Good morning all! I'm still here...

And Wynnum is again an excellent place to be on such a fine day - the sun is out (29 degrees forecast), the sky is blue and almost cloudless, and players have begun their singles matches for the second test.

Today's men's matchups are:
Lawn 1: Bryant v. G. Fletcher (battle of the Captains Greg). Both have been playing solid croquet this week, with Bryant's roquets picking up as the days go bye, and Fletcher controlling the lawn speed perfectly (and hitting almost everything)
Lawn 2: Hakes v. Forster. Hakes has been up and down this event, but is always dangerous and can never be underestimated. Forster did well to beat Shilling on day 2, but has otherwise not been playing as consistently as is usual. However, his opponents (especially in the doubles) have not been giving him many chances.
Lawn 3. M. Fletcher v. Shilling. Fletcher has been playing very well, and has hardly made a mistake this event (as one would expect from such a fine player), but Shilling has been a tough customer in all matches, is capable of taking advantage of any opportunity, and will put a good fight this match. Should be a good one.
Lawn 4. Wilson v. Freeth. Wilson has been playing well, but confidence on lawn appears (from a distance) to be a bit up and down. He's hitting well though (as always), but has missed a couple of shorter shots uncharacteristically. Freeth has been solid all tournament, doing nothing flashy, but doing what he has been doing with great consistency and poise. He's also been shooting well. I won't predict a winner of this one...

I didn't see many openings as I was doing various tasks, but at the moment, Freeth is going around, Shilling is going around, Hakes is going around, as is Bryant.
I saw that last one: Bryant won the toss and went standard, Fletcher went Corner 2, Bryant shot for partner from B (in at an angle) and missed, Fletcher just missed the double down the East Boundary, and Bryant is making a break on turn 5.

The women's matchups today are:
Lawn 4: Fisher v. Landrebe. Fisher is playing very consistently, and shooting well when needed. She's a chance in every match at the moment. Landrebe has been doing good breaks, but not getting in enough. Needs more play for me to tell how she's really playing. (Fisher was going around - as she should since she's been on that lawn 4 days in a row... but Landrebe is now in.)
Lawn 3: Bassett v. Robinson. Bassett has not been in top form, but is almost playing very well, while Robinson just hasn't had much play - either in the pre-event practice days, or during the doubles, so she will be hampered slightly on that account (Bassett is going around)

Lawn 2: Verge v. Mayard-Husson. Verge played well early on this series, but lost confidence in yesterday's doubles - the result was that she changed her play yesterday to her detriment. Mayard-Husson has been shooting well and is a tough opponent, though hasn't coped well when unusual situations have come up. Verge has just made hoop1, and all the other clips are still on 1.
Lawn 1: Clarke v. Sharpe. Clarke has been playing well both in singles and doubles, and Sharpe's shooting has been down compared to normal - maybe a slight loss of confidence there, but she seemed positive this morning, and if she gets in, I think she will do well. Clarke is going around on what is (I think) turn 5 at the moment.

I'm sitting beside lawn 2, so will try and cover lawns 1 and 2 in more detail from now.

Lawn 1.
Bryant got hampered after 1back, and missed. Fletcher is now on a controlled 4ball break.
Clarke still going around.

Lawn 2:
Verge through hoop 2 with a 5yard return roquet, but balls ahead.
Hakes made 9 early on, and failed 1 with the second ball. Forster fired at the ball in the jaws and missed. Hakes made 1 and failed 2. Forster fired and (I think) missed. Hakes made 2 and (I think) fired at Forster, missing to just north of C1. Forster fires from mid court between 1 and 2 to a ball 6y East of the peg. missed. Hakes fires with his H3 ball from down near C1 at his partner at 3 and hit. Should continue his break from here, but peeling won't be on time.

Well he's trying to make it on time.
Hakes (for 3 and 4back) did a thick take off from the East Boundary level with h3, putting partner 2y in front of 4back. striker went down the line towards Forster's ball, which he rolled in to 4, getting a rush back in the 3 direction on the ball East of the peg. Rushed it to about level with 6, took off, and failed a 1yard slightly angled hoop. Forster now has a 3 yarder at the peelee. Forster is still on 1 and 1. Hits. Will probably be rushing croquetting Hakes to 2, rushing the other through 3 down to the ball at 4, and rushing partner to 1.

