members.

Hear the Proposals. Contribute to the debate. Cast your Vote.

Three significant documents are now available for perusal. Just click on the links below.

Backgrouind to the Proposal to change the legal status and the name of the CA

A Guide to the Draft Constitution of Croquet England

The Draft Constitution of Croquet England

Aston Wade won the GC European Championship

Aston Wade receiving the European GC Trophy

Summary

The 2022 European Golf Croquet Championship was held on 26^th - 29^th May at Budleigh Salterton Croquet Club.

Players from 12 different European countries created an impressive line-up.

UK Players :

ENGLAND : Rachel Gee, Stephen Mulliner, Euan Burridge, Aston Wade, Stuart M. Smith

WALES : Ian Burridge, Chris Roberts

SCOTLAND : Lorna Dewar

Format : 4 blocks of 8 players playing in best of three matches to qualify for the knock-out stages. The knock-out consisted of the Last 16, Quarter Finals, Semi Finals and Final, with a consolation Plate Block and knock-out.

Quarter Final Results :

Rachel Gee (England) v Ian Burridge (Wales) : 7/5, 6/7, 7/2

Manuel Alvarez-Sala (Spain) v Euan Burridge (England) : 7/2, 7/6

Jose Riva (Spain) v Stephen Mulliner (England) : 7/6, 7/4

Aston Wade (England) v Ian Sexton (Switzerland) : 7/2, 7/5

Semi Final Results :

Rachel Gee (England) v Manuel Alvarez-Sala (Spain) : 7/5, 7/6

Jose Riva (Spain) v Aston Wade (England) : 0/7, 7/2, 6/7

Main Tournament Final Results :

Rachel Gee (England) V Aston Wade (England) : 3/7, 2/7

David Maugham won the Newport Open Weekend

by Andrew Gregory at Newport [^]
1st June (AC)

Seven players competed in an all-play-all block.

Mark Avery and David Maugham both won their first 5 games, with a triple peel in each game.

In their decider, Maugham made the first hoop, but an error gave Avery the first break.
Maugham mysteriously gained the innings, and soon triple peeled his opponent.

Avery rolled to hoop 1 from the East boundary, but failed the hoop.

Maugham hit a 20-yarder, then a couple of good croquet strokes established a 3-ball break.

This he finished, ending Avery's run of four consecutive Newport Opens.

Andrew Hobbs was best of the rest.

1st David Maugham 6/6

2nd Mark Avery 5/6

3rd Andrew Hobbs 4/6

Cheltenham's Ascot Cup Championship Qualifier survives!

by Ivor Brand at Cheltenham [^]
31st May (GC - Championships)

I will explain my title. The entry was at its full capacity of 32 with 3 reserves, but started to drop with a few weeks to go which was of no concern as we had 3 reserves. However, with just over a week to go we were down to an awkward odd number of 27 which then finished on 25! At this point I would like to thank those people who kindly offered to drop out to make the number an even 24, one of which I duly accepted. However, right up to the night before there was yet more movement of drop outs which prompted favours being required and Graham Good saved the day by re-entering to keep the tidy number of 24, which of course led to 4 blocks of 6. This was a positive for me as it allowed me to put the top 4 through from each block instead of only the top 2 if we had an entry as large as 32?

Block A was won by the top seed James Death, despite losing to young Sam Cuthbert who finished 2^nd on net points. Block B was won by the undefeated 2^nd seed Jack Good, followed by an inform Richard Brand. Block C was won by the undefeated Richard Brooks who was celebrating playing his 2,000 CA ranking game this weekend. (I wonder what he did before croquet?) Lionel 'lucky' Tibble edged 2^nd place on net points from Nick Saxton and Graham Good (my saviour). Block D was won by David Goacher followed by Richard Bilton (my hero) who edged ahead of Luis de Alarcon on net points.

The last 16 played their best of three that evening, however only the Neil Humphreys tight win over Luis de Alarcon went to the third game. Although, despite the result of 2-0 in the other matches, they were closely contested none more so than young Sam against the number 4 seed Richard Bilton. The father son 'Good clash' also saw young Jack prevail as did the 'local clash' of Nick Saxton over Richard Brand. The quarter finals saw James move swiftly through to face Ivor Brand in the one semi final, who had just persevered over his hero (because he does all my croquet scores for me) Richrad Bilton in 3 games. The other semi final also saw a swift Jack Good waiting to play Nick Saxton who had won in 3 games over Ian Shore. Jack continued at a swift pace past Nick in 2 games to reach the final, but was made to wait as Ivor decided to make James fight over 3 games for the right to play in the final.

Therefore, I suspect the delay did not help poor Nick who lost to Ivor for the third spot or young Jack who was never quite in the first game of the final. However, the second game was a much tighter affair as Jack started to matched James's powerful clearing shots and consistent hoop running proving why these two were the top seeds. So, congratulations to James who went one step further than his runner up spot in the previous Barter cup by winning this year's Ascot cup qualifier.

Meanwhile, the consolation plate was being won by an impressive Jayne Humpreys who only dropped one game to local boy Edwin Bone who finished as runner up. The 'Bowl' event started Sunday and consequently had a 60min time limit on it and was won by David Goacher who also only dropped one game to another local boy Richard Zhao who finished runner up. The shield was reduced to three players as Ian had to retire. Although, this did allow it to be run as a B of 3 event which was won by 'lucky' Lionel Tibble.

My gratitude goes to my team Richard Brand and Dawn Good ('proud mum' of Jack) for keeping the blocks moving forward over the weekend. Lastly, thank you to Cheltenham's catering team led by Naomi Whitehead and the grounds man Jim for the tight hoops especially if you happen to be playing a green ball as I did in my semi final (lol).

