Hello from the tea room at Cheltenham, sadly it's too bright to sit outside and be able to see the screen. I haven't managed to get connected successfully to the CA WiFi so for the time being I am using mobile data, so this service is subject to termination should I start running low on internet.

The 8 seeds have all made it through to the quarter finals so no surprises so far. Action today sees;
Lawn 7 - Bamford vs Patel
Lawn 8 - Burch v Maugham
Lawn 1 - Mulliner v Rothman
Lawn 2 - Death v Chapman

Bamford seems to have been playing superbly as usual despite turning up with a brand new mallet and never hitting a ball with it before the tournament. He has cantered through the swiss and made fairly light work of his match yesterday with two SXP's. He will take some beating but if Samir can play like he did yesterday against me and keep shooting straight then there is potential for the match to be close, Reg clear favourite though as you would expect.

Burch's main asset is shooting straight at everything all of the time. He will probably start as favourite against Dave in my opinion, Dave is still very good once he has the balls and has established a break but he doesn't always managed to get that far in a turn before breaking down. Neither will be under estimating each other, but both will fancy progressing.

Mulliner and Rothman looks fairly close although I suspect Mulliner will edge it as he has a more rounded game and croquet strokes, whereas Rothman relies on hitting a lot of 3, 4, 5 yarders in the middle of his breaks, which he is good at but I think lack of control could be his downfall at the business end of the tournament.

Chapman is favourite for me against Death. Chapman has played very well only dropping one game in the event to Jeff Dawson yesterday following a tpo. Death has everything, he could play any shot on the lawn but I still think he struggles take games seriously, preferring instead to try the outrageous and entertain the crowd. More importantly.......I've just looked up and seen that hes wearing shorts!

Best of 5 today so potential for a whole days worth of croquet.

Lawn 1 - I missed the start but Mulliner has hit with Rothmans balls both in lawn so chances of first ball round.
Lawn 2 - Chapman went first, Death to corner 2, Chapman missed partner
Lawn 7 - Patel east boudary, Bamford corner 2
Lawn 8 - Practising

Lawn 1 - Mulliner has rolled to hoop 1 with partner, runs a long hoop and has a break.
Lawn 2 - Death missed 4th turn at Chapmans balls, Chapman has rushed to 1
Lawn 7 - Patel shot from c3 at partner missing in to c4
Lawn 8 - Burch and Maugham have a lot of flirting before starting, both laughing a lot. Burch goes to east boundary, Maugham to c2, Burch centre balls partner from A baulk, looking at taking off to c2

Lawn 8 - Burch leaves a rush to h1 without going to c2

Lawn 2 - Chapman made 1, rushed to Deaths ball just off east boundary, rushed to c2 and now approaching h2

Lawn 7 - Bamford has missed Patels east boundary ball and ends up south of it so Patel now has a dolly rush in to c4 where partner is. He didnt play this cannon very well against me yesterday....

Lawn 2 - Chapman has run h3 and now has a 3 ball break

Lawn 8 - Burch has made h2 with his h3 pioneer at h6, should have a break

Lawn 7 - What did I say! Patel seems to have faulted the cannon out of c4.

Lawn 1 - I think Mulliner must have made h3 and then missed the return roquet. Rothman is now picking up a break from h3.

Lawn 7 - Balls went back but not as a cannon, Bamford has ended up stop shotting a ball 2 yarders out of c4 and get a rush to h1

Lawn 2 - Chapman is making 1b with partner already in c2

Lawn 8 - Burch has played his 3 ball break all the way round to 2b, leaving Maughams ball in c4, he will be making 3b off partner

Lawn 7 - Bamford made h1 and rushed in to c4

Lawn 2 - Chapman ran 2b by not very much, managed to play a good roll through so ends up not needing to make 3b

Lawn 8 - Burch has made 3 and has Maughams red in C4 and yellow 7 yards north on the east boundary. Gets his own h1 ball to 5 yards south of c2 and goes off to c3 with strikers ball

Lawn 8 - Burch didnt make 3b

Lawn 1 - Rothman is around h6, hasnt managed to get a tidy break yet but should be ok

