The top seeds had a bye this morning, so I have just arrived. It has been slightly chilly today so far and the forecast rain is just about to arrive.
The setting here is beautiful with mature trees, a river and lake, well planted borders and general greenness.
Most games went to seeding yesterday. Kathleen Colclough scored a handy win against Rosey Landrebe in Block A to enhance her play-off chances. Christine Wakeham had a win against Alison Robinson who had previously beaten Sarah Hayes. I watched Sarah win her third game of the day with a speedy triple peel - it's great to see so many of the players completing peeling turns.
Alison Sharpe reported that the hoops were much more testing in her second and third round games than they were on lawn 4 in the morning, but still succeeded in notching another tp.

The format of the event is 4 blocks of 9 with the top 4 players qualifying for the K.O. which will be best of 3 until the Semis when best of 5 will take over. Players tied for 4th place in their block will be involved in play-offs on Tuesday.

On lawn 1 at the moment, Anne Quinn is involved in an all-Aussie clash against Rosemary Newsham. Rosemary is penult and peg v Anne on 2 and penult with a break for her penult ball. The standard of the Aussies is generally solid and reliable - they provide a good test for all their opponents. Anne reaches the peg and is making a cross-peg.
Wendy Dixon has reached peg and peg against Caroline Denny who has just run hoop 5 with her other ball on 1-b.
The rain is now coming down steadily.

Sorry - got that wrong - the cross-peg goes horribly wrong and she has wired herself from all live balls. Anne plays a scatter which hits a double banking ball and Brian Boutel is called to help resolve the issue. This will give Rosemary the chance to peg 2 balls out leaving penult v 2. It could be interesting if Anne puts on her GC shooting boots.

Meanwhile, Caroline has reached 4-b with her break and will be making a leave against peg and peg.
Rosemary croquets partner 4 yards NE of penult and gets a long rush on the ball she need to peg out and rushes it to rover. This is going to be a leave rather than a double Riggall.
The rain is now heavy

I think Rosemary has missed a good chance there. If Anne can hit one shot, she'll have a good chance. Anne takes a 13 yarder for a 4-ball break to win..............misses. Easy finish for Rosemary now.
Caroline has made an interesting leave. Her balls are at the peg and oppos are near hoops 2 and 4

Wendy misses her lift and Caroline has a choice of playing either her 1-b ball or 4-b ball. This would be a very good game to win. She going to try and take her 4-b ball round.

Players are now in their full waterproofs as this rain looks set in.
Rosemary rushes her rover pioneer in front of hoop 5 and will have a backward take-off to complete her win. Plays it well, but blobs a fairly easy hoop. That's off Anne's peg ball, so 2+peg v rover and peg

Anne croquets the ball for rover to hoop 2 , sends the peg ball to hoop 3 and lays up near c4.
Caroline doesn't make any progress and Wendy misses her free shot by a whisker.

Rosemary shoot with her rover ball at partner...............misses. This is now a chance for Anne to play a break from hoop 2 for the game. Pegging out 2 balls would have given Rosemary protection against this.

Anne now needs to rush from h3 to h2 for a 4 ball break. It's a 4 foot straightish rush. Decent effort sees her approaching from 3 yard - fraction overhit, but ok. Smashes through to the boundary - Anne is a good hoop runner. Hits the return roquet and now it's just a matter of holding the break together to notch up a win that should have been a loss

Caroline has made 1-b and 2-b and has a rush to 3-b without too much else in play.
Anne has put out a perfect h4 pioneer and has a rush to h3.

Anne tends to hit her hoop strokes fairly firmly and relies on being solid at 4 yarders. This means she's now made h3 and rushed off the North boundary - not ideal!
Caroline fails 3-b

Anne shows her power by rolling down to hoops 4 and 5 from the N boundary - decent shot

Wendy shoots at the ball in 3-b and hits the wire, staying an inch away. This is a chance for Caroline to make more progress, but she's rushed to a bad position after 3-b and now has minimal chance

Anne ends up approaching h5 from 3 yards and runs it almost off the north boundary. She has a 10 yarder at her h6 pioneer............misses narrowly.

