G'day from Melbourne.

Morning Jimbo.
Morning Richie.

The sun is shining, the sky is blue.
Predicted to exceed 30deg Celsius today

At least one finalist prefers the coming heat to the "English" weather we've been enduring.

Play is already underway on court 9.
Morgan and Giraud finishing their Plate semi.

If Alain Giraud wins the Plate, and Samir Patel beats Chris Shilling, then all consolation events will have won by an Englishman.

Matthew Essick played in the 2016 [British] Opens at Cheltenham.
He played well to qualify for the knock-out.
In his first round he drew Reg Bamford.
Bamford won 2-0 with two sextuples.
That is their only meeting before today.

Looking at Essick's record on Statto's excellent website, we see his first ranked games were in 2009.
When he was 10 years old.
He is now 21.

The players are both here, but not yet practising.
But the ROT and the referee are approaching with a possibly significant coin.
They are practising tossing it!

The toss has been performed.
Bamford won the toss and will take play.
Or go in, if you prefer.
Essick chooses Red and Yellow.

Yesterday's predictions were not so hot.

By the law of averages, these will both be wrong:
Fletcher 3-2
Bamford 3-1

Polling a few players, all favoured Bamford, but some by just 60-40, even 55-45.
I think 80+% Bamford.

I hope I'm wrong, but I predict Bamford 3-0.

My expert predicts Bamford 3-1.
79% for the match.

When I wrote "I hope I'm wrong", it's not thru any animus toward Reg, we just want an exciting match, do we not?

Yes it has gone 8:30, yes the players are still practising.

World Championship Final

Matthew Essick v Reg Bamford

G1T1 Bamford Black 10y N of IV
T2 Essick Red to just S of II

T3 Bamford Blue at Black from A-baulk (16y)
Misses to 1' N of Blue.

T4 Essick Yellow makes double from B-baulk....
Hits Black [applause], rushes it to 4y N of IV

T4 Essick Yellow stops Black 6y S of 3, and gets rush on Blue - good shot.
Rushes Blue 4y E of II
Take-off to Red.
Rush to 1 not so good.
Approaching from 5y NNE of hoop.
Shortish angled hoop.
Runs it well - has 7-yard return.
Hits.

T4 After 1, Essick Yellow rolls Red to 3, rushes Black 10y E of II.
Takes off to Blue, bit long.
Approaching 2 from 4y E.
Average approach.
Runs with a lot of wire.
Another good croquet stroke and the break is established.

Error!
T4 Essick Yellow misapproaches 3..
Scatters Red to 2' W of 4th corner. Yellow to 2y N of 1st corner.

T5 Bamford Black has 10 yarder at Blue.
Central hit rushes Blue 4y SE of 2nd corner.

T5 Bamford Black takes off to Yellow, fails to approach 1.
Black retires to N bdry, 4y from Blue.

T6 Essick Yellow at Red (21y)...

Essick misses into 4th corner.

T7 Bamford Black hits Blue (4y)
Takes off to Red and Yellow.
Has 5-yarder at Yellow.
Hits.
Rushes Red to 2y SE of 1.
3' hoop sails thru beyond peg-high.

T7 Bamford Black has 10-yarder at Red or 6-yarder at Blue.
Hits Blue, take-off approach to 2, angled hoop...

Error!
Bamford Black fails 2.

T8 Essick Red at Yellow (nr IV) (21y, almost identical to T6)
Essick misses to just N of IV.

T9 Bamford Black runs 2.
Black rushes Blue to 1st corner.
Big roll coming up...

T9 Bamford Black rolls Blue 3y W of 4.
Black hits Yellow, rushes it to 6" N of Red - not ideal.
Black rushes Red to 3, Red finishes 1y WSW of hoop.
Black thru 3, couple of strokes away from a 4-ball break.

T9 Bamford Black is thru 4with 4-ball break.

Bamford will be making 9.
No sextuples today.

T9 Bamford Black has made 3-back.
It will be a spread with Red at the peg.

Clips: Essick Red 1, Yellow 3; Bamford Blue 1, Black 4-back.

28 minutes for a seven and a half hoop break.

T10 Essick has decided to lift Yellow to A-baulk.
Shooting at Blue (16y)...

Essick hits!

T10 Essick Yellow rushes Red to 3 well .
Makes hoop, has 4-ball break.

T10 Essick Yellow is thru 6.

T10 Essick Yellow has made 3-back.

The Blue ball is at most an inch to the WSW of 2
The Black is at 4.
Red 11y N of IV
Yellow in 4th corner.

Black must be misplaced.

Clips: Essick Red 1, Yellow 4-back; Bamford Blue 1, Black 4-back.

My runner confirms that Black can see Red.

T11 Bamford plays Black as it lies.
Hits Yellow (9y)

Essick's 7-hoop break took 13 minutes.

Black is for 4-back.
T11 Bamford Black takes off to Red.
Rushes Red 2y SW of 6.
Rolls Red 2y SE of 2.
Rushes Blue to 2nd corner.
Leaves rush for Blue to 1 out of second corner.
Wired from Red.

T12 Essick Red is taking on jump over hoop 2.
Ckears hoop, clears Black / Blue on the second bounce.

The Yellow ball is in 4th corner.
T13 Bamford Blue stops Red in-lawn a few feet, good rush to 1, makes hoop.

Bamford is thinking.

T13 Bamford Blue rejects cutting Black toward Yellow, taps Black.
Rolls Black to 3, Blue is travelling...

Error!
Blue goes off N bdry.

T14 Essick Red plays various shots.
Ends up trying to take off from Yellow in 4th corner to hoop 1.
Bit shy, back to mother.

Black is 4y NE of 1.
Blue is 3y SW of 2.

T15 Bamford Black at Red.(19y)...

Bamford misses.

Clips: Essick Red 1, Yellow 4-back; Bamford Blue 2, Black 4-back.

T16 Essick Red makes 1 off Yellow, no useful rush.
Roll from W bdry, Red a bit strong, hits Blue in croquet-stroke.
Runs 2 to the boundary.

