Welcome to Cairnlea for the start of day 8. The favourites, Australia and England both hold 2-1 leads. England continue with 3 doubles against NZ whilst it is singles day in the other Test. We have a cloudy sky and it isn't as warm as yesterday, but shouldn't be cold either. Temperatures are forecast to drop again tomorrow.

The players are out practicing. There is more breeze than yesterday, so more excuse for imperfect play. I thought the standard of play yesterday wasn't high enough given the more favorable conditions, but congrats to Jamie and Dwayne who both completed triples.
I'm not going to try and cover 9 matches - it is impossible, but I'll give some updates every now and then. I'll focus on the doubles on lawn 1 between England's best doubles pair, Mark Avery and Jamie Burch who play Aaron Westerby and Felix Webby. Aaron has struggled with hoop running in several of his matches. I'll also provide updates on an interesting singles on the tricky lawn 2 between Robbie Fletcher and Zack Watson
Other matches today are
Lawn 6 Death & Fisher v Bryant & Clarke
Lawn 7 (which I can only see half of) Carter & Patel v Chapman & Fordyce

Lawn 3 Forster v Soo - a very experienced match-up
Lawn 4 McCormick v Rothman
Lawn 9 Mal v Matt
Lawn 10 Wilson v Morgan
and I'm guessing that Ian v Tom is on lawn 8 because I can't see them

What do the underdogs need to achieve today? I think NZ will want to win the doubles 2-1 to equalise at 3-3. The Americans will want to tie the singles 3-3 to keep in touch at 4-5. It's a tough ask for both sides.

Edmund confirms that the air is warmer today but that the breeze is stronger than yesterday's benign conditions. The Kiwis have bought "hot hands" for the remainder of the second Test.

The players are returning to the clubhouse for their "cool down". Another shout-out to our caterers, Helena and Rosie who have done an awesome job of looking after us. The ACA have provided free soft drinks to the teams as well, so we've been fed and watered well. We've got a sports trivia quiz on Monday night. This is my third Mac in Australia and it's had a really nice feel to it. We just need some better play and hopefully another couple of close Tests.

And we're off.
Aaron plays 9y N of C4. Mark plays just N of C4. Felix misses Mark leaving double. Jamie hits double

Zack plays a longish supershot. Robbie plays 15y N of C4. Zack shoots from A-baulk at Robbie.....misses. Robbie takes doubles from B-baulk.......misses

Jamie makes h1, but hills into the other ball, leaving him some tricky shots to come.

Zack has made h1 with a break

Jamie's croquet stroke out of C4 flirts with the E boundary - he ends up with a 3 yard "rush" that only reaches 4y SE of h6. It's going to be a big roll to h2 off partner..........overapproaches and guards C2

Greg to 9y N of C4. James to just S of C2. Jenny shoots at partner from A-Baulk......hits in the middle.

Jeff fails h1. Forster misses half a ball at 3 yards to C1. Jeff runs h1 up tp partner on boundary W of h2 and is approaching h2.....underapproaches.......runs a really tough hoop and has a decent chance to go round.

Dwayne has made h1, but is hampered........

Felix shoots from h3 to h2.........hits with a ball at h1 - should go round.

Jenny has made a spread and Harry takes the long lift.....hits

Zack is still going round 5th turn

Morgan has the innings v Wilson

Christian is in play.

Harry has attempted h1......is it through? Calls a ref......yes. Now has a hamoered shoot at partner...hits

Jeff has a 3 ball break.

Felix misses a 7 yard return roquet on his pivot after h3

Jamie takes a mid-lawn 7 yarder......middles it. Still needs a bit of work for a break

Dwayne going round

Zack going round

Harry going round

Jeff going round

Zack doesn't have enough control. He's had to approach 3-b with a 2 yard backward roll and ends up failing an easy hoop. Robbie has a 3 yard rush. He has a laid qpo, but I expect a ball to 4-b.

Jamie has a break

Mal misses an 11 yarder - might have been a lift leave, might not

Christian is picking up a break....applause from Samir as Christian rushes well to h1.

Jamie is hampered after h3.......fairly straightforward.....hits.

Christian fails a 2foot 15 degree h2. Edmund has a 6 yarder.....hits. Still has some work to get a break. Rushes 12y N of C1.....takes off to 3foot 40 degrees.....runs it by 14 yards and nicks his return roquet - that's a break!!

Morgan has a break

Jeff reaches 4-b with a B-spread (oppo balls open). Forster hits.

Dwayne reaches 4-b with an MSL. Ben lifts the ball at h2 and takes short lift.......misses.

Harry reaches 4-b 4th turn with a spread

Jamie loses control of his break, but has made it to 4-b. He's left Felix's ball 9y N of C4, Aaron's ball 5y W of the peg and laid up in C2.

Jenny looks at taking a hampered double with the ball at the peg.......hits

Forster is making h2 with a 4-ball break......grovels through and shoots at oppo at h3......misses

Wilson has just missed his lift against Morgan

Dwayne is starting a standard tp and deserves comment. I have seen many players debut it Mac and most struggle. Dwayne started off very weakly and for him to recover as well as he has is highly impressive.He's looking quite strong now.

Felix lifts the ball near C4 and takes the short lift into C2.....misses.

Forster is back in and approaching h1 from C1.......runs it and has a break.

Mark makes h1 but still has a bit of work to do. Plays a super take-off - he's pure quality to watch. Oh dear, rushes poorly to h2, overapproaches slightly, but runs it and has a break, but work to do for a standard tp.

Wilson looks like he has a break.

Jenny has a break

Forster is back in and approaching h1 from C1.......runs it and has a break.

Mark makes h1 but still has a bit of work to do. Plays a super take-off - he's pure quality to watch. Oh dear, rushes poorly to h2, overapproaches slightly, but runs it and has a break, but work to do for a standard tp.

Wilson looks like he has a break.

Jenny has a break

Robbie reaches 4-b and makes a fairly horizontal spread - remember, the E boundary is shocking. Zack lifts the Westerly ball (his h1 ball) and takes the very long "short" lift........hits. QP or TPO???

Edmund reaches 4-b

Dwayne has 2 peels done after h6

Mark has not achieved a standard tp. Yesterday he didn't attempt delayed triples and just went to the peg.

Edmund has made what looks to be a spread with a ball 7y S of C2 which is open for the peg ball (but shorter from B-Baulk), so it's ok. Christian lifts the ball at the peg and takes the long lift.....misses to C4

Mark confirms his tactical choice is teh same today and is pottering round to the peg with no peels.

Zack has made h1 and is sending partner to h3, so no quad. Robbie's 4-b ball is at h2, so work to do for a tpo.

Dwayne completes the third peel with a rush-peel before 4-b

Matt wins game 1 against Mal, probably with a tp.

Jenny reaches 4-b with an NSL.

Mark continues his break

Forster is looking to make a reverse spread (remember partner is for h3)

Mark misses a return roquet after 4-b and Felix is in

Dwayne finishes +26tp

Correction on the Zack turn. Robbie had peeled Zack through 3-b, so Zack had a standard tp. He has now missed a return roquet after h3 trying to dribble off the peelee. Robbie has all the balls.

Paddy runs a short angled h3 and hits his reyurn 5 yarder.

Felix has a 4 ball break

Jeff lifts the ball at the peg to B-baulk and takes the short lift...........misses

Robbie rushes poorly to h1 nd has a 5y backward take-off.......gets a 1 y straightish hoop......runs it and will have a standard tp if he can rush to h2 from 12 yards.

James takes the long lift with the ball at h2......hits. It's been an impressive game so far - this is 6th turn and he has a standard tp ahead of him.

Forster has a 3 ball break

Wilson still in play on lawn 10

Robbie makes h2 with all the balls.

Matt looks to have won the opening in game 2.

Felix misapproaches 1-b and flips it through.

From distance, it looks like Wilson has rush-peeled 4-b after h4.

James has got the escape in the way of his backswing for the 4-b peel, so it might be tricky.....copes

Robbie looks to have failed to 4-b peel after h3.

Forster look to be having some back stiffness.

Robbie fails to get control for the 4-b peel before h6.

Matt has a break

James doesn't get the penult peel after h6 and will need a death roll. to an excellent 2-b pioneer. Rushes onto the wire and takes off to 2-b

Felix has reached 4-b which didn't look guaranteed at times and is making an NSL with partner nowhere near the E boundary - will he deliberately jaws the ball at h4? Tries to jaws it and it goes 90% through - scattering partner off the boundary looks playable.....no, they get the southern cross by playing into C2

Forster breaks down (maybe missed return roquet after 4-b???) Jeff has a good chance.

