Good morning from Cairnlea!

Reg started with black, standard east boundary ball.
G1T2 Edward plays yellow 4 feet west of hoop 6

That duffer must be also reasonably south of the hoop as Reg is lining up a shot at partner from the south boundary. He hit a lot yesterday.

G1T3 Looks very surprised when blue misses to the left. No double (well, apart from the looong double from B baulk which I generally don't enjoy shooting at)

G1T4 Edward taking the short shot at Reg's balls from A baulk - generally would expect a shot at the duffer, but it must have been shaded by the hoop to not take that on?? - misses. Reg now has everything

G1T5 Reg pops red out, rushes black to yellow, and has to step over hoop 6 to get to his rush to hoop 1 - suggesting yellow was a couple of yards south of hoop 6 as a very very deep duffer. Anyway, after a wee technical delay Reg is through 1, has a slightly loose initial break. Has to approach 2 from a bit south east - looks at it a bit unimpressed as he now has a 2foot? slightly angled hoop 2. Reg is on lawn 4, so that's quite a long way away.

Reg through to the north boundary and he now has everything. Contemplating smashing black across the lawn to pick up red, and takes this line of play, we'll drop back in when Reg is considering a leave, as this is just a 4 ball break now.

ok, if there's anyone reading this with a bit of croquet history knowledge, we're trying to fill in the gaps of player grips in the world rankings system. I'll throw some names up, please email me if you can advise the grips used by those players (meanwhile Reg still going around in perfect control, I expect a spread)

Top ranked player who we don't know the grip of: Zack Watson of the USA. answers to physjcw@gmail.com.
Alas the live streaming isn't taking advantage of Chris's knowledge. Waste of a resource there.

Let's use that here....

Edward put in a long duffer west to try to make it harder for Reg to get going (putting hoop 6 in the way) as Reg tends to take that A baulk shot at partner on east boundary with the intention of going around 3rd turn off a duffer.

However a bit show of lack of confidence from Edward in turning down a probable 13 yarder at partner in favour of that 16 yarder - either he didn't trust his shooting enough that he felt a 2foot wide target was indeed a target at Reg's balls, or didn't fancy going around if he instead hit his duffer. Hopefully he'll settle in better.

How about Kiley Jones' grip? - LH irish?

Reg is now through 1, has yellow at the peg, red at 3back, it will indeed be a spread.

remember - answers to our grip survey to physjcw@gmail.com

How about Rohan Carter of Aust.. hasn't played ina while :)

Reg is now making 3back, yellow and black happily snuggled by the peg.

Working on grips with Chris's encyclopediac (sp?) knowledge, came to Andrew Winn.... my co-commentator pipes up "that's how I like to report my results... Andrew win!". I second that.

G1T5: Reg now completing a fairly deep diagonal spread. Solid start there.

G1T6: Edward lifts red from near hoop 2, shoots from the end of A baulk at black on the boundary... big swings... misses.

G1T7 Should be an easy standard TP for Reg to get a comfortable start to this match, Starts by chipping red out into the lawn, then rushes blue out - seems to have rushed it a bit short, but maybe just fancied that ratio of croquet stroke - played it beautifully, and follows up with a lovely rush to hoop 1. He's off. Red will serve as not too bad a hoop 4 pioneer.

Reg now through hoop 2, has rushed partner to the middle of north boundary. Rolls it in to try to get peeling position... sends it maybe 3 yards straight south of hoop 3

To give you an indication of the lawn allocations here... a spectator just said "I should have brought a pair of binoculars".

The Salver is a new trophy invented for losing quarter finalists, only two available to play, Felix v James. In this 12 lawn venue, we've had the third game of Aiken v Alison in the plate bumped off lawn 1, and James and Felix are playing on the lawn Felix spent all day yesterday on. Still, less insensible than the quarter finals being played on the outer lawns yesterday.

Back to the action, and it looks like Reg has put blue in the jaws of 4b - he didn't run hoop 3 by enough to have a chance to rush partner back closer to the hoop, so it was a fairly long straight peel attempt. Shouldn't be too much issue for the South African player.

Reg through hoop 4, rushes red directly up to hoop 6 and he's taking off to rushpeel partner.

Interestingly, with these new Humpty made balls the big pass roll is back, so it's relatively easy to smash a jawsed 4b peel through to the north boundary and pass roll it to 6 going to partner at hoop 5. Still, Reg will probably be more refined than that, and just nudges partner through the hoop and will take off to yellow at hoop 5 and look to get a rush out of the hoop.