Rosemary takes a 5 yarder with her ball for rover.............hits. Just needs to rush a ball at the peg to rover and she should be able to finish

The rain is now very heavy

Just had a couple of bolts of lightning......no thunder

Not sure what is happening at 4-b. Caroline has both her balls ther and Brian Boutel is in attendance whilst Wendy is waiting to shoot from h1 through into c3

Nope, Wendy shoots the the peg instead..............hits. That looks like a dodgy tactic to me with half an hour left

With oppo on 4-b and 4-b, Wendy has now lost her lift shot/s

I felt it was a compulsory shot through opp at 4-b into c3. Caroline makes 4-b and rushes near penult with no lift pressure. She makes penult and retreats to 4-b for her other ball. Wendy's other ball appears to be on the E wire of 3-b

Rosemary has made rover and has rushed Anne's peg ball 2 foot from the peg. She could just peg 2 balls out to be peg v 1-b or she could try to take off behind partner near h3. The double peg-out once again looks like the safer option.
If the rain continues for 10 minutes at this pace,the lawns will start to flood.

Rosemary plays a good take-off behind partner and rushes 5 yards from the peg. Turns down the peg-out and rolls to 10 yards S of c2. This is the second time she has let Anne back into the game

Caroline has reached rover and peg and laid up next to rover. Wendy, without any lifts, now needs to hit from the E boundary....................hits rover and finishes a foot away from Caroline's balls

Anne takes a good positive 16 yarder for a break, but misses. Rosemary wins

Caroline uses Wendy's ball to make rover, but refuses to approach the hoop with a normal shot sending oppo behind the hoop. Gets away with it and now just needs to rush from rover to the peg to win +1. Succeeds.

That's all from lawn 1 for a while.

The rain has lightened a bit and the players are finishing their lunch. Today we had hot baked ham with roast potatoes and veges followed by a choice of summer pudding or cheese and biscuits. Thanks to the club members who are doing all the catering this week.

This afternoon will see the 2's play the 3's in each block, so there should be some decent games. I'm sat in the tent between lawns 1 and 2, so I'll try and cover 2 games when they start.

In block B this morning, Sue Beattie beat Annabel McDiarmid which starts to put the British Women's Champion in a bit of trouble since she's now got 2 losses and still has to play the 1 and 3 seeds in her block.

Could Janice Duguid spring a surprise and qualify? She has a good technique and already has a win against Sue Beattie under her belt as well as two other wins

The rain has almost stopped now. The balls are still rolling well across all the lawns.

Still no play.....and it's getting a bit chilly

On lawn 2, we have a 1v8 game between Miranda Chapman and Rosemary Newsham. Rosemary is probably the best number 8 in the event. On lawn 1 we have Jenny Clarke v Dagmar Stepankova. Neither of these should be competitive, so I'll wait for the double-banked games

Still no games of interest, but a fabulous attempt to go round 3rd turn from Dagmar who eventually put her clip on hoop 5. Jenny has hit a 10 yarder and has a break.

Now we have a match on lawn 2 to commentate on - Annabel McDiarmid v Jannine Hawker. Annabel is playing brown and green and is making a DL 3rd turn.

Janine misses from c3 4th turn

Miranda is cruising round on lawn 2. I think she is a lovely player to watch with good technique and a nice pace of play.

Annabel has picked up a break on lawn 2. She plays with a standard grip with her right index finger down the back of the mallet. Most of the players in the event are using some form of Pidcock. I believe that Alan has sold the business to Dave Trimmer.

On lawn 1, Anna Miller is using an overlapping grip which is the type of grip I've been trying to highlight as a real move forward in the game and one I believe will become more prevalent in years to come

The rain has started again and is best described as a heavy drizzle.

Annabel runs a 1 yard h4 and picks off the 6 yarder at the ball in c4 for a 4ball break

Really good to see Annabel on the lawns again and playing better than ever. She was one my comtempories in the late 80's and now her kids are late teenagers it is wonderful to see her back in the game. Always a bubbly personality.

