Good Morning All.

At Wynnum Croquet Club this morning it is sunny and very pleasant with a cooling breeze and about 25 degrees. The forecast is for 30 degrees but at present it is delightful, with low humidity and 2/8 cloud. The club has a recent addition of a covered deck overlooking the four courts and raised from ground level by about four feet.

I will concentrate on Court 4 where Jim Nicholls U and Pam Gentle K are playing Callum Hyland R and Elizabeth Brinsdon Y. This club is quite a distance from the city, past the port of Brisbane and South of the river towards the coast. I arrived about an hour after they started. The clips are U on 1, K on 2, Y on 3 and R on 4. Nicely symmetrical but not indicative of good croquet! I'm told that the hoops are very tight and the soil is like rock. with a speed of 13 the conditions are difficult. U just shot from 3 at R near and missed. U and K were together at 2. K makes 2 and 3 and bounces off 4 with U at 1 and R at 5. Y misses an inch of K that was showing and stops only 4 yards away. K is not straight in front and is hampered on the backswing to hit Y so Y goes to the E bdry 6y N of IV. Callum, R, calls a referee as he is partially hampered and hits Y to the bdry, takes off to S of K, rushes And croquets K to 2ft N of 3 and retires to join Y on the E bdry level with 4. K shoots at U. Misses to I. Y rushes R to the N bdry in front of its hoop, 3, approaches to a yard putting R to 7y in front of 4, runs 3 to peg high and misses R to the S bdry. U hits K (7y), puts it to 2 going to Y. roquets Y and croquets it to 3, getting a rush on R to 6y NW of 1. His take off leaves an angled shot which is rejected but only showing part of the ball to R. R misses U to the S bdry. U runs the hoop to a yard beyond K (at 2). He rushes K back to the S bdry, rushes R to peg high on the E bdry and over rolls Y which he rushes towards 2. He fails to get position and retires to the S bdry behind K, leaving a double. Y hits the double, actually K, (29y), tries to get position at her hoop, 4 while sending K to near the peg, fails and then hits R (28y). She sets up in corner III with oppo balls near the peg (U) and near the S bdry (K). U shoots at R and Y and hits R (20y), rushes Y accurately to 2, makes 2, rushes Y to 7y NE of 4, pass rolls putting Y to 4 and sending U off court behind K. Y roquets K, gets behind U on the yard-line, rushes U to 5 and takes off to 5 ft in front of 4, slightly angled. She runs 4 cleanly, roquets K and should have a 3-ball break.

She is hampered after 5 and shoots at R in III. Misses. K and U are only 6y apart. Jim, U, hits K to 2y W of III, sends it to 12y S of and 2y W of III and roquets Y. He gets behind R (not quite) and rushes it to the end of B baulk. He then croquets it to 8y N of 4 attempting to get position at 3. He bounces off with Y only 5y away. Y hits U, croquets it to 7y WSW of the peg and goes past R ( near 4). She rushes R to 7y E of the peg. K is 8y to its NE. She approaches 6 from 10y but to bad position and bounces off, still wired from R near 1b. U misses K. Y runs 6 by a few inches, calls partner and shoots at oppo balls. She hits K, (13y) to applause, rushes U to 3y N of 3 and croquets it to 7y short of 2b, going to R. She makes 1b but remains in the jaws and calls a referee for the hampered shot at R (4y). She misses, leaving an open double for U, which is declined. U is lifted to III and shoots at K (14y). Hits. Jim puts K to 4 and goes to the oppo balls He leaves R S of 2 and stuffs the rush to 3, getting it only to 4y N of 6. He rolls to 3 but fails to get position and retires to between K and it's hoop, 4. Y shoots at K but misses to the S bdry.

This game has become tedious and not worthy of further description, so I will desist.

There is now 4/8 cloud cover, still a beautiful day with a steady breeze, or perhaps a wind, that has the flags standing square.

I will try to see what goes on on the other courts.

Court 1
Peter and Rosie Landrebe, clips on rover and 4b v Bob Beattie and Elaine Roomes, clips on 1 and 4. As I was looking Rosie hit a 20 yarder at her partner with the oppo balls joined on the S bdry.

Court 2
Stephen Richards and Alix Verge, clips on 3 and 4 v Rob McAdam and Sue Beattie, clips on 2 and peg. NSW are laid up in III with one oppo ball 5 y N of I and the other in the jaws of 2. Alix makes 3 off partner and rolls to set up near corner IV.

Court 3.
Trevor Bassett and Alison Sharpe, clips on peg and in play v Bob Bye and Liz Smith, clips on 1b and 4b. Alison has made rover and will set up on the S bdry to finish after separating her oppo balls into corners II and III. Bob shoots at the oppo balls from III (38y). Hits to applause!

