The players are having their 15 minute warmup

The skies are 50% blue, but the wind has strengthened to a strong breeze. Flags are flapping in the wind.

Mulliner plays Red to supershot position

Bryant plays Blue to 2y NE of rover

Mulliner shoots gently at Blue, hits and establishes 3bb with Yellow

Mulliner goes to 4b in turn 3, and sets a leave:
Yellow on WB level with penult
Red with a rush on Blue to Yellow on EB level with rover

Bryant shoots from B baulk at Red - misses into IV

Mulliner rushes B to Y, loads 2 and rushes Y to 1. Makes 1 with no rush, sends Y to 3 going to B at 2.

Makes 3 off partner, but with K still in IV has no escape ball for the peel. Rushes Y to 2y W of K.

Croquets Y 8y N, and loads 5 with K.

Makes 4 and sets up for delayed triple. Blue is 1y S and 3.5y W of 4b, Y right at 4b

No rush out of 5, so has to play split. Gets on wrong side of Y, and has to play it away from 4b.Croquets it into reception position for 6, but hits it too far and it stops SE of 6.

Appears to have given up on the triple, unless he fancies a straight. Yellow is pioneer at 2b.

After 2b, Yellow is sent to 4b. Makes 3b, and loads penult. Sends Blue NNE of 4b for promotion

Does not get Y into peeling position, so just runs 4b

Mulliner takes Red to the peg with no peels. He sets a diagonal spread with Blue 3y off the WB, Black at the peg, and Red/Yellow level with rover.

Bryant contmplating the balls....lifts Black to the end of A baulk and takes the short lift.Misses.

Mulliner rushes Black 4y N, and plays a croquet stroke putting it to rover. However, Yellow runs into Red!

Takes off to Blue and manages to get a 3-yard rush to 4b. Hits it at the perfect angle, but it stops 4y SSW of 4b

Approach shot leaves Y very close to the hoop, at an acute angle. An umpire is called.Slams the ball through the hoop cleanly.

Rushes Blue to the EB 4y N of Red. Takes off to get the rush to penult - gets a good position but rushes to 5y NE of penult. Plays fantastic croquet stroke to get 12 inch position.

Runs penult and rolls Red to 2y NNE of rover. Runs rover and pegs out to take game 1

Game 2 starts with Bryant playing Black to the EB 1y N of rover

Mulliner lays a short Duffer 4 feet S of penult

Bryant hits the Duffer and croquets Yellow to 3y off the WB 1y S of penult. Lags back to Black leaving a rush to 5.

Mulliner shoots with Red from III and snicks Black

Blue is rushed to Yellow, and used to load 2. The rush on Y needs a cut to get to 1 - ends up 2y N of 1

Runs 1 with Red and hits Yellow. Croquets Yellow to halfway between 3 and III

Makes 2 and rushes B to middle of EB. Loads 4 and gets rush on K towards 3. Cuts K to between Y and EB.

Makes 3 with 4bb under control.

Plays an uneventful brak to 4b, and sets a leave with K 6y S of 2, and B at the peg wired from K. and Y in IV with R 3.5y N of it.

Bryant lifts Blue from the peg and shoots at Y from the end of A baulk. Misses.

Mulliner croquets Blue 12y from IV, and rushes Red S of 2. Rushes K to 2y ESE of 1

Approaches 1 to slight angle, does a couple of press-ups before hitting Y straight into the wire.

Bryant shoots with Black at Blue 18y away off the EB. Middles it to loud applause.

Takes off to 1, leaving himself a 2-yarder on the ball against the far leg - he can probably only see 3/4 of the target ball.

A light drizzle has started, and the players quit the field to put on some warmer clothing. Bryant looking very stylish in the team NZ jumper

Brynt makes 1 off Y, but is hampered. An umpire watches him play a careful swing to nick the Yellow 3y away.

Sends Y to 4b (just in front of the hoop) and takes off from B to R at 2.

Makes 3 off Y. The red clip is on 4B, so any TPO will be delayed. He has all the balls under control now.

Blue goes towards 2b, so no TPO in this turn.

The light drizzle is getting heavier. The slow lawns will be a lot slower soon.

Bryant is setting a NSL with Y 2y E of the WB, just N of the peg.

No rush out of 2b, so he rolls balls towards 3b. Blue stops less than 1ft from the EB.

Makes 3b a tad far, and has a 2.5 yard return roquet on R. Soft shot leaves R 18 inches ENE of 4

Red gets placed in NSL position at 4, and Bryant shoots at B on the EB. Misses.