If Reg wins this final he will be the first person in their 50s to win the event, having in 2009 been the first person in their 40s to have a win. Stephen Mulliner's win in 2016 was the first by someone in their 60s

Were a certain expert here, he'd be recommending extracting Black now (from IV).
T16 After 2, Essick rushes Blue near peg, takes off to Black.
Big roll to 3, goes well.
Standard TP chance now.
Expert approves.

Exciting news, commentary fans!
Jenny Clarke is also posting comments on this thread.
"If Reg wins..." was her first.
You'll just have to guess whose comment is which.

Or even which comment is whose.

Interestingly, despite his dominance of the game over a very long period, Reg hasn't won the World Championship since 2009, just under 11 years now.

Error!
Essick fails 3.

T17 Bamford Black taps Yellow.

Does anyone out there know how old Robert Fletcher is?
I stated 28 yesterday, but that was a guess.
Based on the misapprehension that Robert is the eldest Fletcher - in fact Greg is.
So I think Robert was 15 in 2009, so he's 26 now.
Which would make him 18 when he reached the 2012 final.
Mark Saurin was 19 when he was runner-up in 1990.
Robert Fulford was 21 years and zero months in 1990.

My conclusion is that Matthew Essick is the 4th youngest finalist at 21 years and 2 months.
And 1990 was the youngest final.

Yup, Robert Fletcher definitely 26 now, still a young'un. Christchurch NZ has a gaggle of 16 yos ready to take up the mantle from the 20 yos who have been dominant lately

T17 Bamford Black rolls Yellow 5y N of 3, knocks Red thru 3.
Puts Red 3y NE of 4.
Leaves rush for Blue to 2, from middle of W bdry.

Currently the team has a count of errors including Matthew failing to wire balls from Reg at hoop 4 leaving a short shot as an error. We'll accept that as an error, but reject the suggestion of missing shots from A baulk to east boundary as being 'world champs finals errors' as that's a bit silly.
So the error count is:
Essick 3 errors (open balls at hoop 4, misapproaching 3, sticking in 3)
Reg 2 errors (fails hoop 2, croquets ball off with big roll from hoop 1 to corner 2 and hoop 3)

Essick asks cameraman to move from his eyeline.
T18 Essick Red at Blue (22y)....

Essick misses.

lips: Essick Red 4, Yellow 4-back; Bamford Blue 2, Black 4-back.

Clips

T19 Bamford Blue stops Red into lawn, rushes Black 4y NE of 3.
Croquets Black to 3, rush on Yellow not great.
Approaching 2 from 4y SE.
4', 15 deg hoop...

Bamford runs hoop 2 to boundary.
So hard the ball evades the usually reliable ballstops and encroaches onto lawn 4.

A good croquet stroke here and he'll have a standard TP.

That was a good croquet stroke.

Looks like Reg has rushed partner directly north of hoop 3, he'll cope, but it's a bit messy

Pushes black out to the side and runs 3 to hit black to a slightly angled position

T19 Bamford Blue has angled peel of Black thru 4-back after 3, with some pull.
Black goes thru by inches.
Blue has rush on Red.

meanwhile, up on lawn 4 Alain Giraud has reached 4b and peg with a spread in the first game of the Plate final. Aiken Hakes hits his "last" lift, with his hoop 1 ball. Partner is on hoop 2. Tries to run 1 gently. Bit too gently and he's ruefully looking at black parked in the jaws of hoop 1

fortunately he has failed it off partner, so might get out of jail here. Alain had come back looking very warm, but has returned to lawn 3

Reg through hoop 4, rushes back up, yellow to hoop 4 and black is rushed across to hoop 6 for a take-off. The peel wasn't through far enough to do the preferable rushing back down the lawn and croqueting partner back to hoop 6

Alain shoots... hits! We can't quite see which of his balls he has hit with

Approaching 6, escape ball is north-west of the hoop - means a stopshot is a more assured peel, but doesn't get the peelee through as far.

it was Alain's 4back ball, and he has just run 4back. penult pioneer is a bit far from the hoop, but he should cope. (I'll try not to put too much of other stuff here to clog the stream)

T19 Bamford Blue jawses penult peel after 6.

Shield final update: Mulliner is 1 and 5 playing 6 and 4back. He has just misapproached 1 off oppo and played pretty much off the north boundary taking a widish join with partner which is at hoop 2

Bowl final: Shilling penult and peg vs Patel on 1 and 2back. All these consolation events are best of three as far as we are aware. There is also Z stuff going on, and Hyland in an interesting take on predominantly white with his yellow polo shirt

Giraud fails penult - great opportunity for Hakes to get back into this match

"if his top was any brighter, people would think he's a ref" - an expert take on Hyland's yellow polo shirt

The 2-back pioneer (Red) is 5y N of hoop.
The 3-back pioneer (Red) is 2y E of 5

T19 Bamford Blue rush-peels Black thru penult before 2-back.
Black is going to 3-back.

The refs here clearly sympathize with the French rioters, they all wear gilets jaunes.

T19 Bamford Blue may be able to set up rover peel after 3-back.

My expert suggests that if he gets that rover peel, he could try the STPO.
No prizes for guessing which expert.

up on lawn 4 Aiken has made 2, croqueted a ball to 4 and run into his 3 pioneer dead south of hoop 3. Takes off, runs the hoop hard looking for hoop and roquet ...and the striker's ball pings out at a huge angle, evades his reception ball and he has a 4 yarder on his hoop 4 pioneer (he ran that to just about halfway between 4 and 5!). The break is in all sorts of trouble with red still up at 3, a rush on yellow to the eastern side of hoop 4 and black on A baulk. He can pull it together, but that wide hoop made life a lot harder, particularly against penult and peg

T19 After 3-back Bamford Blue rushes Black Westward. Too hard, but it hits hoop to give him chance of angled peel.
Black is jawsed. Ref is on... is Black jammed?
My expert wouldn't have a replay here - Blue has perfect rush on Red.

Two refs on, ROT menacing.

Refs retreat, Bamford plays on.

A sensible decision has been reached.
The ball is wedged, but Bamford doesn't want replay.
He plays on while referees re-set hoop.