Takes off back to hoop5 … no rush... rushes yellow off the east boundary
level with hoop 4

Has a wander up the lawn to check out the space around blue and he's lining up a huge croquet stroke...

...and plays it perfectly! Yellow within a foot of 1back and black has a rush towards hoop 6 with a bit of cut.

_
James has returned from lawn 7... "I seem to have stuck in 1-back". Indeed. He has stuck in 1back with partner 5 yards north of it, and Felix cross wired by hoop4 - one ball at 1 one at hoop 4. Felix shoots from 1 at James.. misses_

Still G1T7: Reg rolls blue as a deep penult peelee and approaches 6 off red. Doesn't run 6 by far, but hits partner ok, and has another longish peel.

This is a bit of a psychological challenge for Edward - he's a really quick player, and Reg is quite measured in his pace. The game has been going 70 minutes and Edward has had two shots.

Lining up what really is quite a long peel. Red is north of the hoop to enable a straight peel, but he'll still have to give the back ball a bit. Here we go... rejection!

Reg smashes red off the west boundary. Didn't move it very far north of yellow, but will be fine.

Fantastic morning for the text commentary team so far (well, particularly this half of it). Wee Lyla Bassett shared her delicious Macca's pancakes with myself and Andrew (and heated it for us!), then Andrew has just delivered me a cup of coffee.

Reg has got things messy! Leaves red about 8 yards north north east of 2back, he could have left a longer rush on yellow to 1back and got that closer, and he'll be looking to death roll to that ball, so wants it tidier.

Through 1back and lining up another big croquet stroke to pioneer 3b and get onto peelee. Yellow is a couple of yards short, but rather nice still, left a 4 footer on peelee - has he hit it too far to peel getting past the hoop?? - seems ok...

Another gorgeous croquet stroke - blue is peeled to a few yards from rover and Reg has about a 1 foot rush pointing straight at 2back! I did a death roll in my TP against Greg the other day.. and glued the peelee to the peg. Still, anything that ends up with the peelee through and a good rush to 2back gets a lot of marks from me.

James is back in having got two peels down, peelee rush peelable, just wanting to run 5 without a rush - fails hoop 5. These consolation games often degenerate into hack
fests.

Meanwhile Reg through 2back, another nice croquet stroke sees a tight 4back pioneer and rush to rover, Yellow is a bit north west of 3back but there's plenty of room to get the peel.

Reg jawses blue, has rushed and approached nicely to 3back, considering his options at rover after running the hoop with a north-east rush.

let's try to be competent and have some italics as we check in with the messy Salver match. Felix rushpeeled James (looking for QPO no doubt), and then misapproached 1 and laid up with a rush. James shoots with the ball he wants to play rather than partner which is a tight hoop 2 pioneer for Felix. Misses.

Reg has left blue where it is, makes 4back and will croquet red south of the peg going to a slightly northern penult pioneer.

Sorry, red sent just south (and a bit west) of the peg.

Felix now taking full advantage of the gifts from James

Reg now through penult and has a trivial finish.

nice croquet stroke from Felix sees him in full control. He has played well this tournament

Bright yellow referee on the lawn for Reg's rover peel - I suspect blue was somewhat on the wire, as it has been in the jaws of rover for some time now. Plays the croquet stroke - absolutely standard stroke with no problems, and now rushing to the peg

£££Reg wins game 1 26TP-0£££

Sorry for the pound signs, Chris has a whacky keyboard and we were hoping the symbol on shift-3 might yet work as there appears to be no hash key.

Reg wins game 1 26TP-0 leads Edward Wilson 1-0

meanwhile Felix is having a 1back leave - a standard one rather than a ladies leave that James did

James pointing out he had some difficulties which led to the leave rather than initial intent

oops - James now pointing out that Felix is doing a ladies leave!

well, he did rush there from hoop 1

James shooting...misses

On Reg's lawn hoop 1 has left the ground, so we'll be waiting a wee while there. Reg and Edward deep in conversation on the sideline

Hoop 5 now getting some attention.

Felix making hoop 2 with the peelee jawsed in 2back, decent start

You'll have to look at Andrew's commentary for the stats section, but I can't find any evidence of Reg and Edward having played before.

You'll have to look at Andrew's commentary for the stats section, but I can't find any evidence of Reg and Edward having played before.
While hoop 6 is getting attention we'll have a look at what's going on in the Salver...