Also on Lawn 2. Verge comes 90% of the way through hoop 4 with partner on the other side, but that's it. Mayard-Husson fires at the reception ball with the ball at 4. missing to C4. Verge runs hoop and gets a rush on partner to 5, leaving the oppo ball in the corner.

Lawn 2.
Forster is doing what I expected, except that I didn't expect him to rush partner to the middle of the south boundary. As a result, he ended up with an angled 1, which he failed. Hakes shooting from 2 to 4 with his 4back ball.
Verge 3balling around and how approaching 6.

Lawn 1.
G. Fletcher has made 1back and is merrily going around.
Clarke has set a diagonal spread, but with a rather juicy target on the East Boundary for the westward opposition ball...

Lawn 2.
Hakes misses to C4, and Forster makes H1 with a rush back roughly in that direction. The other oppo ball is a couple of yards north of 4.
Verg has rushed to WB level with 6 after making 6, so is unlikely to get a good load on 2back without leaving herself a long roquet on the ball at 1back.
Gets the load to within 5 yards, but has a 4yard hoop approach at 1back. Plays in well and continues her break, though is slightly hampered after making the hoop.

Lawn 1.
Sharpe lifted the peg ball and took the short aggressive shot from A-baulk at oppo. Snicked the back ball. Good positive play for someone not hitting well yesterday. I like it.

My batter is low, so will only do key updates for a while while it charges round the corner.

Lawn 1:
G. Fletcher set a 2-4 (a rather boundarylike ball at 2), Bryant picked up the ball at 4 and shot down EB, missing to C4. I think it was his 2back ball.
Sharpe doesn't make 1, and Clarke hits from 2 to 4ish with her 4back ball. Will be setting a leave.

Lawn 2.
Verge is still going around.
Forster didn't make 2 (not sure of the circumstances), and Hakes is continuing his break with the back ball. Up to 1back. No peels yet, though not for want of trying.

Hakes currently attempting to peel 4back while getting a rush on oppo to 2back.
Peelee hits the leg and sits there, doesn't look rushable, but gets a good rush with striker to 2back. Break continues.
Verge still going around.... Just saw her do a perfect takeoff from corner 4 to corner 2, so not sure what the story is there, but the C4 ball has been there since the oppo put it there some time ago.

Lawn 1.
Clarke is on a controlled break, but will be having a delayed TP, since she had partner at 2, and didn't get a rush across to 3, and couldn't roll it into position. Sharpe seems to be still on 1 and 1.
Fletcher has made 1, and is sitting, waiting, for the double bankers to clear his next few hoops. He will be making 2 off partner, 3 off oppo, with the other oppo in C4.

While I'm sitting near my charging computer, I'd like to mention some interesting things happening on lawn 4.
Pam Fisher (after apologizing to her opposition this morning for being on the same lawn 4 days in a row - she's back there on day 6 as well), is taking full advantage of her lawn knowledge, and has made a leave (defensive - her balls with an unintentional? reverse rush in corner 2, oppos 2 ball at the peg, and oppo's 4back ball near EB north of 4.

Also, Freeth has been pegged off by Wilson (TPO), and the leave was Yellow (Wilson, for peg) in C3, Red (Wilson, for H2) near C4, and Freeth (H1) by the peg.
Freeth took contact from the C3 ball, putting it 3y SW of 2, going to the ball in C4, rolled to 1, had a 2y angled hoop, and stopped in perfect running position, slightly clear of the jaws on the playing side. Wilson was 3y on the other side with his H2 ball. He hit through the hoop perfectly, and should finish.
Interesting that if Freeth was happy to play a big shot, he didn't croquet the yellow down as a receiver at 1, and then do a load and hold with the ball in C4, thus attempting H1 with the oppo's peg ball/ discouraging him shooting with that one.. Oh well.

Back on Lawn 1:
Fletcher will be peeling on the way to 6 (he's up to 5 now)
Clarke is 4ball breakinig - no peels.

Lawn 2:
Hakes is getting angry at moving spectators.

He appears to be doing some sort of jump shot over oppo (already used) to make Rover. No peels done.
While one would think that he would be watching the striker's ball during the stroke (it's a very close ball he has to jump over), spectators up on the balcony ahead are clearly making the shot harder.

Plays a top jump shot (seems like he had done 2 peels, as he's put a clip on rover..) and now has a 5 yard return roquet on partner. Will be having a leave.

