In glorious sunshine, Blewbury hosted England captain , Samir Patel, to a fiercely competitive Advanced Weekend tournament on July 16/17. The flexible Swiss event organised by Ian Lines was won by Joel Taylor. On Saturday, Joel lost to Ian and his wife Debbie, but rallied afterwards with six wins out of eight, one of them against Samir.
‘The field was remarkably strong this year, all scratch or better,’ said Ian who won last year’s edition ‘The lawns at Blewbury were playing very well in the sunshine, running at about 11.5 Plummers and set with new Ultra hoops.’ Thanks are due to Joe King for setting up the courts ahead of play and to Paul Wolff for returning from Southampton in time to present Joel with the engraved BCC winner’s whiskey glass. The winner generously helped Paul clear up at the end of the tournament, much appreciated on a very hot evening.
In November, Samir will travel to Melbourne for the 2022 Macs, a four yearly tournament established in 1925 by Australian rags to riches confectionary tycoon, Sir Macpherson Robertson . The venue rotates between eligible nations, England, Australia, New Zealand and the USA. Samir will be accompanied by Mac rookie Harry Fisher, a Blewbury member who finished second at the weekend despite only playing on Saturday. He has already booked practice days for the England team at Blewbury in mid October ahead of the three week Antipodean adventure. Worth watching, given an Indian summer