Lawn 2 - Death took contact from Chapmans ball in c2, went off going to chapmans 3b ball in c3

Lawn 7 - Bamford is digging the balls out, backward take to h3, has got a h4 pioneer

Lawn 8 - Maugham played the roll out of c3 going to partner in c4, lays up on the east boundary maybe wired from black at h1 with a rush pointing at h1

Lawn 8 - Burch shots black at blue near c2, hits it in the middle, chances to make 3b now and get a good leave

Lawn 2 - Chapman has made 3b and is leavng one of Deaths balls just off the east boundary somewhere near peg high and the other at h1, joining up in c2

Lawn 7 - I stopped watching......Reg had a break, but he has put his clip on h5 and walked back to the clubhouse

Lawn 8 - Burch made 3b, end up leaving a ball 3 yards off the east boudary level with h4 and tried to roll other oppo ball towards c1 whilst going to partner in c2, but it hit hoop 5 and stayed there

Lawn - Burch goes to end of B baulk

Lawn 7 - Death missed from h1 at partner

Sorry that was lawn 2

Lawn 7 - Patel makes h1 and gets an early peel on Bamfords h1 ball, has got a break

Lawn 1 - Rothman went to 4b, left Mulliners h1 ball in c1, Mulliners h4 ball in c4, his own h1 ball in c2 and strikers ball in c3

Lawn 8 - Maugham has ended up trying to roll up to h1 from c2 i think, strikers ball goes off the south boundary with a big bang! Burch joins up again in c2

Lawn 1 - Guessing that Mulliner took off from the ball in c2 to the ball in c3 but didnt get close enough so just joined up with partner in c4

Lawn 8 - Maugham missed from south boundary in front of h1 at partner near east boundary level with h4. Burch plays h1 ball and takes off to Maughams balls from c2

Lawn 1 - Rothman shot at partner in c3, missed

Lawn 2 - Chapman in approaching h2 sending partner towards h3, makes hoop now should finish with a standard tp

Lawn 8 - Burch has done well, now needs to approach h2, putting partner towards 3 for a break and standard tp

Lawn 1 - Mulliner rushed towards h1, hasnt approached it and so is now shooting at Rothmans balls in c3, just misses, Rothman now has all the balls and even a h1 pioneer so should finish

Lawn 1 - Rothman somehow ended up with a 4 yarder after h1! Now rolls from south boundary putting both balls to h3, hits a 7 yarder at partner!

Lawn 7 - Not been watching but suspect Patels turn hasnt been as good as it could have been following the good start as he has only managed to get the second peel on Bamfords backward ball jawsed after 1b

Lawn 1 - Rothman is approaching h1 without a good h3 pioneer, partner is very close to the north boundary and the other ball is 3 yards south of h3, not a nice position at all

Lawn 2 - Chapman approaching 1b with 2 peels done

Lawn 8 - Burch approaching 2b with 2 peels done

Lawn 1 - Rothman sent out a h4 pioneer after h2, going to the ball south of h3, rushed it level with h3 and then took off in to partner near north boundary

Lawn 1 - Rothman is lining up the 4b peel after from about 4 or 5 yards away, which i would say is poor given the position he had at the start of this turn

Lawn 7 - Patel has made 3b, leaving partner near c4, Bamfords h5 mid way up the west boundary, Bamfords h3 ball 5 yards east of c2 and strikers ball in c1
Lawn 1 - Rothman fails to peel, his h5 pioneer is 3 yards north west of the hoop and ends up with a backward take off to h4. makes it and now looking at setting up for peel before h6.

