Club

Croquet

Wrest Park

All England Handicap area final
Aug 31-Sept 1

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-placed volunteers stepped forward. As the first count of the visiting entries was an odd number (9) we either had to drop one or find another to reach an even number.

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-out and a change of costume. There were Robin Barry (10) and Brian Havill (9) from Watford, David Frost (10) and Tony Elliott (11) from Enfield, Keith Huggins (8) and Joe Iddison (16) from Peterborough, Carolyn Doswell (14) from Merton and Ian Whitlock (12) from Edgbaston. The first games got under way in the early sunshine and the only concern was the prospect of being called on as a referee. Being unqualified, this calls for a mixture of experience and bluff, as in a case that day referencing Law 14 d 3 (Special Situations). The relevant Law was not positively identified until more than 24 hours after the event.

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 -16 to Joe and then beat Carolyn +1 on time in the last game to finish as the light faded, and Robin, having lost to Carolyn -2 in the afternoon, had a more conclusive +10 against Ian in the evening. Only two games went to time on the first day (3 hours with an extra 15 minutes if double-banking).

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-out, in which each player has four attempts at hoop 1 from the yard line, gaining 1 point for hitting the hoop, two for getting the ball in the jaws and three for running the hoop. To the manager’s great good fortune this device was not required. The Watford and Enfield players were pitted against each other, resulting in close wins for David and Robin. Ian broke his duck against Keith and Joe registered a +19 win against Carolyn, the only game not to go to time. Play was full bisque base 10, so in many games there were few bisques involved and as the stakes got higher they tended to be valued more highly, which may have been the cause of  a reining in of some of the more ambitious manoeuvres (sometimes performed without a safety net) seen on the previous day.

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-R: Brian Havill, Robin Barry, Joe Iddison, David Frost. Seated: Ian Whitlock, Carolyn Doswell, Tony Elliott, Keith Huggins.

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 - David Frost with the winner’s trophy

© Wrest Park Croquet Club