It has to be tempting for Jamie to play just out of baulk for his lift shot because I think Mark will have a wiring lift next turn. Aaron does have a 5 yarder, but only has about a quarter ball. Jamie lifts the Westerly ball and shoots at Mark in 3-b....hits, leaving it in the jaws. Makes 4-b, but is hampered after penult and has to shoot at partner in front of h4......hits....handy.

Robbie rush-peels 4-b after 1-b and now has a cut-rush to 2-b from NE of h6......rushes 5yards N of 2-b. Runs a 5 foot hoop and is back on track

Dwayne has the first break in game 2

Paddy reaches the peg with no peels and a spread where the Westerly ball is slightly too deep.

Samir lifts the ball at the peg and takes the long lift.....hits

James finishes 6th turn +17tp - quality game

Jamie rolls up to rover from the peg, gets some hill and has 40 degree 2 foot hoop..........bottom bevels it and confirms position with oppo. Plays a controlled hoop stroke into the wire and gives Aaron the innings with no prospect pf an immediate break. Recap pen+rover v 1+4-b

Jeff has jawsed the 4-b peel after h3. Misapproaches h5 having rush-peeled 4-b after h4. The clip is on...he retires to C3

Aaron just flicks a 3 yarder at oppo in C4 and makes a leave.

Dwayne has broken down at h4 and Ben is in. The USA need this match.

Robbie makes 3-b without a rush and peelee is 3y W of penult, so work to do for the delayed double

Robbie sets up for a straight double

Complex position on lawn 7. It looks like Samir has gone into h6 going to hs h2 pioneer which is also in h2. (or at least looks to be from where I am)

Forster misses a 10 yarder at Jeff's penult ball and Jeff is back in with some tough shots to play to make penult. Makes a leave.

Samir plays to 3y E in C1. Christian tells me that Samir needed to get to C1 in order for the ball at h2 not to have a lift. It looks in the jaws to me, so would have a lift anywhere. Samir tells us he thinks it is open, so it can't be in the jaws.

Jamie corners. Felix plays and tries to progress his 4-b ball. Fails 4-b giving Mark a break, but no finish.

Unsurprisingly a referee is called to lawn 7 to adjudicate a wiring lift. No lift is the decision. The Kiwis consider their options

Mark goes down a hill a penult and fails an angled hoop. I think he's bounced wired from Aaron, so he'll have to play S at partner SW of rover. I'd be dribbling to join up in-lawn here. Mark's ball has an 8 foot hoop at 10 degrees. Aaron plays......the wind is getting up.......shoots hard and misses narrowly. He's left an 8 yarder at partner. Mark will shoot at Jamie in C4.......misses. Aaron takes his 8 yarder........hits

Robbie irish peels penult to 8ft N of rover

Aaron underapproaches h1 and he'll need to take it on with partner NE of the peg.......4ft 35 degrees.......bounces off to the W boundary. Mark hits from h1 to partner on E boundary. Splits a ball to rover, and misses his rush to penult, running h6 and finishing a foot in front of penult. Felix has a 6-7 yarder.......misses. Mark runs penult by inches. Will he poke it down near partner at rover or guard Aaron's shot from 7y N of C1? Retires to 2ft N of C4. Aaron will shoot at partner on the N boundary.....misses not leaving a target.

Robbie peeling rover from 2 feet. The peelee stays in the middle of the hoop, the striker's ball follows through, hits it in the middle, peeling it and stays in the hoops. Game 1 +14tp

After some play on lawn 7, the Kiwis have the innings with balls on boundaries. Edmund plays a good rush, makes 4-b, picks off a ball in C3 and should finish

Ben reaches 4-b with a sort of reverse OSL

Jenny misses 16yarder 4th turn on a C2 opening

Jamie runs rover and shoots at Mark in C4.....middles it...that's 2 good shots.

James plays a nice pick-up 5th turn, oops I spoke too early as he misses a 5 yarder after h2. Jenny hts a 3 yarder

Dwayne misses the lift

Morgan takes game 1 - no idea what the score was.

Game 2. Robbie tries to lay ant-Duffer????? Ball finishes inside yard line, so just 10y N of C4. Zack to just S of C2. Robbie hits partner from A-baulk, rolls it to 5y S of h2 going to oppo in C2 Rolls out of C2 to make a weak 3 ducks - was that necessary for the stronger player?

Aaron shoots at 27 yarder at oppos near C4.......hits......I think the prospect of the game only taking two and quarter hours motivated him. makes h1 with work still to do.

Ben fails to get going (probably failed h1) and Dwayne has a 4ball break

Edmund finishes +24

Jenny fails h2 giving James a 5yarder for a 4 ball break

James hits and is away

Zack misses from C1 - I thought shooting from B-baulk was only 15 yards.

Aaron has done well to pick up a break. How hard will he push for a delayed tp against rover + peg? A ball to the peg would be fine.

Matt is in play

Forster approaching rover. It looks like Jeff has gone from penult to the peg - yes, Stephen pegs out Jeff and himself leaving rover v 5.

Robbie runs h1 off the N boundary and misses Zack in C2

Zack has made h1 and is a away.

James reaches 4-b with a spread.

Ben is starting his second break against 4 and 1-b

Forster takes the first +8

Mal has a break

Aaron looks like he might be trying to peel 4-b before 1-b.

Jenny takes a target from B-baulk....misses possibly through the middle to a couple of yards S of oppo. Unsure whether the ball at the peg rushes to either h1 or h2.

Game 2. Samir 9y N of C4. Paddy to just S of C2. Christian hits partner from A-Baulk - takes off the lawn 5feet E of C2. Edmund hits back ball of double.

Zack fails h4 - once again, not tight enough control. Robbie is in.

Harry fails h1, game 2 not living up the heights of game 1. Greg shoots at Jenny misses to next to her ball. Harry can't run h1 and takes the double.......calls a ref, so must be close to the wire........hits

Aaron is on 2-b with no peels.

Edmund is off the lawn and Samir has a reasonable chance of a break

Game 2 Forster supershot. Jeff 19 S of C3. Forster misses from C3 to C4. Jeff hits partner from A-Baulk

Harry makes h1 off partner with a standard tp ahead of him. Really poor croquet stroke after h1 leaves Harry a 4 yarder on his h2 pioneer. - copes.

Jeff has a break

Jenny tells me she took the lift from near the end of B-baulk and it wasn't close.

Samir has almost picked up his break

Matt is in again.

Wilson has a break

Ben is setting up a delayed tp.

Harry does not have a standard tp and his h4 pioneer is 7 yards away

Wilson fails 3-b. Morgan is in.

Jeff fails to approach h3 and retires to C3. Forster misses a 14 yarder to give himself a wide join on the S boundary. Jeff shoots from H4 at partner in C3.....hits

Ben doesn't get control for the 4-b before h6.

Harry is still trying to rebuild his 4 ball break.

Aaron reaches the peg with a horizontal spread - good turn.

Ben fails h6 and Dwayne is in

Aaron's leave, for some reason has the rush pointing at h1 - not sure why. Mark lifts the Westerly ball and shoots at oppo from A-baulk.......misses.

Matt wins +26tp +7 to equalise at 2-2 v Australia.

Robbie reaches 4-b, but only gets an OSL. Zack lifts his h5 ball and takes the short lift.......misses

Felix rushes short of 4-b.......copes

Ian is on a delayed tp against peg+peg v Tom

Felix finishes +3

Jeff has a break

Harry is going to peg with no peels

Samir has reached 4-b with what looks like an MSL

Harry reaches peg with a spread, but rolls partner out when making the leave, so James has a 4 yard "rush". That should guarantee Greg plays the ball at the peg. Takes the long lift.......misses to 1y W of C4.

Morgan is in play

Paddy lifts the ball at h2 and takes the short lift......hits

James hits his ruhs but end up approaching 4b from 15 yards away......gtes a 3y straight hoop and smashes through. Wins the match +25 to take England into a 3-1 lead, but NZ are game up in the other two doubles.

Robbie has the peelee jawsed as he approaches h5.

Paddy is still picking up a break.

Forster misses the lift

Many games are taking lunch.

Tom wins game 1 +5 against Ian

Robbie has 2 peels complete and is making 3 back, trying to rush in front of rover after 3-b. Doesn't get the rush and will be peeling rover straight

Forster on a first break against 6+4-b

It has started raining

Forster reaches 4-b and makes an OSL

Robbie wins the match +22tp to take Aus into a 3-2 lead

Game 2 Mark 8y N or C4. Aaron just S of C2. Jamie shoots at partner from A-baulk.....misses. Felix shoots from A-Baulk....misses. Mark plays the next turn

Ben is taking his 4-b ball to the peg - his other ball is for h6.

Mark overapproaches h1 and retires to partner near the E boundary

Jeff is back in and has a break for 1-b

Felix shoots from h1 at oppos......hits

Felix makes h1 but without a rush.