Roehampton B-Level

by John Pearson at Roehampton [^]
31st May (AC)

The B Level AC Singles was played on 27 and 28 May as the final event of the Roehampton Summer Tournament. The weather was much kinder than earlier in the week, with no rain, plus fast lawns.

The field had been depleted by late withdrawals, but was nevertheless very competitive. At the end of the first day, 3 or 4 players remained in contention. On day 2 the unbeaten Charlie Martin of Ramsgate continued his fine form by winning both his remaining matches, including victory over the valiant reigning champion (from 2019!) , David Houston from Edinburgh, thus becoming the clear winner. Guy Hewitt of Hurlingham also had 2 good wins on the final day to claim 2nd place outright.

Both Charlie's and Guy's handicaps went down. Congratulations to both of them.

Alex McIntyre retains the Sage Bowl

Alex McIntyre with the Sage Bowl

Alex McIntyre retained the Sage Bowl at the Nottingham B Level Weekend.

Keeping with tradition Alex wore the Sage woven Crown in consecutive years having beaten Alan Clark in a, somewhat one sided, final on Sunday afternoon.

The semis were much more fiercely contested between North London friends Gary Bennett and Alan and the local lads Alex and Mike Hedge. Both pretty much finished just in time or on time. It was therefore decided that the final would be a single game only.

Alex certainly proved his point of not getting the trophy engraved last year.

With a handicap range from 0 - 7 the weekend threw up quite a few surprise results. None more so than Alan Clark's who beat players with much better handicaps to reach the final.

Other notable performers were Anthony Hardwick (Blewbury) and Peter Hanley (Nottingham). Luckily for the other 21 players all three received deserved handicap reductions by the end of Sunday's play.

Nottingham provided almost half of the 24 capacity entrants, 6 of their 9 superb lawns, well set but fair hoops, 2 generous clubhouses and a picturesque setting. The new West lawns were particularly impressive with many players opting, where possible, to play on them. A far cry from previous years where players were reluctantly told 'you're next game is on the other side'.

All players appeared to leave happy, well fed and better for the experience

Personally, having had a 2 year absence from Association Croquet is good to see it thriving, or at least it is at Nottingham.

Andrew Loakes won the Hamptworth GC 0+ Series Tournament

by Richard Jenkins at Hamptworth [^]
31st May (GC)

Andrew Loakes[Camerton&Peasedown] WInner of the Hamptworth GC 0+ National Series Tournament -May 28th/29th 2022

Although, unfortunately, we only had 8 Players this year, the two days were very relaxed with a lot of top class croquet being played.

The format on the first day was 'all play all' one 13 point game. On the second day we had a best of three 13 pont games semi -finals format for the main Trophy competition & the Plate event.

For the Trophy final & the Plate final + all the other places, we had a best of three 19 point games format.

The Trophy Semi Finals were contested with Andrew Loakes[0H] beating Marc Colson[4H] 7-4 -7-6 & Stephen Custance-Baker[1H] beating Colin Britt[0H] 7-6 -7-3.

The Trophy Final was a really hard fought match with Andrew Loakes[0H] winning against Stephen Custance-Baker[1H] 10-8 10-8.

Overall a very enjoyable weekend of Golf Croquet

Belsay Hall lost to Pendle 3-4

by Ruth Dixon at Belsay Hall [^]
31st May (GC - Inter-Club Shield)

Murphy Shield 31.5.22.

Belsay Hall Croquet Club vs Pendle and Craven Croquet Club

Belsay Hall ERIC NIXON 2
DAVID MILLENER 3
CHRIS WOOD 3
DEREK JOHNSON 4 (Capt)

Pendle PAUL DOWDALL 3
LIBBY DIXON 3
MIKE BRADBURY 6
KAREN BRAMFORTH 9

The Pendle team were greeted by our hosts in the Car Park of the English Heritage property of Belsay Hall after a 2 hour 40 min journey for half of the Pendle team ( 3 hours for the others). A warming cup of tea and good chatter commenced the day within some beautiful gardens and 2 croquet lawns. The first round of games commenced under ever darkening skies that delivered the threatening rain within a short period of time. This did not put off the players and the games collected a viewing gallery from the public visitors to the Hall.

The mornings play:
Doubles
Eric Nixon and David Millner vs Paul DOWDALL and Libby Dixon.
Pendle win 7/2, 7/4.
Singles
Chris Wood vs Karen Bamforth
Belsay Hall win 7/5,7/5
Derek Johnson vs Mike Bradbury
Belay Hall win 7/6,7/6

Our gracious and generous hosts provided a most extensive 2 course lunch and hot cups of tea and coffee . All of which was most appreciated to keep at bay the cold and damp.

The afternoon play:
Eric Nixon vs Paul Dowdall: 5/7,7/5,4/7. Pendle win.
David Millener vs Libby Dixon: 1/7,5/7 Pendle Win
Chris Wood vs Mike Bradbury: 0/7,5/7 Pendle Win
Derek Johnson vs Karen Bamforth: 7/5,7/5 Belsay Hall Win

The match was closely fought and came down to the final game between Eric and Paul as the match stood at 3 all. Paul won through to win the third game to give Pendle the overall win.

Outcome: Pendle win 4 over Belsay 3.

We look forward to playing at Belsay Hall again if the opportunity arises.

