Category: News

A still and sunny day greeted the 4 semi-finalists for this year’s Prebendal Manor Trophy. Joe King, Andy Robertson and Peter Allan (three times) had all won the competition in the last 7 years, and Deirdre Cochrane hoped to add her name to that trophy.

The first semi was all over within an hour. Joe was 11-0 up before Andy got his first break. After Andy then played the wrong ball, Joe quickly completed an 18-0 rout. The other semi was much tighter. Deirdre took an 11-3 lead, but only after using all her bisques. Peter steadily fought back to 15-all, despite a free drop that Deirdre was awarded after a very long scrutiny. The match could have gone either way, until Deirdre missed a shot with all 4 balls on the peg: game over (18-16).

So Peter and Joe met in a re-run of last year’s final, which Peter had won 26-0. Peter had also beaten Joe in last season’s Founders Cup final: Joe described Peter as “my bete-noire, who I’ve never beaten competitively”. Meanwhile Peter seemed bemused by being given 1.5 bisques (“I’ve forgotten what to do with these”): indeed, they were used up quickly as he opened with a modest 2-hoop break. However, at the hour-mark, a 12-hoop break had taken Peter to 17-0, with his red already on the peg; while Joe was really struggling to find his form after lunch.

But Joe finally ran Hoop 1 (at the 4th attempt!), and his confidence steadily grew as another 11 hoops followed: having taken his own ball to the peg, he pegged out Peter’s red. There was over an hour still on the clock, though Joe was 6 hoops down (12-18). Joe played cautiously, making sure each leave minimised Peter’s chance of a long hit-in, and drawing on both his 1-ball and his peeling skills to slowly inch his way back. The tension built. The wind started gusting, and was blamed by both players for a couple of missed chances. But Joe wasn’t throwing any caution to the wind. With nerves of steel, he levelled the match at 20-20 just as the 5-minute warning was announced. That was still the score when the timer sounded, at which point Joe pegged out his rover ball, while putting too much distance between the last two remaining balls for Peter to reply. With this 21-20 victory, Joe could finally lay to rest the ghost of last year’s defeats.

Work will begin on the sandstone footings on October 7th, with two permanent wooden gazebos going up shortly afterwards. The whole project should be completed before the AGM on Thursday, October 24th. During the work, players should be able to continue to use the lawns, although the ball catchers may need to be deployed!

The larger gazebo will replace the existing green canvas one on the gate side of the clubhouse, providing a far better space for sheltering, spectating and serving teas and lunches. The smaller one on the other side will have a bench so that spectators can watch in comfort, come rain or shine. BCC thanks the anonymous donor whose generosity has made this ground breaking improvement possible.

David Dibben’s D team, unbeaten winners of their division in the SCF’s GC Advantage league, made the sea voyage to the Isle of Wight to challenge Ryde, winners of the southern division. At the end of play, they were still unbeaten, but 8-8 wasn’t good enough. How come, you may ask? The somewhat random tie-breaker was the result of the game between the two captains and it didn’t go Blewbury’s way. On this occasion, Jackie Bryant was BCC’s star with 3 wins. For the record, Blewbury D finished the season with an outstanding 63 games to Ryde’s 55 and Phyllis Court’s 34. Is it fair to say that the best team was robbed?

Phew! 80,000 steps, 200 hoops. So said Joe King after he’d accepted the 2024 Treasurer’s Tankard, the prize for the Fourth Eight tournament held in Colchester over the past five days. He got off to a flier against some of the top AC players in England, then clung onto the lead as rivals rallied. On the final day, his total of 8 wins and 3 losses put clear blue water between him and familiar rival, David Warhurst from Budleigh Salterton (6-5). When you see a lone figure practising on the Blewbury courts in the rain, it’s often JK.. So that’s how it’s done, plus talent and stamina. BCC salutes you, Joe.

Robin Brown made an equally rampant start against England’s finest in the President’s Cup at Hurlingham, but stalled when the big guns started firing. He’d already beaten England captain Samir Patel and new European champion James Death, but they exacted due revenge as they headed for first and third places, with Gabrielle Higgins in between. Robin won’t thank me for congratulating him on finishing fifth behind Stephen Mulliner, but that doesn’t mean that 7wins, 7 losses in this elite company isn’t a notable result.

Sophie McGlen completed a hat trick of outstanding Blewbury performances with an 100% (6 out of 6) victory in the Selectors’ Weekend Swiss tournament. She went on to beat Guy Hewitt 26-10 in the semis and Robert Dodds 26-14 in the final of the Selector Knockout . Bravissima….

Blewbury’s informal one ball tournament took place as planned, though a field reduced to 8 by sickness and admin error left me wondering why I couldn’t persuade accomplished GC players to give one ball a try. Their specific skills – placing long balls in position to run hoops and striking them cleanly through – are the backbone of a game that also contains a few very simple elements of AC.

Ask Philippa Turner who’d never played it, yet finished second in a field that included such accomplished AC players as Deirdre and Andys R and E. The handicap system favours hi bisquers, with Edmund and Sandy recording encouraging results. After a morning of round robin blocks, Brian and Philippa won their respective semis against Edmund and Minty. In a close final, Brian emerged triumphant.

Salutations to Blewbury D team, unbeaten winners of the north division of the SCF GC Advantage league. When they clinched their final match in the round robin block against Harwell 13-3, they booked a ticket to Ryde (top of the south division) for a semi final on the Isle of Wight. David Vincent’s C team finished in 3rd place.