The only player to win 15/15 in a Quadrangular Mac is Robert Fulford in 1996. Avery and Burch are currently 6/6, but game down

Jeff fails 3-b

Morgan reaches 4-b and Wilson takes the short lift.......misses.

Jenny will take over the commentary to give me a break.

ok, so Jeff's parked in 3back, and it's lunch on their lawn

Felix has run h2 by not a lot, but has a nice rush north of his good hoop 3 pioneer. The kiwi youngsters have been fantastic this Mac

On lawn 4, Ben has taken his 4b ball to the peg, so is now 6 anda peg. Dwayne is on 4 and 4back. Ben has had an OSL essentially forcing the hoop 4 ball to play.

Waaay over on lawn 10, Edward missed the lift against Stephen Morgan. He rolling up from the west boundary. Has a 1yard hoop at about 15 deg - fails it.

Dawyne misses the northerly ball. Blue and black aren't that far apart, so I'd expect Ben to still play his hoop 6 ball and finish. Red is about peg high and a bit west of the line of 1 adn 2, so he should be off

Back to lawn 10 and Edward has missed his three yarder.

Stephen Morgan is going to pick off his 6 yarder from next to hoop 1 to the south boundary... nails it. He still has a ball at hoop 2, so if he can get this roll right...

Rolls up well - has about the same shot as previously - it's quite blustery out there...fails hoop 1, and now Edward Wilson has a 2 yarder. My assistant is going for a wander to check out Ed Wilson's clips.

Meanwhile, Ben has ignored red, and has rushed directly to hoop 6 from corner 4, Felix has aproached 5 to a slight angle, but should be fine.

LAwn 10: edward Wilson is on 1 and 3back, he has hit, but it's with this 3back ball

Felix cruises through 5 and makes the return roquet, Ben Rothman has a longish 6, but a lovely deep ball.

Ben Rothman runs 6 to the north boundary, now has a rush on yellow pointing at 1back - I suspect hel'll take the cut to give red some action. Cuts it...not brilliantly, but he can put yellow to 2b and should get an adequate rush to 1back on his break. As a recap, Ben is game down against Dwayne, so this is a match-equalising break.

Croquets yellow to 2back, and he has a nice rush to 1back. It's a bit windy, but he should cope.

Back to Lawn 10: Edward Wilson is approaching 3back.... doesn't get in front, and he smashes partner off the north boundary joining with partner.
STephen Morgan shoots... hits partner

Lawn 1: Felix has given himself a very angled 1back...plays the shot quite quickly, and pokes it at the hoop - rejected.
Mark has a referee on - it looks like he needs to run a shortish hoop 2 to roquet blue, and it's his best option.

LAwn 10: Stephen Morgan takes off well to Edward Wilson's balls, organises a rush to 1, which is short - plays a decent takoff - now has a 4 foot hoop... hits the lefthand wire and fails 1 again, off the 3back ball again.

LAwn 1: Mark Avery hits blue, takes off to red, unfortunately Felix had a good 2b pioneer, which will work well as a hoop 1 pioneer.

LAwn 4: Rothman rushing to 3back, hasn't touched blue on the east boundary level with 4 since this turn started. Still ignores it for now and rushes red to 3back. He has a good 4back pioneer and is odds on to finish this turn.

Lawn 7: They're back from lunch, and Edmund's change of attire suggests the temperature is dropping. Samir lifts the ball from hoop4 and takes the long lift - misses. "didn't hit it very well". Very handy having friendly players when you're trying to track a zillion games

Lawn 1: Mark Avery is through hoop 2, looks to have a standard TP - not much use in that - kiwis are 1 and 1b and Mark's partner is on hoop 1 still.

Lawn 10: Think i could cheekily cut n paste from above... Edward Wilson has failed to approach 3back again, has joined back with partner near the north boundary. Stephen Morgan shoots... misses. He shot with a ball nearish hoop 1, at a ball north of 3b. Edward is 1 and 3b, so nothing nice to do there but hit something.

Meanwhile... LAwn 7: Edmund Fordyce has rushed well to hoop 1 - maybe a couple of feet to the side. He has a short, but decent hoop 2 pioneer.

LAwn 10 is still very exciting. Edward Wilson has rolled partner down from corner 3.. left himself about a 6 yarder pointing south at red on the east boundary... looks like he snicked it - we couldn't see the contact from this far away

LAwn 1: Mark Avery is through hoop 4. His hoop 6 pioneer has gone super deep

LAwn 10: Ed Wilson has... failed 3back. (or he has missed yellow and drifted to a foot in front of 3back).
Stephen Morgan hits his 3 yarder with his hoop 1 ball. Time for a 4th go at hoop 1...

Lawn 7 Edmund Fordyce is up to hoop 3, his partner ball is at hoop 4, so this will be a nice tidy ball to the peg. Can't argue with a break adn a leave (well, I can, as my opponents just hit those!)

LAwn 6: Malcolm Fletcher is having a practice.

LAwn 4: Ben Rothman is pegging out to equalise with Dwayne McCormick

Lawn 10 Stephen Morgan hasn't rushed brilliantly to hoop 1 - but he's through! His hoop 2 pioneer is at hoop 6, but that's no major problem. He has a standard TP ahead of him for the match.

Lawn 1: Mark's break looks pretty tidy so far. Lawn 1 is pretty friendly.

LAwn 7 Edmund Fordyce has dug the 4th ball safely out of corner 4

Lawn 10: Stephen Morgan has rushed pretty well to hoop 2, partner is at 3. Black is north east of 5. Approaches hoop 2 well, and has run it cleanly

Lawn 7: Edmund Fordyce has balls at 1back and 4back, but is for hoop 6, and his hoop 6 pioneer is halfway to the peg. Takes off - no rush to 6.He'll be rolling up from 4 yards straight.

Lawn 1: Mark has partner at the peg, and the two oppo balls at 3back - looks like he wanted a NSL, but that's not easy now as he doesn't have a rush on teh first ball to the right spot

LAwn 1: Stephen Morgan attempting the first peel after hoop 3

Lawn 7: Edmund rolls up to get a 4 foot straight hoop - runs it at high velocity, and has hit his return roquet.

LAwn 1: Mark croquets blue to standard western position for the spread going to partner, has a rush on partner towards the peg, rather than the east boundary next to hoop 4, so he needs a couple of decent shots here. Black still at 3back.

Lawn 10: Stephen Morgan has the first peel, and is comfortably at hoop 4

LAwn 1: Mark Avery croquets red 3 yards north east of 3back going to black, which he wants to rush into nsl position. Croquets it towards the hoop from about 18 inches... and it has gone too far. Yellow into corner 4, and it's a 'left' rather than a standard leave.

Aaron Westerby is on - showwing black from near 3back and red from where they lie. Pauses and calls a referee, but it looks straightforward

LAwn 10: Nothing very near hoop 6, and Stephen Morgan has a backward takeoff to hoop 5 - has a longish hoop (yard?), but smoothly through. No rush, but his balls are ok up in the north bit of the lawn

Lawn 7: Edmund Fordyce is through 1back, no peels.

Lawn 4 has had some hoop attention, and they're nearly ready for the next game to start

Lawn 10: Stephen rushes peelee nicely behind a very northerly blue (hoop 6 pioneer) - puts out a good peelee and has a very good rush to hoop 6.

Lawn 4: Turn 1: Ben Rothman plays yellow to a standard east boundary position.

Lawn 4: Turn 2: Dwayne McCormick wanders around the lawn before settling up at the end of B baulk - and hits blue just out of corner 2.

LAwn 1: Aaron hits red, rolls it to hoop 3 going towards blue, and doesn't have a rush to hoop 1 - this is likely to be a leave... rolling into corner 2 to lay up for Felix. Yellow still nestled defensively in corner 4

Lawn 4: T3: Ben misses partner on the east boundary. Lines in red a foot north of yellow.

Lawn 8: Balding has a clip on hoop 2, Ian Dumergue is on a break, currently at hoop 5.

LAwn 10: Stephen Morgan failed the peel after 6, plays a "death roll' peel - has a 3 yarder at 2back pioneer and yellow is well through - hits that rush to 2back very well.

LAwn 4: T4, Dwayne takes his double from the north boundary and has hit red.

LAwn 10: Stephen Morgan has made 2back, but looks very hampered.

LAwn 1: The English pair are very keen to shoot. Chris is very keen for them to go just out of corner 3. Aaron has laid up in corner 2 with a rush for Felix to 1back.

Lawn 1: Jamie Burch plays red 6 inches west of corner 2. We'll check Chris for microphones later!

Lawn 10: It looks like Stephen Morgan is looking to have a go at the rover peel after 3back - he has brought the ball across and will be looking to rush it into position and peel directly after 3back.

