Sidmouth Journal published 3 August 2017
After a week away and therefore supplying no croquet news, I have a large number of results to entice you with, writes Richard Thurlow. In fact there are so many that the casual reader will be amazed at the wide range of external and internal tournaments and types of play that we aged, but multi-dextrous players engage in. So many results though that the editor of the sports pages may well cut them. So if you have done well and don’t see your name here then blame him, not me!
First up, in a recent croquet association tournament in Budleigh, our players did well against a wide variety of players from various parts of the UK, and even one from Australia.
Philip Harris and Susan Rogers won the final of the doubles, Roger Mills got to the semi-finals of the handicap singles, (but won the consolation event) and Jane Babbage won the D block.
Richard Wood did well in the B block for the Colin Hemming Cup with five wins out of seven completing a triple peel, (not as in bell ringing, but guiding his own and his other ball through hoops three times), with the result that his handicap was reduced from 1.5 to 0.5!
Secondly, our B association croquet (AC) league team played Exeter last week.
The home team of Penny Ball, Richard Croft, Paul Griew and Roy Hubbard battled bravely, but it was not quite Sidmouth’s day.
One must look for positives where one can and both Richard Croft and Roy Hubbard managed to win their games by pegging out; Richard Croft by design and Roy Hubbard by accident.
In fact, Richard Croft played so well, winning both his games, that he is now in severe danger of troubling the handicap committee.