Lawn 8 - Burch finishes with a straight rover peel to take the first vs Maugham, very speedy turn!
Lawn 2 - Chapman is having a straight rover peel to take the first vs Death

Lawn 1 - Rothman leaves himself another 3 yarder after h5 at partner but manages to dribble at it and gets the 4b peel before h6

Lawn 8 - Burch goes first in game two, hits hoop 5 as a supershot and it stops dead in front, Maughman hits it, pokes it towards c2 and then goes in to c4

Lawn 7 - Bamford takes contact with his h3 ball from the ball in c1, takes off up the west boundary, manages to rush partner to end of b baulk, looks to not be approaching his hoop

Lawn 8 - Burch missed partner 3rd turn, they have some more flirting whilst Maugham wonders up to b baulk

Lawn 1 - Rothman approaching 2b off partner with a peel done

Lawn 2 - Death went first to east boundary, Chapman to c2, Death then missed partner from a baulk

Lawn 8 - Maugham shoots at partner in c4, misses and shouts abuse at the ball/ lawn

Lawn 7 - Bamford joined up near c3 but left a rush for his h5 ball, Patel misses with his h1 ball from c4 at Bamfords balls

Lawn 1 - Rothman now has a delayed double peel to do, balls in good positions

Lawn 2 - Death made h1 but didnt get a rush back to partner on east boundary so has to play big roll from partner sending in towards h3 going to c2. Is well short but in front of h2 so he runs it and then misses Chapmans ball in c2

Lawn 7 - Bamford plays his h5 ball, pokes out Patels ball but ends up with a rush pointing at the middle of the east boundary, deals with it and now has a 3 ball break

Lawn 8 - Burch is again ignoring the ball in c4 and progessing with a 3 ball break, now at h6

Lawn 1 - Rothman got the penult peel, made 4b but has stuck in penult, clips on, end of turn

Lawn 1 - Mulliner wonders on to the lawn carrying a towel and bottle of water but no mallet

Lawn 2 - Chapman takes off from c2 to Deaths ball a yard east of h3. Ends up in the east boudary yard line area! Hits and will now take off to partner at h4 to get a rush to h1

Lawn 1 - Mulliner for 1 & 4, plays his h1 ball, an ugly choice I suppose really

Lawn 8 - Burch goes to 3b with a not very good leave, he has left one of Maughams balls 2 yards north west of c4 and missed corner c3 on the east boundary so Maugham will have a dolly rush to t

Lawn 7 - Bamford seems to have peeled Patels h1 through h1 after 2, has to rush to 3b from 2b and looks like hes making a diagonal spread

Lawn 2 - Chapaman has made h3 and looks like hes going for a pop on Deaths ball going to a good h4 pioneer

Lawn 8 - Maugham takes his lift, rushes Burchs 3b ball in to corner 4, pokes in out to h4 and rushes partner to h1

I am waiting for the winner of Andrew Hope vs David Goacher in plate, there is a 3.5hr time limit so I could be with you until 1.30

Lawn 8 - Maugham has to take off to h2 from north boundary, runs it and now has a break, QPO?

Lawn 1 - Mulliner has gone to h6 with a diagonal spread
Lawn 7 - Bamford has gone to 4b with partner for 3. He makes a diagonal spread, gets Patels 4b at the peg so that it doesnt rush to h2. Patel is 2 & 4b

Lawn 8 - Maugham is setting up for a pop on Burchs h1 ball before h5 rather than the QPO

Lawn 2 - Chapman is steadily going round, he is now making 1b

Lawn 1 - Mulliner has missed a 3 yarder after 1b

Lawn 7 - Patel must has shot at partner from a baulk and rushed it to h3! Handy! Takes off to Bamfords balls to get a h4 pioneer and rush to h2

Lawn 1 - Rothman seems to have taken a lift and missed towards corner 2, Mulliner now has a 7 yarder which he misses.

Lawn 2 - Chapman has gone to 3b, leaving Deaths balls across c2, His own h1 ball in c4 and his 3b ball in c1. He must have got two pops so i assume Death is now 3&3, but im not certain

Lawn 8 - Maugham has got 2 pops on Burchs ball on the way to 4b

Lawn 2 - Death took of from the ball in c4 to the ball in c1, then took off to partner just east of c2, got a rush on it and rushes it to north boundary in front of h3

Lawn 7 - Patel has a peel done and is working around to 1b

Lawn 2 - Death needs to approach h4 from c4 for a break, Plays it with a drive sending a ball out to between h6 & h3, does well, gets a 1ft hoop, runs it but his h5 pioneer is over behind h5 so needs a good roll

