The weather was cold but dry for the club’ s first CA listed tournament of 2023 – a GC Open event with eight competitors, including BCC’s Paul Wolff. Handicaps ranged from +4 to -1.. The all-play-all format required almost continuous action throughout the day.
Last year’s winner, Philip Blake of Kenilworth, and Chris Roberts of Phyllis Court set the pace with three wins out of three. In the fourth round, they met in the match that would decide the tournament. Chris prevailed 7-3, then won his next two games to go into the final round with an unassailable lead .
The race for second place was much closer. In the last round, Philip Blake, Roger Goldring of Phyllis Court and Peter Adams of Guildford and Godalming were still in the mix. The draw set Goldring against Adams, with Peter taking a very tight contest on the golden hoop. Not enough. When net hoops were counted, Philip was the runner-up with +9 to +1
Speaking on behalf of all the competitors, Chris Roberts praised the quality of the courts and , in particular, the firmness of the hoops which had been reset in new positions by Joe King the previous evening. Brian Jamieson
Entries were disappointing for the 2022 Founders Cup, still a year behind post Covid. Paul Wolff bravely stepped up to take on Joe King. In chilly conditions, the lawns were deceptively fast, with both players needing time to assess the speed accurately.
Paul struck first with a long hit in to take hoop 1, but paid the penalty for missing 2. After Joe raced round to 4 back., Paul hit the lift to take his second ball through the first hoop, again failing to progress. In his next break, Joe made several attempts to set up his triple peel, but only made the one at 4 back. By then, the writing was on the wall.: JK 24+.
’The lawns were playing beautifully,’ he said. ‘ Thank you, John and Duncan, for your tireless mowing and David Grinstead for your daily winter swishing. The dividends are there for us all to enjoy’.
Joe will defend his title in the 2023 Founders Cup later this year
On an Easter Monday of horizontal rain showers and swirling wind, Duncan Sinclair claimed his first Roger Cambray Memorial Shield. As there are many repeats on the one ball trophy first won in 2001 by Deirdre Cochrane, it surely won’t be his last. ‘‘Conditions were challenging for both of us”, he said as he raised his prize aloft, “I managed slightly better”.
Monday was the culmination of Joe King’s master strategy for the Easter weekend. 16 competitors lined up for flexible block stages over three days in perfect weather, with the two top players in each progressing to Monday’s draw for the quarters. At Blewbury CC in 2023, you can call David and any of five might respond. The RC was a tale of three of them, with Vincent, Long and Grinstead joining Duncan, Paul, Carol J, Chris and Andy for the knockout games.
The semis saw off Long and Grinstead, leaving Vincent to refuse a glass of wine at lunch to prepare for the final. By then, the sun was bright, but the wind was gusting gale force. No,, it was never meant to be easy…
BCC is fortunate to have a multi tasking Chairman. Like last year, Joe set up his oil drum charcoal barbi to spit roast prime beef. Unlike last year, we ate it in the reconfigured clubhouse, more fit for this purpose than it was but no match for tables under gazebos. Sarah, David L’s partner, considerately opted for takeaway for her 92-year-old mother, but a spirit of orphans in the storm conviviality developed as the clubhouse shook under the bombardment.
Two Davids, Grinstead and Long, did all the washing up. Great job, guys. It’d have been a very late one without you.
All you need to become a top class croquet international is a good friend who loves the game, a borrowed mallet and a fine scientific brain. And the will to win. Ask Harry Fisher, at 34 the youngest member of the England team that secured the MacRobertson Shield in Melbourne last November.
As an undergraduate at St Edmund Hall, he was signed up by a mate for Cuppers, the annual inter-college championships. A little later, he watched a top class game involving Nick Butler, a Blewbury member until parenting reduced his free time. The contest convinced Harry that croquet had more potential than he’d imagined when he’d knocked a ball about as a kid. ‘I’m very competitive and I was looking for a displacement activity. By the end of that summer term, my handicap was six. I seen a triple peel. I knew what I had to do.’
Initially that meant a PHD in physics at Lincoln, studies that extended his access to courts under majestic trees in University Parks and to the venerable Pidcock mallet he’d picked out in the storage shed. After a win in a CA tournament at Cheltenham attracted attention in the right places, Harry was recruited to Ian Burridge’s Development Squad. In 2013, he qualified for his first world championships at Surbiton: two days to find a spare sofa and he was in.
After reaching the quarter finals in the 2020 worlds in Australia, he was selected for the six man MacRob squad under fellow Oxford graduate Samir Patel. The series consists of best of 21 tests against Australia, New Zealand and the USA: three days singles and two days doubles in each five day match.
In an individual sport, doubles are a rarity so a well matched pairing is crucial. In Melbourne, the six men shared two city centre apartments, working as a team to plan and prepare dinners. Cooking skills varied, but there could be no complaints. This was good preparation for the doubles matches Shock horror at an easy miss – inevitable even at this level – is never helpful. Harry was paired with the irrepressible James Death. Seen on a small screen in the middle of the night from 12000 miles away, it looked as if they were having fun.
In the first tests, England beat the USA and Australia beat New Zealand. The second pitched winners versus losers. England were cruising when disaster struck: a 1-5 singles loss, their only bad day out of fifteen. On day five, it was 10 -10. Time for a captain’s innings: the victor would be a position to win the test series. ‘I couldn’t watch,’ said Harry. ‘I went for a bit of a walk while Samir was playing’. On his return, his team mates were smiling: beat Australia and the Shield was theirs. As they did…..