Mulliner picks up R from 4 and shoots down the EB at the single ball target. Hits.

Rushes B to WB 6y N of Y. Thick take-off gets good rush on Y. Rushes to SB and sets leave for Y which is still on 1.

Bryant shoots with Blue from close to 2 at the balls close to I. Snicks Y to loud applause.Blue is on 1.....

Croquets Y 2y N of 1, and rushes R to 1. Makes the hoop and rushes R to 1 ft N of I

Croquets R to 4y SW of 3, and rushes Y to 1y W of 2

Approach to 2 is short - leaves a 30 degree hoop. Slams it hard and it grovels through 2 feet

Loads 4 and rushes R to 3 K is still on the EB level with rover, so the peeling will be delayed

Sends K to 4b after making 3.

Sets up the delayed peel by sending Y 4 feet W of 4b, and K in front of 4b. Takes off to R which is 3y NNE of 5

Rushes R S of 5, and makes the hoop with a rush to the EB. Cuts it to peg-high between 3 and 4

The croquet stroke loading 1b with R travels on and B stops against K right in front of 4b. The peel goes through a couple of yards, and B has a good rush to 6.

The rush to 6 is under-done, and he takes croquet 1y short. Gets hoop position and runs it to just off the NB.

Shoots at partner - middles the 7-yarder

The shot to load 2b with K is 4y short

Y is sent towards K to make it feel less lonely far from its hoop

1b is run off R, which is sent to escape position at penult. Y gets sent to 3b and B has a rush on K to 2b

Bryant fails 2b from right in front

Mulliner lifts Yellow (for 1) and shoots at K/B. Rushes K 4y NE of 1. R is still at penult

Mulliner is looking at a standard tp to win the match

The standard tp falls off the rails after 3, when the long return roquet sends R to the side of the hoop. It is left at 4b for another try a bit later

Makes 5 with a rush to 4b. Croquets B to 4y W of 1b, buts is hampered by K on his roquet of R. Manages the roquet and rushes R to peeling position.

The peel takes a huge amount of pull, and R ends up 1y NW of the hoop, possibly without touching the hoop.

Makes 6 and rushes K to the EB next to 3. Croquets it 2y past the peg. Tries to improve the 2b pioneer by croqueting R to halfway between the peg and 2b

Makes 1b and loads 3b with B. Pivots off K and rushes R to 2b.

Croquet stroke after 2b fails to send R to 4b - ends up 6Y E of the peg. K is rushed to 4b.

Makes 3b off B. Loads penult with B, and rushes R towards the EB. No straight triple attempt here.....

K goes to rover. Will make penult off partner.

Makes rover and sets a leave with K 2y off the WB and B at the peg. R and Y on the EB, R level with 4 and Y 3y N of it.

Bryant lifts K and shoots from B baulk. Misses into IV

Mulliner croquets Y towards penult and gets a cut rush on B. Rushes it to 1y E of the end of B baulk

Takes off for 4b, but over-hits to 5 feet SSE of the hoop. Does a few press-ups before taking on the hoop. Makes the hoop by an inch, has no shot on Y, but a swing on B on the baulk line. Misses B by a fraction.

Bryant lifts K from IV and walks over to B baulk. He rushes B 1ft E, then croquets it to 2y S of the end of B baulk. R is rushed to 2y SW of 4b. Y is still 3y E of penult

R is sent towards rover, and Y is rushed to penult. Runs penult without getting a rush back to B (which is what it seemed he was trying to do). Goes for a walk to calm down. Comes back to K and rushes Y to 1y W of the peg.

Makes rover and cuts R to NB 2y W of the end of B baulk. Y is still next to the peg - looks like a Riggal. Shoots R towards III, ends up 2y S of NB level with 3.

Rushes B off WB level with 1 (Blue clip is on 2b)

Takes off to Y, pegs it off and retires to between B and 2b, 2ft from 2b

Mulliner plays to the WB peg-high

Bryant rushes k into the jaws of 2b - can take croquet from the playing side.

Nicks K on the way past, so does not get a rush out of the hoop.

Bryant rolls B and K over towards 3b. They end up very close, maybe touching. He nudges B away from K, but K is open to R

Mulliner shoots from the middle of the WB, and its K! He should finish from here

The rush to penult ends up 3y SSW of h hoop. A takeoff is played, to give an 18 inch straight hoop.

Mulliner quits the field with R in the jaws of penult.