LAwn 3: They're back from lunch - argh!! - many lawns!. Stephen Forster has hit his shot at Jeff Soo in 3back, croquets blue into the lawn, and seems to have got a really good rush pointing at hoop 1 (he's playing his hoop 1 ball).

Lawn 4: Dwayne has taken croquet, got a rush to hoop 2 - rushed yellow to hoop 2 getting a nice promotion on red. Rushes towards corner 2, takes off well and has rushed nearish hoop 1. Takes off and is through hoop 1.

Felix rushed into corner 4 rather than take his rush to 1back, croquets black out of the way, and has a rush that he is trying to take to corner 3... cuts it about 4 yards up the lawn t(though it has come to rest just inside corner 3, whcih would have been handy!)

LAwn 10: Stephen Morgan hasn't got the peel yet, has run 4back and come back down to tidy up his peelee before penult.

Lawn 4: Dwayne has rushed partner east, got a rush on red that he looked to cut a bit we think, and has rushed it to just west of the middle of north boundary. Has a long takeoff to get a rush to hoop 2 - yellow is still nearish corner 2.

LAwn 10: Stephen Morgan takes off to penult - well short, and his approach is from about 6-8 yards. Seems to have coped ok... failed penult. Recap: Stephen Morgan: Penult and Rover plays Edward Wilson: 1 and 3back. Hasn't managed to hide his failed shot at penult from Edward, and Edward has a quad available. (updated on Ian D coming very soon)

LAwn 7: Edmund Fordyce has played another very good turn and is now at the peg and setting a spread. Paddy is on 4back, Samir Patel is on 4back and Christian Carter still on hoop 1.

Lawn 1: The kiwis laid up tight in corner 4, Mark Avery shoots from 2 to 3... misses. Now red and yellow are about a foot apart in corner 3. Felix has a rush to 2back and two balls together

LAwn 10: Edward Wilson rushes quite well to hoop 1, oppos are about 5 yards apart near hoop 2. Grovels through the hoop - referee is on... makes it look pretty easy.

Lawn 1: Felix rushes black a couple of yards south east of rover and is taking off to corner 3

Meanwhile Dwayne on lawn 4 has a loong backward takeoff from partner to hoop 3, but a good ball at hoop 4 - one more hoop to get through before it is plain sailing. Takes off - has a bit of an angle, but it's a really good approach.

Lawn 4: Dwayne McCormick is through hoop 3, has the first break ahead of him.

LAwn 1: Felix plays a good takeoff and is up in corner 3 looking to get a rush to 1back

Lawn 3: Stephen Forster has the first peel on partner and has just run hoop 5 with a rush.

LAwn 10: it's a bit more under control for Edward Wilson now, rushes well to hoop 3 and has all the balls.

Lawn 1: Felix has made 1back. 2back pioneer is south of rover and he has rushed badly to north-west of rover. Hoop 5 is in play a bit, so needs to give himself a bit of room on this roll. Yellow still parked near corner 3, so there's a need to rescue that with a lift pending.

LAwn 7: Christian shoot with the westerly ball in the spread at the kiwi balls from where things lie. Has a really good look at it, but misses. Paddy should finish from here.

Christian "I had some of red, some of blue, some of black - it was a massive target... it couldn't have been any closer"

LAwn 1: Felix approaches 2back well, runs it hard has a rush pointing at the peg - really needs to go and move yellow now.

Lawn 3: It looks like Stephen Forster didn't get the second peel after hoop 6, puts a decent 3back pioneer out, but rushes peelee way too deep to have a go at a death roll. Delayed double it is.

Lawn 1: Chris was begging Felix to go up to yellow before 3back, but that microphone isn't working for the kiwis. Taps black, and rolls it towards 3back... overrunning his 3back pioneer! He should cope though.

Lawn 1: A couple of good shots and Felix will have a good NSL - needs to approach 3b well, ... does

Lawn 7: Paddy is back inside... requesting permission to move the balls along a bit to avoid an old peg hole. Christian is a very decent chap and, having confirmed the peg isn't in play as they lie, agrees to the balls being moved a bit so Paddy can rush to 4back without having a ball in a crater first.

LAwn 1: Felix runs 3back too well - opts to hit red firmly, rushing it into corner 4. This will now be a bit of a creative probably-osl.

Meanwhile...
Lawn 10 Edward Wilson is on 2back, no peels attempted.

My reporter also says:
Lawn 8: It looks like Balding missed the lift, but he's now on break!

LAwn 1: Felix croquets red to peg high and a few yards in.Rushes partner (black) to.. hoop 6. Now needs to put black somewhere safe and remove that ball from corner 3.

Lawn 7: Paddy is currently finishing for another good kiwi win (argh - stay away commentator's curse)

Lawn 4: Dwayne is playing a break - looks like he's up to 3back - first break of the deciding game in their match.

Lawn 1: Much discussion - black is... being left next to hoop 6, takes off to corner 3, hits yellow. Blue is going to be going somewhere very defensive.

Lawn 7: Paddy smoothly through penult with a useful rush.

Lawn 10: Edward Wilson has made 3back and is cruising around to the peg. nothing peeled. Remember opponent is penult and rover

Lawn 1: From around corner 3, Felix rolls blue off the lawn level with hoop 2, and yellow about peg high.
That has given the English pair something to think about.

On lawn 1, the NZ pair are 1 game up. Mark Avery and Felix Webby are both on 4back. Jamie Burch and Aaron Westerby are both on hoop 1.

LAwn 3: Stephen Forster is making rover - he has only got one peel done, and partner is south of penult, makes rover off blue (3back) and is going to black. It won't be a pretty leave, but he's around.

Lawn 7: Paddy finishes. Australia lead New Zealand 3-2 in the 21-test match

Lawn 1: Jamie shoots from corner 1 up at the double on the west boundary - misses! Lines the ball on a yard or two south of corner 2.
Felix is on the lawn with a 5 yarder at red (Jamie's ball), which he rushes of the boundary north of hoop 2

Lawn 3: UPDATE: Stephen has actually got 2 peels, so is now on rober and peg with blue and black in spread position, and he has a referee on to watch him roll two balls off near corner 2.

LAwn 4: Ben shoots at the spread from corner 4... through the middle of the target.
Dwayne rushes to 1, grovels through and angled hoop... and he's fine

LAwn 10: Edward Wilson is now 3back and peg, and is having a reverse diagonal spread.

Lawn 3: It looks like Stephen Forster didn't roll his two balls off - has left some sort of rush from about level with hoop 2... Jeff Soo takes a very very long lift at some sort of target.. hits.

Lawn 4: Dwayne has failed hoop 2 off partner. These two are playing a bit too fast for me! Ben shoots from hoop 3... misses.

Lawn 10: Stephen Morgan lifts his penult ball from near the peg. He's taking the short lift from the end of B baulk at Edward Wilson in corner 2... Yellow is near the boundary north-east of 3back, so this is a huge shot. Body language says no.

Lawn 4: Dwayne runs 2 and picks off red in corner 2. Croquets that a few yards east of the peg and has a rush which he badly underhits to hoop 3. He'll be approaching from about 8 yards north of penult.

Lawn 1: Felix has a leave - red (Jamie, for hoop 1) north west of hoop 1, yellow northwest of 4back, blue and black shouldbe presenting a single target to red - Jamie shooting at that. Might be one is hidden by hoop 4. Jamie...misses.

Lawn 4: Dwayne has failed hoop 3 now. Ben shooting from northeast of the peg... misses.

LAwn 10: Edward has a rush towardsish 3back - hits all of it when he needed a cut, and I think he'll be approaching from near corner 4. Can't see that bit of the lawn.

LAwn 3: Jeff Soo has had a leave. He was evidently playing his 3back ball. Yellow southeast of hoop 3, red south west of hoop 2

Lawn 1: Aaron's rush to hoop 1 goes down the hill a bit, but he approaches it well and runs the hoop very nicely to have a cut towards corner 4 for a very handy pick up of red.

Lawn 10: Edward Wilson has failed 3back... to corner 4.

Stephen Morgan shooting from 3back at partner nearish corner 2...appears to have missed (there's another shelter in the way there)

Lawn 1: Aaron has played a lovely shot sending up peelee and has a rush on red towards hoop 3 where yellow is also waiting - he's for hoop 2, so is in great nick now.

Lawn 8: Tom Balding has now had an equalising break. (Balding is one game up)

Balding had an NSL, with Ian's hoop 1 ball in hoop 4.

Lawn 1: Aaron rushes red off the north boundary 3 yards east of the end of B baulk

LAwn 3 Jeff Soo is standing around his balls at 3back - looks to have misapproached it.

