Hi All,
Perfect still morning currently 24/75 with a high of 36 expected

Lawn 1 ; Stephen Forster v Chris Shilling
Lawn 2, Robert Fletcher v Aiken Hakes
Lawn 3; Malcolm Fletcher v Joe Hogan
Lawn 4; Ian Dumergue v Jenny Clarke ( live stream )

Late starts are for Simon Hockey and Greg Fletcher

Jarrod Coutts providing commentry on lawn 1 and 2 , and myself covering lawn 3and 4

Jarrod will start as the matches get underway at 8.30 am
I have a few other things to attend to and will start properly at 10 am

I will provide the opening play before leaving

L3, Joe Hogan supershot 1 yard shy of the peg
Malcolm Fletcher maximum distance
JH shoots from Cnr 3- misses

L4, Ian Dumergue east bndry 10 yards nth Cnr 4
Jenny Clarke duffers tice , level with hoop 6
ID shooting at duffers tice - hits

L3, MF hits partner from. Abaulk , loads hoop 2 slightly nth , has a cut to hoop 1, plays it well , 1 yard hoop approach , followed by control and. Arush to Cnr 2

L4, ID lays a leave on east bndry and Jenny near peg

L4, JC misses from Cnr 3 to 4, just missed tickling yellow

L3, MF in control through hoop 3, loading 5 going to 4, hoop 5 load a bit nth - making the croquet shot from Cnr 4 tougher, Runs hoop to bndry , hits a 5 yard return v a 6.5 yard Cnr 4 ball , takes off to Cnr 4,
Loads hoop 6 and has a west rush , takes off well , runs hoop putting break back in full control

ID , through hoop 2 , tight control

Back at 10 am

Good time to return with Simon.

L3, watching Malcolm peg out to take game 1 +17

L4, Ian in second break peeling penult after 6 , Jenny had hits Ian's lift after 9 to have the clips at 1 and 4back

L4, Ian jawsed the rover peel going to 3back, didn't get rush from 3 back ( load atb4 back is nth ) so needs a good croquet takeoff after rush peeling rover.
Falls short to the rover ball , and has an angled rush - will need to slam it or tickle it out of the hoop .
Takes it out of hoop , takes off to 4 back

L4, plays both balls well , peelee 3 inches in front of rover , has a rush to 4 back

L3, missed the opening of game 2.
Malcolm in play with 4 balls , playing blue.
Red near peg , takes off to black on nth bndry behind hoop 2, takes off to yellow in Cnr 2, no rush to hoop 1,
Big roll leaves yellow west of 1 and Mal retiring nth bndry

L3, highly likely the opening was MF supershot , JH to,the east of it, MF missing through his ball onto nth bndry , JH missing the 7-8 yarder from B baulk into Cnr 2 , will check

L4, ID through penult coming to peelee

L3, JH shoots from hoop 1 to ball east of peg - misses by a yard

L4, ID peels rover , moves the balls about and rushes to peg to,take game 1 +17TP

L3, MF rushes to east bndry promotes black Sth a few yards, cuts yellow in a few yards , stop shots it to hoop 2 and has a good rush to hoop 1 , 2 yard straight roll to the hoop

L3, MF through hoop 2 , under control

L1 , update , CS was on 4back and peg, SF makes break to 4back , sets NSL , CS hits with 4back red ball from B baulk.
Not sure of the error but SF back on lawn in second break

L2,update Supershot opening from Robert , AH hits 5th turn from Cnr 4.

L3, MF through 2 back , sets a MSL at 2 , but on the east leg, so may be re-visiting it
Places the 4 ball tight, rushes to,east bndry , tens yards nth Cnr 4, takes off to hoop 2 - nice weight and has options of rushing it tighter or to west bndry - elects west bndry , takes off to partner and sets rush to the west ball

L3, JH lifts the 4 ball ,shoots from A baulk - hits

L3, JH loads hoop 2 , rushes to hoop 1 from west bndry , makes hoop 1

L4, game 2
JC supershot peg high and 7 yards west
ID maximum distance
JC hits from Cnr 3
Loads hoop 2, gets a Sth west rush- has a 7 yard takeoff

L4, JC runs hoop , hits 7 yard west return roquet

L3,JH break under control through hoop 5

L4, JC through hoop 3 on 3rd turn

L1, Stephen F takes game 1, some interaction near the end

L2, AH completes break, sets NSL , RF misses into 4th cnr

L3, JH completes break , sets NSL but has black ( Malcolm's hoop 1 ball ) at hoop 4
MF lifts black and hits from Cnr 3

L4, JC makes 9, sets 3 ducks

L3, MF runs a tough close angled hoop 1, has an 11 yard nth roquet , hits clean

L4, ID hits the west duck from A baulk

L4, ID smashed through hoop 1,by inches , has hampered shot , hits easily , has set break ahead

