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Great Britain V. Australia

GB swept the doubles again at Shepparton to take a commanding 6-0 lead in the deciding test for the 2006 MacRobertson Shield against hosts Australia.

Chris Clarke and Robert Fulford took up where they left off as they beat Trevor Bassett and Ian Forster in 11 turns with two triples by Chris, opponents failing to take croquet.

But there any resemblance to the first set of doubles pretty much ends as the other two matches ebbed and flowed in both directions. Fittingly on Saint Andrew's Day, Keith Aiton and Jonathan Kirby eventually emerged triumphant against Martin Clarke and Bruce Fleming in an excellent contest. Jonathan twice got hampered after running hoops in the first, and although he eventually went to 4b, this was to no avail as Bruce hit the lift and finished with a triple. Keith and Jonathan immediately hit back with a 6th turn Aiton triple, opponents taking croquet on the 3rd turn but with nothing to do. Jonathan kicked off the decider by again getting hampered after a hoop yet again. Hoop 1 on lawn 3 then came to his rescue: in a previous doubles against the Americans, they had clanged three times by hitting the right hand wire full on. Martin and Bruce both obliged with the same in quick succession, Keith going to 4b off the latter. The Australians hit the lift but made no progress, when Jonathan had a ball to the peg, no peels. Bruce now hit another lift, went to 4b and Martin embarked on a delayed TP after Keith missed the lift. The match looked like ebbing away as, with two peels done, Martin got cross wired from his penult pioneer and for the second time in two days handed GB a finishing turn on a plate as Keith finished from 4b.

David Maugham and Mark Avery looked like being clinical again against Ian Demergue and Harley Watts as they took the first with an 8th turn triple from Mark. Somewhat surprising then that the nest two games should take 40 and 41 turns respectively, largely due to Mark failing half a dozen finishing chances in the second. And Australia looked certain to take the match when, for peg and peg, Ian inexplicably laid up in corners III and IV with a lift pending, rather than peg one ball out. Cue the Beast to walk on and finish with a monster turn as he rolled of 2 from corner IV, running a difficult hoop 2 and 3, after which, other than for the adrenaline, it was relatively plain sailing!

Without becoming complacent, it's hard to imagine what Australian Coach George Latham can say to his boys tonight. They dug in and got to a position where they should have won two of today's three matches, which would have meant them being right back in the match at 4-2 down, but handed them both right back. With GB in such good form generally, very difficult to come back after that.

Chris Clarke & Robert Fulford beat Trevor Bassett & Ian Forster +26tp (C), +26tp (C)

Game 1

1) Chris lays ss
2) Stephen goes to optimum position E boundary
3) Robert hits from B baulk, goes to 4b with defensive leave
4) Trevor misses long lift
5) Chris finishes

Game 2

1) Stephen lays anti-Duffer
2) Chris lays Duffer 2 yards W and 1 yard S of 6
3) Trevor misses Duffer hard to A baulk
4) Robert goes to 4b with an MSL
5) Trevor misses long lift
6) Chris finishes

Mark Avery & David Maugham Ian Demergue & Harley Watts +17, -3

Game 1

1) Harley lays standard E boundary ball
2) Mark goes to W boundary 9 inches S of II
3) Ian misses from B baulk into IV
4) David hits, runs 2 yard 2, goes to 4b with an MSL
5) Ian misses long lift
6) Mark sticks in 2
7) Ian jawses opponent in 4b after 3, peels penult after 6 and rover going to 3b, but sacrifices rush on deep pioneer. Grovels through 3b and misses peelee from 7 yards to W boundary
8) Mark lifts to A baulk and rushes partner to N 3, takes off to getting rush on ball at 3b to W boundary and finishes from 2