Roehampton beat Woking 6-1

by Tim Russell at Roehampton [^]
29 May 2022 (AC - Inter-Club)

Sunday 29th May at Roehampton

Roehampton beat Woking 6-1

Harry Fisher & Mark van Loon bt Jeff Dawson & Mike Town +26TP
Joel Taylor bt Malcolm Bigg +23TP
Tim Russell lost to Annabel McDiarmid -12
Harry Fisher bt Jeff Dawson +17TP
Mark van Loon bt Mike Town +18
Joel Taylor bt Annabel McDiarmid +26TP
Tim Russell bt Malcolm Bigg +15

Roehampton hosted Woking and ran out 6-1 winners with Harry Fisher and Joel Taylor in particularly good form. The doubles saw Harry and Mark van Loon take on Jeff Dawson and Mike Town in alternate stroke format. A super shot from Harry was followed by Mark hitting in and the pair progressed to four back. Mike just missed the three balls in a row over on the west boundary and the Roehampton pair followed with a straightforward fifth turn triple, +26TP.

In the morning singles, Joel completed an interesting triple from 1 back and 4 back against Malcolm Bigg having broken down on his first attempt. Completing the 4 back peel before 3 back, he played an excellent Irish peel at penultimate getting the peelee ball within six feet of rover to leave a straightforward last peel, +23TP. He followed that up with a well controlled triple against Annabel McDiarmid in the afternoon, +26TP.

Harry finished his singles against Jeff Dawson before lunch +17TP. Jeff did hit the lift shot and went round to four back and Harry did give him a chance with his second ball, but a slight misapproach at hoop 1 saw Jeff take on and fail a very angled jump shot, which Harry capitalised on.

Mark van Loon had a more interactive game against MIke Town running out a +18 winner. Woking's win came courtesy of Annabel who beat Tim Russell +12 in another interactive game. With Annabel on peg and 4 back, Tim had a good chance when in with a conventional triple but broke down with a failed 35 degree angled jump shot at hoop 5, with the balls well placed. The last match saw Tim beat Malcolm +15. Thanks to the Roehampton groundstaff who again provided fast and true lawns.

Hurlingham beat Roehampton 4-3

by Alan Chance at Hurlingham [^]
29 May 2022 (AC - Mary Rose)

Hurlingham v Roehampton
29th May 2022 at Hurlingham
Result: Hurlingham beat Roehampton 4-3

Teams & handicaps:

Hurlingham:
Andrew Wise (0)
Alan Chance (0)
Toby Toller (2.5)
Stephen Allen (2.5)

Roehampton:
Douglas Gurney (0.5)
Peter Siddall (1)
David Mooney (1)
Nick Yates (6)

Scores (Hurlingham names first):

Morning:
Andrew Wise and Alan Chance beat Douglas Gurney and Peter Siddall +6T
Stephen Allen lost to David Mooney -11
Toby Toller beat Nick Yates +4

Afternoon:
Andrew Wise beat Douglas Gurney +22
Alan Chance lost to Peter Siddall -1
Toby Toller beat David Mooney +7
Stephen Allen lost to Nick Yates -25

A hard-fought match on a sunny day at Hurlingham. We broke for lunch with the hosts leading 3-2. Andrew Wise and Toby Toller then both won their second games to give Hurlingham a close victory. Nick Yates, the latest addition to Roehampton's team, deserves a special mention. Although he only took up croquet last November he nearly won his morning singles, then beat Stephen Allen +25 in the afternoon.

Ryde beat Hurlingham 5-2

by Stephen Hayns at Ryde [^]
29th May (GC - Inter-Club Shield)

Players Ryde A - S Hayns h/cp 3 Players Hurlingham A - R Andrews h/cp 3

B - J O Keefe h/cp 3 B - M Read h/cp 5

C - D Hayns h/cp 5 C - J Petit h/cp 5

D -R Hutchins h/cp 6 D - G Solomon h/cp 6

Ryde Hurlingham Score Win To

S Hayns (3)& J O Keefe (3) Beat R Andrews (3)& M Read(5) 7-3,7-4 Ryde

D Hayns(5) Beat J Petit (5) 7-3,7-6 Ryde

R Hutchins(6) Lost G Solomon(6) 7-2,6-7,4-7 Hurlingham

S Hayns(3) Lost R Andrews(3) 7-6,5-7,6-7 Hurlingham

J O Keefe (3) Beat M Read(5) 7-5,7-6 Ryde

D Hayns Beat G Solomon(6) 7-6,5-7,7-2 Ryde

R Hutchins(6) Beat J Petit (5) 7-5,7-4 Ryde

Tyneside lost to Bury 0-7

by Ken Jones at Tyneside [^]
28th May (AC - Longman Cup)

Longman Cup round 1 played at Tyneside CC between Tyneside and Bury on Saturday 28 May.

Result: Tyneside 0, Bury 7

Individual game scores (Tyneside names first, handicaps in brackets):

Don Wright (7) lost to Ged Smolskas (8) 2-26
Derek Johnson (9) lost to Chris Alvey (9) 19-26
David Millener (7) and Eric Nixon (7) lost to Ken Jones (4) and Anne Alvey (16) 2-26
Eric Nixon lost to Ged Smolskas 3-26
Don Wright lost to Chris Alvey 1-26
David Millener lost to Ken Jones 22-26
Derek Johnson lost (on time) to Anne Alvey 11-20

Pendle beat Penrith 5-2

by Paul Dowdall at Pendle [^]
28th May (AC - Longman Cup)

Enfield lost to Watford 3-4

by Simon Hathrell at Enfield [^]
27 May 2022 (AC - Longman Cup)