Felix went down to rush peel 2back after 2... but left it in the jaws!!! - not a great place to be taking off to a hoop 3 pioneer from, despite it being south-west of hoop 3. Takes off quite well, but misses the 8 yarder. But then James misses also

Felix is back now, so it appears James had joined up and Felix missed

Game 2

G2T1 Edward plays black about 5 yards south west of the peg as a shortish
supershot

G2T1 Edward plays black about 5 yards south west of the peg as a shortish
supershot

G2T2
Reg to maximum distance spot

G2T3 Edward up to corner 3, stalking - blue at yellow. This is long, but at least this is one of the courts with a more reliable east boundary. ...HITS!!!

Edward rushes yellow off the south boundary south of hoop 4. Croquet stroke is excellent, getting a good hoop 2 pioneer and an easy cut to hoop 1. Maybe 2-3 yards on it, but he should be happy enough with that.

Plays a very unconvincing rush to 1 - Stephen Forster agrees that if he'd hit it centrally it wasn't getting to hoop 1. As it is he snicks it - and has a very long takeoff. Takes off long and has a long slightly angled hoop 1 - which he runs to the north boundary. Powerful return roquet rushes his hoop 2 pioneer off the west boundary level with hoop 1 - that's a handy position for this third turn break.

Croquets yellow well to hoop 3 and plays a decent cut on black to about 8 yards south of hoop 2. Long approach, but it's straight.

Approaches 2 to straight in front, but it looks long.. hits it straight into the lefthand wire. Reg has about a 5.5 yarder on yellow at hoop 3.

G2T4: Reg has a 5.5 yarder, Edward is on hoop 2 with blue having bounced off to maybe in front of the lefthand wire, which makes it unattractive to rush to 1. Chris stating that 'it's not Reg's length'.
Reg lines up red at yellow...

looks like James has broken down again - seems to have taken off off the lawn going nearish the boundary south of hoop 4. Greg did that in our round 2 match, and I tried to do the same, but got incredibly lucky by running smack into Greg's ball down there. It's faster on that south boundary of lawn 7, and is also considerably downhill.

Reg... hits.. rushing yellow halfway between hoops 3 and 4

Nope - James missed a rush to 3back.

Reg takes off to black, rushes it close to blue, clearly blue will rush to 1, although it's a bit tight.

Felix appeared to hit in with his hoop 3 ball, rushpeels one of Ja
mes' balls through 4back... and sticks in hoop 3!

G2T4 Reg has rushed blue really nicely to hoop 1, has approached it to slightly angled, but basically has all the balls.

Through 1 without a rush, but yellow between 3 and 4 and black is a decent hoop 2 pioneer. Has a 2-3 yard return pointing back at hoop 1, and cuts it a bit wide of hoop 1 to make things easy. Needs a big croquet stroke, but finally we're seeing someone consistently play those well.

These balls have been interesting to get used to again - they are a lot more like Barlow balls than the traditional lovely Dawsons. They pull a LOT more, the back ball goes a LOT further, and weak rushes get badly punished.

Reg croquets blue very nicely to a couple of feet north of hoop 3 and has a 3 yarder on yellow pointing WNW, which he hits well towards the peg, so all the balls are now
fully under control.

Jim Bast has popped by with a great anecdote about learning croquet at the time of Nigel Aspinall being at the top of his game. He asked him 'why do you use Solomon grip for this shot, and Irish grip for this shot, and Standard grip for this shot'. Nigel's reply..."Do I?". Fantastic.

James has a clip on the peg. I think his other clip is still on 3back, and Felix is shooting into corner 4... must have hit as James is coming back... nailed something.

James has advised Felix hit the "front edge" of that

G2T4 Reg on hoop 4. Should be a standard ball around and another spread I reckon.

Felix approaching 3 again, but from long. Ball drifts sideways and he has a 40 degree hoop - has a huge swing at it, hoop moves a mile, ball not so much and James is back on. I'm not sure if he can see anything

Yellow and blue are quite close together down in invisible corner 4, so this should be it

Looks like Aiken must have won round 2 of the plate KO against Alison, as we didn't see her on the lawn at all. Of course, hard to see their lawn as they were moved from lawn 1 (last night) to lawn 9 (this morning)

Felix is pacing a little, so it appears James may have run 3back. He has balls at 4back and penult, so we're looking likely to be into a decider, but I really can't see around that corner.. hope... looks like he didn't have a good rush to 3back and he has run it firmly. Lines it back on 2 yards west of corner 3 (!) on the north boundary and centres his 4back pioneer. Two hugely talented players on that lawn. It would be interesting to see how Felix progressed if he spent a season playing a lot of croquet in the UK. However he's at Med School, so that'll wait a while as he trains to do amazing things off the lawn also.