Verge is lounging against a lamp post waiting for the fumes to clear before proceeding through the hoop 5 area.

Delightfully loud and fancy ring tone goes off next to lawn 2, but only Hakes is present, and as he has equally loud noise coming from his headphones, is oblivious.

Good turn out of moving spectators today - ex competition players, club members, volunteers and referees (though seemingly less than the last few days) and other croquet enthusiasts from other clubs.

Lawn 2.
Hakes does some sort of leave, and Forster is now making hoop 2.
Verge is approaching 5. Her partner ball is on 4back, and oppo still on 1 and 1.

Lawn 1.
Fletcher going around tripling.
Clarke went to the peg and set another diagonal spread (back ball on 4back)
Sharpe lifted the westerly ball this time, again took it to A-baulk for the short lift shot, and again high about 1/4 of the right hand side of the back ball, again did a poor rush to 1, and set up.
This time, Clarke shot at Sharpe at 1, but hit once again (again with the forward ball). Nothing like variety.

Lawn 2.
Verge has not done any peels, but is continuing her break to the peg.
Forster has made 9, adn set a 2-4 leave. The ball at 2 is almost directly south of 2 - by about 4 yards, and the ball at 4 (Hakes' peg ball) seems to have a shot at one of Forsters balls on the East Boundary (they are 2y apart with a north/south rush.
Hakes plays the ball at 4 where it lies, and hits the northerly ball (Forster's h1). Will be setting a leave.

Lawn 1.
Clarke's leave is to put Sharpe west of 2 and south of 4, and to set up between 4back and C3 with a rush. Sharpe shoots from 2 to 4 and misses.
G. Fletcher is doing a TP, and has just tone a beautiful irish peel through penult, putting the croquetted ball 1ft West of Rover. Bryant will have to play well to win this match, but 2 perfect games can do it!

Lawn 2.
Hakes sets a leave (Forster is North of 4back and SW of 4 - Hakes somewhere out west. Forster shoots at partner with the ball near 4 (his h1 ball) and misses. Hakes has either hooped and roquetted after rover, or done something equally unsuccessful, as he's now trying to peg out from 1y SW of Rover. Plays it hard with a roll sending striker up to oppo balls north of 4back. Front ball misses peg and goes 11 yards. Striker goes well, hits ball on North boundary, which he croquetts to EB level with 4 (ends up in the yard line... lucky) and rushes other oppo ball to near C2.

Verge sets a leave after rover. She is now peg and 4back. Oppo still has both clips on 1.

Mayard-Husson misses, and Verge runs an angled 4back to hold a (3 yard) rush on partner towards penult. Oppo balls are at rover, and in C4

Hakes croquetts Forster off the West boundary level with 1, leaving himself with no continuation, and balls 2y west of 2, and 6y east of 2.
Forster shooting with his h1 ball from East Boundary to West Boundary.

Just misses.

Lawn 1.
Fletcher takes Game 1 against Bryant, 26TP-7.

Lawn 2.
Hakes plays his westerly ball and hits to NB behind 3. Looks to be rolling a ball at the peg while going to Forster's two on the West boundary. Misses the peg, but stops near both peg and Forster. Should be one more shot for Forster unless there is some sort of bombard pegout in the wings.

Lawn 2.
Verge pegs out to take Game One against Mayard-Husson 26-0.
No fancy pegout from Hakes. Just takes 1 ball off leaving Forster with 1 ball on EB 3y N of C4, and the other on WB, 4y N of C1.
Understand?

Oho, spoke too soon, misses his 3y single ball pegout...

Forster is shooting cross court again.

Just misses, again.

Lawn 1.
Clarke has beaten Sharpe in Game One, 26-0.

Hakes pegs one out this time... What he was or was not thinking/ attempting, I do not know, but he has left Forster with a 6in rush up the West Boundary, and a ball 1ft west of the peg.

Forster doesn't get position at 1, and Hakes hits the peg from h1 (I think)
Anyway, Hakes takes Game One against Forster, 26-9.

Of the 6 matches that have had games finished, for of them have had Australian wins.

Any questions, as usual, please send them to: [email protected]

Lawns 1 and 2 are having a snack break at the moment while hoops are checked/reset (would be interesting to know whether they're planning on moving them at all during this event - the ground is soft and they are certainly loosening), so I sahll do the same.

p.s. on Lawn 4, Wilson broke down in 5 with 1 peel done of a TP, Freeth (on 1 with both balls) hit him, played 1 croquet stroke, roquetted the other opponent ball, and did a switch... He noticed it immediately and the balls were returned to their last legitimate positions before the switch occurred. A big let off for Wilson....