Longman Cup

Enfield vs Watford
27th May 2022 at Enfield

Result: Enfield lost to Watford 3-4

Teams & handicaps:
Enfield:
David Frost (4.5)
Thomas Halliday (7)
John Street (8)
Michael Broadway (11)

Watford:
Arthur Reed (3.5)
John Smallbone (3.5)
Andre Machell (6)
David Robinson (18)

Scores (Watford names first):
Arthur Reed & David Robinson lost to David Frost & Thomas Halliday -1(T)
John Smallbone beat John Street +10
Andre Machell lost to Michael Broadway -13

Arthur Reed beat David Frost +4(T)
John Smallbone beat Thomas Halliday +20
Andre Machell lost to John Street -2
David Robinson beat Michael Broadway +17(T)

Merton beat Camerton & Peasedown 4-3

by Louise Taylor at Surbiton [^]
27 May 2022 (GC - Inter-Club Shield)

On Friday 27th May 2022, at Surbiton Croquet Club, Merton beat Camerton and Peasedown in the first Round of the Murphy Inter-club Shield 4-3.

Doubles:
Julie Sheahan and Louise Taylor (Merton) 7 beat Charles Fingleton and Patrick Knight (Camerton and Peasedown) 1
Julie Sheahan and Louise Taylor (Merton) 7 beat Charles Fingleton and Patrick Knight (Camerton and Peasedown) 3.

Singles:
Simon Emdin (Merton) 7 beat Sue Wagstaff (Camerton and Peasedown) 6.
Simon Emdin (Merton) 7 beat Sue Wagstaff (Camerton and Peasedown) 5.

Colin Percival (Merton) 7 beat Marion Button (Camerton and Peasedown) 6.
Marion Button (Camerton and Peasedown) 7 beat Colin Percival (Merton) 5.
Colin Percival (Merton) 7 beat Marion Button (Camerton and Peasedown) 4.

Julie Sheahan (Merton) 7 beat Charles Fingleton (Camerton and Peasedown) 3.
Charles Fingleton (Camerton and Peasedown) 7 beat Julie Sheahan (Merton) 5.
Charles Fingleton (Camerton and Peasedown) 7 beat Julie Sheahan (Merton) 3.

Patrick Knight (Camerton and Peasedown) 7 beat Louise Taylor (Merton) 5.
Louise Taylor (Merton)7 beat Patrick Knight (Camerton and Peasedown) 4.
Patrick Knight (Camerton and Peasedown) 7 beat Louise Taylor (Merton) 3.

Marion Button (Camerton and Peasedown) 7 beat Simon Emdin (Merton) 6
Simon Emdin (Merton) 7 beat Marion Button (Camerton and Peasedown) 1.
Simon Emdin (Merton) 7 beat Marion Button (Camerton and Peasedown) 4.

Sue Wagstaff (Camerton and Peasedown)7 beat Colin Percival (Merton) 5.
Colin Percival (Merton) 7 beat Sue Wagstaff (Camerton and Peasedown) 5.
Sue Wagstaff (Camerton and Peasedown)7 beat Colin Percival (Merton) 6.

Enfield beat Nottingham w/o

by Thomas Halliday [^]
28th May (GC - Federations Shield)

Roehampton Summer Tournament : Creyke Cups

Stephen & Nick Parish receiving the Creyke Cups from Elaine Phillimore

Andy Jones wins Wrest Park C-Level GC

by Richard Keighley at Wrest Park [^]
27th May (GC)

A blustery wind troubled a full field of 16 players especially those allocated to Block D. Trophy holder Carol Jamieson (Caversham) battled gamely but missed the cut as did Roger Platt (Downham) who could only watch on as Andy Jones (Phyllis Court) won their deciding hoop with an impressive jump shot. Andy qualified for the Knockout with Alan Gray (Wingrave).

Blocks A and C were both won comfortably by Colin Spencer (Downham) and Bill Ironside (Leighton-Linslade) respectively. Hoop count also allowed Patricia Mulcahy (Phyllis Court) to proceed from Block A. Two wins by Carol Wadsworth (Phyllis Court) in Block C enabled her to progress as well.

In Block B, hoop count was necessary to separate 3 players with 2 wins each. Gill Brewer (Wrest Park) topped the group in her first tournament and she qualified with Grenville Perry (Hunstanton).

The weather improved for the afternoon session. Neither Colin nor Bill could sustain their morning form and lost out to Andy and Grenville. Gill completed another win and Patricia, who attributed her consistent stroke play to coaching by the Swing Doctor, beat Alan. The semi-finals matched Andy with Grenville and Patricia with Gill. Both were hotly contested and both were won 7-5 by Andy and Patricia respectively.

The Final, an "all Phyllis Court" affair proved to be intriguing. Andy sped to a 4-0 lead, then to 5-1 and 6-2 before Patricia steadily embarked on the comeback trail to enforce a deciding golden hoop. It was won by Andy, a reward for an excellent approach shot.

The Plate Knockout was won by Nick Boxall (Wrest Park) and it only remained for the Manager Richard Keighley to present the prizes and to thank Brian Jamieson for kindly refereeing the tournament and his clubmates Richard Skidmore for co-management and George Collin and his mowers for lawn preparation.

Winner: Andy Jones (Phyllis Court); 2nd-Patricia Mulcahy (Phyllis Court);3^rd Gill Brewer (Wrest Park); 4^th Grenville Perry (Hunstanton).