To recap, Bamford is playing a standard TP.
Blue's making 4-back with Black in the jaws of rover.

Experts discussing how to finish here.
Rush Black thru before rover, or play a simple irish?

Refs are off the lawn.

Reg opting for the latter, puts yellow a bit north of the peg.

There are no Aussies in any of the 4 finals.

Bowl final: Chris Shilling has just won the first against Samir Patel 26-8

Bamford wins game 1 +14tp v Essick

Shield final update on lawn 2: Nunns 1back and 4back, Mulliner 4 and 5. Looks like the heat (ok, only about 25deg) is getting to them, or maybe the hills and dales of lawn 2

Quite an interesting site about the coronavirus if you like stats and such: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

Here is a legal question.
Suppose a libellous comment is posted to this thread.
Jenny says I did it, I say the opposite.
What is the correct term for this?
I ask some lawyers here, all they can come up with is "He said, she said".
Surely there's some Latin phrase?

Anyway, my partner-in-crime will be doing the ball-by-ball for G2.
I may be cutting and pasting some more anecdotes.

Game 2

T1 Matt plays black as a supershot about 4 yards NW of hoop 5

T2 Reg max distance position on the east boundary from A baulk

Aiken is now on 4back, so he's well back in this game

T3 Interestingly, Matt is shooting at yellow from the end of A baulk. Missing this will leave the world's largest double.... Nope, changes his mind and he's off to corner 3 for a more traditional shot

Misses yellow, and will be lining blue on north of corner 4

Aiken has had an NSL, and has got Alain to pick up his peg ball

An expert enjoyed game 1.
Never mind the errors, some tactical choices baffled him.
Especially Bamford's decision to shoot Black at Essick's balls (T15).
Rather than shoot at Blue (shorter), or Blue at Black (aggressive, for the finish.

T4 Reg will be shooting at partner from the end of A baulk. Lines it up, standing tall, interestingly rests his mallet against his right leg - mentally preparing and will get that mallet centred in good time. Seems to be doing some mental practise as his hands were by his sides but moving backwards and forwards a bit. Now ready, a few casts, sets... centres yellow!

Croquets yellow to hoop 2 getting a decent rush on black to hoop 1 - and it's a poor rush which goes down the hill a bit to the west of hoop1. It is south of the hoop though, and he'll be approaching up the hill. About 8 feet west of hoop 1 - and it's an error - doesn't get up the hill and hoop 1 is not runnable!

Crowd complaining about clips on 1 not being in correct order.

Partner is at hoop 2, shooting off the north boundary, leaving an 8 yarder on partner, maybe 2 yards west of B baulk

Partner is at hoop 2, shooting off the north boundary, leaving an 8 yarder on partner, maybe 2 yards west of B baulk

Black at yellow – Matt shooting – 17 yarder – shortest shot and required on distance. The wind has got up in the last few minutes – flags fluttering in the distance.
Leaves the lawn to let the wind settle a bit and has a drink. Flags are billowing in the wind.

Back on the lawn – resets – middles yellow, rushing it 3 yards west of red.

Closer than that actually, about 7 feet. Takes off a bit short so has a rush pointing at hoop 3, rather than corner 4. Cuts red firmly, uses the hill and has rushed red off the east boundary about 4 yards north of blue.

This will be a tricky takeoff, but is very playable on lawn 1. Lawn 2... it's a cliff near corner 4 and only the foolhardy go for a rush - makes duffer tices a bit unattractive on lawn 2. But we're on lawn 1

Takes off well and has a cut rush to hoop 1 - his rush doesn't get past the line of hoop 5 and 6 - only halfway really. Didn't hit it anywhere near hard enough after that good rush towards corner 4.

Rolls up, Blue is two yards north of the hoop, black is well short - about 8 feet ESE of the hoop.
Thinking about where to put black... plays black 4 yards west-south-west of hoop 1

T6 Reg wanders onto the lawn for a look, goes back for his mallet. Walks up to the north boundary to visit yellow. Will be shooting yellow (north boundary north of hoop 2) at red (5 yards north of corner 4). That's a long way.

Mallet resting beside his right leg, adjusts hat, shirt, takes grip, photographer wanders in front of his line for a shot... Reg looks very unimpressed. restarts his routine...

Mallet at side, hands at sides, moving slightly forwards and backwards, wind blowing his shirt around. Stalking and swinging... Sets. Grounds mallet. Last look up. Brings hands back and swings though - and pulls away to the right in disgust almost immediately. Didn't like that at all. About 3 minutes for that stroke including resetting for the photographer. Misses to about a yard out of corner 4. That was a long way away.

T7 Black hits blue, taking off to red and yellow which are actually about 5 yards apart. Takes off to red to rush it into the corner. Restalking... rushes red off about 7 feet north of yellow - still has a bit of a takeoff to get a rush back to hoop 1

He played that well, bit short and needs a cut - he needs to hit that harder than last time!

Cuts it in the right direction - about 4 yards south-east of hoop 1 - needs to come across and down the hill to approach his hoop though. Blue is approximately halfway between 1 and 2

Yup, he has lost it down the hill and has taken the clips off hoop 1 for a very sharp jump stroke... plays it really well and he's through hoop 1.

Approaches hoop 2 from about 4 yards straight - nice stroke putting partner into the yardline area - he should be away now.

Essick has quite a wide stance, bends his knees to create quite a stable base, nice looking Irish grip, though I'm told that varies from stroke to stroke

Rushes to... directly behind hoop 3! Takeoff puts yellow into the front of the hoop. Gets the referee on to confirm that yellow is clear of the hoop as it looked like it plopped towards the jaws ... ref confirms it is free of the hoop and plays a nice hoop stroke with a bit of jumpiness to ensure black goes through. Hoop and roquet. Surely now the break is under control. Red still north of corner 4, but everything else looks ok.

Powers through 4 to a deep reception ball which he can rush to red, chip things out and keep going

Meanwhile on lawn 4 having observed Aiken on a finishing turn we now see a dark clip on hoop 6, all balls in the lawn and Alain approaching a penult off partner with blue nearish rover. Approaches it really well, so that should be game 1

Richard M Smith claims to have been the youngest player in the last 8 of the Bowl.
He is 44.