Lawn 2.
Verge and Nina M-H have started again.
Husson goes to East Boundary level with 4.
Verge puts in a duffer 1y East of 6
Mayard-Husson goes down the line at partner. Doesn't get close and ends up 1yard west of Corner 4.
Verge shoots at duffer down the center of the court. Just misses to 4 yards East of center line.

Mayard-Husson shoots north and hits partner.

Lawn 1.
Fletcher and Bryant begin game 2.

Fletcher goes supershot 1.5y north of 5 and slightly west
Bryant mirros that on the other side of the hoop.
Fletcher shoots at a single ball and just misses. Bryant has a ball North Boundary and is off on turn 4.

Lawn 2.
Mayard-Husson sets up, leaving Verge near 1 and the duffer still in place by 6.
Verge shoots at the duffer and ends up north of 4 on the north boundary. That was a miss.
Mayard-Husson taps partner and is taking off to the North Boundary ball.

Lawn 1.
Bryant missapproached 1back from 1ft, leaving himself a nasty jump which he failed.
Fletcher was on the other side, but hampered from the escape ball - takes forever and calls a ref, but hits it and gets a break going.

Clarke is going around on (I think) turn 4.

Lawn 2.
Mayard Husson missed a return roquet after 1, and she and her opponent have been doing not loo much since then.

Forster v. Hakes in Game 2. - I surmise this is how it went...

Forster goes EB level with 4.
Hakes C2
Forster at partner, misses.
Hakes at Forster, misses
Forster makes break and has run 6.

Forster fails 3back trying to control is (from under a foot) to do a leave.
The current leave is: Forster in jaws of 3back and 3y East of 5. Hakes 1ft north of 3back, and 4ft NW of that.
Hakes hits ball in jaws, and it goes nowhere. Has to put it through. taps his partner, and croquetts it to 4y NW of peg, getting a cut rush on Forster's other ball to 1.

Verge seems to have been in and around C3 for about 20 min. Not sure if she's been out and come back, but has been there a lot... Has been askign the ref re. moving balls out due to a hampered swing (there's a rather solid looking lamppost and boards there).

Dispute between Hakes and L.Fleming. Loud noises coming from the clubhouse and it's not Bruce's phone.

All is quite on the Wynnum front - for the moment.

So I'm off on an errand, and will be back in half an hour or so.
Stay tuned til then!

p.s. Stephen Forster has successfully claimed a jam with his second ball in H1. will have a replay. Laid break ahead.

So, when I left, Forster was jammed in 1 - about to take a replay.
When I returned, Forster was jammed in 4back - about to take a replay.

He seems to have been doing a straight peel at 4back, which he has successfully accomplished, but that looks like his only peel, and he'll probably finish this break with balls on Penult and Peg.

Also on Lawn 2.
Verge is making a break and has just run 4. Her other clip is on 5, and opponents are on 1 and 2.

Lawn 1.
Fletcher attempting his second Triple - doing the first peel on the way to 6,
Clarke going around. Not sure of the state of play there.

Lawn 2.
Forster sets a wide cross-peg. Hakes picks up the westerly ball, and will be shooting at Forster from the end of A-baulk.
Shoots...
Misses.

Verge failed 5.
Mayard-Husson hits from 6 to 5, adn will have a good chance at a break if she can make hoop 2 (she hit with the H2 ball), but will have to do a long backward takeoff to get there.

Lawn 2.
Forster finishes nicely to even the match against Hakes - winning Game Two - 26-1.

Game 3.
Hakes goes standard (8y N of C4)
Forster does duffer 1y W of H6
Hakes fires down EB and and misses to C4 (that's where he puts it anyway, though not sure it quite made it. Hard to tell at a distance though.
Forster hits his duffer, goes to the northerly of the oppo balls, takes off to C4 ball, and gets a rush to 1.

Forster fails 2.
Hakes shoots from 3 to 4 and misses.

Forster makes 2, gets a rush to 4. puts partner at 4 (mostly wired from the ball on the South Boundary behind it) and rushes Hakes to 3. has a 1ft backward takeoff to get position.
Does so and should have a ball to 4back if no more hoops jump out and bite him.