Newport beat St Albans 4-3

by Francis Lambert at Newport [^]
27th May (AC - Longman Cup)

Chester beat York 6-1

by Robin Tasker at Pendle & Craven [^]
27th May (AC - Secretary's Shield)

Chester 6-1 York
Played at Pendle and Craven CC, 27 May
Chester names first

Morning Session
Robin Tasker (4) and David Boyd (6) beat Fiona Crompton (9) and Sue Longcroft (11) 19-10
David Guyton (6) beat William Bosanquet (16) 19-14
Brian Walton (7) beat John Crompton(11) 26-16

Afternoon Session
Robin beat Fiona 21-19
David B beat Sue 22-17
David G beat John 15-13
Brian lost to William 19-23

Colchester Spring Weekend Handicap tournament 20th to 22nd May

Wendy Spencer-Smith receiving the trophy from Nick Steiner

Wendy Spencer-Smith won the singles event (The John Foreman cup).

Mark Homan & David Robinson won the doubles at Colchester Croquet club.

The format was one full day of doubles, followed by 2 days playing singles.

Six pairs took part in the doubles, playing fourteen point games. With a time limit of One and a half hours. Five games were played, each pair playing all others. It was a tightly packed schedule, but we managed to squeeze in a delicious lunch and some cake for tea. A light drizzle started shortly after the start of play, but that didn't interfere with the enjoyment and in the afternoon the sun came out and warmed us all up. A great day with smiles all round. A close run contest with two pairs on four wins, but as Mark Homan and David Robinson beat Hugh Gilbert & Francis Lambert, they won the trophy.

Sixteen competitors entered the singles with handicaps ranging from minus a half to twenty two. The format was flexible Swiss handicap to the base 10. The final was a nail-biting event with Wendy having most of the play with her fourteen bisques gradually disappearing as the time was ticking away. Stephen managed to catch up a bit, but when time was called he was still behind. Wendy was unable to finish, and Stephen missed the final shot leaving Wendy +2 on time.

Results:

Singles

1^st Wendy Spencer- Smith 100%

2^nd Charlie Martin 83%

3^rd Jonathan Toye 80%

Doubles

1^st Mark Homan & David Robinson 4 wins 1 loss

2^nd Hugh Gilbert & Francis Lambert 4 wins 1 loss

Watford beat Newport 4-2

by Simon Hathrell at Watford [^]
26th May (AC - Mary Rose)

Watford vs Newport
25th May 2022 at Watford
Result: Watford beat Newport 4-2

Teams & handicaps:
Watford:
Gary Bennett (1)
Nick Archer (1.5)
Geoff Johnson (3)
Arthur Reed (3.5)

Newport:
James Brind (0)
Cliff Jones (1)
Andrew Gregory (2)
Hugh Gilbert (8)

Scores (Watford names first):
Gary Bennett & Nick Archer lost to James Brind & Cliff Jones -19
Geoff Johnson beat Hugh Gilbert +5
Arthur Reed beat Andrew Gregory +5
Gary Bennett beat James Brind +12
Nick Archer lost to Cliff Jones -21tp
Geoff Johnson beat Andrew Gregory +24
Arthur Reed vs. Hugh Gilbert : unfinished

Sussex County lost to Hurlingham 3-4

by Deborah Marcus at Sussex County [^]
26th May (AC - Longman Cup)

Sussex County CC (SCCC) v Hurlingham CC (HCC)

25 May 2022

7 games

Guy Hewitt beat Deborah Marcus +13 HCC win

Richard Andrews beat Rosemary Faulkner +15 HCC win

John Low & Robyn Clark beat Martin Read & Henry Bagwell +25 SCCC win

John Low beat Guy Hewitt +21 SCCC win

Martin Read beat Deborah Marcus + 15 HCC win

Rosemary Faulkner beat Henry Bagwell +7(t) SCCC win

Richard Andrews beat Robyn Clark + 10 HCC win

Hurlingham CC beat Sussex County CC 4 games to 3.

Bury beat Yorkshire 7-4

by Richard Leach at Bury [^]
26th May (AC - Short Croquet Inter-Club)

Bury Team - Roger Schofield 1P, Richard Leach (Captain) 5, Richard Harvey 5, Vi Richards 6

Yorkshire Team Sue Longcroft 3.5, Debbie James (Captain) 3.5, Helen Griffiths 7, Denise Foster 9

Miserable weather greeted the teams at Whitehead Park in Bury. The doubles match saw Bury represented by Vi Richards and Richard Harvey taking on Sue Longcroft and Denise Foster. The singles games saw Roger Schofield facing Helen Griffiths while the two team captains Richard Leach and Debbie James faced each other.

Richard Leach and Debbie James had a hard fought match with Debbie James winning 11-10 on the Golden Hoop. The doubles match finished with Yorkshire also winning 9-8 on the Golden Hoop. Roger Schofield denied Yorkshire the clean sweep in the opening session by beating Yorkshire's Helen Griffiths 11-8 on time.

In the afternoon the weather improved as the rain went away while the wind started to pick up. The first session of the afternoon saw Richard Leach win a tricky match against Yorkshire's Sue Longcroft 14-8. Richard Harvey lost 14-11 to Helen Griffiths after an unsuccessful attempt to peel his partner ball and run rover with his active ball at the same time. Roger Schofield whitewashed Debbie James 14-0 as Debbie struggled to contend with the fast lawn around hoop 1 and corner 1. In the final game on the opening session of the afternoon saw Vi Richard beat Denise Foster 9-6 on time.

The final session of the day saw Roger Schofield face Denise Foster, Richard Leach face Helen Griffiths, Richard Harvey face Debbie James and Vi Richards face Sue Longcroft. The first match of the final session to finish was the match between Richard Harvey and Debbie James. Richard found his form during the match and made 2 very good breaks including a peel with very good use of his bisques. This led to Richard winning the match 14-6.