Blue is wired from Black by the peg. It has a wiring lift. So has Black. It looks as if the shot from Blue on to Red is not very good, so he wants to lift Black (2y E of rover) rather than Blue. Umpires are performing the wiring test. The lift is granted, and Black is lifted to the B baulk.

Black hits Red to applause from the crowd. The black clip is on the peg, so we will see a leave with Red having a shot.

Red is placed 2y S and 4y E of II. Blue is rushed towards IV (clip is on 3b). Final position leaves B on the SB open to R, and K towards the hoop in a wired position.

Red plays to 6y E of I

Blue over-approaches 3b and has to retire. Picks a spot on the EB that guards the shot by Red.

Red plays to the EB level with penult.

Blue hits the 6-yarder on Black, cutting it to 2y W of the peg.

Black is played towards III, but gets tangled up in the jaws of 4b. Blue hits the 4-yarder on Red, and sends Red towards I.Red ends up 2.5y SW of 1, and Blue 3y SSW of 3b. Blue is played to 4y SE of 4b

Red shoots at Black in the jaws of 4b, and misses into III

Blue hits Black to the NB behind 4b, and takes off to Red.Moves Red to 2ft W of 1. Blue joins Black on the NB, 2 yards apart

Red shoots at Black and misses

Blue roquets Red and places it 3y W of 4b. Black is cut to the SB 4y W of 3b. Plays a perfect approach to give him a straight 12 inch hoop

Runs the hoop with a forward rush. Should be the game.

Rushes to close to red, loads penult and rushes Red to 4b

Runs 4b leaving a 3.5y return roquet. Hits it and loads rover with Red. The red clip is on rover.....potential cost of an error at rover is high

The croquet stroke to load rover leaves Red 4ft S of the peg. Makes penult with no rush. Takes off to get a rush on Red.

Rushes Red to 2ft NW of rover. Gets good position to run the hoop.

Runs rover and rushes Red to penult. Takes off to Black for the pegout.

Pegs out to level the match.

If the final game starts tonight, I may not be able to continue - my battery is running low. Watch this space....

I'm back on a freshly-charged laptop!

Game 3:

Mulliner (Red) supershotbrynt (Blue) 3y SE of the peg

Yellow shoots gently at Blue, misses to 3y E of the peg

Black shoots at Blue and hits

Takes off from just N of penult to Y, and rushes Y 4y SE of the peg.

Croquets Y to 2, and rushes R to 1

Runs 1 hard and ends up with a 10y shot on B by 5. Middles it.

Takes off (sending Blue to 3) to Yellow by 2.

Makes 2 and rushes Y down to WB peg-high. Loads 4 with Y (2.5y short) and rushes R towards 3. 4bb break now under control

Blue gets rushed S of 1 after 4, and he attempts to peel Blue through 1 going to 5. The peel fails, leaving Blue in front of 1.

After 5, Red is rushed to I and sent towards 1b. It is short by 6y, so Blue is rushed away from 1 and sent to 1b.

Bryant is attempting to set a BSL - Bryant Standard Leave - with Y just N of 1. He fals to get Y positioned (it pings off the wire and is completely open from A baulk) so he has to revert to a less exotic leave.

Makes 3b and rushed Blue to the EB just N of IV.Takes off and rushes Red to the NB behind 2.Takes off sending Red towards II, but it stops 2.5y W of the corner. The SB hits Yellow at 1 - it would have gone quite a bit further if it had not hit! He ends his turn by sending Y off the EB peg-high, and Black 1Y N of Blue

Mulliner lifts Red to just W of III and shoots down the EB. Misses Yellow but hits Black.

Mulliner rushes Blue towards Yellow, and the rush is perfect length - he has a cannon! Does not get full value out of the cannon though - Blue is 7y infield level with penult, and Yellow is 2y NW of rover.

He rolls Yellow towards I, but Red fails to get hoop position and he retires Red to 1y N of I.

Bryant shoots Blue at Black (just out of IV). Misses.

Mulliner plays a big split out of I sending Yellow to 3, going over to Blue and Black.

Does not get a cannon, so has to leave Blue t IV while rushing Black to 1. makes the hoop and rushes Black to the SB. Takes off to Blue.

Big roll sending Blue to 3, leaves a 4y rush on Yellow. Rushes it to 2y SW of 2.

Runs a 3ft hoop to the boundary. Nicks the return roquet.

Splits Yellow to 4, leaving it 5y short. Rushes Blue to 3, and makes the hoop rushing Blue to the EB level with 4.

Over-hits the shot loading 5, Blue ends up 2y W of 5. Rushes Black to where he has just taken croquet with Blue. Rolls Black towards 6, getting a good rush on Yellow.

