Club
Croquet
Wrest Park
All England Handicap area final
Aug 31-
The All England Handicap is the most democratic of competitions. Anyone can enter and one would hope, given the need to encourage competitive play at handicap level, the CA and the host club will ensure that the National Final (which sometimes tends to pass by almost unnoticed) is accorded a full report.
But we are getting ahead of ourselves. This was an Area Final, the road to which is paved with good intentions. Wrest Park, being hosts, had the advantage in that the result of their own heat did not need to be reported, so it could drag on indefinitely. Even this home extension was insufficient to determine the winners (we had two entries), so the best-
The visitors then increased by one (a club had two entries instead of one), but another entry dropped out followed by a further cancellation a few days later. One can’t help wondering why people bother entering if they can’t commit to the final stages (the dates of which are in the Fixtures Book). Be that as it may, the result was that Wrest Park cut their losses by having the manager available should the entry turn out to be one under the eight. I daresay other Area Final organisers past and present are not unfamiliar with the circumstances I have described.
So, on the last day of August, the hoops were set, the lawns were pared, the management was quite prepared. Everyone who should have been there was there, which saved both much crossings-
Brian was the first to finish, beating Keith +26. Robin overcame Joe’s eccentric opening and his six bisques. The Enfield pair both won and continued their winning form for the rest of the day, but the other winners fared less well: Brian lost -
Sunday morning began with a discussion as to how winners and lesser places might be established should the event end in a mass tie. We agreed to use the hoop 1 shoot-
Joe continued his good form in the final round, beating Ian +20. The other games again went to time, with wins for Keith against Carolyn and Tony against Brian. In what was effectively the final, David Frost beat Robin Barry +7 to complete a clean sweep and become the undisputed winner, ahead of Tony Elliott on four wins (which reduced his handicap from 11 to 10) and Robin Barry and Joe Iddison with three each. David, Tony and Joe will be going on to the National Final.
David Frost (10) 5/5 Winner
Tony Elliott (11) 4/5
Robin Barry (10) 3/5
Joe Iddison (16) 3/5
Brian Havill (8) 2/5
Keith Huggins (8) 1/5
Ian Whitlock (12) 1/5
Carolyn Doswell 14) 1/5
Standing L-
Joe Iddison, who went on to win the national final.
David Frost fails rover in his game with Robin Barry
Hello, good evening and well done -
© Wrest Park Croquet Club