The second match to finish was the match between Richard Leach and Helen Griffiths. In spite of the early use of 4 bisques Helen took her lead ball round to peg. Richard followed suit by taking his second ball round to peg with the use of just 1 bisque. He finished his turn after pegging out Helen's lead ball and putting distance between the three remaining balls on the lawn. After that Richard took his lead ball round to rover before Helen struggling due to lack of a partner ball used her remaining 3 bisques to get her second ball round to hoop 5. However she left both of Richard's balls wired so he used his lift and his remaining bisques to run hoop 6. After Helen missed a long range roquet shot Richard pegged out both balls to win the match 14-11.

The match between Vi Richards and Sue Longcroft was very difficult particularly due to the strong gusts of wind which buffeted the players and balls on the lawn. As a result the match finished with Sue winning 6-3 after time had expired. The final match to finish was the match between Roger Schofield and Denise Foster. Roger Schofield felt that he was lucky to take the win 10-8 on time after being behind for the majority of the match.

The final score was Bury 7 Yorkshire 4.

Thanks to Yorkshire for putting up a strong performance on the fast lawns at Whitehead Park. Also thanks to Bury's Croquet club members Roy Spencer, Phil Nuttall, Margaret Eccles and Ken Eccles for coming down to the club to show some support for both teams.

James Galpin & Jonathan Powe won the English National GC Doubles Championship

James Galpin & Jonathan Powe receiving the trophies from Lionel Tibble

Another full entry (16 pairs) gathered in Budleigh on a wonderfully sunny weekend for the English National GC Doubles Championship (Ranelagh Cups). The entry list was weakened slightly by the last-minute and unavoidable withdrawal of Raouf Allim and Tim Jolliff, but there was a good line-up, with a number of previous winners in the field.

The format for the event was pretty standard - two all-play-all qualifying blocks on Saturday (7 rounds) followed by best-of-3 quarters, semis and final on Sunday, alongside the Plate knockout, Bowl and various play-offs.

In Block A, David Cornes & Neil Fillery proved to be a very strong combination and took the top slot, winning 5/7 games and beating the top seeds (James Galpin & Jonathan Powe) along the way. It was tight for the final three qualifying places, with four pairs on 4/7 wins. Tony Butcher & Michelle Leonard took 2^nd place, with Peter Balchin & Richard Carline in third. Galpin and Powe were lucky to qualify for the knockout, only scraping through after winning their final block game on the 13^th hoop. Last year's winners Louise Smith & Ryan Cabble also struggled; they came 5^th in the block, also with 4/7 wins, but were given the fourth slot after Neil Fillery had to pull out for family reasons.

The battle for the top four places in Block B was more straightforward. The 2021 winners, Steve Leonard & Stuart M Smith, were comfortably first with 6/7 wins, followed by Glynis Davies & Jayne Stevens, Jim Field & David Thirtle-Watts and Kevin Connolly & John Taylor who took the other three places, all with 4/7 wins.

The results on Sunday are below. The highlight of the day was the 15-yard jump by Ryan Cabble in the final - a remarkable shot. A couple of special mentions: first to Kevin Connolly & John Taylor (Watford) who reached the semi-finals and then won the 3^rd v 4^th playoff - an impressive achievement; and second to James Galpin, whose solid centre-ball clearances and consistent hoop-running marked him out as the player of the tournament.

Lionel Tibble presented the prizes and paid warm and much-deserved tribute to Budleigh for their warm hospitality and superb lawns. Many thanks to John O'Gorman (Chairman), Richard Quelch (Groundsman) and the rest of the team for doing so much before and during the weekend.

Interestingly, this is the third year in a row that the holders of the Ranelagh Cups have been beaten in the final.

Sunday results:

Plate Final: Chris Sheen & Dick Strover beat Adam Wimshurst & Andrew Wimshurst 4-7, 7-3, 7-4

Championship:

QF1: Kevin Connolly & John Taylor beat Tony Butcher & Michelle Leonard 7-6, 3-7, 7-4

QF2: James Galpin & Jonathan Powe beat Glynis Davies & Jayne Stevens 7-5, 7-6

QF3: Jim Field & David Thirtle-Watts beat Peter Balchin & Richard Carline 3-7, 7-6, 7-2

QF4: Ryan Cabble & Louise Smith beat Stuart M Smith & Steve Leonard 7-4, 7-6

SF1: James Galpin & Jonathan Powe beat Kevin Connolly & John Taylor 7-4, 7-3

SF2: Ryan Cabble & Louise Smith beat Jim Field & David Thirtle-Watts 6-7, 7-4, 7-4

3^rd v 4^th Playoff: Kevin Connolly & John Taylor beat Jim Field & David Thirtle-Watts 10-7

Final: James Galpin & Jonathan Powe beat Ryan Cabble & Louise Smith 7-5, 7-3

All the scores are available via Croquet Scores here: https://croquetscores.com/2022/gc/english-national-doubles-championship-ranelagh-cups

Watford Open AC Midweek Tournament

by Simon Hathrell at Watford [^]
25th May (AC)

The tournament was blessed with warm, sunny weather the whole time. The 'A' block was run as an
all-play-all block of 8, with 4 rounds on the first day and 3 on the second, played without time-limits, while in the 'B' block games were played to a 3-hour time-limit with 3 games on the first day and 2 on the second.
Fortunately it was possible to complete the schedule in the 'B' block without any duplications in spite of the unfortunate withdrawal of the Wilson pair after the first day on suspicion of a possible Covid infection.