Game 2

1) Mark lays ss
2) Ian hits from A baulk, croquets Mark to E boundary level with 4 and goes to W boundary 4 yards S of II
3) David hits partner on E boundary, rolls Mark to 2 going to ball on W boundary. Takes off and runs 3 yard 1, but misses 8 yarder
4) Harley misses ball at 2 from B baulk
5) David goes to 4b with an MSL
6) Ian misses long lift
7) Mark over-approaches 5 over slightly brown approach and clangs
8) Harley misses 5 yarder to S boundary
9) Mark misses ball at 6 from 5
10) Ian misses 8 yarder from 6 to 3
11) David hits from 3 to end of B baulk and lays up 4 yards out of III
12) Harley misses opponents from S boundary into III
13) Mark is hampered by partner from picking up ball in III, approaches 5 from 6 yards and runs it. Attempts death roll penult peel going to 2b, but strikers ball hits the peg and ends up cross pegged from pioneer
14) Harley hits 8 yarder lift at ball at 3b from A baulk. Lays up in Iv with no rush
15) Mark corners in III, with David on W boundary level with 6
16) Harley takes off to ball in III, does a thick take off back to partner moving Mark 13 yards into the lawn, but getting it cross wired from David's ball
17) Mark shoots at opponents but goes through 1.5 ball gap
18) Harley goes to 4b with a reverse spread
19) Mark hits partner on the E boundary from B baulk, and takes off the lawn next to opponents on W boundary
20) Ian sticks in 3 with standard triple laid
21) David makes penult and rover and lays up with a tight rush in III with opponents cross wired at 2b
22) Ian hits furthest ball, gets going but sticks in 6
23) David hits 6 yarder from 1b to penult and has a leave
24) Harley misses partner on N boundary from 2b
25) Mark sticks in 2b from close range, slightly angled
26) Ian hits David at 3b from 2b. Doesn't get a rush on ball at 2b, peels it and takes off to partner 1 yard off N boundary just E of 6 and gets a rush to 1b. Badly under hits rush and clangs 4 foot angled hoop
27) Mark misses opponents at 1b from 2b
28) Ian gets going with stop shot approach to 1b. Jawses posthumous 4b peel, ricocheting it through roqueting escape ball. Plays a poor croquet stroke going to penult, and misses 4 yarder on pioneer
29) Mark misses opponent ball at 3 from B baulk
30) Harley misses 4 yarder from 3 at ball by penult
31) David hits 4 yarder at penult and lays up in IV
32) Ian misses partner on W boundary by 6 from by III
33) Mark grovels through 3b and retires to III
34) Harley leaves 1 yard backward take off to penult level with hoop, scatters partner at rover to 12 yard join on S boundary
35) Mark joins up with partner
36) Harley misses partner on S boundary into I
37) Mark runs 2 yard 4b and sticks in penult
38) Ian goes to peg, pegs out David and lays up in IV
39) Mark misses opponents in IV from 2
40) Harley finishes

