Croquet

Guess Who?

admin — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 15:51:00 +0000

Chris Clarke has posted a quiz on the Nottingham Board. Here for your enjoyment is his video of 13 players from the Worlds. Can you name them? Answers to Chris and the world via the Nottingham Board please.

Nine-Wicket Nationals Forecast

admin — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 17:54:00 +0000

Looks like a great weekend for the USCA Nationals:

Fri -- High: 74° Low: 53° / Sunny

Sat -- High: 75° Low: 63° / Mostly Sunny

Sun -- High: 78° Low: 62° / Mostly Cloudy

As a participant, I plan to provide daily recaps over the event. Stay tuned.

USCA Nine-Wicket Championship-Field Report

admin — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 11:00:00 +0000

Leo McBride Wins U.S. Golf Croquet Championship

admin — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 01:11:00 +0000

The USCA held the US Golf Championships this past weekend in Palm Beach, Florida. Leo McBride defeated Sherif Abdelwahab to claim the U.S. singles championship 7-5, 1-7, 7-5. In the doubles competition, John Osborn-David McCoy defeated Leo McBride-Dick Brackett 7-6, 7-5.

Interesting to note that they had several games that lasted a few hours and also played some 19-point games. Longer matches seems to go a little bit against the point of golf croquet. Still, would have loved to have been there to watch or participate in this event. Looking forward to seeing some YouTube video out there.

The Hazards of Croquet

admin — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 21:54:00 +0000

How many times a year do you swing a little wild and graze the inside ball of one of your ankles? For me, it usually happens during a warm-up swing on an awkward stance shot. I'd say I pull this off about 2-3 times per season. Usually, it's just a minor shot that is creates a pretty good pain sensation. Last week though, I really blasted myself. Enough that four days later, I've still got a bit of a limp. I'll recover, but hopefully I've learned my lesson. It's not quite like a sledgehammer, but that head can do some serious damage.

Professional Video Summary of the Six-Wicket Game

admin — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 11:00:00 +0000

Excellent summary and video of the game with Wayne Davies as the host. Watch in high quality.

Croquet in DC

admin — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 11:00:00 +0000

This looks my first croquet set, which is still in the garage. I think we need more informal croquet at public venues. The grass looks horrible by the way.

First Shot: Time For A Change

admin — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 16:23:00 +0000

Well, I set out an aggresive mission several months back to treat Croquet Network like a magazine with departments and features every week. While I still think that is the ideal format, I just haven't been able to keep up the pace. On the other hand, some good traffic is flowing through and I love the game. So, I'll once again change the focus slightly. I want to get more content out there, so I'm going to give it more of a blog-like emphasis. Probably shorter posts and less of the drills and product reviews.

Again, I still believe in that kind of content, but for now I believe the best thing to do is get more posts out. Expect more free form.

Also, you can help out by getting into the forum and becoming an active user. Also, commenting on the blog posts is easy and keeps things a little more current on site. Let me know if you know of more croquet feeds that should go into the sidebar. To date the croquet news feed is the best part of the site.

One thing, I do owe you a rundown on my six-wicket experience last month and I'm looking forward to that. So until next time, keep playing and start posting.

Sincerely,
Dylan Goodwin, Publisher
Croquet Network

Three-Ball Break Video

admin — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 02:36:00 +0000

This is a great video laying out a standard three-ball break in six wicket croquet. You can check out more tips and Bob and Ted's AOL Croquet website.

SM i svensk krocket

admin — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 16:08:00 +0000

SM i svensk krocket blev en strålande tillställning. Arrangörerna var många och fick allt att fungera bra. Banorna var av god kvalitét för att vara SM-banor och vädret var strålande.

Lördagens singelspel började bra. Efter förmiddagens tre kvalmatcher hade både pappa och jag spelat tillräckligt bra för att få fortsätta till kvartsfinal. Efter en shoot-out lyckades jag placera mig på en fjärdeplats. Men det hjälpte inte för i en riktigt dålig kvartsfinal där jag fastnade helt på båge 8 direkt efterhuvudkäppen vände lyckan. Samtidigt tvingades pappa se sig besegrad i sin match.

Söndagens dubbelspel började lika bra. I den första matchen mot de regerande mästarna spelade vi övertygande och lyckades, som enda lag under tävlingen, vinna genom utpeggning. Vår andra kvalmatch mot Thomas C Ericsson och Mikael Agebjörn blev en riktig nagelbitare som avgjordes på Shoot-out. Det gick inte att skilja slagen åt med blotta ögat. Men efter mätning kunde det konstateras att vi vunnit även vår andra match dock endast med en dryg centimeter.