Wins largely followed the form book, with one notable exception: the player who came last in the 'A' block, Richard Peperell, was the only player to win a game against the tournament winner Sam Murray!

Block A
Sam Murray beat Geoff Johnson +22tp
Nigel Polhill beat Richard Peperell +26tp
David Marsh beat Gary Bennett +26tp
Simon Hathrell beat Heather Bennett +14
Nigel Polhill beat Heather Bennett +14
David Marsh beat Simon Hathrell +14tp
Gary Bennett beat Geoff Johnson +14
Richard Peperell beat Sam Murray +9
Sam Murray beat Gary Bennett +8
David Marsh beat Nigel Polhill +26tp
Simon Hathrell beat Geoff Johnson +21
Heather Bennett beat Richard Peperell +8
Sam Murray beat Heather Bennett +23
Nigel Polhill beat Geoff Johnson +26
David Marsh beat Richard Peperell +10
Simon Hathrell beat Gary Bennett +15
Sam Murray beat Simon Hathrell +5tp
Nigel Polhill beat Gary Bennett +14tp
Heather Bennett beat David Marsh +18
Geoff Johnson beat Richard Peperell +13
Sam Murray beat David Marsh +14
Nigel Polhill beat Simon Hathrell +15
Gary Bennett beat Richard Peperell +26
Heather Bennett beat Geoff Johnson +2
Sam Murray beat Nigel Polhill +25tp
David Marsh beat Geoff Johnson +23
Simon Hathrell beat Richard Peperell +17
Gary Bennett beat Heather Bennett +14

Sam Murray 6/7
David Marsh 5/7
Nigel Polhill 5/7
Simon Hathrell 4/7
Gary Bennett 3/7
Heather Bennett 3/7
Geoff Johnson 1/7
Richrd Peperell 1/7

Block B
Peter Wilson beat Thomas Halliday +4
Liz Wilson beat Paul Wolff +11
John Smallbone beat Neil Kingston +19
Alan Clark beat Robin Tasker +3(T)
Peter Wilson beat Paul Wolff +23
Robin Tasker beat Liz Wilson +10
Alan Clark beat John Smallbone +5(T)
Neil Kingston beat Thomas Halliday +2(T)
Liz Wilson beat John Smallbone +9
Alan Clark beat Thomas Halliday +23
Robin Tasker beat Paul Wolff +20
Neil Kingston beat Peter Wilson +5
John Smallbone beat Thomas Halliday +1(T)
Alan Clark beat Paul Wolff +21
Neil Kingston beat Robin Tasker +16(T)
John Smallbone beat Robin Tasker +14(T)
Alan Clark beat Neil Kingston +4
Paul Wolff beat Thomas Halliday +6(T)

Alan Clark 5/5
John Smallbone 3/5
Neil Kingston 3/5
Robin Tasker 2/5
Liz Wilson 2/5
Peter Wilson 2/5
Paul Wolff 1/5
Thomas Halliday 0/5

Handicap change: Paul Wolff 5 to 6.
Liz and Peter Wilson withdrew after the first day.

Tournament winners: Sam Murray, Alan Clark

Sheffield beat Cheam 4-2

by Ki Hulme at Nottingham [^]
25th May (GC - Federations Shield)

David Marsh won the Wrest Park May Handicap weekend

by Eric Audsley at Wrest Park [^]
24th May (AC)

The Wrest Park May handicap weekend was won by David Marsh with 4 wins out of 5, who beat both his closest rivals George Collin and Keith Harker. David was only beaten by James Brind who in turn was perhaps distracted losing to Peter Aspinall on Saturday afternoon when Peter's daughter brought along two balloons indicating a 5 and a 7, since after all it was his birthday.

Mark Buckley (Leicester) won the East Dorset GC B-Level

Mark Buckley receiving the trophy from John Clode

Sixteen players descended upon the East Dorset Club to compete in two
days' worth of games, under what promised to be reasonably good weather, not too hot and not too cold. Clubs represented were Leicester, Roehampton, Guildford, Ealing, Hamptworth, Camerton & Peasedown, Eynsham and not forgetting our own crop of East Dorset members. The format, now having been standardised for the two-day event, made my job as manager, a lot easier.

Day 1 block play produced eight worthy qualifiers to contest the Day 2 knock-outs.

These were from Block A - Mark Buckley (Leicester) 6/7 wins,
David Haddrell (East Dorset) 5/7, Mark Green (Roehampton) 4/7 wins and Maureen Miles (East Dorset) 4/7 wins.

From Block B - Richard Jenkins (Hamptworth) 6/7 wins, Alison Murray (Leicester) 5/7 wins, Robert Scallon (Roehampton) 5/7 wins and Mark Hamann (East Dorset) 4/7 wins.

I began Day 2 qualifiers early so that the single 19-point games would be well underway before the Plate Block started. In the qualifiers Mark Buckley prevailed over Mark Hamann in a close fought contest 10/9; Alison prevailed over Mark 10/7; David beat Robert 10/5 and Richard beat Maureen 10/2. Into the semi-finals and best of three, Mark prevailed over Alison 5-7, 7-3, 7-4 and Richard succeeded over David in two straight games 7-6, 7-6. In the final Mark triumphed 2-0 over Richard 7-6, 7-4 to take the trophy.

Robert took the Shield, prevailing over fellow Roehampton colleague Mark Green 7-3, 7-6 and Ian Taylor (Guildford) won the Plate winning 6/7 games with Johannes Hamann (East Dorset) coming second also with 6/7 games, but with Ian having the better net hoop score.