Lawn 10: Edward Wilson appears to have hit in again, rushes north west of 3back, and has run it well. He has yellow somewhere near 4back, and should equalise this match.

LAwn 1: Aaron's roll give him a rush which he hits to in front of penult (I didn't see where he was rushing from). Rolls to hoop 2... he has overhit it and it's a long way south also - looks like the kiwis will cede the innings and run to corner 4.

Sounds like he got a "humpty rush" with black climbing up yellow on the rush

nope - it looks like red and blue are crosswired, and Aaron is shooting towards corner 3 to the wired spot. The referees wanted these ones watched, but that isn't happening. Aaron shoots it off, and Felix fields.

Looks like he has played it very well, so the kiwis do keep the innings. Samir reckons Jamie is very keen to take the shot on.

Lawn 3: Jeff soo is having a leave - he has the innings, he's laying up west of hoop 1, and is still for 1 and 3back.

(he had a leave earlier after misapproaching 3back, oppo shot through into corner 4, and Jeff has left red there and is now at hoop 1.)

LAwn 1: It looks like Jamie will shoot red at yellow. There is nowhere nice to run away to, and that's really the only shot on offer.

LAwn 10: Edward Wilson runs rover and has a rush to partner at the peg. And it's 1 game all on lawn 10.

LAwn 1: Red has about a quarter of black at 10 yards.

LAwn 3: Stephen Forster shoots into corner 1 (deliberately, not a shot at Jeff).
Jeff tapped partner with his 3back ball, went to yellow to rush it to corner 4, rushed it into hoop 1, rolls the balls across. Hits. Aargh - clip update..looks like Jeff Soo is on 3back and 4back. No wonder he didn't make hoop 1!
ok, so he hits red in corner 4... stoppo approach to 3back and runs the hoop well.

Lawn 1: Mark Avery runs to corner 1 from near hoop 2. Aaron rushes partner to peeling position, has a go at the peel getting a rush to hoop 2. Big rejection, but has got the rush and approaches hoop 2 well.

Lawn 4: I have completely lost track of this game sorry - for those following Aust v USA or DMac or Ben, my apologies. Clips are: Australia: 4 and 4back vs 1 and 3.

Lawn 8: Ian Dumergue is 2 and 4back, and has just got the innings back after Tom Balding stuck in hoop 1. (Tom's other ball is on 4back).

LAwn 4: Dwayne lays up in corner 4, Ben shoots from midlawn at partner north east of hoop 3... misses.

Lawn 1: Aaron is through hoop 3, taking off from partner to yellow in corner 1... it's a really good shoot. Left himself a 4.5 yarder.

Lawn 10: We had an east boundary - corner 2 - a-baulk-missing-partner - missing-those-two opening. Edward playing 5th turn has the first chance of a break.

Lawn 1: Aaron hits yellow in corner 1. Has a pass roll out of corner 1 putting a hoop 5 pioneer (short) and geting a rush to 4 (good).

LAwn 3: Jeff Soo now up to penult. Leaves red and yellow at rover and he's a bit short of his pioneer, but copes.

LAWN 3 RECAP: Jeff Soo in a break (on penult) and 4back, playing rover and peg (from Stephen's two-peel last turn).

Lawn 1: Aaron through hoop4. Felix on for a natter.

Lawn 1: Aaron on a break with a delayed TP prospect
Lawn 3: Jeff Soo on the way to the peg with his other ball on 4back against Rover and Peg
Lawn 4: Dwayne McCormick on a break and through hoop 6
Lawn 8: Can't seet his lawn, last sight Ian D was on second break
Lawn 10 Edward Wilson has misapproached hoop 2 on first break and has run into corner 3, with his other ball on the east boundary 6 yards south of it.

LAwn 10: James reckons there is a potential wrong ball... might have been Edward picked up the wrong ball after playing a cut rush that put his striker's ball near corner 3. Liz Fleming is in attendance and is likely to have seen what happened.

Lawn 3... Jeff has a jump shot at rover!! ....looked ok, but it's not through. Stephen Forster now has all the balls and is for rover.

Stephen Forster hits a nervy 2.5 yarder - you can see the relief all over him!! Yellow is very closer to rover. Why isn't he going to black??? Rolls blue deep and... doesn't have a rush north on yellow. I'd have taken off back, but here I am sitting down!

Hits yellow, rushing it peggish, has a take off to black northwest of the peg to rush to rover. Making this difficult, but he should finish, and having played a couple of shots he looks more settled.

Takes off well to black, rushes north-west of the hoop - should cope from here.Meanwhile...

LAwn 1: Aaron's delayed TP is over , and he is taking off to position at hoop 6. Doesn't look too difficult.

LAwn 10: It was indeed a wrong ball. Balls come back to red just outside corner 2, yellow a couple of yards south of red, blue in contact with yellow, and black over to the east boundary where they should be before the error.

Red rushed yellow, to promote blue 10 yards down the line. Took off behind black up behind three, and has rushed black off the west boundary level with hoop 1. STephen Morgan is now taking off back to blue. Phew! So the clips are 1,1,1,and blue for 2.

Lawn 3: Stephen Forster pegging out from very close to take the match 2-0.

Lawn 1: argh! Aaron has failed hoop 6 off Jamie's hoop 1 ball. he'd had to take off to hoop 6.. had about a 2 footer at 20 degrees. Jamie now has a rush to hoop 1

Lawn 10: Stephen Morgan has stuck in hoop 1 off black. Doesn't look like an easy hit in

Lawn 1: Jamie doesn't rush well to 1, but approaches it to give a 1 yard hoop.Bit windy, and he is casting a lot. Dribbly... very well run hoop

Good grief - James Death has found the expensive beer - Theakston's Old Peculiar - $10 a bottle! I'll stick with Carlton Draught at $5.

Right...
Lawn 8: Ian Dumergue has the innings. 2 and 4back plays 3 and 4back. Tom Balding has just cornered. I'd like to find an opponent who will do that!

Lawn 10: Edward has hit with his hoop 1 ball and has established a break.

Lawn 1: Jamie Burch has the first peel and is making hoop 4

LAwn 4: Dwayne has taken a ball around and is having some sort of OSL

Lawn 1: Jamie has recovered the peelee and has two balls somewhere near hoop 6 and is making 5 with full control

Hoop 5 is a bit angled, but no problem for Jamie

Lawn 4: Ben shoots at partner from corner 1 into corner 2. misses. Dwayne rushes from corner 4 to between these two balls. That should be good enough to get started.

Lawn 1: Jamie croquets black to 1back and has sailed past blue - hits the long roquet on blue and will be making 6 off peelee

Lawn 10: Edward cruising around - this will settle him.

LAwn 1: JAmie's rush to hoop 6 got too close, and he nicks the hoop sending his peelee past the west leg. This will be a very difficult peel. Runs the hoop very gently though and nudges yellow - very good stroke jawses yellow - that was very handy.

Lawn 10: Edward has failed hoop 3!
Stephen Morgan hits. Takes off down towards corner 4.

Lawn 1: Jamie approaching hoop 2. Looks really quite windy now - but he's making sure he runs his hoops form inches.

Runs 1back.

Jamie's 2back pioneer is barely past peg high, so he does still have a little work to do.

Lawn 10: Stephen Morgan has run a good hoop 1 and should be off now.

Lawn 1: Jamie rushes partner through 1, croquets it down near rover and has a good rush to 2back. Approaching from a wee way away, but it's a good shot, and blue is very deep.

Black is about 3 yards north west of 3back, but he should cope. Runs 2back - in the air! - that red jumped a lot on the way through.

Lawn 4: Dwayne has lost the innings - we'll update the clips as soon as we can. Ben rushes to hoop 1. Taking off to the hoop.

Lawn 10: Stephen Morgan is still in play - that's first break, with Edward Wilson on 1 and 3

Lawn 1: Jamie plays a takeoff peel - peelee bounces around in rover before settling into the jaws. More importantly, Jamie has a good rush to 3back. Rushes it a bit south-east, but another good hoop approach, and assured hoop. Should finish from here. (commentator trying to apply curse...)

LAwn 4: Ben has failed hoop 1! Dwayne has the referee on and...hits.

Lawn 8: Ian Dumergue is on 4back and currently approaching hoop 5 - so three hoops into that break possibly. Tom's ball is still in thecorner.

Lawn 1: Jamie opts to leave yellow where it is, rolls black well to penult and has a wee cut to 4back which he copes with. Half-balls his return roquet after the hoop on the wrong side. Copes with the roll sending blue near rover and getting close to black

Gently through penult. He'll opt to peel rover straight, from in the jaws, and I expect to see a decider.