Meanwhile Reg has made hoop 5, puts partner to 2back and is croqueting black to 1back going to blue at hoop 6. All very tidy with pioneers in textbook positions.

James through 4back, has a decent northern penult pioneer and has rushed the reception ball towards corner 4 suggesting the other ball is there somewhere

Reg is just having another tight ball around. Chris very pleased with this event which has seen many people failing to get peels done and having balls to the peg - not a disrespectful comment on the play, just that the conditions have some challenge and are giving the opportunity to have some pegged out endings. Felix Webby has been strong after pegging out oppo, and Ian Burridge had a classic match with David Maugham in the main event.

James has won game 1 of the Salver. Sadly it's best of three as it's quite entertaining. Michael's summary: a very scrappy first game, with lots of attempts at getting things done that didn't happen. ok, I got forgetful at the very end and paraphrased the last few words

Reg runs 2back from very nicely in front. It is indeed going to be another spread. It'll be interesting to see if he needs to change his tactics against Robbie.

Reg through 3back with a rush towards the peg.

A quick check on the events around us:

Plate: nearly into the semis, Aiken Hakes (NZL) v Brian Cumming (Can), Alain Giraud (Eng) v winner of the decider between Harps Tahurangi (NZL) and Stephen Morgan (USA).

Hakes v Cumming on lawn 12. a comment from a cheeky spectator "I wonder what the odds are on an 'encounter' between Hakes and Cumming if either one rubs the other the wrong way". Probably a good thing they're on lawn 12...

Salver: James Death (ENG) leads Felix Webby (NZL) 1-0

Shield: no sign of a game 1 result in best of three between Nunns (promoted into the shield to fill a gap then beat Ben Rothman yesterday) and Mulliner (who is in my fantasy team)

Reg has finished his 4th turn break, blue (for hoop 2) is by the peg, black up towards east boundary, yellow and red quite southerly.

Bowl (round 1 KO losers) is in the semis. Samir Patel won the first on lawn 1 against Richard Smith after Smith failed rover when about to peg Samir out and give us some excitement, but Samir has just stuck in hoop5 and been rush peeled by Richard. No news from Dumergue v Shilling - that could be a longish one Dumergue approaching 1back on lawn 2, clips are...4 and 3back for Shilling, red looks like it might be being peeled at the moment.

G2T5 Edward lifts blue from the peg, shoots from the end of A baulk again, misses again.
G2T6 Reg off again.

Stephen Forster confirms that Dumergue has two peels completed of a TP in game 1 vs Shilling in the bowl. Good to see a few kiwis still in action. Why am I not playing? - I'm pretty tired and find consolation matches a bit anticlimactic after trying to win a main event. Another quarter final was pleasing, but need to do better against these world number 1s (I always get Robbie or Reg in quarter finals of AC and GC worlds ho hum). The match against Greg in round 2 went about 12.5 hours, somewhat like the 15 hour day of Aussie open doubles semis and finals.

Reg through hoop 1, puts black to hoop 4 and has rushed blue across to the west boundary. Red is a good hoop 2 pioneer.

Needs to dribble off hoop 2 pioneer from longer than pleasing, but it's all good. Misapproaches 2 a bit and has an angled hoop, but should be fine.

Runs 2 with control.

Rushes red about 8 yards south south east of hoop 3, rolling up to blue with another very tidy croquet stroke. Reg on a standard TP turn 6.

James and Felix have started game 2. James has put blue a foot out of corner 3 to encourage Felix to have a go at a 4th turn break. Not a great rush to hoop 1, but should suffice. Seems like a cunning tactic to get partner to do some auto popping.

Reg through hoop 3 but again has a long peel

Felix through 1, rolling up to 2 from well south of the peg

Very nice stroke but will need to wibble through hoop 2 to get a rush to 3

Felix doesn't wibble. Powers through 2 to the boundary. Rush back is pointing at hoop 5

Reg's peel rejects, so it'll be a delayed TP

Felix rushes blue a couple of yards ENE of the peg and takes off to hoop 3. Not his favourite hoop on this lawn. Fails a longish angled hoop into the front

turn 4 james misses the shot at yellow in hoop 3

Reg has run hoop 4 and rushed back into corner 3 - turns out the people I was trying to get information about the peel totally misled me - the peel is through!!! Reg peeled 4back after 3 (it's quite a long way away)

After quite a long competition to work out the ParkRun order of finish of Avery Burridge Chang Fisher and Galpin, we're back to the action. Reg has made 5, has peelee at 6, rolling up to peelee with a good 1back pioneer.