Matthew has blue out to about a yard east of hoop 4, and from nearish there is croqueting red to 6 going to yellow which is NE of 5. Good red, ok black and he approaches hoop 5 well.

As Matthew continues his break under control we take a quick look to the fantasy competition. Eugene has done a fabulous job with his app, but hasn't put the finalist's guaranteed minumum 40 points in, so actually I'm (Jenny!!) leading atm. Good to have a chance to win something here :)

Jim Nicholls announces that the raffle for the bushfire appeal has raised $1000. Excellent. Evie and Lyla Bassett have done a wonderful job selling tickets - they are far too cute to turn down.
Prize draw... first prize... a transforma mallet...

Winner is.."A88 Bull"... takes a while, but A88 presents herself.

Second prize is a copy of Beyond Expert Croquet Tactics - signed by half of the authors...

And the winner is A43... Peter Westaway!

The third and final prize is a signed event tshirt, signed by Reg and Matthew... (Matthew has just run 1back under control in turn 7)

And the winner is... Dwayne McCormick!!

Blue (partner) close to rover, yellow croqueted short of 3back, bit scrappier now, but should be ok.

Giraud has won the first game of the plate final... Aiken peeled 4back after 3, went up to collect it before 6 and left himself half a ball to shoot at past hoop 3 and missed.

Matt is through 2back, pauses for a drink from Team America and is back into it.

Bowl final: Shilling is break up after winning game 1 and Samir has missed the lift. I suspect Samir will be in for lunch while Chris takes the second ball around

It looks like Essick is going to have a go at an NSL - he has taken all 4 balls to 3back, but nothing is actually all that close to the hoop.

Red north east of the hoop, approaches 3back putting yellow a bit wide, runs the hoop by 2 yards, will hit red first and put that towards the traditional westerly NSL position (several yards SW of hoop 2) going to (?) blue??.

Yup - red croqueted to about 5 yards SSE of hoop 2 - that might be an appealing short shot for Reg? - and rushes partner off the lawn 3 yards north of corner 4.

Rolls partner up the lawn getting nice position to rush yellow towards hoop 4 (it's currently about a foot away), should finish this NSL nicely.

Shield final: lawn 2 Stephen has just broken down again. stuck in 4back on a delayed TP?

It's hard to tell what Stephen is up to - the crowd is lining the walls (excellent viewing here really), and I can't see a blue clip anywhere (nor can I see hoop 4 at al due to bodies)

It looks like Matt has rushed yellow into an old hoop hole, as the area is now aglow with referees. Looks to be in a decent position though, so he's off for a quick drink while the referees consider doing some tidying. Might just be he can't get the balls in contact where he wants them. (this is still T7 BTW)

Your lead commentator has just enjoyed a mild beef curry at the club, I've got a runner seeking out a Vietnamese BBQ pork roll, which has some lovely chillies in it, as is my customary lunch at Cairnlea.

Referees are off, Matt's back... NSL with yellow ball at hoop 4, black on 4back, all other clips still on hoop 1.

T8: Interesting to note the time taken for players to complete lift shots. Reg is fairly consistent with his routines, and has a 3min15 time to shooting (with a few seconds missed at the start). Must have had a target with yellow and something behind it - hits the hoop and bounces off towards corner 4.

T9: Matt took about 5 seconds to start his turn, albeit with balls a yard apart. Rushes black into the lawn a bit, takes off to red and rushes it into the corner to give a more familiar shot and get a bit more distance. Loads of applause - from Ben Rothman I think, or maybe Simon Jenkins, as he puts red accurately to 2, and has a 2 foot straightish rush on yellow to hoop 1 - very nice stroke.

Approaches hoop 1 from 5 feet SE of the hoop - lays back from the hill and it's a nice hoop approach and he grovels through hoop 1 - is he hampered??

No, not at all - Matthew Essick is off on his second break!

Standard TP for Matt with that great hoop 2 pioneer from the stopshot out of corner 4

Following my adventures in the fish-and-chip cafe (see commentaries passim),
I have another question on culinary nomenclature.

Yellow south west of hoop 6 as pivot, takes off to partner to rush it west and will croquet it towards hoop 3... nice stroke but a bit loose on the hoop 2 pioneer, but manages to hit it gently not disturbing it too much. Should be a standard TP to equalise the match.

My first evening here, jetlagged, I was wandering the local streets looking for food.
Didn't look too promising, then I saw a sign: "24-hour MacDonalds, 500 metres".
That'll have to do, I thought.
But after 200m my prayers were answered: a kebab van!
Don't judge me, but if the Waterbeach kebab van were to close it would entail a major change to my lifestyle.
I've been here a fortnight now, I think I've had 8 or 9 lamb kebabs.
The van offers lamb, chicken or mixed kebabs.
A similar choice of burgers.
Then there are HSPs.
You can have Lamb HSP, Chicken HSP, etc.
The other night I asked what they are.
The answer involved chips and cheese.
But I did not establish what HSP stands for.

Oh yeah, I forgot about the internet.
A quick google reveals "Halal Snack Pack"
It's an Australian thing.

Also, Burger King is called "Hungry Jacks" here.
When the company moved into Australia, they found a small business in Adelaide called Burger King.

Someone has asked about a knees bent posture for play... a couple of years ago my physio suggested taking a stance with knees more bent and weight back more towards the heels - kind back of the balls of the feet so that my swing wouldn't aggravate my lower back as much. It was quite a change, but entertaining to try as a recommendation from a bloke who has potentially never seen a croquet ball struck. Turned out as well as making my back feel a lot better it gave me a far more stable stance, particularly in pressure strokes. Proof in practice? - a month later I won the Aussie Open doubles with Trevor Bassett for the first time, then the singles, then a bunch of other stuff, then a year later repeated the Aussie feats - can't recommend Redwood Physiotherapy Clinic highly enough!!