I would like to extend my thanks to the following: the players for their good company and highly competitive standard of croquet; the groundsman, Kirin, for the excellent courts; Sam and her team in the cafe for the delicious food, to the referee Keith Southern for officiating those... 'difficult moments!'; to Mark Hamann and his laptop, which enabled me to record the results contemporaneously on croquetscores.com and finally to our Chairman, John Clode, for presenting the silverware to the winner and the liquid comforts to the Runner-up Richard Jenkins and the Shield and Plate Winners.

'Opening Doors on Croquet' Competition Closes Soon

by Paul Brown [^]
23rd May (Other News)

There is a week left to enter the "Opening Doors on Croquet" competition. Enter by the 31st May for your club to have the chance to claim a share of £3,000.

All you have to do is put forward your new initiatives to attract new members.

Please see the original news item for further details.

Tony McCann won the Bury GC A-Level Tournament

by Roy Spencer at Bury [^]
23rd May (GC)

Bury CC welcomed players from 8 clubs to their first GC A level + tournament held over two days.

Excellent weather conditions, many players complimented facilities and lawns. Some very close competitive play in an amiable sporting atmosphere.

Tony McCann from Croquet Durham won the A Level Trophy

Alison Murray from Leicester won A the plate

Richard Brooks wins the Montevideo Cup

by Jon Diamond at Tunbridge Wells [^]
23rd May (GC)

Pendle & Sheffield beat Nottingham 4-3

by Eugene Chang at Pendle [^]
21 May 2022 (AC - Inter-Club)

The combined team of Sheffield/Pendle (Shendle? Spindle? Penfield?) edged past an evenly-matched Nottingham side at Pendle CC on Saturday 21st May in glorious sunshine, with a fabulous lunch provided by Tom Dewar.
Match victory was clinched in game 6 by Lorna Dewar, with Ian Vincent winning a 3-ball ending against Paul Rigge soon after.

Handicap change: Callum Johnson: -1 to -1.5

Results (Sheffield/Pendle names first):
Eugene Chang (-1.5) / Callum Johnson (-1) beat James Death (-2.5) / Omied Hallam (-1) +20 (ASD)
Paul Rigge (-1.5) beat Martin Beacon (2) ??
Lorna Dewar (-0.5) lost to Ian Vincent (-0.5) -15

Eugene Chang lost to James Death -26tp
Callum Johnson beat Omied Hallam +14
Paul Rigge lost to Ian Vincent -3
Lorna Dewar beat Martin Beacon +20

Bowdon beat Nottingham 5-2

by Will Mellor at Bowdon [^]
22 May 2022 (AC - Mary Rose)

Bowdon beat Nottingham 5-2 at Bowdon on Sunday 22nd May. Results are as follows (Bowdon players first):

Alan Mayne (0.5) & Mike Sandler (2) beat Dave Gunn (0.5) & Ian Draper (1) +5
Will Mellor (2.5) beat Peter Hanley (2.5) +19
Adrian Apps (4) lost to Alex McIntyre (1.5) -5

Alan beat Dave +26
Mike beat Ian +5
Will beat Alex +18
Adrian lost to Peter -11

Surbiton beat Sussex County 8-1

by Stephen Mulliner at Surbiton [^]
22nd May (AC - Inter-Club)

Surbiton defeated a gallant Sussex County side at Surbiton in excellent playing conditions.

Morning

Stephen Mulliner & Samir Patel beat Dom Nunns & Gabrielle Higgins +14tp(M)

Tim Wilkins beat Paul Castell +26

Alison Maugham beat Liz Farrow +12

Mulliner beat Higgins +26tp

Patel beat Nunns +1tp

Afternoon

Wilkins beat Farrow +22

Maugham beat Castell +2

Mulliner lost to Nunns -18

Patel beat Higgins +16tp

Lunch by Chef Noble was as excellent as usual.

Bristol lost to Hurlingham 2-5

by Nigel Polhill at Bristol [^]
21 May 2022 (AC - Inter-Club)

Event Interclub: Bristol vs Hurlingham

Date 21.5.22

Winner Hurlingham

Order firstname

David Goacher & Richard Smith lost to Nigel Polhill & Mark Ormerod -11tp(NP)

Ed Duckworth beat Tom Coles +16

Robert Wilkinson lost to Aston Wade -21

David Goacher lost to Nigel Polhill -14

Richard Smith beat Mark Ormerod +9

Ed Duckworth lost to Aston Wade -17

Robert Wilkinson lost to Tom Coles -13

Blewbury lost to East Dorset 3-4

by Alan Jones at Blewbury [^]
21 May 2022 (AC - Longman Cup)

CA COVID-19 Guidance

by Andrew Willis [^]
27th February (CA Official News)

Following the recent Government announcement that all legal restrictions imposed because of the COVID-19 pandemic were to end on 24th February, the CA's COVID-19 guidance (COVID-19 Precautions for Playing Croquet and Guidance to Clubs and Tournament Managers) has been withdrawn.

If there is a significant outbreak in the future, and Government changes its position, then the Task Force will recommend to clubs any actions that are considered necessary.

Clubs are advised to continue to follow guidance issued by Government. Clubs located in, or close to, Wales or Scotland should also consider different guidance that may be applicable to them or visiting players.

It is appropriate that Clubs continue to carry out risk assessments particularly with regard to indoor spaces and apply any protective measures that are indicated to mitigate transmission of the virus.

Stay safe and enjoy your croquet. We all trust that we will see a full and exciting season ahead of us this year.

CA COVID Task Force