Felix looks like he wanted to have a go at a 10peel turn, so has removed partner from hoop 3, but not mated a lot of progress. James shooting at partner

Reg approaching hoop 6 off peelee. Runs the hoop to north of partner this time and very gently roquets it. Will be peeling from very short and quite straight. This one looks to be in the bag. (attempting commentator curse to get some interaction here)

Felix still seated so evidently James hit from 2 to 1. Makes hoop 1, has a ball 9 yards south of 2 and a good 3 pioneer. I'm guessing it'll be another 1-back leave, though maybe another ladies one unless he pops yellow to 4. And maybe a pop on red to 2 at some stage.

Reg has peeled red nicely down to 2 feet to the side of rover and plays another lovely croquet stroke putting out a good 2back pioneer from the middle of the north boundary getting a tidy rush to 1back

James has grovelled through 3 having peeled yellow (straight?) and hits - looks like it'll be a standard sextuple leave

Excitement

Reg calls a fluorescent referee onto the lawn. It's unclear if he has run 1back, or just approached it to very very close to the wire. Removes the blue clip from on top of hoop 2...

Not sure what was going on there as he just plays a normal standing up stroke and hits blue. Looks like he tried to run the hoop very short to have a rush on blue. But not that much drama really.

Interestingly, top kiwi referee Graham Roberts appears to favour "close marking" as he termed it yesterday. That means putting markers very very close to critical balls, rather than at a bit of distance to ensure no accidental contacts. In one of Ian Burridge's block games, a referee nudged a hampered ball when marking Jim Nicholls' ball after running hoop 5 badly - it's good to avoid those disasters and surprising and a little alarming to watch markers being put really close to critical balls.

After a couple of nice strokes Reg has good pioneers and is peeling rover from about a foot going to his 2back pioneer. Nice turn this.

I believe the record for marker use was 9 for a sweep shot. Nice to see markers in use though.

Update on the Shield: we're up to the shield final and Dominic Nunns, who appears to be at Victoria Market, has helpfully advised that the shield final will take place tomorrow. Thanks Dom, great option going to that market - I have had a couple of very enjoyable walks through there.

James does indeed pop Felix from 3 to 4 and from 1 to 2 and has a standard 1back leave (cross wire at 2 and him joined in corner 3). Felix misses

Reg got the peel through before 2back, now just a 4 ball break to take a 2 game lead. This is a big challenge for Edward to come back from.

Reg has won game 2 26TP-1 Leads Edward 2-0*

Edward advises he hasn't won a match from 2-0 down.

On other lawns, Brian Cumming is finishing an equalising break against Hakes on lawn 12 in their Plate semi. Alain Giraud is lunching and will then play Stephen Morgan who has had a morning's warmup beating Harps Tahurangi in the other half of the plate

James has missed peelee at 3back with a fair bit of hill, he seems to be on 1back

Samir and Richard are break all with Richard having a lift in the Bowl

Some interest on lawn 2 with Ian Dumergue not finishing his TP and getting pegged out by Shilling - two clips on 3back and Shilling obviously on the peg also. Dumergue has just missed a bit of a death shot into a guarded corner 4

Reg heading back out to the lawn with a mars bar. 11.50, I guess they'll start game three now.

Jose Riva has just returned after a few days as a tourist. He'll be back in contention next world champs - London I believe

Shilling in the Bowl semi (?) has just run 3back ..hampered...with yellow halfway to 4back on what should be a finishing turn.

Yellow glowy referee onto the lawn in the other semi as Reg and Edward chat. The yellow shirts are obviously to make the refs easily findable, however with tribes of them roaming around the lawns and very often in the line of shots or peripheral vision of players with the unmissable bright tops.

On lawn 1 Richard has missed a short shot at Samir, leaving the NSL ball on the wire of hoop 4. Samir taps Richard's ball and is lining up a promotion to bombard red to hoop 1 going to black near hoop 4. Don't really want to overhit this, but it's a massive opportunity for an easy pickup.

lovely shot - red is promoted to 6 inches north of hoop 1 and he rushes black south of hoop 5 - very nice

meanwhile Felix has failed hoop 6 after hitting in with his hoop 4 ball when James hilled off partner on his sextuple. I suspect James will try to create a finishing turn somehow - from 1back and 3back

James has now peeled 6, but oddly Felix comes on and they have a quick hug- looks like something dreadful happened... James returning...