Court 1
The Landrebes have won.

Court 2
It is nearing time and Rob pegs himself off with partner clip on 3 and oppo's on 4 and 5. Alix makes 4 and 5 off partner with Y in corner III. She sets up in front of 5 for her partner. Rob and Sue consider the options and Sue hits Y to IV. Stephen makes 5 and the clock goes off with him set up at 6. Sue hits Y to corner III. TAS has 15 hoops and NSW has 10. Stephen needs to make 5 on a two ball break but sticks in 6. NSW Shake hands with each other but Tas says they have a last turn. Y shoots at K but misses. Tas wins.

Court 3
Play is still in progress with both NSW clips on the peg, Tas clips on 1b and 4b. Trevor has hit in and finishes. NSW wins.

Court 4.
Time has been called with Tas on 2b and rover (18) and NSW on 4 and 6 (8). Jim, for 4, is in play and has just made 4, with a 3-ball break established and the fourth ball in corner III. He makes 5 and ignores the ball in III. He makes 6 with a backwards rush, so rushes the receiver ball to 2b. He takes off back to the pioneer at 1b, makes 1b, makes 2b and needs to peg out to make the scores equal. He sends a ball to 4b and stalks the 2 y rush from 20 y. He is feeling the pressure. He makes 3b with a forward rush which goes into corner III. He may have a cannon. Yes. The fourth ball is a 3y pioneer for 4b. In the cannon he sends one ball to penult and the roqueted ball to the E bdry. He sends it to join the other oppo ball at penult and makes 4b off partner, but is hampered and calls a referee. He hits his partner ball and croquets it to 3y N of the peg, getting a rush on one oppo ball to the N. He sends that ball to rover and makes penult off the other oppo ball.

This court is now very fast. I think it must be at least 13 seconds.

He runs penult down to the peg, rushes partner back to peeling position and sets up the peel. He walks back 20 yards to view the aim but the ball does not go through, remaining in a possible rush-peel position. He makes rover and rolls that oppo ball to 5y S of 2, going to the other oppo ball. He leaves the oppo balls 5 y apart and takes off to rush his partner through 6 but it bounces off to a peelable position. After consultation with puts His partner ball in its hoop and pegs out from 11 yards, watched by a referee. Having given contact R takes contact with the ball in the jaws of 6, croquets it to 5y N of the end of A baulk and goes to the W bdry, ten yards from Y. The scores are level. Pam shoots at Y, missing to 2y E of II, 7y from R. Callum, R, shoots at Pam's ball, snicks it, rushes Y to near 1, leaving K in II and approaches his hoop, rover. He runs it to win. Much applause.

NSW and Tas, 2 games each.

I took some time out and all the first singles have started. It is still a delightful day with the same cooling wind and about 4/8 cloud cover. My gues is it's now about 26 degrees.

Court 1
Peter Landrebe, U & K v Bob Bye, R and Y. Clips are U on 1, K on 3, R on 4 and Y on 2b. Peter just stuck in 1. R has failed to get position at 4.
Jim Nicholls, P and W v Rob McAdam, G and BR. Clips are W on 4b, P in play just made 1 with laid break, G and BR both on 1.

Court 2.
Trevor Bassett, U and K v Bob Beattie, R and Y. Clips are U on penult, K on 4b, R on 2 and Y on 3. Bob, Y, just hit K from 20y with U in corner II five yards away. He put K down to 6y N of 4 and went to R, setting up in corner III. Trevor used K and hit ( 25y). He has made 4b and sticks in penult with R and Y about 4y apart near the peg and U still in corner II.
Stephen Richards, P and W v Callum Hyland, G and BR. Clips are W on 1, P in play just made 2b, G on 1 and Br on penult.

Court 3
Rosie Landrebe, R and Y v Sue Beattie, U and K. Clips are R on 1, Y in play just made 3 b.
Alison Sharpe, G (for 3) and BR (for 4b) Elaine Roomes, P and W. I can' see where the other clips are and forgot to bring my binoculars. Sorry!

Court 4
Alix Verge, U and K v Liz Smith, R and Y. Clips are U, Y and R on 1, K on 3b. Y just missed K, in front of 3b, to the S bdry from 6y. R is 7y NW of the peg and U in corner III. K hits U (30y) and is setting up.
Pam Gentle, G and BR v Elizabeth Brinsdon, P and W. Clips are W and G on 1, BR on 2 and P on 4. G and BR are joined in III and P is shooting from near 1 at W, 6y SE of II, (27y). Misses.

I am going to lunch.

My apologies for failing to get back after lunch yesterday. It was a surprise while visiting Windsor Croquet Club to be drenched by a shower while getting back to my car, so I went home to dry off.