Category: News and Reports

Sadly Shrewsbury lost to Broadwas, playing at their lawns which have a somewhat greater gradient than most players are used to. Many thanks to Alan Ridley, Tim Bunn, David Hart and Alberto Porras for playing for Shrewsbury. Congratulations to Tim for winning one of his games.

Six pairs entered for this season’s handicap doubles competition, held on the 6th and 7th of July.

The usual format is 26-point games on full lawns but due to the heavy rain on the first morning, the start was delayed and the matches reduced to 18-point with a two hour time limit.

We also allowed pairs to choose between ordinary doubles play and alternate stroke play, provided the chosen form was played throughout the competition.  Four pairs chose to play alternate stroke.

Play began in very tricky conditions, especially on Bowlside, with patches of standing water.  By the first afternoon however, the lawns were much drier but a little heavier than normal.

Two blocks of three played ‘all play all’.  In Block A, two close games on Day 1 left Julian/Tim and James/David on one win each, both having narrowly beaten Caroline/Alberto. The decider was played on the morning of Day 2, which James/David won +6.  In Block B, Frances/Alan R and Margaret/Phil ended Day 1 on one win each but Margaret/Phil had beaten Frances/Alan R on a Golden Hoop.  On Day 2, Margaret/Phil beat Barbara/Alan S convincingly.

In the final Margaret/Phil built a big lead and, with one ball on peg and the other on rover, looked likely to peg out before a late comeback by James/David, which wasn’t quite enough and Margaret/Phil won +4.

So it’s congratulations to Margaret and Phil, who win the Lanman Trophy for the second time.

Alan Ridley

Shrewsbury beat Eardisley 4-3 in the West Midlands Federation game today. Our team was Robbie, David, James, Julian and Phil.  We were 3 games all with one game to finish. In that game Julian took his opponent to a golden hoop and in front of a riveted audience won the hoop and with it the match.  Well done team and thank you Julian!

Shrewsbury vs Wrest Park

Wrest Park won 5-2

Congratulations to Alberto, winner of this season’s 14 Point Handicap competition.

The gloomy weather lifted for the day, to provide perfect croquet conditions for the 10 participants.

Two blocks of five played ‘all v all’, with some very close games including three decided by a golden hoop. In both blocks, the result came down to the last game. In the first block, Margaret Extance and Mike won three matches but Margaret had beaten Mike so qualified on a ‘who beat whom’ basis.  Similarly, in the 2nd block, Alberto and Phil won three games, with Alberto qualifying.

In the final, Alberto used his bisques to build a lead. Margaret then had chances to catch up towards the end of the match but couldn’t quite find her form from the block games, giving Alberto a +4 victory.

So it’s a first club trophy for Alberto.  The boy done good!

Alan Ridley

Congratulations to Robbie, winner of the 14 Point Advanced competition.  Robbie beat Richard by +11 in the final, breaking Richard’s three year winning sequence.

On a lovely day for croquet, Robbie and Richard won their respective groups.  We held semi-finals, in which Richard came from behind to beat James  by +6, while Robbie dispatched Alan R by +13 with plenty of time to spare.

Rain had been forecast for the afternoon and with the final in progress, rumbles of thunder could be heard coming ever closer.  The game finished just as the first hint of rain reached the lawns and within 15 minutes of packing up, the heavens opened.

So, further congratulations are in order to Robbie for managing to peg out before we all got soaked!

Alan Ridley

The pristine lawns of Northampton Croquet Club provided the ideal setting for a thrilling encounter between Pinchbeck and Shrewsbury Croquet Clubs in the Longman Cup.

Played on neutral ground because of the distances between the two Clubs, Pinchbeck, from Lincolnshire, on their return to the competition after a number of years, provided a stern test to Shrewsbury, with three of the seven matches finishing with only a hoop between the teams.

It was a credit to the handicapping system that with only five minutes left on the clock, the result was far from certain, with two games hanging in the balance. However, finally, it was Shrewsbury who triumphed, with Alberto Porras and Margaret Extance holding their nerve under pressure to take the Shropshire Club through to the next round.

Played in good spirit throughout in perfect weather conditions, all the players offer their thanks and appreciation to their wonderful hosts at Northampton 

Report by David Hart

Result – Shrewsbury 5 Pinchbeck 2  – Played on 15^th May 2024 at Northampton Croquet Club

Morning singles Results ( Shrewsbury names first)

Phil Extance (10) beat Ken Knock (8)  +1

David Hart (10)  beat Mike Bowser (4) +18

Doubles Result

Margaret Extance(14)  and Alberto Porras (20) lost to Charles Ostler (3.5) and David Boxell (22)  -11

Afternoon singles Results

Phil Extance (10) lost to Charles Ostler(3.5) -3

David Hart (10) beat David Boxell (22) +7

Margaret Extance (14) beat Mike Bowser(4) +1

Alberto Porras (20) beat Ken Knock(8)  +1

We hold an introductory course for new members every May for those who are new to the club and who want to get the most out of the game.

After a taster session and the subsequent 4 lessons you will have received a good introduction to Association Croquet.

The course is free if you subsequently become a member, and will take you through the basics of techniques and skills required to enjoy the game at a competitive level.

The 2024 course will begin on May 14th at 6pm.

Please contact the Secretary or Chair to register your interest.

Phil Extance

We were blessed by perfect croquet weather, save for the temperature at the beginning of the day! 12 participants played 4 games, each of 55 minute duration, on half lawns. The majority of players had some bisques which makes for interesting games, particularly when time is of the essence. There were some very close games and there were some with very clear winners. I will remember the day for the number of rules that had to be checked and much debate about rules were to be interpreted. For a game that is in essence so simple it is amazing how many times situations arose that required careful consideration – partly because it is early in the season and our memories of last year are poor!! The final was fought between Tim Bunn and Alan Ridley was very a close run match with Alan winning by just one point after time was called. Many thanks to all who joined in and to those who came to watch. It was a particular pleasure to have Robert’s family join us as spectators for part of the day.

https://croquet-websites.org.uk/shrewsbury/the-morley-trophy/

Phil Extance

There are two contributions included here, Shrewsbury Croquet pre 1914 and Shrewsbury Croquet – 40yrs – 1983-2023.