Category: News

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 

For the details please see the competition link.

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

Once again Peter and I took part in the “Greek Open Croquet Tournament”. This is held in Corfu which is currently the only croquet club in Greece.

The event was organised this year by Chris Roberts and Frances Colman. There were around 20 players with handicaps ranging from 22 down to -2 so a lot of bisques were in evidence. It is advertised as a holiday with croquet. The lawns have improved year on year and we were all made to feel very welcome by the Corfu Croquet Club

It started off with handicap doubles where Chris had arranged the pairs to be as similar as possible – so the 22 played with the -2.. Unfortunately there was heavy downpours towards the end of the first three mornings so the doubles had to be brought to a rapid conclusion to allow the other events to take place. The main event was 26 point singles which was won in great style by Duncan Reeve. This was intertwined with a 14 point competition where the winner was the player with the highest percentage of wins subject to a minimum number of games. At the weekend there was a light hearted level play GC doubles event which included the WAGS and the Corfiots. There was no fixed pairing. I didn’t quite understand the rules but it was fun.

A boat trip to the North of the island had been planned. Each day it was delayed by another day because of the poor weather at the start of the holiday. It finally happened – we were provided with a plentiful supply of ouzo, wine and beer.

On the last night there was prize giving followed by an excellent meal at the Corfu Yacht Club.

This is the third year I have attended but I don’t expect it to be the last having met a lot of people I would like to see again.

On a perfect morning, sun and no wind, Peter Allan and Duncan Sinclair did battle for the second consecutive day. They played the Prebendal Cup yesterday, with Duncan coming out on top after a tight match.

Peter reached the Final of the Championship by beating Anthony Hardwicke while Duncan beat John Garnett.

The match was played on a glorious September morning. The sun shone non stop and there was miraculously no wind. Thanks to Brian for brushing and switching the lawn before the players arrived.

Duncan started strongly in the first game and was soon 3-1 up. At Hoop 7 Peter dug deep and was continually clearing Duncan’s ball from 6+ yards, but could not get the better of an on song Duncan.

Duncan won that game 7-3.

The second game was more or less deja vu. Duncan taking a lead of 3-1 very quickly. His hooping was very impressive and Peter struggled to keep up. Another 7-3 win for Duncan.

Very well done Duncan on a brilliant display of Golf Croquet.

The full results of the competition may be seen.

The Prebendal Manor Trophy is our club’s annual internal AC Handicap competition. After Group stages and then quarter-finals, lasting through the summer, today saw the semi-finals and Finals matches take place in predominantly glorious sunshine.

The two semi-finals took place in the morning. Duncan’s didn’t last long: using his bisques effectively, he completed an 18-0 rout against Joe King. Joe only had 3 shots all match, all of which were long-range. The semi-final on the other court between Peter Allan and David Long was much tighter: a 10-hoop break in the middle of the game swung it in Peter’s favour, as he won 18-15.

In the afternoon, Joe beat David to 3rd-place with a 26-15 victory, finishing the match with a 14-point break (10 hoops, 2 peels, and pegging out both balls).

But all eyes were on the Final, where Duncan had quickly established a 12-0 lead – taking his yellow up to the peg before Peter had scored his first hoop. However, Peter fought back with a resolute 12-hoop break of his own before pegging out Duncan’s yellow and establishing a narrow lead. It was nip and tuck but, with Peter leading 16-15, Duncan got in again and was able to set up an almost-impeccable 3-ball break. Almost. After running his final hoop with the score at 25-16, Duncan then missed a 10′ roquet to give Peter one unexpected last chance. Peter made two hoops and seemed to be getting into his stride, but then disaster struck as his ball stuck in the jaws of 1-back.

Duncan’s ball was 20′ from the peg, but his aim was true… and so he won the Final 26-18, to receive the trophy from Joe (below). Commiserations, Peter, but congratulations, Duncan.

We like to play croquet on a sunny day. Sometime is it cloudy, or even raining, but playing in almost pitch darkness seems to be taking things a bit far. However, in our AC A-level league match at Basingstoke last Wednesday (31st August), Anthony’s game against Roger Barnacle went on until a hour after sunset. This is Anthony about to rush his partner ball towards the peg and peg out for a 26-21 win.

I played a vital roll in this game by walking up and down in front of the motion sensor of the club’s security light, the only source of illumination that was of any use. (Yes, that picture was taken with the light on!)

And the carrots? Not the pointy parts of a hoop, but Anthony had clearly been eating his carrots that day in order to see anything at all in the darkness.