Meanwhile Matt jawsed 4back after hoop 3, left it until after 5, and has rolled up to... awkward .. looks like he needs to unpeel black as blue went too far - yes, has removed black from the front of hoop 3 - bit of a disaster there.

He overhit both balls on that croquet stroke, so yellow is much closer to the north boundary than to 1back, and he takes off leaving black a yard south of 4back. Makes 6 and rushes red to the middle of the east boundary. Still going, but this TP is looking a bit less likely.

Decent croquet stroke puts red as a 2back pioneer and he's attempting the peel before 1back... black's through 4back, and he tickles yellow closer to 1back. TP back on!

Through 1back safely.

Expert has made lunch error.
Rice all over the floor.

Plate final: after some interaction, Aiken Hakes on the first break, gets hoop and roquet at hoop 3 this time - but only just, as striker's ball wicks out wide

Shield final: Mulliner has pegged out Nunns.. 4back and peg v 2back and pegged out

Essick hasn't returned to black after 1back, croquets yellow to 3back and goes to red, makes 2back and rushes really well to the north boundary.

Croquets red as a good escape ball for a delayed penult peel, rushes black towards hoop 6, and he'll take off to 3back - delayed double for game 2. This could be a long day...

"I have a feeling an error's coming... a 3-back error" (anonymous person near me)

Rushes yellow into the north of hoop 4, takes off and runs the hoop without fuss into yellow. I thought he should have worked harder to get an interesting hoop and rush there.

Huuuge roll to black which is several yards north of penult (he didn't actually rush it brilliantly to there).. has a sideways rush, and yellow is also north west of penult. Hits it nicely. Playing at super pace now. Lines up peel, looks at it for 2 seconds.

Comes in to play the croquet stroke, reconsiders... plays it really well. Two peels completed.

Through 4back, seems to put some thought into the depth of his knee bend, but then cuts red nicely towards peelee. Will need to rush the peelee quite northwards to get space to send it to rover - looking at a spot 5 yards north of hoop 2

Red next to the peg in good position. Plays a fantastic croquet stroke putting black about a yard NE of rover and getting a couple of inch rush to penult.

Through penult a bit long and hits his three yarder.

Croquets yellow as a short ball south of rover... and it rolls right around to be a foot south!. Red's a good side ball, has quite an angled peel - 30 deg?, but at a nice distance.

Yellow could be handy - he can peel firmly and yellow should stop peelee going off.

Gets the peel.. attempts to play it Irish with a stop shot, striker ball bounces off the hoop to runnable and peelee clips yellow. Runs the hoop - disaster - runs into black!! - that went a long way left to hit black!

7.3 yard pegout attempt... this hills... goes gently .. no chance. Missing right and hills a country mile. Black won't be pegged out this turn.

Hits red, croquets it towards west boundary, yellow rushed off east boundary about peg high. The growing expert crowd wants a ball off.

Matthew obliges. Blue is in the box, black is about 3 yards NE of the peg.

T10: Reg wanders on to the west boundary with his water bottle for a first look. Back for his mallet. Having a wander. This won't be quick, which is entirely legitimate.

Reg still 1 and 1. He's got to yellow very quickly.

Loosening shoulders, doing mental rehearsals, ...turn ticker at only 2 minutes 10

Mulliner breaks down at rover and peg.
Nunns (3-back alone) hits 9-yard lift.

2min25 to contact and he nails yellow at black from where they lie. Strikes the ball at a lovely controlled pace - rushes black 8 yards south and slightly west of hoop 2, so has an easy takeoff to partner which is 6 yards further south and a yard further west.. Takes off well, this game is going to be interesting.

Meanwhile in the plate final Aiken has parked black in 3back

Reg's rush to 1 is poor - pulls up short and he needs a takeoff to approach...

Sorry Nunns is 2-back alone.
Approaching hoop. Rejection

Good takeoff. Gentle hoop... LOTS of wire!! Ref on the lawn and this looks really difficult.

James reports "from behind yellow this looks trivial" - can get most of the mallet onto most of the ball to hit half of the target

Here we go...

James was right - hits it nicely.

Good croquet stroke putting red well to 3 and getting a short rush to hoop 2.

Plate final: Alain doesn't appear to have approached hoop 1 very well, and is covering the shot to the boundary

In the Shield Final, Mulliner wins game 1 +6 (best-of-3)

Approaches 2 well and runs it to beside yellow. Taps yellow and will give himself plenty of room for the croquet stroke. Great yellow, lovely black. Reg has been a class above everyone with his croquet strokes in this tournament, with Robbie also not always having his customary tight play throughout the tournament.

Reg still going strong on hoop 5.

Reg has misapproached hoop 5!!!

Has a referee on, it is very short and very angled. I ran this from around here earlier this week - hitting it at max pace - Reg just runs it through easily getting a rush on red.

While Reg is going around, my take on advertising croquet... discussions last night touched on advertising with health professionals, a colleague favours targeting physiotherapists, which I initially also fancied, however they tend to be quite specific in the exercises they recommend - so I recommend doing with targeting doctors, who suggest more general activities to get patients more active. Also research needs to be done to be more accurate in describing the benefits of croquet. For example... how many steps does one typically do in 50 minutes of a (lower level) game of GC? Having a time limit on the step count gives a decent idea of a typical number of steps. And how many steps for a typical 2 hours of AC play? What % heart rate increase does a game of AC give over that period? Telling someone you can do over 25,000 steps in a day of AC is a little intimidating! Also targetting is needed... getting people who nearly made it at tennis, golf, etc... we need to focus on competitive play - the opportunity to represent your country!, for older social ones... maybe look at GC and avoid putting in photos of people in a deep full roll crouch as GC has an advantage over bowls in that players can stay upright and not need to bend joints too much. So.. more targetted advertising, at different populations, and some research to give clear data.

Anyway, back to the croquet... Reg fails to take the peg out of play in his three ball break after hoop 5, but copes. Runs 6 to get a southwards rush, and takes that rush, end up with black about 10 yards north of 2back, but should cope. Remember Essick is peg alone, and Reg's other ball is on hoop 1. Reg doesn't concede any advanced play lifts, but still needs to avoid wiring Matthew.