All 4 balls between hoops 6 and 4back. James got in with blue... forgot it was for 1back! - he ran hoop 6... - Felix enjoying his Christmas treat!

And we're back - Game three is about to start - Reg leads his semi-final with Edward 2-0

And we're back - Game three is about to start - Reg leads his semi-final with Edward 2-0

G3T1 Reg plays black to a standard east boundary position

G3T2 Edward mixing things up a bit is shooting at black from corner 3... HITS - rushes black to a yard west of corner 4. I expect him to leave this a little north of the corner and shoot into a mirror position in corner 2

Nope - attempts to approach hoop 1. Doesn't get particularly close and is contemplating a more-than-45 deg hoop... no - joins black in the middle of the lawn. Chris Clarke very happy with this choice of play. Black 2-3 yards west of the peg, yellow 2-3 yards east of the peg.

Chris advises that Edward has been doing this all tournament.

G3T3 Reg considering his options. Standing at C baulk, a few yards east of A baulk and has lain his mallet down as if he's thinking of playing from there. Hmmm.

meanwhile on lawn 11 Brian Cumming was having a second break, however it appears to have broken as Aiken is on the lawn. Looks like Aiken had a looooong go at hoop 1 and has failed it. Partner appears to on the west boundary just south of the line of 1 and 4, so he still has the innings.

G3T3. Reg now has partner up near the end of B baulk, Nope, coming down to A baulk again.

I need to head off to Geelong shortly, but hopefully someone will take over this commentary thread. Maybe Michael Wright, though we haven't seen him sine being shoed away from the corner of the distant lawns by people in glowy yellow.

Reg has a wait for Samir on an adjacent lawn, and is now on the end of A baulk looking at shooting at partner which would miss to north of hoop 2.

G3T3
Finally shoots... rushes black to east of hoop 2 - that was a lovely stroke. Yellow east of the peg, has a takeoff+rush for a third turn break.

James is still chatting to the kiwi spectators, so Felix must be going around. Aiken striding onto the lawn on 11, and Shilling is taking croquet in corner 2 so that break didn't finish earlier, but he's still in control, and the yellow (opposition) clip is still on 3back. Pegging oppo out has been predominantly successful.

Reg has his hands full now - has taken off badly and rushed to halfway between hoop 1 and 2!! - takes off - beautifully - to directly south of hoop 1. It's not that long either. great recovery.

Runs hoop 1 to the north boundary. Now has about an 8-9 yarder on black and yellow is between 1 and 2, so hitting this well would get things back on track. Black is well west of hoop 2 at the moment, so that takeoff to get a rush to hoop 1 was a thick takeoff which he overdid.

Shooting at black... maybe a 10 yarder..

misses!! to 2 yards east of corner 1 - quite a lovely position for Edward!

I have to go. Hope someone takes over so I can follow the action on the way into Geelong.

Edward makes hoop 1 with all the balls in play. Should be a simple 4bb to 4b ….

Red is now on 4b, and Reg faces a diagonal spread. The angle is fairly sharp - Red and Yellow level with hoop 5. He lifts the hoop 2 ball (Blue) to shoot from the end of A baulk..

Reg misses. Edward flicks Blue infield, and rushes Red towards the peg. Hoop 2 is loaded, and Black is rushed towards hoop 1.

Edward makes hoop 1. The break is now under control. His partner is at hoop 2, so we may have a delayed triple peel.

Ed rolling peelee into position from in front of hoop 6 for a standard TP

Peelee went a yard or so too far but hoop 3 successfully made and a delayed attempt coming up

Ed gets very good position on peelee after 4 and is looking at a rush peel

Goes for it and it bounces off 2 yards E of the hoop, looks like he can position it well enough taking off to 5

The attempt going to 6 is all a bit ragged probably peeling from 4 feet 20 degrees. If he plays it straight his rush will be 3 yards

Gets the peel and takes the 3 yard rush to 2 yards W of 6

Underhitrs the approach and smashes through a 30 degree hoop to the N boundary

Opting for peelee which is probably slightly longer than the ball he made 6 off. Misses it running hoop 3 to the E boundary level with 4

Reg has about a 5 yarder from hoop 6 to 1back. It wont be an easy pick up with peelee just through 4 back

Reg hits it and rushes it to hoop 2 which is what he is for with that ball - a somewhat easier pick-up!