Rolls down an excellent side ball. Rushes blue on top of yellow - yellow not rushed into the jaws, but useful position still - peels yellow staying in the jaws with striker ball. Makes an ugly job of getting a rush to yellow (had a bit of hill assistance, but got blue in his way). Rushes to yellow - now needs to cut this past rover - gets the hill... but he has a 2 yard pegout to level the match.

Jamie and Mark win 26TP (Jamie) - 14

Dwayne has a leave with Ben Rothman at hoops 1 and 2 (well, much longer than that) - Ben shoots at Dwayne - misses.

Red is still south-west of hoop 1, but Dwayne should cope with 2 balls. IT looks like he's 4back and peg, and has rushed partner to 4back. Plays an inside-outey takeoff to get long angled position on 4back. - and fails 4back. Yellow is quite close - maybe a 7 yarder.

This is Ben Rothman's hoop 3 ball with the 7 yarder.

...hits black in the middle - he should take this around. Ben is 1 (red) and 3 (yellow, just hit in to two balls at hoop 3)

My reporter is just checking on the distant lawns. Currently lawn 1 hoops are being reset. Ben has made hoop 3 on lawn 4 and has a decent hoop 4 pioneer, Stephen Morgan is playing some sort of break on lawn 10, Stephen Forster and Jeff Soo are all wrapped up, so only 3 matches under way, and one is on a rest between games 2 and 3

Lawn 10: Stephen Morgan is 2 and break, playing 2 and 3 (Edward Wilson).

Lawn 8: Ian D was on a 3ball break going around with a ball in corner 1 last we looked, well...
he didn' get behind it before 2back, had a backward takeoff to 2back, and failed 2back.
This left 2 balls in baulk and a ball in hoop 1.

Clips: Ian D 2back and 4back, against 3 and 4back (rather lucky it's not 1 and 4back!). Unsurprisingly, Tom has hit the lift

LAwn 1: Decider. NZ v Eng 1-1, Eng lead the test 3-2

Lawn 1 T1: Aaron to east boundary

Lawn 1 T2: Mark Avery (yellow) to just out of corner 2

Lawn 10: Reverse NSL from stephen. Edward has lifted his ball from hoop 2, shoots from A Baulk, and hits partner which was floating north-east of hoop 4

LAwn 1 T3: Felix misses with blue at black. There'll be a gap between the balls

Lawn 1 T4. Jamie shooting at the kiwis' balls from the end of A baulk...misses. Red lined on just north of back, south of blue.

Very windy now. Would like to practise, but...

Lawn 1: Aaron tidied up the balls - seems to have moved all the balls by precisely half an inch - ok, at least they're now in a straight line
Aha - change in strategy - Aaron having the first break

LAwn 10: Blink and you miss it... Edward Wilson had hit the lift, but then misses a 1 yard rush. Stephen misses his 3-4 yarder. Edward probably has somethign short now.

Lawn 1: Aaron didn't rush brilliantly to hoop 1, but approaches and runs it very well. Rushes blue back to red - flicks the face of hoop 5 and straightens it up. He'll have a crack at rushing into corner 2 where yellow is waiting. Aaron is really good at these big rushes.

LAwn 10: Edward Wilson has hit, and has rushed partner to hoop 3. Red is mid east boundary, yellow a few yards north of hoop4, so he has a break. Approaches hoop 3 well. Runs 3 with a forward rush.

Lawn 1: Again no referee, but Aaron rushes to 2 yards from yellow - easy takeoff to get a rush to hoop 2

LAwn 4: Ben is for 3back and still going - his other clip is on hoop 1, and Dwayne is 4back and peg

Lawn 1: AAron has approached 2 well - bit angled, and a lot of wind, but it looks like he'll power it through to the boundary, hope he doesn't get an unfriendly wick off the hoop, and pick up a 5 yarder on red. ... decides to run the hoop gently... fails hoop 2. That was the first break - all other balls on hoop 1.

LAwn 2: Mark Avery plays a nice first stroke, rushing black to a yard and a half north north west of hoop 1.Taking off - should be ok unless wind and hill conspire. Plays that takeoff very well

MAkes sure of hoop 1! - now has a 5 yarder pointing at the south boundary.

Lawn 4: Ben just completing a diagonal spread

LAwn 10 Edward Wilson on 1back in first break

LAwn 1: Mark has a bit of trouble taking his stance in the wind... hits

Lawn 4: Ben Rothman's spread is very very diagonal - blue and black are open at the peg, yellow is in corner 4, red about 4 yards north of it and a bit in from the boundary.
Dwayne shoots as the balls lie from 2 to peg... misses.

Update - Ben also left a reverse rush - yellow in corner 4 is his 4back ball. He has a 4-5 yarder - which he doesn't fancy.

Lawn 1: Mark plays a huge pass roll putting blue north of hoop3 and going to red - hits red into corner 2. Harry remarks about how he's about to play the stroke "we've spent our lives practising". Mark clearly has too, and approaches 2 very nicely from corner 2.

Greg Bryant is back from a practise session "wind is getting ferocious". Maybe I won't go and practise

Mark '"Muppet" Avery through hoop 2 and he's off. And I have an update from around the corner...

Lawn 8: Tom Balding got as far as hoop 6. Ian Dumergue has just made 3back, but with no real break. The 4back pioneer seems to be in corner 2. Ian's other ball is on 4back.

LAwn 1: Mark has a very long hoop 3... which he doesn't get close to running.
Felix has a 4 yarder at yellow, a ball at 4 and, rather usefully, a ball at hoop 1!

Lawn 4: Ben turned down his 4-5 yarder with his hoop 1 ball off the reverse rush he left. Playing his 4back ball. Makes 4back. He's gonna be 1 and peg!

Felix hits yellow, takes off to red, poor rush leaves red between 1 and 2, and a take off to a ball 4 yards west of hoop 1. He should cope well with this.

Takes off well.

Lawn 1: Felix runs 1, croquets black towards hoop 3 (short), and the wind takes his excellent blue a little east of red. Doesn't cut red enough, but he's taking off from about 5 feet away to hoop 2. Lawn 1 getting a bit more interesting in teh wind. Takes off to hoop 2 - it's very angled! - he's having a hard go at it... runs it beautifully!!

The old wives tale about how you can tell if a hoop is cleanly run as it'll ping back the opposite angle to that which it went through is well and truly disproved - he runs a 45 degree hoop - and it comes out at 30 degrees along a similar line

LAwn 1: Felix centres his 5-6 yard return. Taking off to yellow on the north boundary north of hoop 3. He'll croquet that to 4 getting a rush back up on black. Red left north-east of 1

LAwn 10: Edward Wilson ran hoop 3 and has missed - Stephen Morgan hits a mid-range roquet.

LAwn 4 It is now 1 and peg v 4back and peg. Ben is not pegging out Dwayne. Is having a rough reverse OSL (dwayne's balls floating around in-lawn but far apart and Ben Rothman near corner 2)

LAwn 1: Felix has a short angled backward takeoff - nice shot, and he's through hoop3 with a rush down to hoop 1 - so now he has all the balls and full control. Really nice stuff.

Lawn 4: Dwayne has lifted his 4back ball. Turns down the 13 yarder from B baulk into corner 2, taking a 16-17 yarder at partner with another ball in the background. Rushes partner to penult, hits red on the rebound! He probably won't be thrilled at that, as it was in lawn before and he only needs one of red and yellow to win this match.

Blue is now a really good penult pioneer! - lines red in back very close to yellow - that'll be fine

Lawn 1: Felix gets a shortish angled hoop 4 which doesn't trouble him. Two balls about 2 yards from hoop 5 - I'm sure one of them will do as a pioneer.

Lawn 4 - Dwayne takes off to red, will still have a very short rush to 4back

Lawn 10: Edward Wilson back on the lawn. He's in tshirt and shorts, so it can't be too cold. The wind has nicely stayed away - nice fluffy white clouds which don't look too threatening

Lawn 4: Dwayne rushing to 4back...
Lawn 1: Felix trying to sort a rush to hoop 5...trying to stand up in the wind - not happy and he's coming in for a wee break - I think his balls might have moved a little in the wind - yes, red, unaided, has wandered by half a ball.

Lawn 4: Dwayne has to rush downwind - he's short! - approaches the hoop from 2 yards westish... copes.

Lawn 10: Edward Wilson is back off the lawn again. Seems to be joined up in corner 3

Lawn 1: Felix through hoop 5 and under control

Alix Verge risking getting blown away carrying a large Australian flag

Lawn 10: Stephen Morgan misses something, Edward taking croquet and a takeoff to corner 4. Lots of dust around corner 4 - "gosh it's windy out there" says an Englishman

Lawn 4: Dwayne has failed penult off partner. Giving a lift and a bit of a double for Ben's red ball. Ben just has to get to the peg to win.

Actually, it looks like Ben has a 3-ball target.