Aiken in the plate final is rushing to hoop 1. Looks like Alain got to hoop 3. Aiken other ball on 3back still, and Alain's other on hoop 1

It's hard to see what's up in the Bowl final, but Samir is in play, and there appear to be at least two clips on 4back

Reg now through 3back, black short of 4back. He'll go to the peg, likely leave black near corner 3 and unable to see the peg, and join guarded in corner 1. Will Matt go to corner 4 (correct choice), or to the middle of east boundary hoping for shots at the peg (and providing a third ball for Reg's break)? Or maybe a long shot across the lawn? We'll get some expert opinions on the correct choice once Reg's leave becomes more clear.

Reg now rushing to penult, full control here

Reg now through penult. The break from when he stepped onto the lawn to make 11 hoops is 30 minutes.

Croquets red NE the peg, has come up a bit short on black, and doesn't cut it tell to rover, nothing dramatic though, but not Reg's customary control

Approaches rover close and slightly angled, might get an unlucky wick onto yellow...no, the hill goes the other way. Has a rush towards corner 3

Christmas! - have found some overlooked crackling from my BBQ pork roll - wonderful!

Reg croqueting black towards corner 3 from NE of rover. Wants to wire this from the peg, but it's going to be challenging. Have a spotter out to advise our dear readers of the outcome of this stroke

Missed the spotter's signal - new spotter sent out. Looked like a great stroke - completely wired from the peg.

Getting expert opinions - black wired from the peg, red/yellow guarding corner 1...

I pop out to check that Black is wired from the peg. It is.
Earlier one retreated to the clubhouse for warmth.
Today it's the reverse, it's hot out there.

1 corner 4

2 corner 4

3 corner 4

... that'll do. A common place to go is mid east boundary. It's a really bad choice. 40 yard shot - not attractive, but at least it avoids a tactical battle if Matt fears that. No lifts coming for Matt though as he pegged something out.

By the way, Reg not in corner 1, he's on the west boundary north of hoop 1, but has a rush to 1, and it's all wired. Aaargh - sorry - tried to have a hash to number those options.

James has found another option - red and yellow not in the corner - jumping the hoop to hit the peg? - need to get off the lawn though!! Definitely given an option to consider though - Callum would have that

Matt has found a different option. Looks like he's going south of hoop 4??!

One expert was worried Reg has a rush into C4 and didn't want to concede a cannon. I'm not sure Reg would take the imprecise option of a C4 cannon to risk the game, particularly with that hill at hoop 1, but we might get to see.

Black plays to ... 4 yards west of corner 4. That could well be his last stroke of the match!

Reg has a rush towards corner 4, can chip out and have the break. Rushes badly though.. 3 yards north of corner 4 - that makes this first stroke a bit harder.

Reg's rush is 3 yards short of hoop 1. Yellow is 3 yards NE of the end of A baulk. Needs to go across that hill again - you don't want to be coming to hoop 1 from the east.

Gets nothing from the hill and has a 40 degree hoop, maybe a foot back.

Maybe 45 degrees?

Couple of refusals there - back up to hoop 1... beautiful stroke - runs the hoop on the ground to 1 yard east of black - will be disappointed he doesn't have a rush on black, but he put that too far across. Essick got away with that one

This is turn 12 BTW. Just the one real error from Reg so far

Nice croquet stroke sends black SE of hoop 4, not sure if it can see the peg, gets a one yard rush pointing at hoop 2

really bad rush - rushes partner to hoop 1! - that'll take a looong roll. Looking at spots NW of the hoop to play up towards and guard any shot without leaving a monster double of peg plus something

Rolls up to hoop 2 instead. Yellow is 3-4 yards NNE of hoop 2, which is great if he runs the hoop, but red is about 3 yards SSW of hoop 2 - failing wouldn't be ideal. Goes for a look at what Black can see.

Black can see yellow, so a safe go at the hoop. About 2-3 ball between the peg and yellow - that makes it fairly attractive. Takes on the hoop - through! - runs it with nice control and has a cut to hoop 3. Cuts it to about 4 yards from hoop 3.

Approaches hoop 3... sends yellow south - it's open on black, but red is short. "Reg's looking a bit twitchy" is a suggestion from nearby!

Fails hoop 3, bouncing to about a yard south of corner 3!! Matt now has a free shot at the peg for game 2

15 mins for that turn to hoop 3.

T13: Matt shooting at the peg. Good back posture, bends legs, braces himself, shoots... ref considers the shot, Matt raises a finger... referee concurs - Matt Essick wins game 2 26-14

Essick v Bamford 1-1

best-of-5

Thanks to Jenny for allowing me to have lunch. Beef curry, rice and vegetables.
The vegetables were carrot, broccoli and cauliflower. I ask him just for carrots.
I'm with George Bush (snr). From an online obituary [by Tim Carman]:
"But when it came to a certain cruciferous vegetable, the 41st president of the United States displayed the kind of backbone
usually reserved for dictators and communist insurgents: He refused all invitations to sit down and eat broccoli."
Cauliflower is worse.

Had Essick lost that game, it would have been very hard to recover.

I'd been looking up significant matches including a +1 (or 26-25 as they say here).
The hardest loss to take that I have seen was the 1991 Men's Championship Final:
David Openshaw beat Chris Haslam -23, -26, +1, +16tp, +4

Expert still predicting win for Bamford, but now 66% match chance (was 79% at start of the day.)

Another expert reminds me of another big comeback.
2008 Open Doubles semi-final
Death and Fulford one game down v Avery & Mulliner
Avery finishing for +26tp, has 4-yard peg-out.
"Would you like me to help line them up, partner?" asks the helpful partner.
Avery shrugs.
The peg-out is missed, one ball is pegged out.
And that's the last time they took croquet.
Death and Fulford won the title.

Essick v Bamford Game 3

T1 Bamford Black 10y N of IV
T2 Essick Red just S of II

T3 Bamford Blue at Back from A-baulk (16y)....

T3 Bamford misses on the right.
Blue comes on 6" N of Black.