Can't see Jarrod,
L2, update , AH in second break game 2, through hoop 3,RF missed lift to Cnr 4
L1, update , unsure of opening , SF misses a 11 yarder and finishes in Cnr 3 his other ball is in Cnr 4
CS has ball near peg and Cnr 2 - shoots from peg , misses but is paired up

L3, MF in control with a peel through 4back after 3, nth rush after 4 gets peelee to west of penult , makes hoop 5 with a controlled rush nth

L4, ID break up to hoop 4

L3, MF jawsed penult after 6, deliberate jaws with some delicacy on the shot required to get the rush safely to an area that can load 2back going to 1 back .
Makes 1 back , rush peels penult , sends peelee to 3 back , leaves red near peg as the pivot , makes 2 back with a rush nth

L4, MF makes 3 back , loads peelee to rover , 2.5 feet nthwest, loads penult , gets away from him a bit and is 3 yards west.
Slows his pace down and makes 4back with control , gets rush to penult load

L4, ID through 1 back , looks like a NSL set up

L3, MF peels rover at rover from 1 foot, taps on, and makes a rush to,the peg to take game 2 +17TP and match 2-0
Classy performance , played with natural swagger and confidence

L4,ID completes break, sets NSL ,
JH lifts the west ball , shoots from A baulk -misses
ID sets lawn , the rush from hoop 4 to hoop 1 needs some care , close to leg , plays it well and runs a 1 yard hoop

L3, Greg Fletcher and Harps Tahurangi warming up

L4,ID up to hoop 3 , all in control , peels 4 back from 8 inches

L3, game 1
Harps T plays supershot high NW of hoop 5
Greg F to maximum bndry
HT shoots from Cnr 3 and hits

L3, HT loads hoop 2 , short slightly on both balls, but cuttable to be useful at 1
Has a 3 yard takeoff

As an aside ( from an Australian perspective )
The supershot was used extensively test one between Aus and Eng, 90 % of response was east bndry , occasional Cnr 2
It got tweaked a bit when Australia layed west of the Supershot and sucked some misses to nth boundary .
Since then there has been a lot of slight differences from all 4 teams as to where first ball is being placed.
NZ have taken a line of play by setting the supershot west and if the east tice is laid then the shot through the first ball on the lawn is heading Cnr 2 direction.
Australian matches so far this morning has had correct response to maximum distance played , possibly Cnr4 is ok - but the shooting has been good third turn so far , so maximum distance looks the most attractive .
The subsequent rolls have both put some pressure on the break getting started , but it's a good compromise .

L4, ID in control through 1 back , loaded 3 back and gone to the peelee just Sth of hoop 6, no rush so loads it to rover going to 2 back

L3, HT takeoff to 1 fell short , retired Cnr 4, GF hits from A baulk at a 9 yard roquet nth,
Loads 2 , makes hoop 1, rushes to Sth bndry , plays a good croquet stroke loading hoop 3 and tapping on at hoop 2

L4, ID loads 4 back rushes peelee a bit closer to rover , has a 1 yard straightish peel , peell doesn't go through going to a SE load at 3 back - but it handy in front of hoop , has short rush to 3 back

L3, GF through hoop 4 , ignores Cnr 4 ball, rushes the reception ball ( 5 yards) to mid court as a pivot , has a perfect SE load at hoop 5, which the croquet shot from Cnr 4 will be the preferred line of play

L4, ID makes 4 back , makes penult , peels rover at rover, pegs out to win game 2 +17TP and match 2-0

L2, Paddy and Simon just started

L3, GF completes break to 4 back , setting a NSL

L3 , GF not liking the shot into hoop 4 , changes it to a ball near the peg

L3, GF lays on east bndry 6 yards nth Cnr 4
HT lifts the ball near peg , shoots from A baulk - misses

L3, GF runs hoop 1, hampered , tough shot with 5 yards to,travel, just misses

L3, HT hits a 7 yard shot from nth of hoop 1, cuts it towards the ball at 2

L3, HT makes a rush from hoop 2 , to,the east bndry ball , makes rush to hoop 1while promoting black in court by 7 yards, the rush is not quite heading hoop 1 so needs some cut - misses the ball
Gf has a 4 yard shot , but with his front ball

L3,GF hits, sets a ball nth of hoop 4 by 7 yards, sets the other ball wired on Sth bndry below hoop 4 while taking off towards the hoop 2 partner ball, plays it fine as required to maintain wiring , sets himself as a trap in Cnr 2
GF clips are 4back and 2
HT 1 and 1