Lawn 8 - Burch ignores his contact instead deciding to take his lift with the 3b ball and rush his 7 yarder down the east boundary to make 3b

Lawn 1 - Rothman is approaching penult with a couple of balls in the middle of the lawn so should finish this turn

Lawn 7 - Death has gone to 1b and made a spread

Lawn 1 - Rothman has taken the first game

Lawn 8 - Jamie made 3, has left his h1 ball on east boundary level with h4, his 4b ball in c4, Maughams 4b ball just south east of h6 and Maughams h1 ball north west of h2

Lawn 7 - Patel has a straight rover peel to do

Lawn 2 - Death left a rush for his h3 ball, Chapman missed the long lift so Death rushed in front of 1b, peeled it going to the ball left at the peg, rushed that the east boundary by h4 and takes off in to c4 to get a rush to h3! could be an outrageous turn.....what did i say!

Lawn 7 - Patel pegs out to finish his tp to win the first game
Lawn 8 - Maugham take the longest shot he can find of the lawn, his h1 from behind h2 to the ball in c4, middles it and stomps after it with determination, should be a standard tp from here

Lawn 2 - Death has changed his mind, moved the balls around and is now going for the QPO, gets the first peel after h4

Lawn 1 - Rothman has run h2 with the first break of game 2

Lawn 8 - Maugham needs to approach h1 with a 5 yard backward take off, runs the hoop and is hampered, looks tough, straight through the hoop but far enough through that he cant follow through. Calls a ref, hits it very hard and makes a roquet, this should be it for game 2

Lawn 7 - Death approaching 1b, hasnt got the 4b peel yet, will be attempting it going to 2b

Lawn 7 - For some reason partner was on 4b so he has to use his 1b reception ball to canon that out the way, Jaws the peel but only rushes to near h5, rolls up to 2b, looks long, runs it, its starting to get outrageous

They were lawn 2

Lawn 2 - Death is now for 3b, hasnt got the 4b peel, hes in trouble now

Lawn 7 - Bamford has won the opening on the east boundary with a ball in c2

Lawn 1 - not watching but Rothmans clip is on h5, Mulliner now in play

Lawn 8 - Maugham not making this standard tp look easy, peel was jawsed after h3, no forward rush out of 5, nothing serious but youd expect better

Lawn 7 - Death has the peel jawsed before 4b, has to jump over it, peels it but fails the hoop

Lawn 8 - Maugham has set up to peel penult before 1b.

Lawn 7 - Bamford is for h2 and has a cannon in c2

Lawn 1 - Mulliner has made 5, I suspect he will go to 1b and lay for an sxp

Lawn 8 - Maugham jawses rover peel before 2b

Lawn 2 - Chapman has a break and a double peel to do, I wont bother keeping an eye on that one

Lawn 1 - Mulliner had a good position to make a diagonal spread but hasnt managed to get the peg ball anywhere where it needs to be. This will be a B spread

Lawn 7 - Bamford has the balls out, apporaching 5, he will be laying for a sxp

I can smell lunch

Lawn 1 - Mulliner is taking ages to position his rush, Rothman is standing on the other side of the court watching impatiently

Lawn 8 - Maugham has taken the second

Lawn 1 - Rothman took the short shot from A baulk and has hit

Lawn 7 - As expected its a diagonal spread from Bamford with a rush for his h1 ball

I had a conversation with Paddy earlier in the week about pork pies, he says he is a big fan. I asked him if he had ever had a gala pie, he hadnt so i tried to explain what it was to him, he said hes not a big fan of boiled egg though so perhaps wouldnt like them as much. Well anyway there is gala pie today for lunch so i will try to force feed him to see what happens.

