Category: News and Reports

The draft minutes are available in the Members area of the website under the heading “Club Business – Committee” which will require you to login to the website (note – not the Lawn Booking System).

Whilst you are logged in, it is a good opportunity to update your personal profile. Click on your name at the top right of the page and then “Edit Profile”.

These Minutes include a table of the potential Investment Priorities that have been discussed with the Committee. We would welcome any observations you may have on these.

On an almost perfect day for croquet, eight competitors set out on their quest to win the 14 Point Advanced competition and join the illustrious band of players to have been presented wth the Silver Salver.

The players were split into two blocks of four, for the all-play-all phase. In Block A, Robbie won his three games, with a tie for 2nd place between Alan S, Robert and Tim. Alan S qualified for the semi-final as he had the highest net score (-3).  In Block B, Alan R and Sean both won their first two games, to qualify for the semi-finals. They faced each other in the 3rd game, with Alan R narrowly winning +2, to qualify as Block winner (I almost said blockhead!).

In the semis, Robbie played Sean, while Alan S played Alan R. The entire crowd (of about 3) watched the Robbie/Sean match. Don’t ask me how it went as I was on the other lawn, however Robbie pipped Sean +1 in what must have been a nail-biter. Alan R beat Alan S +3.

And so to the final, where in a low scoring game, Alan R established a 5-1 lead over Robbie with time running out. Not to be outdone by a non-worid ranked player, Robbie got a good chance with less than 10 minutes remaining and took a ball to peg, to win the game 6-5.

So it’s many congratulations to Robbie and it’s back to the drawing board for the rest of us.

Alan Ridley

The first one-day competition of the season was enjoyed by all. The weather was kind to us as 12 competitors battled it out for the silver tankard trophy. The Short is a 14 pt handicap competition, with only 55 minutes per game so play is quite fast. All of us either won at least one game or reached a golden hoop play off. Our newest member, Tom, played in his first competition. 7 of the 24 games played were won by the margin of just one point. The final was played between Alan Ridley (the previous holder) and Phil Extance. Alan took his first ball round to peg in a demonstration quality break. Phil followed suit with a break to peg, though assisted by two bisques. Alan just missed hitting in. Phil took his second ball round to peg and lined up a croquet shot to peg out – but the front ball missed. Phil managed to recover using his remaining half bisque to leave his ball close to peg with Alan having to make a fairly long roquet from either of his two balls. Alan just missed the shot, allowing Phil to peg out.

Thanks to all who participated, to those who set up and cleared up, and to those who provided food!

Phil Extance

West Midlands Federation 

The likely match dates arranged for the 2025 season are:

Home: Broadwas – 11^th July

Home: Church Stretton – 28^th July

Away: Kenilworth – June 3^rd

Away: Eardisley – 23rd July

A49 competition

against Church Stretton – 27^th June

Shrewsbury Croquet Club will be running a beginner’s course starting on Tuesday May 6th from 6-8pm with a taster session so that you can find out if croquet is for you. If it is then there will be 4 further sessions to teach you the basics of the game, the strokes and the tactics.

Please contact Phil Extance at croquetshrewsbury@outlook.com or call 07909 906917 for further details.

These are now available in the Member’s Area of the website – only Members who have registered for access to the website can view this Area.

West Midlands Federation 

The likely match dates arranged for the 2025 season are:

Home: Broadwas – 11^th July

Home: Church Stretton – 28^th July

Away: Kenilworth – June 3^rd

Away: Eardisley – to be arranged

A49 competition

against Church Stretton – 27^th June

Itching to play in April 2025? Bored with jigsaws? House fully redecorated? Still too wet to mow the lawn? Have a look at how really good players fight for the World Championship.

If you have never watched a top quality game, have a look at some examples at the 2023 Final – the first game has an impressive 3-ball break. But be careful that you don’t get hooked and watch all 5 games (8 hours) of the Final at once. The first game starts 23 mins 30 secs into the video.

The 2025 AGM will be held at the London Road Campus of Shrewsbury Colleges at 7pm on Wednesday 5th March 2025. Agenda, Papers and location details will be sent to Members in advance.

Phil Extance

28 members and guests were able to attend the lunch this year, with 6 people unable to attend at the last minute. We all missed Graham Colclough who was unable to attend for health reasons. Many thanks to Margaret E for organising our booking. The Corbet Arms put our party in the conservatory (which allowed a more convivial atmosphere) and once again served us some excellent food.

Phil had concocted a quiz requiring people to identify 50 locations in the UK where croquet clubs exist from “iconic” photographs of the places. The maximum score on the day was 29! Alan R had scoured the website to identify the current members who won the most trophies, asking us to identify and rank the top ten. Some people were most surprised to be in the top ten!

Sadly a number of our trophy winners were unable to attend but those that could are pictured below:

Thanks to everyone who made it a great occasion

Phil Extance