From A baulk it looks like there's a 10 yarder at yellow with blue and black in the background. Instead he's shooting at black (in hoop) and blue (just south), with yellow as a bonus ball down at rover.

Ben Rothman nails black and raises a triumphant fist. That's a good shot, and he now has lots of balls.

Lawn 10: Edward has run hoop 5 and glued his striker's ball onto the peg. Runs away to the east boundary. Stephen Morgan misses, Edward Wilson hits to regain the innings.

Lawn 4: Ben croquets black to hoop 2 - no rush - so he has to take off to yellow next to rover

Takes off well, and has a rush pointing at hoop 1.

Lawn 1: Meanwhile Felix Webby is looking like the best player out there - he's around as far as 2back so far. His 2b pioneer is a bit short, and he doesn't get past it, but puts out a good 3b ball. It'll be an NSL from Felix. Approaches 2b well and runs it off the south boundary

LAwn 8: Tom Balding has just made 1back with a break, so is currently 2back (break) and 4back, vs 4back and penult.

Lawn 4: Ben grovels through hoop 1, but has a clean swing on yellow - has a good hoop 2 pioneer, the other ball at hoop 6, and just needs a break to the peg to take the match.

Lawn 10: Edward Wilson has crashed through 6

LAwn 1: Felix places yellow 8 yards south-west of hoop 2 and rushes partner to the 3back pioneer - hits red on the way, but no damage done. Taking croquet in corner 4 with a good 3back pioneer.

LAwn 1: error! Felix has drifted past a 2 yard gentle roquet on red before 3back. This is off Jamie's ball (red, for hoop 1) with yellow (Mark Avery) on hoop 3, and Aaron Westerby on hoop2. Felix still looks awesome on the lawn. JAmie now among the balls

Jamie is only a wee fellow, and that gust moved him and the red ball

JAmie doesn't rush to 1 or 2, but plays a lovely croquet stroke putting blue to hoop 2 - has a 3 yard straight rush to hoop 1 - this is missable.

MAybe 4 yards.
Hits the middle of it, but another bad humpty connection and he'll be taking off from 2 yards north-west of hoop 1

Meanwhile on Lawn 4 Ben Rothman is on hoop 4 with the balls well under control - remember he just needsa break to the peg to win the match

LAwn 1: Jamie takes off well, longish hoop (1 yard?), very windy and it's a cross wind for him...

Hates this - I'm surprised he's not restalking, but he's probably really happy with his feet and body position. Still casting. - runs the hoop really nicely.

LAwn 1: Jamie rushes blue to somewhere awful, takes off to try to get position at hoop 2 from direclty behind the hoop - it hills badly and has sat in an old hoop hole - this looks very very difficult.

LAwn 10: I hope James will update me as Stephen Morgan is back on the lawn ...but not for long.... fails an angled prod at hoop 4 into the jaws.

LAwn 10: It looks like Edward has about a 4 yarder at that ball in hoop 4. as a referee on ... nails it with a nice smooth stroke.

Lawn 4: Ben Rothman is up to 1back, still controlling the balls well.

Lawn 1: Still exciting - Jamie had a look at his shot at hoop 2, but doesn't really fancy it, lots of discussion. Shooting to a spot about 9 yards south of corner 3 to ensure blue doesn't get a wiring lift.

So Felix on 3back, Aaron on 2. Jamie on 2, Mark on 3. Great clips.

LAwn 1: Well, this is interesting - blue doesn't have a lift, but can't get anywhere near black which is near hoop 4. Yellow is about 12 yards inlawn from red, which is the only ball blue can see.

Arron looking to play blue off just south of corner 2

LAwn 10: Edward making penult. We'll try to get an update here - the Americans are really standing up to Australia today

It's currently 4-2 to Australia, but Tom Balding is having lots of play against Dumergue (Tom is game up), Ben has a 4 ball break at 2back to win, and Edward really needs to take his singles match (which he seems to be favourite for now that the wind is up

LAwn 1: The referee is on - Felix "runs" 1back hard to get off the south boundary behind hoop 1.

Mark Avery is sent out - maybe it's a 9 yarder. Aaron might have a double up from hoop 4 to the east boundary next to hoop 3 if Mark misses.
Mark hits

Wha.....???? A referee has just wandered across lawn 1, then back onto lawn 1... Felix explains he had mentioned to Mark he fancied having the hoop knocked back down - but the ref doesn't seem to have consulted Mark. Bit odd that.

Lawn 8: Tom is now around to 4back and peg, had a reverse spread. Dumergue lifted his penult ball (the ball not at the peg). Took the lift from B baulk, and rushed partner to rover!

LAwn 1: Mark takes off to hoop 3... short

LAwn 10: Current clips: Edward Wilson 2back and rover. Stephen penult and break, approaching hoop 5 off partner.
We aren't sure what caused the latest change in innings. Even Tom Balding is claiming the wind is moving him.

Lawn 1: Mark Avery taking on hoop 3? Distracted as Jamie's hat takes an excusion across lawn 2. Bit more discussion - Mark is joining red - it'll guard a shot which is probably short enough for Aaron to take anyway

No - Mark's after the hoop again. No. he's bailing... toying with us!

LAwn 4: Ben taking croquet to approach 4back. Waiting between gusts.Good approach (easy approach, but it is quite windy)

Lawn 1: Aaron shooting from hoop 4 at about a 12 yarder - hits the middle of a 1 yard gapped "Bassett" double

LAwn 4: Ben through 4back. Dwayne trying to channel the great kiwi player Bob Jackson - Bob used to pack up his mallet, put it in its case - and immediately the opponent would break down. Dwayne is packed and moving from the end of the lawn to closer to the clubhouse.

Mark has rushed black to... directly behind hoop 3. has a nasty takeoff which he uses the wind/hill well for to take straight position.

LAwn 10: we've missed some changes of innings here! Stephen's clip is on 2back, I guess he ran away, as then Edward Wilson's ball was lined on south of 2back, and now Stephen Morgan has hit in. So Stephen is for 2back, and has a ball north of 2back and one on the south boundary. Handy. He's taking croquet on the east boundary about peg high. Takes off well to the ball south of 2back.

Lawn 1: Mark through 3, moves black between 3 and 4, takes off and rushes to... east boundary north-east of hoop 4 - needs to approach the hoop from here as blue is on the boundary south of hoop 1 = where Felix put it a wee while ago.

oops!!! Mark plays the croquet stroke approaching hoop 4 ... and Felix wanders out enquiring if a wrong ball has been played. Yup, Mark has been playing yellow for a few doubles days now. Jamie claims a piller between the massive massive Cairnlea windows is to blame for him not spotting that.
That wayward ref is back on ... and not doing very well!

The balls need to go back - red to a legal position on the lawn - on the yardline, as it was rushed there. AND yellow needs to also be in a legal position on the lawn, not behind it in the yardline. Samir not happy to be constrained to stay inside.

LAwn 4: Ben Rothman wins!!! Now 4-3 to Australia. Tom looking favourite against Ian D (though I can't see any of the lawn), and Stephen Morgan still going up on lawn 10

LAwn 1: Aaron has hit!! Splits red and yellow

Lawn 8: Swings back to Ian as favourite... Ian Dumergue on peg and 4back, Tom Balding on "box" (i.e. pegged out) and 4back

Aaron takes off from red... gets a lovely rush on yellow, which he rushes to within a foot of blue. Will be rushing blue to hoop 2.

Wee croquet stroke isn't a good one, and he has a rush pointing at the west boundary level with hoop 2. At least it's off partner, as it'll be a bit of a hoop approach. Plays a powerful rush - doesn't get all the cut he wants and he has rushed partner to a yard east of corner 2. This is the shot we practise a lot though...

Lawn 8: Ian has just run 4back off the boundary and has a rush on partner towards penult. Other ball is on the west boundary near hoop 2.

LAwn 10: Stephen Morgan has just run rover - by not a huge amount, and has a longish roquet on (?) partner - ref is on

Lawn 1: Aaron doesn't attempt hoop 2 - lays up in corner 2 with a rush. Jamie Misses badly shooting red at yellow from east boundary to south of hoop 1.

Right, well, after a wee break, it's all happening. ...

Lawn 1: Aaron is in a break, and has pulled all the balls out into play

Lawn 10: Stephen is still on the lawn.

Lawn 8: Ian D misapproached penult. Tom B hit something, made 4back, ran penult by a long way, hit the ball at rover, rolled back up to the penult pioneer, had a longish rush that he got reasonably nicely to rover, but misapproached rover. Played a very fast jump stroke which I feel he hit too hard and too high. Fails the hoop and glued to the wire.
Ian D played gently up to partner to try to leave a rush to penult.
Tom can only play off the west boundary. I'm gonna relocate to find out what's going on now.