T4 Essick Yellow at Black from A-baulk.
Hits!

Yellow roqueted Black and in the same stroke promoted Blue northward a few yards.

In the Bowl Final, Samir Patel has just equalised against Chris Shilling, 26-11, not sure if there were peels involved

T4 Essick Yellow pushes Black 2 or 3y into lawn, doesn't get rush on Blue.
Rolls Blue 4y NW of 1.
Hits Red, stays near II
Leaves 4' rush for Red on Yellow, pointing toward middle of E bdry.

Meanwhile on lawn 4 Plate Final game 2, Aiken looked to have misapproached penult and then attempted to run an incredibly angled hoop - that's rather speculation based on clip positions. Alain has a 2 yard lift. Seems to be 1 and 3, Aiken penult and penult. Alain playing his hoop 1 ball

T5 Bamford Blue at Red, (23y)....

T5 Bamford misses into second corner.

To clarify, when I used the word "push" a moment ago, I was not using it as in Law 28 subsection whatever.

T6 Essick Red taps Blue, rushes Yellow 4y SSE of 1.
Difficult hoop 5', angled, runs it to 4y past Blue at 2.
Makes 2 off Blue.

The hoops are fighting back (player from another lawn)

With the heat and the wind, the lawn's getting trickier.

T6 Essick Red is rushing Black to 3 from near 4.
Rushes it 5y beyond hoop.
5' hoop, for the break...

... runs it to S bdry.
Only just missed Black en passant

T6 Essick Red hits Yellow (8y), rushing it back to near 3.
(Yellow was the hoop 4 pioneer.)
(Black is halfway between hoops 3 and 4, Blue is near 5.)

T6 Essick Red rushing Blue to 4. Good rush.
Makes 4, has 4-ball break.

T6 Essick Red is thru 1-back, has left Black as the Maugham ball at 2.

Insufficient control at 3-back means it won't be an MSL.
Blue is croqueted 6y ENE of peg.
Yellow slightly north of 4th corner.
Red 1y NW of Yellow.
OMSL if you will.

Essick Red clip is on 4-back, all others on 1.

T7 Bamford lifts Black to A-baulk. Shooting at Yellow (13y)...

T7 Bamford hits.

T7 Bamford Black stops Yellow in lawn, rushes Red northwards.
Overhits croquet stroke. Red sails 4y West of 2, Black is almost due north of Blue.
Black cuts Blue 7y SE of 1.
Approach yields 4' hoop, slightly angled.
He's thru!

T7 Bamford Black hits 5-yard return roquet at Blue.
Good croquet stroke, and he's away.

May have spoken too soon.
Uncharacteristically tentative rush to 2.
Good approach, back in control.

Tournament dinner last night.
Only about half the players attended, plus 20 hangers-on such as myself.
The menu showed two choices for each course.
Alternatives is a better word.
The servers started at a random point on each circular table, then it was meat, fish, meat, fish.
Some swapping went on.
Axeman went to the loo at the wrong time, returned to a different dessert.

T7 Bamford Black is thru 4.
Now bringing Yellow into the break.

Bamford is wearing a South African green cap.
Implausibly, Tom Weston claims to have given him said cap at the 2016 GC Worlds.
From whom Tom stole the cap in the first place isn't clear.
Reg was unable to refute this story.

Mulliner is 4-back and peg v 2 and 3-back

7 Bamford Black has made 1-back. Yellow is at 3-back. Blue is 5y N of 2-back.
An earlier unintended collision is responsible for Blue's slightly poor position.

7 Bamford Black is for 3-back. Spread coming up.

Clips: Essick Red 4-back, Yellow 1; Bamford Blue 1, Black 4-back.

Mulliner misses Mulliner roquet
ie return roquet after rover when peg and peg. Cost him his first Open championship.

Diagonal spread with Red at peg.

T8 Essick lifts Yellow to A-baulk. Shooting at Blue (16y)...

T8 Essick misses.

T9 Bamford Blue chips Yellow in-lawn.
Rushes Black a bit close to Red to get Black all the way to 2, but the rush on Red's the important thing.
Good rush, but he only just runs hoop 1.

Runner thinks this hampered shot is a bit iffy.

Opponent is taking an interest.

Another ref is called by Bamford. This is irregular.
He seems not to like the way the ball has been marked.
Perhaps the hoop carrots are interfering with stroke?

Mulliner wins the Shield

Two refs, ROT has her eagle eye on matters.

Here's what happened.
The carrots were deemed to be in the way.
So the Blue ball was moved so that the hoop can be bashed in a bit.
Blue has been replaced, but not necessarily in the right place.
Now the ball has been accidentally nudged by a ref.
Opponent and ROT taking closer interest.

Blue hits Red easily.
Runner thinks too easily.

T9 Bamford Blue a few strokes from establishing a standard TP.

He will be making 2 off partner, however (the wrong parity).

Take-off from 3 to Black is good.

Yellow and Red are at 3.
After 2, Bamford Blue rushes Black 3y SE of 6.
Tries to roll Black into position at 4-back, but it's short.

T9 Bamford Blue makes 3. Lining up ambitious peel, Black is 3y from hoop at 45 degrees.
Black bounces off hoop one yard to the east.
Rush on Yellow. Red is 7y N of 4.

T9 Bamford Blue will be attempting delayed TP.

On this trip I have been having trouble with my vowels.

Please read next comment in voice of Frankie Howerd

"No dear, vowels!"

Someone was talking about their ankle, it made no sense, turns out it was their uncle.
Then there was some knitting on a tree. Turned out to be netting.
(But knitting on a tree is a thing, right?
People knit multicoloured tubes, sort of socks without the toes, then slip them over branches and bollards.
At least they do in Cambridge, brightens the grey winter.)

When I first met Kerri-Ann, I misheard Carrie Anne.
Where do I know that name?
Of course, it is a popular song.
You know the one,
"Hey Carrie Anne
What's your game now, can anybody play?"

Bonus point for identifying the group.

T9 Bamford Blue lining up peel of Black thru 4-back before 6.
Peel is jawsed.