D team captain David Dibben and Simon Bryant won their 4 matches against Harwell, with David reducing his handicap to 4. Jackie Bryant (3 wins) and Susan Tilbrook (2 wins) completed the rout. The same team will travel to Ryde on September 2nd, with the winners taking on Phyllis Court (victors in the central division) in the final. Cheering supporters most welcome on Monday: if you fancy a short sea voyage, David will be there to greet you.

Reported by Peter Allan

How often have we heard that said? Well it certainly applied to some of the games in the Blewbury Super-B AC advanced tournament held over the weekend of 24-25 August.

In one of the first round matches, Richard Peperell had a four hoop lead over Paul Watson as time went. Paul was just starting his turn and Richard would get one last turn. Those of us watching in the club house thought that Paul would have to play his blue ball in order to have any chance of winning, but he chose to play black. This was an easier hit in, but as it was for 4-back, surely Paul could not score enough points. However, we then realised that Paul could draw level by making three hoops and pegging out his black. Surely a risky strategy as it would leave him with only one ball. Having hit in and made 4-back, Paul appeared to be eyeing up a peel at 4-back. (He was.) Would he make the peel, go round to peg, and peg out to win? This resulted in a big debate in the clubhouse as to the best approach. After much thought, Paul did not go for the peel. He realised just in time (we in the club house were much slower) that his blue was for hoop 3, not 4-back, so the peel was never on. Paul did go round to peg with black, and pegged out to level the game. Richard had one more turn, but failed to score. Paul was the first to score a hoop in extra time, so won a very tight game.

I was involved in the next nail biter. I was playing against Christopher Crowcroft. I got off to a reasonable start, but I missed a short roquet and Christopher made rapid progress after that. I was way behind when Christopher was on peg and penult, but in trying to set up a leave, he accidentally pegged out his own ball! I now had two balls to his one, but I was way behind. Could I catch up? I made steady progress, helped by the fact that if your opponent has pegged out a ball, they can no longer claim a lift after their opponent has run through 1-back or 4-back. Christopher did score the last two hoops, but I managed to keep going to win 26-25. The roar of the crowd could surely be heard as far away as the Red Lion.

All of the players were impressed that we managed to start the tournament on time as it had been raining for several hours beforehand. Fortunately it had not been heavy rain, so our good drainage meant that there was no problem. Some also commented that they had started playing on the assumption that the rain would have made the lawns rather slow. Not so! They were at their usual pace.

We had an excellent lunch, prepared on both days by Minty, but served on Sunday by Sandy.

Once all of the games had been finished, two players emerged with four wins each: Robbie Dodds from Shrewsbury, and myself. Robbie had beaten me, so he was the worthy winner. He said that he had really enjoyed playing at Blewbury and that this was his first tournament win. He plans to come back next year.

After a long summer of qualifying trials and tribulations, the Kay Memorial Trophy short croquet tournament climaxed on a blazing Monday afternoon. Ladder leaders, Andy E and holder Andrew P, competed for the first final place. By taking an early lead without using his bisques, Andrew set Andy a catch up that proved to be a few hoops too far (14-9). Meanwhile the Jamiesons fought it out for the right to challenge Andy for the second final spot. Carol, qualifying for the finals in Joe’s absence, prevailed (14-6), then defeated Andy by the same score.

In the shootout, Andrew used both his bisques to establish an early lead, leaving himself dangerously exposed to a fiery opponent with eight to play with. The ding dong battle swung to and fro, with Carol working steadily through her hoard to a successful outcome (13-9). After Peter presented the handsome trophy, the survivors enjoyed celebration bubbles on Tickers Folly Field. Brava Carol.

On the final weekend of the Olympic Games, Blewbury Croquet Club picked up a well deserved gold medal for Catering and Hospitality, writes David Dibben. The occasion was the prestigious Smokey’s Cup, an annual B-Level GC marathon of 14 matches in two days hosted jointly by Blewbury and Phyllis Court.

Step up to the podium Deirdre Cochrane  for the sumptuous spread enjoyed by the lucky eight drawn to play at Blewbury on Saturday. Her feast of chicken in a delicious sauce with salad, followed by apple pie and ice cream plus strawberries and cream, was especially appreciated by the Phyllis Court cohort; apparently their club doesn’t offer such haute cuisine.

From my point of view, the playing side was anything but a success. Allocated to my home courts for Saturday qualifying, I won through to the Sunday finals staged this year at Blewbury and masterminded by the ever efficient Carol Jamieson. How did I beat the winner, Adam Newbould from Bromley, twice while losing to almost everyone else ? Eighth out of eight is not a good look. Over at Phyllis Court, my fellow Blewburians, Steve Fisher and Brian Jamieson, scored an honourable three wins apiece in the Sunday plate.

Blewbury buzzed at the beginning of August when 16 players double banked on four short croquet courts for the morning blocks. Four players, three games, four winners into the finals. Philippa prepared lunch for 14 – tasty curried pasta and salad followed by raspberry tart.

Next up, the semis. Would Dave Kibble’s skills off – 2 defeat Andy E’s surge of handicap reductions? Would Peter Allan come out ahead of Adam Newbould, a man who’s left his home in Almeria to compete in summer croquet tournaments nationwide. Yes and no, which meant Dave and Adam fought out the final. Big Dave raised the engraved glass but conviviality ruled, so much so that two days later, while his wife Karen was winning the hi-bisquers tournament at Cheltenham, Adam called Dave to ask for coaching. A nice twist in the tail of another Blewbury tournament managed seamlessly by the indefatigable Carol J.