[<<] [>>] by Kevin Beard
14th November 2006 (The MacRobertson Shield)

All members of the Great Britain team have arrived in Australia in readiness for the MacRobertson shield at Rich River and Shepparton commencing next Saturday 18th November.

On 15th they played a match against Victoria at the Victorian Croquet Centre at Cairnlea, Melbourne. The weather forecast is for 14C with strong winds, rain and possible thunderstorms. The format is a round of single game doubles followed by a round of best of 3 singles.

Great Britain defeated Victoria 7-0 with two unfinished matches tied at one game each.

The weather was bitterly cold at times with strong icy winds and several hail showers. The hoops were set tight but were easy to run in the soft ground on the new courts.

Results

Doubles

Robert Fulford and Chris Clarke beat Ian Bassett and Steve Ketelaars +11TP (Clarke)
David Maugham and Mark Avery beat Ken Bald and Rod Kirk +13
Keith Aiton and Jonathon Kirby beat Kevin Beard and Anna Miller +2

Singles

Fulford beat Bald +17TP, +26SXP
Maugham tied with Beard +10TP, -17
Clarke beat Kirk +23TP, +23
Aiton beat Bassett +19TP, +21TP
Kirby tied with Ketelaars +12, -14
Avery beat Miller +20, +13

Martin Murray/George Noble suggested more objective descriptions of conditions at tournament: Some observations from the Melbourne Airport weather station (about 10 kms from Cairnlea).

Conditions at 9:00am (starting time) and 3:00pm
Temperature, 7.8C, 6.5C
Relative Humidity 73%, 78%
Cloud cover 7/8ths, 7/8ths
Wind WSW 33 km/hr, SW 50 km/hr

Maximum temperature was 11.7C at 1:08pm

I could not find wind chill factor on the Bureau of Meteorology web site, and the maximum wind gusts have not yet been posted.

I'll leave it to David Maugham to objectively describe the feeling of the hailstones on his unprotected head as he kept his break going as long as he could before finally dashing for shelter.

I have no idea on lawn speed. Please accept heavy/slow.