All is going well for Forster.
Sets a 2-4 leave, and Hakes lifts the ball at 4.
Fires down East Boundary, and misses.

I've heard a lot of under-breath swearing this tournament, from both men and women of both teams.
It has usually been quite quiet, and most of them seem to keep things relatively surreptitious/ look sheepish afterwards, but it is an interesting phenomenon.

Forster takes his rush, puts partner at 2, rushes oppo back near Corner 4, chips it in 3 yards, and gets a rush on the other oppo ball to H1. Break coming.

Verge v. Mayard-Husson are at lunch.
Clip positions are: Verge on 5 and 6, M-H on 1 and 3.
Not sure who's in play, but either way it is an 8 yard mid court shot to take control.

Forster failed 4, Hakes has set up, and Forster has missed.
Forster is on 4 and 4back, Hakes on 1 and 1.

Lawn 1.
G. Fletcher had some sort of catastrophe after rover, and Bryant has now made 9.
Fletcher taking life (2-4 leave)

Fletcher missed lift, and lunch was had.
I haven't said anything since then, because Bryant seems to have vanished, and I've been lunching.

Clarke won game 2 against Sharpe in ragged style.
I think things happened as follows:
Clarke made it to the peg,
Sharpe missed,
Clarke didn't get going/set up.
Sharpe hit, failed 5
Clarke finished.

Lawn 2.
Forster has made it to peg and penult, having done 1 peel of a straight TP (again). Hakes is on 1 and 2.
Hakes is taking a lift shot down East boundary.
Forster's balls are peg high, and has a 2 yard rush to penult.
Hakes fires at the in lawn ball (he's been complaining about hilling off down that line all morning.
Hits in lawn ball 5 yards and has a 6 yard take off back to the boundary ball. The ball with which he hit was his hoop 1 ball, and his partner is about 4.5 yards west and slightly south of 2.
Needs some big shots to get going,

Hakes hasn't been playing well this tournament, and only every now and then showing flashes of the brilliance lying with. He's been a bit frustrated today, both with his own play, his opponent's luck, and his dispute with a referee earlier (neither behaved appropriately), but I've seen him focus in such situations to pull off some unexpected victories, so don't write him off yet!

Lawn 2.
Verge and Mayard-Husson have resumed, and the state of the game is:
Verge on 5 and Peg, Husson on 6 and 1.
Husson has just missed a lift, and Verge is together on West boundary.
M.H.'s balls are on East Boundary 3y North of 4 (hoop 1 ball), and South Boundary 4ft West of Corner 4 (hoop 6 ball)

Verge has made it to Hoop 5, but has a longer than desired slightly angled hoop.
Runs it to level with 6, and will have a 10 yard return.

Hakes got going very well, and is now approaching hoop 3.

Laid break ahead.

Verge hits 15 yarder at partner on West boundary (oppo is still in Corner 4), croquets that somewhere out of my vision, and rushes to 8yards SW of 6. Will have a long roll in with opponent ball.

Plays it well, and should make 6 without problem. Receiver is deep and slightly East, so not easy to continue the break.
Fails 6, so don't worry about that.

Lawn 1.
Bryant is attempting a TP. A ball seems to be jawsed in 4back, but not all under control yet.

Bryant has made 2back with no peels done as yet. Looks like he's thinking about a straight TP.

On Other Lawns....
Lawn 4.
Game 2 of Landrebe v. Fisher is in progress.
Landrebe is on 2 and 4back, Fisher on 2back and 4back.
Fisher just ran 1back and spread the balls when she didn't get position at 2back (there was nothing ahead) and Landrebe missed an 8 yard lift.
Fisher joined up in Corner 4, and has a 6in northward rush with her 4back ball.
Landrebe's balls are mid North-Boundary (4back ball), and 3yards west of 6.
45min left.
Fisher takes her rush and makes 4back, with a rush to Green on North Boundary.

Lawn 3.
Bassett is 1 game up against Robinson.
Bassett is on 2back with both balls, and Robinson is in play and is on 4back and I think making 3back with the striker as I type.

Also on that lawn, M. Fletcher and Shilling are in Game 3.
Shilling is on 1 and 1, Fletcher on 4back and break with a standard TP laid out.