I remember her beating Reg Bamford in a match at the Easterns in the late 80's/early 90's, so she's definitely a contender here.

The drizzle becomes rain

Nice stuff from Annabel here. She had to run a couple of longish hoops at the start of the break but it is nice and tidy now.

The rain becomes heavy

If I had to criticise anything in Annabel's technique, I would say that her hands are too close to her body which will lead to lack of accuracy in power strokes as the wrists will become too involved in the stroke.

Annabel reaches 4-b with a tidy diagonal spread - good turn.

Jannine lifted the ball at the peg and missed the long lift into c4

Annabel has made h1 and has a 3 ball break

Really enjoying watching Anna Miller. Swing comes from the shoulders and it all looks tidy.
Jenny has missed a hampered shot after 3-b with 1 peel done

Annabel misses a straight 7 foot rush to h4.

Jannine hits a 6 yarder and has an easy chance for a break. Her first croquet stroke sees partner end almost in the jaws of 3-b, so that's a big chance gone. Annabel has a choice of 5 yarder with her 4-b ball or a 6 yarder with her h4 ball. Turns down both and takes 15 yarder with her h4 ball.............misses

Jannine turns down her 5 yarder and takes a 13 yarder joining up.............misses.
Annabel now has a 9 yarder at partner..............misses

Jannine now has the innings with a half chance of a break

Alison Sharpe and Gabrielle Higgins both win with tps.

Jannine approaches h1 from h5 - good shot 3 feet slightly angled..........smoothly through and has a break.

Rain very heavy now

I hope this doesn't become a test of strength

Looks like Miranda has just done a straight rover peel to complete her tp on lawn 2

Jenny wins +21 - creditable try from Dagmar.

The players look like drowned rats

Jannine has reached h6 on her break and is still under control

Having said that, she has just sent her 2-b pioneer 7 yards short

Jannine reaches 4-b with a tidy diagonal spread

So, it's Jannine 1+4-b v Annabel 4+4-b

Dagmar has just started her 3rd round and I've just noticed she has open toed shoes - not ideal for today!!

Annabel lifts her h4 ball which was near the W boundary and takes the long lift..................misses

Standing water along the south boundary of lawn 2 now - the squeegees are out

Jannine's rush to h1 finishes 7 yards NNE of the hoop. Unlike most players here, she isn't rolling to the hoop, but plays a take-off which is the correct choice. Plays it well to 3 feet straight and runs the hoop with no wire - that's really good play.

One of the very few problems we've encountered so far is that Nottingham doesn't have any clocks, so timing 3.25 has been more challenging than expected.

The rain is easing

Jannine has extricated the ball from c4 and has a chance for a delayed tp. A ball to the peg looks like a solid line of play to me.

The rain increases again

We've got 2 more days rain forecast

Jannine sends partner south of 4-b after h4 and just snicks the ball at 4-b. So no tight position for a 4-b peel and no h6 pioneer either

Jannine does well to jaws 4-b before h6, but rushes 1 foot behind h6. Plays it well and gets hoop and roquet after making the hoop. She should be able to rush peel partner and send it to 2-b going a bad 1-b pioneer which is 3 yards W of h6

The rain eases

Jannine plays a poor take off and can on;ly hit peelee from the side. She's gping to have to play a take-off peel going to the bad 1-b pioneer and not have a 2-b pioneer - all a bit scary

The peel goes through and she rushes 3-4 yards SSE of 1-b

Takes off to 4 foot straight, but hits it straight at the left hand wire, leaving Annabel a 4 yarder with her h4 ball

Recap
Annabel 4+4-b
Jannine 1-b + penult

Annabel hits her 4 yarder and plays a good take off to the penult ball. She will now need to rush partner to h4 from h6 and her h5 pioneer will be near h6, or she can 2-ball 4 and 5