Ian rushed towards corner 3, sets up a wired rush.

Tom plays to the west boundary 2 yards south of hoop 2

an rushes to 5 yards north and a bit east of penult. Rolling...

well, it's a drive. Waiting for a lull in the wind. Plays a really good approach... red in front of penult, and yellow at the peg. Updates coming via Spencer Buck, a great Australian player.

Runs penult well, and he has a rush to rover!

Rushes partner about 2 yards north west of rover. Approaching the hoop

This is a big turn for the Australian captain - they were looking in a lot of trouble - this has been USA's day

Approaches - has a slightly angled 2 foot hoop, needs to run it by 6 yards

Runs rover off the lawn. now he has a tasty return

Stalks his 7 yarder... hits! - rushing it towards hoop 4. Should be looking for a wired rush. Spencer fancies hiding in a shadow!

Meanwhile on lawn 1, Aaron is still on a break

IT looks like Ian has done really well getting a wired rush to the peg. I'm not sure what Tom is shooting at - probably has half a ball.

From James Death... "Shoots...watching...watching...watching....hits!" - turns out yellow wasn't wired, and red rushes to rover.

Meanwhile, lawn 10.. Stephen Morgan pegs out to level the test at 4-4. A very impressive day from the gutsy USA team

Tom Balding rushes red to about a yard south of rover.

approaches well, runs the hoop by 6 yards... has a 5 yarder... misses to 5 yards east of corner 2!

Ian now can join/shoot at partner, but unlikely to be pegging out - Tom is a very good shot, and will have another chance here. Ian will only want to give him one more shot

This is a huge day for the USA, and a huge match, of peg and peg vs peg and pegged-out

Red shoots... misses yellow. They're together in 4th corner. He has a dolly rush to the peg. Tom will be shooting at the peg... this is a Macrobertson Shield match - you need a ref to watch a shot from the north boundary!! Misses.Ian now needs a good cut - he is very close together, but apparently doesn't have a rush to the peg.

Rushes red to... the middle of the east boundary

Nope - he rushed it to corner 3. Now rolls up to the east boundary level with hoop 3.

I wonder if Tom will find a referee this time? Ian might have requested this!!

Shoots from south boundary...can't believe it - very close. Misses.
Ian now has a rush to the peg.

Ian rushes to the peg... only just misses a grievous!! now has a 3.5 yard pegout - he shouldn't miss this - you have all day to line them up

Ian Dumergue wins game 2 26-25! We will have a game 3.

Meanwhile, Aaron's break came to grief at hoop 6..had a long backward takeoff to hoop 6 - declined a 45 degree hoop and ran away. Mark hit an 18 yarder from between 1 and 2 to the south boundary.
Mark misapproached hoop 6 and joined partner.
Aaron shooting... hits Mark's ball from near the north boundary, now taking croquet peg high on the west boundary, can croquet yellow to 1back, getting a rush to hoop 6.

We expect the match on lawn 8 to resume soon after the epic +1 win to Aussie captain Ian Dumergue. Another hugely gutsy performance from Ian

Lawn 1: Aaron croquets yellow south-east of 1back, rushes a yard from hoop 6 - taking off - copes nicely. Blue is on teh south boundary behind hoop 4 - seems a lot of effort to go down to it - particularly with yellow a bit out of place. .

Aaron runs the hoop by a foot - has a rush towards blue, but blue is on the boundary - needs a decent rush.

Bit of illness here atm... one of the brits, one of the refs and one of the aussies, plus a caterer - though three have tested for covid and are negative.

Rushes red down - to 3 yards west of blue. Blue is actually in a little from the yardline, so he should cope. Has a rush on blue pointing at the middle of the east boundary

Rushes blue to just in from the east boundary a bit south of the line of 2 and 3

Big croquet stroke has a great black, but blue is a couple of yards in from the west boundary and slightly below the hoop.

Runs 1back with a rush to near corner 1 - great shot, and very good rush.

Aaron can't get black out very far, but he has red about 9 yards from 3back, and that'll work - and it's an oppo ball, so a leave is still on here.

It must be time for a match recap..

Lawn 1: NZ: Aaron Westerby (in a break at 2back) and Felix Webby (on 3back) vs England: Mark Avery (hoop 6) and Jamie Burch (hoop 2). New Zealand 1 game up in the best of three match

Argh! having done heaps of really good work, Aaron has failed 2back from about 2 feet 10 degrees giving the world. Yellow has a 2 yarder at black, or anyone has a 2.5 yarder at blue with the lift. Or yellow has a 3 yarder at red (probably better to hit) from the end of A baulk.

Taking the shot at partner... hits.

Thanks to Jenny for covering for me. Mark needs a good rush to h6 and the wind is still challenging. Gets a dolly rush and takes it to 2y SE of h6 - good shot

Great approach to h6 and he's through with a rish back to the blue behind 2-b. This should reach 4-b, but what will the leave be?

Usa have already reach the target I set them at the start of the day of drawing the singles 3-3 and were 1 point away from making it 4-2 and taking the lead in the Test. They still might. Meanwhile, NZ need to win this doubles - they've got to 2-b and 3-b and points in the bag are handy in windy conditions

But so is the innings and Mark is round to 4-b. He's left Felix's ball 9y N of C4, Jamie 9y S of C2 with a rush to the peg and Aaron SE of the peg. Remember, both Jamie and Mark are unbeaten so far. The wind has died down slightly

They've managed to get Aaron to play - he takes the shot at oppo from where he lies......misses.

Jamie digs Aaron out a few yards and tonks his rush to h4 3-4 yards past h2. Takes off to get a 1 yard 20 degree hoop and smoothes it through. Lots of work still to do for a break.

Rushes partner 4y W of h3.......good approach and gets a rush out of h3 to Felix on the E boundary

The wind is still strong enough to take off Jamie's cap. Digs partner out and makes hoop 4 with 3 balls at h4 and Aaron SW of h2

Gets a rush on partner to h5 and rushes well. Makes h5 and hills to get a rush S rather than back to h4. Takes off to get a rush on Felix ....is he hampered by h4???? Calls a ref

Certainly not a rush to Aaron or h6.....hits it gently. Now needs a big croquet stroke loading 1-b getting a rush on Aaron to h6 - both balls 5% short...his rush points at h2.

Approaches h6 with half roll sending Aaron NNE of h6. Gets good hoop position, runs it and hits his 5 yarder. Has a break - that's a good pick up

This is however, very much still the middle game - the endgame has yet to start - it's only 6.12pm :-)

Partner is at 3-b to avoid temptation.

He's 18 inches straight in front of 3-b and restalks 3 times as his mallet is blown sideways....copes

Good break to the peg from Jamie. He's made a spread with Felix's ball at the peg, so probably the wrong way round. Recap peg + 4-b v 2-b + 3-b

Felix lifts and goes to A-Baulk to shoot at oppo......misses

Mark ignores Felix's ball and rushes West. Stops partner 2y W of penult and rushes well to 4-b.

Runs 4-b with a useful rush W. Makes penult and rover and takes off to partner at the peg to clinch another 2-1 doubles days for England........takes off into the peg!!!!!!!!!!

Felix has a 6 yarder from A-baulk with a ball at the peg.....middles it to the mid E boundary and now needs a good croquet stroke. Recap peg + box v 3-b + 2-b

Good croquet stroke.....leaves slight cut -rush to 3-b .....rushes to 5y SSE - not bad

Approaches really well to leave a 2ft straight hoop.....runs it to 4y from his 4-b pioneer and has a 6yard return on the other ball....discusses options. I want him to take the 6 yarder.....takes the 4 yarder, handily cutting it nearer penult.

Takes off back to the other ball to get a rush to 4-b......the good news is that it points at 4-b, the bad news is that it's a 3 yarder

Middles it to 2y straight in front of 4-b, great shot

Grovels through 4-b, but can hit the deep ball.....makes the roquet

Remember, no lifts, so expect Felix to lay up near C1 with Jamie near C3

Overhits his hoop stroke at penult and has a 4 yarder return.....hits half ball

He's got a 3 yarder at his rover pioneer, pointing in the right direction,,,,,hits quarter ball to 8feet NW. Approaches to 2ft 10 degrees......smashes it through to the boundary and has a 3 yarder.......rushes it to 10y W of C3 - he can't move it any closer to C3 since partner is W of penult, so he'll need to lay up 10y E of C1. No, he rolls Jamie to 5y E of C2 and will be laying up W of C4.

Leaves Aaron a rush to 2-b. I can't see Jamie shooting at this.

Jamie is shooting!!!!!

Jamie shoots........misses the peg by a couple of balls......hits blue!!!!! England win +7 to take a crucial 4-2 lead. The Kiwis need to win the singles tomorrow.

That's all from me today.