Inför tredje kvalmatchen kunde vi känna oss ganska säkra på att gå vidare eftersom vi hade två vinster och ganska bra bågskillnad. Motståndet var Molle och John T, vinnaren från lördagens singeltävling. Boråslaget ledde matchen ganska stort in in det sista men i min sista omgång lyckades jag pinna Jonatan och därmed ta hem matchen.

Obesegrade från gruppspelet fick vi ta oss an paret ekholm/wahlberg i semifinalen. Vi ledde matchen ganska länge och hade endast kvar två bågar var när krister i machens tre sista slag lyckades ta tre poäng genom att gå ut som fribytare. Det ledde till ännu ett oavgjort resultat som krävde särskiljning genom Shoot-out. även denna gång lyckades jag slå det vinnande slaget och vi tog oss till final där regerande mästarna Simon och Ulf återigen väntade som motstånd.

Jag gick först igenom kronan men fastnade efter en misslyckad croquering. Simon var näst ut och kom snart ut som fribytare. Efter att Ulf brännt ett bra kronläge lyckades Eje få till ett bra break och tog kronan två gånger. En bit in i spelet hade Ulf tagit sig igenom kronan varit uppe och vänt vid huvudkäppen men efter att ha brännt alla sina krockrätter missade han kronan och låg riktigt illa till. Senare lyckades simon lägga honom i läge och på grund av ett taktiskt misstag från vår sida när pappa inte gick i hop med mig kunde jag inget göra utan Ulf lyckades passera kronan. Hårt pressade och i några bågars underläge lyckades jag pinna simon efter att ha tagit kronan för andra gången. Men lyckan blev kortvarig då Simon lyckades göra hela varvet en gång till och efter att de båda två blivit fribytare gav de oss aldrig chansen att avancera utan tiden tog slut och vi fick nöja oss med en andraplacering i år igen.

Wii Is Making A Serious Push For Croquet

admin — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 11:48:00 +0000

Sports Party Wii Screenshot

All of the sudden we've gone from nothing but a few free PC download games to two croquet releases on the Wii. They both come as part of compilation games and it appears that they are both the same game:

Summer Sports: Island Party

Sports Party

With the revolutionary controller, the Wii is perfect for croquet and I can't wait to try out one of these games. A friend of mine tried out the Summer Island version and seemed pretty impressed. Again, after checking out the screenshots and video they pretty much look like the same game, so it may be a good idea to rent. Also, when watching the video be prepared to throw up a little bit in your mouth when the guy scores his wicket from the wrong side (why?!?).

Even with the inaccuracy -- the exposure on this platform will have an impact. Believe me, there will be kids playing these games on the Wii and they'll put two-and-two together with the old croquet set in the backyard. With that and the surging popularity of Golf Croquet (needs to be on TV), let me go on record as saying the next decade should be a boom period for the sport. We've seen it before with hockey in the early nineties. It's open to speculation, but the two things that drove that boom -- EA's NHL video games and a new version of the game in the form of inline hockey.

I wonder if some developer will have the guts to offer a full croquet version with the six-wicket game plus golf croquet.

Are ODIs heading for a new 40-over avtar?

admin — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 06:07:00 +0000

Afraid that one-day cricket might have ceded at least part of its charm to the game’s slam-bang Twenty20 avatar, the International Cricket Council (ICC) is all set to tinker with the 50-over format. Click Here: —read full story—

CWC man back to help - The Nation Newspaper

admin — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 05:07:00 +0000

CWC man back to helpThe Nation Newspaper, Barbados -40 minutes agoby HAYDN GILL in St Kitts THE MAN who was in charge of venue development for Cricket World Cup (CWC) 2007 is back in the Caribbean to provide more …Australia could take Champions Trophy decision in two weeksCricInfo.comAustralia to decide on Pakistan tour within fortnightReuters IndiaSouth Africa [...]

‘Mystery Man’ Mendis promoted in Lanka army

admin — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 05:07:00 +0000

His exploits with the ball has earned him not only accolades but also a promotion in the Sri Lankan Army. Click Here: —read full story—

Kohli, Nayar in Champions Trophy probables

admin — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 04:07:00 +0000

However, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid have been left out of the list of 30 probables for the Champions Trophy. Click Here: —read full story—