Only gets a cut-rush to h4 and now needs to approach from 3 yards NE

Annabel makes h4 and has a 3 yard rush pointing North which she rushes to the middle of the E boundary - not ideal

Good shot from Annabel rolling from NW of 1-b sending a pioneer to h6 getting a good rush tom h5, which she takes to 4 feet N of h5

Just heavy drizzle now

Annabel makes h5 and should be ok now, but still needs a big croquet stroke to load 1-b from the middle of the E boundary going to her h6 pioneer

Both ball come up well short. She now has a 4 yard backward take-off to h6 leaving everything joined up if it goes wrong. Needs to be positive here.
Takes the defensive option and croquets oppo away getting a 3 foot h6 which she runs smoothly

Now still has work to do and has another 4 yard backward take-off to 1-b

The sky brightens and it's just light drizzle

Runs 1-b with control and should have enough balls to carry on

A poor stroke leave her a cut-rush to 2-b which she barely snicks. She's 5 yards NE of the hoop, conceeding a lift and is now stood with hands on hips surveying the lawn

Annabel declines the approach and sends oppo 10y N of h1 before playing a good scatter on partner near h4.

Recap
Annabel 2b+4-b
Jannine 1-b + penult

Jannine lifts her 1-b ball to A-Baulk and shoots at a ball NE of h4...........misses, hitting h4 and leaving Annabel a rush with her 2-b ball. This should be a ball to the peg

Don't understand how Annabel has failed to get either a 3-b pioneer or a rush to the other oppo ball. Now has a tough pick up

Excellent take off from near c4 gets a good rush to 2-b on the ball 10 y North of it.

Rushes it almost off the S boundary. Takes off to 5 foot straight and runs the hoop getting a handy rush East

Excellent 6 yard take-off to get a rush on a boundary ball to 3-b. Now has a break

Annabel takes off to her penult pioneer from h4, finishes short and misses

Recap
Annabel 4-b+penult
Jannine 1-b + penult

Jannine lifts her 1-b ball and takes a 6 yarder..........hits. That's the wrong lift shot though. She should have played her penult ball which would have given her an easy break and the opportunity to create a hammer leave 1-b + peg

Jannine makes 1-b. The other balls are at h6 and h4

Jannine plays well to pick up a break. The only justification for playing the 1-b ball is if you intend to finish - let's see what she does

Partner is her 3-b pioneer, so that'll make things trickier

Heavy drizzle again

Long delay whilst a double banking collision is resolved

Jannine has sent peelee 18" E of penult - good shot

Makes 4-b, sends a ball south of rover which is awful if you're intending to peel

No, no attempt at peeling, so should have played her other ball

Jannine reaches the peg with a cross peg/spread
Recap
Annabel 4-b+penult
Jannine penult + peg

Annabel lifts her 4-b ball and takes the long lift. Once again, I think this is the wrong ball to shoot.

Hits

Annabel makes her last 3 hoops with green, but has to make rover off partner which won't make the leave easier. She looks like she isn't going to peg Jannine out - I would

If you're not pegging oppo out, it is far better to play your penult ball and then you are not conceeding a lift after getting to the peg

Annabel sends jannine peg ball between peg and rover and lays up 8 yards south of c2 with a rush in-lawn. Jannine's penult ball is 7y N of c4
Both players are penult + peg

Jannine lifts her peg ball and shoots up the boundary from c1, missing to near c2

Annabel now has a long rush to pink or a cut rush to penult. Opts for the cut-rush and leaves it 4 yards short. Needs a good approach from the side. Waiting for double bankers.

Decent approach. stalking a 20 deg hoop, green towards the peg...2 feet...smoothly through with a 1 foot rush to rover off partner

Rushes 3 yards straight in front of rover. Rolling up - 2 foot hoop. Very smoothly through and now Annabel has a rush to the peg to finish this game off.

Rushes 7y W of the peg............lining it up......I expect a roll stroke........calls a ref and has her hands down the mallet.......front ball grazes the peg and the back ball also hits + 4. That gets Annabel out of trouble in the block.

That's all from me today.