No riotous celebrations but no cooking either: a civilised team dinner and they headed home. For Harry, that is Pangbourne where he lives with his wife and baby son. In the US, coaching croquet in country clubs can provide a good living but, having decided against academia, Harry is using his actuarial skills to build a career in reinsurance in the City
‘Croquet is my hobby and my sport,’ he explained, ‘but a scientific background does seem to be useful. Many of the top players have one. Otherwise I’m a good shooter. It’s taken me a decade to sort out the mental side, to develop the self belief to relax at critical moments rather than fall apart’.
If you’re lucky, you may spot Harry at Blewbury this summer as he prepares for the the 2023 AC World Championships at Hurlingham in mid July. Good luck Harry. We’re rooting for you…..
As the courts re-open after freeze and deluge, members will be surprised by the new look clubhouse. In the dark days of closure, Joe and Edmund took the space apart, removing the central cupboard to a less divisive spot near the door. On clean up Saturday, Joe brought his circular saw and other tools; with Andy as his carpenter’s mate, he reinvented the benches to fit the new parameters. Meanwhile Team Jamieson emptied the building and the toilet, piling the debris of ages out in the fog. Serious scrubbing restored the fridge, now relocated near the sink with a space for the new dishwasher, a legacy bequeathed by the late June Wolff, in between. Declutterers viewed the debris dispassionately, restoring essentials to maximise inside space and loading the rest into a car to take to the tip. Job done – at least for now.
On a bone chilling day of freezing fog, Brian Jamieson’s first initiative as our new captain of croquet was a resounding success. Sixteen of the best GC players turned out for a HILO doubles competition, a follow up to the inaugural AC fun day held in November. The experienced ‘low’ handicappers teamed up with the ‘high’ handicappers; in many pairings it was hard to say who was high and who was low..
When the results were in, Carol Wadsworth, Susan Tilbrook, Sarah Donne and Edmund Shirley had three wins each, with Carol taking the high guys prize on hoop difference., On the low side, Dave Grinstead lost his final match , leaving the undefeated Brian, who’d also triumphed on AC day, to add another bottle to his cellar. Bring on warmer springs days: HILO is here to stay
When he was competing at Blewbury in July, England captain Samir Patel, said that a three week tournament for the MacRobertson Shield was far too long. I doubt he feels that way as Team England raises the trophy in the historic four yearly four nations championship at the Victorian Croquet Club outside Melbourne. After a 16-5 win over the USA in the first test, England’s series against a feisty New Zealand went down to the wire. After Samir’s tense final singles victory against Edmund Fordyce, the score was 11-10, setting the stage for a winner takes all climax against holders Australia. England’s 13-8 triumph meant they claimed the Shield from the hosts, their first win since 2010.
For this, huge thanks to Jamie Burch, unbeaten in 15 matches, either in singles or with Mark Avery; he is only the second player to achieve this feat since the Macs opened their historic series to New Zealand and the USA. In other games, Blewbury’s Harry Fisher more than held his own in partnership with the irrepressible James Death. Thank you Harry for bringing your team mates to the club for their final warm up weekend. A fine precedent for 2026 …?
18 months ago, Duncan had never picked up a mallet. Not a man to do things by halves, he practiced so relentlessly that a fellow member threatened to charge him rent. Conquering both disciplines, he won the Prebendal Cup for association croquet (handicap) and the Championship for golf croquet (level play). He was also named player of the year.
Shortly after his wife, June, died in February, Paul Wolff lifted the Roger Cambray Memorial Shield at the Easter one ball tournament. In the summer, the couple received the Croquet Association Diploma, awarded for outstanding service to clubs over many years. The Wolffs have been integral to BCC since it was founded, taking on key roles in its development. They were there In 1994 when, as Paul has put it, ‘about ten of us turned up on a bitterly cold April evening. No matter. We were hooked’.
Harry Fisher found time to give an informative interview to BBC South Today on the courts at Blewbury ahead of his flight to Melbourne for the Mac four nations world championships. He joins the England team captained by Samir Patel to do battle at the Victorian Croquet Club ((November 12-29). During a bit of a knockabout with reporter , Lewis Coombes. Harry underlined croquet’s initiatives to shed its image as a posh dated pastime by creating appeal for a wider demographic. Appropriately they were briefly joined by Bradfield schoolteacher, Anthony Hardwicke, who encourages his pupils to take up mallets: currently the girls are the most promising members of his weekly squad. Harry was upbeat about his team’s prospects: with five of the world’s top ten on his side, what could possibly go wrong. No home advantage of course. In the land that invented sledging, nothing can be taken for granted….
In two weeks time, Team England fly out to Melbourne for the MacRobertson Shield – popularly known as the Macs. The three-week AC tournament, named for the Aussie confectionary millionaire who presented the trophy in 1925, takes place every four years, rotating between Australia, England, New Zealand and the USA. Blewbury Croquet Club was chosen to host the final practice weekend in mid October, a well deserved compliment to our dedicated maintenance team headed by Chris Bateman, John Garnett and Duncan Sinclair. As requested, Joe King set up the courts with a lawn speed of 10.5 and hoops spaced at 1/64. If you have to ask what that means, you don’t want to take them on; the essence is fast and super narrow. England’s captain, Samir Patel, was joined by BCC’s Harry Fisher, a Mac rookie looking to make his mark at the Victorian Croquet Centre from November 12-29th. May he and his mates bring the Shield home.
Mark Avery, Jamie Burch, James Death and Harry Fisher working on their shooting in a GC practice game. Photo Paul Wolff