Burch and Maugham and lunching, Maugham is doing some friendly (for a change) management

Sam Murray seems to have just purchased a baseball cap from the CA shop and now looks even worse than normal, he has got a very tight tshirt on today too

thats why we call him tshirt

Lawn 2 - Chapman is up to 4b with both peels done so will be 2-0 at lunch

Lawn 7 - Patel missed the long lift, Bamford has made h1 with partner at h2. after 1 he roquets the reception ball and takes off to the ball in c4. Hogan roll to send out a h3 pioneer going to h2, looks ok but i think he will be a tad disappointed with how short both balls were

James is desperate for lunch, hes waving at Paddy

Paddy ignores him but comes down to the clubhouse anway

Lawn 1 - Rothman seems to have taken two breaks to 4b

Lawn 7 - Bamford peeled 1b after 2 and has made h3 with a forward rush

Lawn 7 - Reg hasnt rushed in front of 2b very well for the peel before h4. Looks devasted, arms crossed, cannot believe it. Manages to jaws the peel anyway but leaves himself a 3 yard rush

Paddy went for the gala pie without any persuasion from me, i wonder if he will eat the egg

Lawn 1 - Mulliner has gone on to the lawn to inspect the Rothmans diagonal spread, again he hasnt taken a mallet with him

Lawn 7 - Bamford rushed very well for h4, gets a h6 pioneer which is well west and rush peels 2b before h5

Lawn 1 - Mulliner is taking his lift and shooting at partner at peg from A baulk

Lawn 1 - Mulliner hits, this is his h1 ball so options for a SXP or TPO, we all know that he loves both

Lawn 1 - Mulliner appears to have not approached h1. He wonders up to h2 with his hand on his hip, looking at the floor, not happy at all. He left partner in the middle of the lawn so no easy way to retain the innings here

Lawn 7 - Bamford has doe 3 peels, his 2b pioneer is at 4b, he is now taking off to his 1b pioneer near 1b

Lawn 1 - Mulliner has joined up in the middle of the lawn, giving Rothman a massive massive massive double with his h1 ball and his 4b ball at h1. This should be another standard tp for 2-0 to Rothman

Paddy has eaten all of his pie

Goacher and Andrew Hope are still in play - I did not expect that!

Actually I did

Lawn 7 - Bamford only manages to jaws 4b peel before 2b, shakes his head, cut rush to 2b is good but the strikers ball nearly collided with peele in the jaws

Lawn 1 - Again Rothman hasnt managed to get a good h3 pioneer, has to rush partner there from 2 or 3 yards away

Lawn 1 - Again has to peel from yards away rather than feet, doesnt look suprised but i would be disappointed from the start he had

Lawn 1 - Rothman wonders round to the other side of the hoop to line the peel up

Lawn 7 - Bamford has 2 peels to do and is approaching 3b. Peelee is south of penult tho

Lawn 7 - Bamford has got peelee somewhere near the jaws of penult before 4b

Lawn 1 - Rothman has peeled 4b and now rushed it to 6 before taking off to h5

Lawn 1 - Rothman has a backward take off approach to h5 and another 3 yard return roquet

Lawn 1 - Rothman plays a roll sending out a 1b pioneer which is short and has another 3 yarder which he hits to in front of h3. Now plays a better ball sending out an escape ball for the penult peel and getting a rush in the right direction on partner by 6.

Lawn 7 - Bamford gets a straight penult peel from in the jaws

Lawn 7 - Bamford hits his rush in front of rover a bit short, hes quite angled, no idea of distance. Cant see him going for an irish peel here, he has an ok deep ball

Lawn 7 - it was a stop shot, got the peel and jumps over it to the boundary, maybe a 4 yarder back, no problem so 1-1 and perhaps lunch for Reg

Lots of people coming back from far away lawns, but not Hope & Goacher!

Lawn 1 - Rothman is going for the Rover peel before 3b, but hes not got a great pioneer to go to, looks ok to indicates to stephen that it is through

Reg and James having a chat near corner 4 of lawn 7, Paddy going back up to lawn 2 to start game 3

Maugham and Burch have started again but Im going to go and do something else now, then play my plate game but perhaps I will do some more commentary this afternoon or tomorrow

Lawn 1 - Rothman has done all the peels of his tp and ran 4 so that will be 2-0 to him!