Reg's hoop 4 pioneer hits the peg so still a bit of work to do, making 3 with balls level with 4 on the boundary and 2 yards SW of the peg

Goes slightly S of the ball by the peg rolling out the hoop 5 pioneer, good cut needed

Probably hoped to do a bit better about a 5 yard take off to get the rush to 4

Stays on by about 6" and rushes ok to 6 he should be ok from here

Didn't really move the back ball approaching 5 but copes with an angled hoop and gets hoop and roquet

He's got as far as 1back on his 4ball break

Looks like Reg will be making an orthodox spread with the 1back ball at the peg

Edward lifts Yellow and takes the long shot down the EB. He hits Black!

Blue is rushed over to the West boundary close to corner II, and sent down to pioneer 2b. Yellow travels too far, and the rush on Red points to corner II. He cuts it to 5 yards North of 1b, and approaches the hoop well. Black is waiting close to 3b already, so he should not have any trouble setting a leave.

Of course he does not set a leave - his other clip is on penult.

After 4-back, Edward rushes Red in front of Penult, and peels it to 4 yards south-west of Rover

The rush on Red leaves it in front of Rover, almost straight. He peels it to within a couple of yards of the south boundary.

Takes off from Black, which is 4 yards East of Red, and ends about 12 inches West of Red.

A sharp cut sends Red towards Rover - it stops short, with the peg visible. It will be a long peg-out …. about 8 yards.

Red barrels past the peg, and hits hoop 6. Yellow is pegged off. Will Reg attempt a 3-ball triple?

Samir captured the peg-out attempt on camera … the line-up is perfect, but the mallet hit at an angle. The striker's ball actually hit Rover!

Reg has sent Red close to corner I, and has taken up residence in corner III with Blue and Black.

Edward calls for an umpire …. lines up the shot …. and hits!!!!

Match score is now 2-1 to Reg.

Game 4

Edward puts out a supershot with Blue - 4 yards SW of the peg

Reg puts Yellow in the middle of the East boundary

Edward shoots from B baulk, missing, and yards in about 5 yards North of corner IV

Reg makes a double of the 2 balls on the east boundary from B baulk. He shoots - and scores a Hogan error - his Red passes through the gap between the balls.

Edward plays Red to pioneer hoop 2, and pivots off Yellow to use his original supershot ball as a hoop 1 pioneer. He rushes past the hoop, and takes croquet 4 yards south-west of the hoop

He runs a very angled hoop 1, leaving a return roquet of 6 yards. No problem hitting it, and he now has a break under control.

Edward finishes the break with the Black clip on 4-back, and a diagonal spread with Red at the peg.

Reg lifts Red and shoots from B baulk - narrowly misses Blue and ends up in corner IV

Edward rushes Black over, and loads hoop 2. He rushes Yellow onto the wire of hoop 1. A little take-off gives him a good hoop position. A firm hoop stroke ensures that bouncing off Yellow does not leave him in the jaws - hoop made, break established. It will be a delayed triple though....

The approach to hoop 3 leaves Edward with an impossible angle - looks like 60 degrees - he is thinking of what to do ….

He is looking at the hoop …. but decides to play into corner II instead.

Black is 3 yards NW of hoop 4, with Red in corner IV and Yellow close to hoop 3. Reg is lining up the shot from Yellow to Red, but missing that gives Edward a short-ish shot to regain the innings …….

Reg shoots with yellow, and hits Red!

The approach to hoop 1 is not perfect - Reg takes a long time to decide to run the hoop. He fails, and Yellow bounces back from the hoop, but remains wired from Black.

Edward shoots with Blue from corner II, at Black (north of hoop 1) - misses to just west of corner IV

Reg runs hoop 1 with Yellow to the north boundary

Correction Reg did not run the hoop - he played past the hoop to the boundary

Edward shoots at Red with Black from 6 yards North of hoop 1 - hits!
This is his 4-back ball

Red is left close to the North boundary, 2 yards East of hoop 1, and Yellow is rushed to the middle of the South boundary. From there, it is sent to halfway between hoop 3 and the East boundary, and Black joins Blue in corner IV.

Blue has a tight rush on Black to hoop 3.

(or maybe the rush is to Red....) hard to see the angle

Reg shoots with Yellow at Red, misses. Lines Yellow in just West of hoop 2.

Edward rushes Black just past hoop 4 and takes off to Yellow. He seems intent on a delayed triple - nice and safe.

Red is rushed to hoop 3, and Edward makes the hoop. Red is rushed back to the North boundary, and then sent infield. Yellow is rushed close to the South boundary, and the 4-ball break is established.

After making hoop 4 with partner, it is sent midfield to act as a pivot. No triple??