Game 3

1) Harley lays standard E boundary ball
2) Mark goes to W boundary 4 inches S II
3) Ian misses partner from B baulk into IV
4) David misses Ian from A baulk
5) Ian has a leave
6) Mark hits partner at 3 from 5 yards E of 1. Mis-approaches 1 and hits peg on way back to partner by 3
7) Harley misses partner at 2 from 1
8) Mark hits partner from 10 yards, runs an angled 1 down to 2, and goes to 4b with an MSL
9) Harley hits long lift and has a TPO, leaving hoop 1 ball on E boundary level with 6, peg ball in IV
10) David takes contact in Iv, rolls opponent ball to penult going to E boundary ball, rolls up just short of 1. Retires to W boundary level with 6, triangulating
11) Ian retires to IV from 1
12) David hits ball by penult, takes off short to IV and misses
13) Ian lays up in II
14) David goes to 4inches N IV
15) Harley lays wired rush in II to 1
16) David deems I runs 1, rushing partner to N boundary by 3, and lays rush to 2
17) David goes to I
18) Ian makes 2 & 3 with rush to I, but elects to cut it to 4. Makes 4, mis-hits rush to 5 and approaches it sending partner to 4 yards S 4b. Sticks
19) David misses ball in 5 from I to E boundary seven yards from peg ball
20) Harley goes to N boundary wired from David
21) David misses ball in 5 back to I
22) Ian runs 5 to 4b, hits partner, rolls into III leaving rush S
23) David goes to IV
24) Ian rushes to E boundary level with 4, rolls to 6 and clangs
25) David hits ball by 6, rushing it to N boundary by peg ball. Rushes short to 1, 4 yard backward take off to 1, clangs 2 yard hoop
26) Harley hits ball in 1, lays up 3 yards out of III
27) David retires to IV
28) Ian makes 6 & 1b and rushes to E boundary 2 yards N IV. Rushes David off S boundary 10 yards W of IV, fails to approach 2b, retires to II
29) David hits just out of IV from A baulk, slightly over-rolls 1 and takes position
30) Harley goes to S boundary 2 yards W of IV
31) David runs 1 to N boundary, hits Ian but mis-approaches 2 from II. Retires to E boundary level with penult
32) Harley goes to W boundary wired from David
33) David misses opponent 1 yard off N boundary behind 2
34) Ian hits David and takes off lawn on W boundary 5 yards N partner
35) David misses opponents into I
36) Ian approaches 2b with stop shot out of I sending David to 4b. Clangs
37) David misses peg ball on S boundary behind 2b from 4b
38) Harley has a leave on S boundary behind 2b
39) David misses opponents from N boundary
40) Ian makes 2 back off partner having sent David to 4b and rushes IV. Takes off to 3b and runs it to 4b. Approaches 4b from 5 yards W and runs it. Approaches penult to 5 feet, sending escape ball to rover. Runs it down to rover. Makes rover, but clips rush back to partner just out of IV. Takes off to partner, but lands short of rush to peg. Rushes partner into IV, takes off and retires to III
41) David takes contact in III, taking off to IV moving ball 4 yards into the lawn. Rolls from 4 to 2 getting 4yard pretty angled position. Runs it by a foot and hits 4 yard roquet. Sends escape ball to 4 but doesn't get a rush to 3. Poor roll up from 6 yards leaves 2 yard angled hoop. Runs it and finishes

Keith Aiton & Jonathan Kirby beat Martin Clarke & Bruce Fleming -17tp (F), +26tp (A), +5

Game 1

1) Keith lays ss
2) Bruce goes to optimum position E boundary
3) Jonathan hits from B baulk, runs 1 but misses hampered shot
4) Martin hits double from B baulk, goes to 4b with an NSL, popping Jonathan to 3
5) Jonathan clips the long lift, gets hampered after three, misses partner off W boundary by 2
6) Bruce misses 15 yarder at partner from 4 to 3
7) Jonathan goes to 4b with a spread
8) Bruce hits long lift, finishes

Game 2

1) Bruce goes to E boundary level with 4
2) Keith goes to II
3) Martin hits from B baulk and lays a rush to II
4) Jonathan hits from B baulk, goes to 4b with a spread
5) Martin misses long lift
6) Keith finishes with standard triple, hoop 4 pioneer on S boundary 1 foot W of IV

Game 3

1) Keith lays ss
2) Bruce goes to W boundary 6 inches S of II
3) Jonathan hits in II, approaches 1 with 5 yard backward take off and picks up ball just off W boundary. Grovels through 3, misses escape ball to E boundary near partner at 4
4) Martin hits Keith at 4 from 3, clangs 1
5) Keith misses opponents at 1 from 2
6) Bruce clangs 1
7) Keith hits opponents at 1 from 2, goes to 4b leaving opponent balls on back of 5 and in 4, rush to 4 on E boundary
8) Bruce hits short lift, rolls off 1 from partner by rover, sending partner towards I. Runs hoop but misses 9 yard return
9) Keith misses opponents in I from 2
10) Martin gets I cannon, makes 1 and sticks in 2 on Keith
11) Keith has a leave
12) Martin hits hoop 4 shooting at opponents on E boundary from W boundary by 2
13) Jonathan goes to peg, no peels with a vertical spread
14) Bruce hits short lift, rushes ball in jaws of rover to 6 yards NE 2, takes off and runs it. Goes to 4b with a spread
15) Keith lifts ball at peg and misses in-court partner to W boundary 6 yards N of I
16) Martin has 4b peel going to 6 and penult peel going to 4b but gets cross wired on poorly positioned penult pioneer after sending peelee to rover. Fails to hit it (Keith's ball) on hill
17) Keith finishes from 4b