L3, HT retires the ball nth of 4 into Cnr 1

L3, GF thinking , rushes from 4 yards east Cnr 2 to the Sth bndry ball below 4, lands 1 foot from the ball.
Makes another rush to Cnr 1, makes rush to hoop 2, achieved getting two balls in court by a few yards

L3, GF makes hoop 2, with rush back to Cnr 1, unluckily rushes onto the other ball and sends it into Cnr, has a tricky take off to get a rush , plays it well and rushes to the other ball 2 yards off Sth bndry near hoop 4

L3, promotes it towards 4, gets rush to hoop 3, also played well and has a 3 yard west roll in

L3, GF makes hoop 3, rushes to east bndry near Cnr 4, loads hoop 5 , makes hoop 4, rushes to east bndry, promotes it towards 2 back , makes rush Sth of hoop 5 load

L3, GF through hoop 5 , has a break under control from a tough starting position

L3,GF has made hoop 6 and constructed a peel at 4back with a rush to 1 back, peel goes through by 2 feet

L3, GF through 2 back , sends load to penult , gets rush on peelee near the peg facing Sth east of 3 back, sends it to penult ( 1 foot nth ) , has short rush to 3 back , makes hoop - no nth rush

L3, GF roll is good , but takes peelee away from position, has a 45 degree peel , misses peel , but stays handy , rushes into 4 back

L3, GF gets into position for a straight penult peel , peels it to 2feet SW of rover

L3, GF has some cut required to get peelee into position, gets some drift away as it slows down , faced with a 35-40 peel from 1 yard,
Does not get the jaws, maybe just enough room for a clean jump , has a deepish ball .
Plays it great , hits the deep ball towards rover , sends red to the peg , hits yellow and sends it to west bndry and gets rush on black away from rover, rolls east bndry and Cnr 4 1 yard apart

L3, HT. lifts red from the peg and shoots from A baulk below hoop 1 - misses into Cnr 2

L3, GF rushes NW to nth bndry , makes a rush to rover , runs rover , gets a rush nth of 5, takes off to the Cnr 2 ball , takes off to partner 18 yards east , gets rush to peg
Pegs out to take game 1

L3

L3, game 2
Supershot from Greg
Cnr 2 from harps
Greg misses into Cnr 2
Harps hits double, starts break , puts it down at hoop 3
Greg misses 10 yarder
Harps continues break through 1 back

Croquet scores has let me back in
Harps completes break , sets NSL
GF misses from Cnr 3 to Cnr 4
HT on second break through hoop 4 , with a delayed set up

L3, gets good rush after hoop 5 but hits it nth of 4 back , loads 1 back and can't quite keep control of peelee to get an attempt

L3. HT makes hoop 6 ,
Loads 2 back , jawses 4back going to 1 back

L3, HT has a 5 yarder at 1 back, hits it soft , has a 2 yard takeoff to hoop , misses an angled 25 degree hoop

L3, GF hits a 4 yarder into Cnr , takes off to partner ball near hoop 1,
Has a 2 yard roll in

L3, GF runs hoop 1, loads west of hoop 3, puts black through 4 back - don't think it was his intention to TPO , but changes what he may now do - that's if he makes hoop 2 , from a ball near Cnr 2 .

L3, rolls from 1 yard out of Cnr 2, has 3.5 yard hoop , firmly through to bndry

L3, GF continues break , through 1 back , starts NSL set up

L3, GF makes 3 back , sets NSL
HT clips are penult and 1back

LS, HT lifts black from hoop 4 , misses from Cnr 3 into Cnr 4

L3, GF rushes to west ball , loads hoop 2, rushes to hoop 1

L3, GF through hoop 2 in control

L3, GF through hoop 4, gets a rush nth and positions a delayed set up , takes off to hoop 5 , gets a SE rush , take some it to line between 3 and 4, loads 1 back , has a 1 yard peel that he jawsed with a rush to 6

L3, GF loads 2 back , rush peels 4 back , pass roll loads penult going to 1 back

L3, GF runs 1 back , penult peelee and 2 back loads not great, loads 3 back with a rush on peelee to the 2 back load, makes a dolly rush and rushes into 2 back from 3 yards NE

L3, GF runs 2 back, loads it SE of penult , rushes peelee to SE of 3 back , loads it to penult , makes 3 back

L3, GF gets penult jawsed going to 4 back, makes 4 back .
Loads blue to west of peg , taps onto black near penult
Places a side ball , taps onto peelee in jaws, looks enough through to send it past peg without bringing it into play.
Sends peelee through to 1 yard NE
Taps on black , loads it 4 yards deep of rover.
Rushes blue close to peelee, puts in the side ball , rushes to 1.5 feet near straight.
Peels rover clean , back ball stays in jaws.
Runs rover , taps escape ball, organises rush to peg

L3, GF pegs out to win +10TP and match 2-0