Today is a day in croquet history which will be remembered for a long time.

Will it be the Kiwi team who claim the shield for the first time since 1986 and end the run of England/Great Britain dominance or will it be one of England's finest days with a comeback to remember for a long time in croquet generations to come.

Welcome to the final day of the MacRob test series 2014.

It's another beautiful day at the Mt, forecast is good, the wind may pick up and it may become overcast but I'm picking its going to be a blinder here.

Today is the reason test match croquet is here. Today is a big day for so many reasons. Today the series will be won.

The current score is;

NZ 9 ENG 6

You know the maths, NZ need two and ENG needs 5.

The players have just gone out to begin their warm ups. There will again be 3 late starts. The starting matches are;

Westerby vs Mulliner on L1
Garrison vs Patel on L2
Clarke vs Burch on L3

I know there will be come sleepless nights for our friends in the northern hemisphere and some less productive days at work for our whanau (family) in the southern hemisphere.

The atmosphere has been building each day, the pressure is going to get intense and I can't wait.

I'll have a word to my commentary team to make they are aware of the 'spoilers' which have happened over the last few days, but when the shield is won, it will be hard to stop them.

Today is an exciting day and today is what test match croquet is about. I had heard so much hype about 'being in the Mac'. As a manager/spectator this has gone beyond my expectations so I can only guess to understand what will be going through the players minds.

Good luck to all our the players involved, I'm sure you will remember this day for a long time.

Of course I have to give an extra message to my team;

KIA KAHA NZ croquet team. I believe in you. It's ours to bring home so go an do it!

Let the day begin.

Couttsie

Also, I thought I had included it at the start but it turns out I've had a strike!! Congratulations to AUS for recording a test match win against USA yesterday. This test will have the final 3 matches of doubles with AUS having a 12-4 lead

NZ has done it and claimed the shield!!!

Westerby took the match score to 10-6 before it was sealed by Garrison with a 2-0 win over English Captain Samir Patel.

This is a very proud day for all members of NZ Croquet and will be remembered for a long time. Kapai to our team, a fantastic effort and deserving champions after a lot of hard work and dedication for many years!!

Dave and Greg won't be playing their match while Chris is game up against Rob and Paddy is game up against James.

Let the celebrations begin!