Bad cut on yellow leaves it 2y NW of 4.Approaches to 8 inches and 30 degrees. Bangs Red through the hoop after a press-up

Stroke to load 6 leaves Black 2y NW of the peg. Gets a rush on Blue to 5, and makes 5 with a backward rush.

Split shot to load 1b leaves Blue 3y SE of 1b. Rushes Yellow to 4y S of 1b, takes off to get a rush on Black to 6.

The stroke to load 2b is short, leaving Black 4y N of 2b. When will we see a pioneer within the magic 2-yard circle?

Makes 1b and rushes Blue N. Croquets Blue to 1y S of 3b! At last, a pioneer that does not need adjusting!

Rushes Black to 2b and makes the hoop. Yellow is 3Y S of the peg, so it looks like a spread coming up

Plays Black towards the peg (2y short), pivots of Yellow and rushes the good 3b pioneer a yard West. Over-approaches leaving a 40 degree hoop.

Slams Red through the hoop. Now faces a 7 yard return roquet

Hits the return roquet and Blue runs 4!

Sends Blue towards the WB, it ends up between 1 and 2, 2y N of the peg. No rush on Black.

Black is 4ft S of the peg, at 90 degrees to the wiring line. Blue is only 7 yards from the peg....a good time to reconsider the leave.

Black is positioned 2y off the EB, level with the peg. Yellow is rushed into IV. The leave:
Blue between 1 and 2, 1y N of the peg
Black 5ft W of the EB, peg high.
Yellow in IV, Red 1ft North of it.

Bryant lifts Blue and takes the 13 yarder at Yellow. Misses to inches N of Yellow.

Mulliner rushes Blue into Red, sending Red towards Black. Croquets Blue to 4y E of 2. gets a rush on Black to 1y S of 1

Makes 1 and rushes Black to the EB. Sends it to 4 getting a rush on Red towards 3. Takes off from there to get a rush on Blue towards 2.

Makes 2 and rolls Blue into escape position for the peel.Finds the outside wire with the peel attempt. Rushes Blue to the SB behind 4.

Makes 4 and rushes Black to the EB level with 3

Places Black as the escape ball for the peel before 6. Roquets Red and takes off to Blue at 5.

Makes 5 with a rush towards 4b. Places Blue 2y W of 1b, nd roquets Red for the peel.

Peels Red and gets a good rush on Black towards 6

Just nicks the russh, and has to take croquet 3.5y E of 6. Gets good hoop position

makes 6, and hits Black.Takes off to roquet red and send it to 2b. Red ends up 4y N of 2b. Blue is rushed to 1b

Approach to 1b is not good, and leaves an angled hoop. Several press-ups are required before the hoop is run.

Blue is sent 5y past 3b. Black is rushed to the WB peg-high, and sent over to 3b to help with the pioneering spirit.It ends up 3.5y W of 3b

2b is run nd Red is rushed to 2y E of penult. Takes off to Blue close to the SB. Sends it to escape position 4y ESE of penult

Makes 3b and cuts Black to 4y SW of the peg

Rolls up to Red, needs a cut to get peeling position.Ends up with a 3y peel, pretty straight

Peel finds the jaws. Rush to 4b is 1y NW of the hoop. Slightly angled hoop. hammers it to the NB

Gently roquets the peelee in the jaws of penult, and sends it to 2Y N of rover.

Black is sent 3y deep, and Blue next to the hoop.

Red is over-rushed to next to rover. No possibility of redemption here.

Runs rover and rushes Black to the WB just N of peg-high.Takes off to Blue, and sends it to the peg. Red is rushed to peg-high on the EB. Rolls red down to 3y N of IV, and places Yellow 2Y S of Red.

Bryant lefts Blue to I and shoots at Black. Misses badly to the NB.

Mulliner rushes Red 2y North. Takes off to Blue. Hits the 5-yarder.

Plays a take-off getting a rush on Black to the Sb 3y E of 1. Sends Black towards 1, and joins Red leaving Red a rush to rover.

Bryant comes on and stalks the shot from Blue to Red. The longest shot on offer, but one that gives the highest prize for hitting.

Hits Blue hard, and finds the gap between Red and Yellow

Mulliner roquets Blue into IV, and takes off to yellow. Ends up with a ruh to the peg. Cuts it to 2y N of rover.

Good approach leves him with a 2-inch hoop. He plays it through to 4 feet S of Yellow, and rushes Yellow to the peg

Pegs out to take the match.

Match score NZ 8, England 4