Black gets sent towards 4-back after hoop 6. Looks like a peel attempt going to 1-back is on the cards

Edward fails to get a rush on Black after hoop 6, so the peel is abandoned and Black is back on pivot duty

correction Black was sent to 4-back after hoop 5, not 6.

No straight peel attempt, just a safe ball to the peg

The leave will be a diagonal spread. Both of Reg's clips are still on 1.
Red is the Western ball, Yellow by the peg.
Edward does not look happy with Yellow - it might be open.
Instead of setting a rush, he leaves both balls on the boundary, 6 yards apart.

Yellow is open on Red - Reg is lining up the 7 yarder. Reg hits!

Recap
Black is on 4-back, Blue is on the peg.
Red and Yellow are on hoop 1

Yellow takes off from 3 yards east of the west boundary, peg-high, to 6 inches from Blue. He takes off to get a rush on Black to hoop 1 …. but takes a bit of hill and rolls out right next to Black.

Edward flicks Yellow infield while getting a rush on Blue towards 4-back. No problems with the hoop, and he gets the remaining couple of hoops to equalise the score.

££ The semi-final will be decided by the outcome of the single remaining game ££

* The semi-final will be decided by the outcome of the single remaining game *

* The semi-final will be decided by the outcome of the single remaining game *

finally got the bold bit right :-)

Reg starts the game by playing Blue to the East boundary, 9 yards North of corner IV

Edward plays Yellow just South of corner II

Reg shoots at Blue from the end of A baulk - misses, yards Black in about 1 foot North of Blue

Edward shoots from the B baulk, 7 yards from the corner, at the double ….

misses, yards Red in 3 yards North of corner IV

Reg plays Blue, and rushes Red to 2 yards East of hoop 1

A good approach and hoop leaves Blue with a rush on Red to 10 yards East of corner I

Red is sent to East of hoop 3, with Blue hitting Black onto the East boundary

A takeoff towards corner II leaves Blue with a 3-yarder. The croquet stroke for hoop position is very good - the hoop is run to the boundary, where Yellow awaits.
The break is now under control - we expect a clip on 4-back.

Reg makes 3-back and sets a diagonal spread with Red at hoop 2, and Yellow at the peg. Black and Blue are 8 yards North of corner IV

Edward shoots with Red at Yellow (by the peg) from B baulk - misses

recap
Blue is on 4-back, with all other clips on 1

Reg rushes Blue infield, and sends it to hoop 2, obtaining a rush on Yellow towards corner IV. He cuts Yellow to the South boundary opposite hoop 4.

Yellow is flicked infield, and Red is rushed to hoop 1

After hoop 1, Red is sent to hoop 4 and Black runs into Yellow close to the South boundary - that was supposed to yield a rush North. A big croquet stroke follows, sending Yellow to hoop 3 and Black to get a rush on Blue close to hoop 2
.

Blue is rushed towards 4-back, and the hoop is made off Yellow - quite deep. The return roquet on Blue leaves it at too much of an angle to peel - it looks as if Reg is going to play it into the jaws instead.

Blue is rushed towards 4-back, and the hoop is made off Yellow - quite deep. The return roquet on Blue leaves it at too much of an angle to peel - it looks as if Reg is going to play it into the jaws instead.

Even the jaws prove difficult - Blue is left in front of 4-back. Play continues towards hoops 4 and 5

After 5, Yellow is sent deep behind hoop 6. Wiley peel coming? 4-back is not peeked yet though …. the escape ball(Red) is well South of the hoop.

Blue is peeled, but not very far through the hoop. The rush on Red leaves a 4-foot approach, with Red being sent towards 1-back

The hoop is made to the North boundary. No Wiley peel, because Blue is still just through 4-back.Red is 3 yards East of 1-back.

Yellow is sent to 2-back, and Blue is rushed clear of 4-back. A pass-roll leaves Blue close to penult, and Black with a rush on Red towards 1-back

1-back is made, and Red is sent to 3-back. Contemplating a death roll....

Very good death roll, Blue is peeled to close to Rover, and Black has a rush on Yellow to 2-back

After making 2-back, Yellow is sent to pioneer 4-back, and Blue is nudged into peeling position.

bowl update
Game 3: Schiling 4 back and peg, Dumergue 2 and 4. A time limit has been imposed - 50 minutes to go.

Rover is peeled going to 3-back. Plain sailing now …..

The last 3 hoops are made under control and Reg pegs out to win the match 3-2. Great show by both players, and best of luck to the finalists tomorrow.