Blue has just made 6, and rushed Red 4y ENE of 2. (Yellow is at 1-back.)
Squarish split croquets Red 3y W of peg, finishes OK on Black.
Blue rush-peels Black to N bdry.
Is Black going to 2-back?
No, Red is apparently good enough.
Black goes to penult.

T9 Bamford Blue makes 1-back off Yellow.
Yellow is croqueted 4y NW of 3-back.
Blue now trying to peel Black thru penult while getting rush on Red to 2-back.
That went well.

When I wrote That went well, I was not being sarcastic.
Black is thru penult, is 3y NNW of rover.
Blue has one-yard rush on Red pointing in the right direction.

T9 Bamford Blue is going for rover peel before 3-back.
Black is 4' NNW of rover, Yellow 4y NW of 3-back.
Fair amount of pull to account for.
Peel fails. Black is just North of rover's east wire.

Black may be "teasable" into jaws.
Not my word, not quite sure what it means.

Alain Giraud wins the Plate.
He beat Aiken Hakes +2 on time in the second.

Bamford's mallet is in the air again.

Patel 3 & 3-back v Shilling 1 & break in the decider

Ref is on. Is Black in an old hoop-hole?

Recap:
Bamford is on a delayed TP.
It has boiled down to a straight rover peel.
As they often do.

Bamford has nicely short irish peel. Both balls thru.

Bamford has 10' peg-out....

Bamford wins game 3 +17tp, leads Essick 2-1

53 minute TP.

Patel missed the lift v Shilling

Essick v Bamford Game 4

T1 Essick Blue 3y WSW of peg.
T2 Bamford Yellow max distance point on E bdry (from A-baulk)

T3 Essick Black at Yellow from A-baulk...

T3 Essick misses on the left.
Black comes on 1y N of Yellow

T4 Bamford Red is making a double of Black / Yellow from B-baulk.....

T4 Bamford hits Black.

T4 Bamford Red takes off for rush on Yellow, rushes Yellow 3y SE of Blue.
His rush to 1 is 2' West of hoop, maybe a bit North.
Referee is called on for more gardening.

T4 Bamford Red makes 1. No rush.

Big roll after 1 is OK.
Again no rush after 2, but another good croquet stroke.
After 3 Bamford Red rolls Blue to 5 going to Black.

T4 Bamford Red is thru 4 with a 4-ball break.

Experts disapprove of Essick's 3rd turn.
Why not shoot from B-baulk?
Maybe he doesn't trust boundary.

T4 Bamford Red has made 9 hoops.

Blue is 9y WNW of peg.
Black is 2' ESE of peg.
Yellow has rush on Red into lawn from 11y N of 4th corner.
This is popularly known as a diagonal spread.

Red clip is on 4-back, all others on 1.

G4T5 Essick lifts Blue to A-baulk.
Shooting at Yellow...

Misses. Didn't like it at all. Comes on 1' N of Yellow.

That should prove to be Essick's last shot.

G4T6 Bamford Yellow pokes Blue into lawn, Red is croqueted to 2, poor rush to 3yE of 1.
OK approach to 1y, slightly angled. Runs it too hard for Black, hits 5-yarder at Red.

After 1, Yellow rolls Red 2y E of 3, Yellow is shy of Blue.
Now taking off to Black (nr 1) for rush to 2.
Good shot.
Rush is undercut, Black is 2y E of 2.
Yellow runs 2 to the boundary.

Two big rolls, first Black and Yellow to 4, then Blue and Yellow to 3.
Now opportunity for standard TP.

Patel is on a finishing turn.

G4T6 Bamford Yellow fails to peel Red thru 4-back after 3. Red has bounced just to West of hoop.

G4T6 Bamford Yellow has made 5 off Blue, rushed Blue to middle of E bdry.
Pretty good stroke sends Blue close to 1-back.
Yellow now lining up straight peel of Red thru 4-back before 6.
Peel is jawsed.

After 6, Bamford Yellow rushes Black to 2-back.
Good take-off allows him to rush-peel Red thru 4-back.
A pass roll sees Red in front of penult as Yellow goes to Blue.

After 1-back, Blue goes to 3-back.
Yellow lining up peel of Red thru penult going to Black which is 3y shy of 2-back.
Red goes thru by a yard, Yellow good on Black.

croquetscores is requiring comments to be re-sent.
Maybe too many people reading!
(The commentator is not allowed to know how many!)

After 2-back, Black goes to 4-back.
Red is rushed off near middle of East bdry.
Red is croqueted 5y E of rover.

Patel wins Bowl

Bamford Yellow runs 3-back too hard to be able to rush Red in front of rover.

Englishmen win all four consolation events.

Reg Bamford is on a potentially Championship-winning turn.
Yellow and Red are both for rover.
Red is close to rover, so he should be able to organize the final peel.

G4T6 Bamford Yellow irish peels Red thru rover
(ie both balls run hoop in croquet-stroke.)

Bamford wins game 4 +26tp

Reg Bamford is World Champion

Reg Bamford has won his fifth AC World Championship.
He draws level with Robert Fulford.
The only other multiple winner is Chris Clarke with 2.

Presentation time.
Plate Alain Giraud.
Bowl Samir Patel
Shield Stephen Mulliner
Salver James Death

Losing semi-finalists get a medal.
Edward Wilson and Robert Fletcher (both AUS).

Runner-up: Matthew Essick (USA)

2020 Champion: Reg Bamford.

Reg starts his speech "Life in the old dog yet."
He does the proper thank yous.
And acknowledges his opponent's excellent tournament.

Congratulations Reg.

I [Andrew] played in the qualifier which started two weeks ago.
Bruce and Liz Fleming were Manager and ROT for that as well as the main event.
Tremendous thanks due to them,
I enjoyed playing on these lawns. Here and the satellite Clubs were very hospitable.
And I've enjoyed commentating. Hope you've understood some of it.

The next two global AC events are:
the MacRobertson Shield (aka World Team Championship), which is here at Cairnlea in November 2021;
and the next World Championship will be in London, in July / August 2022.

The nations' flags are being taken down.

The tournament is over.