Lawn 2.
Hakes is setting a leave...
Forster's peg ball is up against the leg of 2, possibly slightly in the jaws on the south side, while his penult ball is 1.5 yards off the East boundary, 2 yards north of 4.
Hakes appears to be setting a rush to 2 up near corner 2 on the west boundary level with 2. Good encouragement leave. I'd have done just the same, except would have had a rush pointing south from corner 2. My reasons are my own, but they have been very effective over the last few years.

Mayard-Husson is in and is up to 2back with a good break. I'd be keen to know whether she's contemplating pegging Verge's front ball off.

Forster lifted the peg ball and played it at Hakes' two from Corner 1.
Hit the westerly ball.

Lawn 3.
Robinson is through rover but hampered. Looks ok though.

M. Fletcher has 1 peel done and has run 1back with control.

Lawn 4.
Landrebe has shanked a couple of long shots in this game, and has done the same with this last lift.
Fisher doesn't have a good lawn, and will be rolling in to 2back from the middle of the west boundary.
Opposition's other ball is in corner 2, and partner on East Boundary, to which she is now retiring.
Rather a slog this match, and could go rather late if Fisher wins this one...

however... Landrebe his something!
Plays her 4back ball from south of hoop 1, and tickles the ball in corner 2.
Long takeoff back to the opposition is needed, and time is running out, so there's a lot of work to do.

Lawn 3.
Robinson hit the hamper after rover, and is setting a leave. It's rather a loose diagonal spread, leaving herself a 6 yard rush, and Bassett an 8 yard shot on partner ball mid lawn.
Bassett hits, and will have to do a couple of good croquet strokes and rushes to get the break going.

M. Fletcher is approaching 3back with 1 peel done. Peelee is 2 yards north west of penult, and an escape ball is ready to rush to 4back.

Lawn 2.
Mayard-Husson made it to 4back, and set a defensive leave (down in corner 4, with opposition 8 yards East of the peg (hoop 6 ball) and somewhere up towards hoop 2.
The latter is lifted, and is being hit at Mayard-Husson from the end of A-baulk.
Hits.

Forster set a leave, but then failed penult with partner as receiver.
Hakes hit from 5 to 6 with his 4back ball.

Lawn 1.
Bryant did a peel or two of his triple, and set up.
may have pegged one of fletcher's balls off...
Anyway, Bryant is now setting up again on West boundary, while the one remaining Fletcher ball (for the peg) is near the east boundary level with 5.
I think Bryant is for rover with his backward ball.

Lawn 4.
More interaction.
Landrebe blobbed penult, and Fisher is setting up. But, the bad news for her is that she has croquetted Landrebe's penult ball onto the leg of 2back (the other ball is in corner 2). Sets up down near corner 4, with a cross-corner rush... Doubt it will be a wiring lift, but not 100% sure.
Nope, she's playing it as it lies towards corner 2.

Misses into corner 2.

Corner to Corner takeoff coming up... Landrebe's balls are apart by 2ft.

Lawn 1.
G. Fletcher had been pegged out by Bryant, and Fletcher then missed a long lift. Bryant made penult, and set up (which gets us to where we were above).
Fletcher missed the peg, and Bryant finishes to take Game 2, 26-25.

Lawn 4.
Fisher does the long takoff, but doesn't make any hoops, so retires to East Boundary.
Landrebe joins up in C2 again.
Fisher does another long takeoff and things keep repeating.

Lawn 3.
Fletcher broke down irish peeling rover. Shilling is in and making 3.

Bassett is still going strong and is up to the peg.
Bassett's clips are now peg and 2back, and Robinson's peg and 4back.
Diagonal spread for Bassett, with Robinson's peg ball next to the peg.

Lawn 4.
Fisher doesn't get position at 2back, and Landrebe shanks another ball back towards corner 2. Surprise surprise.
The difference this time is that Fisher has a rush somewhere, and that somewhere is South of 5. Takes of to corner 2..

She did try the rush, but partner is now 2 yards off the south boundary 3 yards west of the center line.
Will be doing a set up this time. Landrebe's 2 ball is 3 yards west of 2 and slightly north, and her penult ball is peg high, 4 yards in from the East Boundary.

Leaves herself a rush to 2back.
Landrebe fires at partner up near corner 2 (playing her penult ball), and hits!

Lawn 3.
Shilling still in break.
Robinson missed the lift down the East Boundary with the ball by the peg (the peg ball). Bassett has made 2 back with a northward rush towards her partner ball which is in line with 1 and 2, just north of the peg.

Lawn 2.
Forster defeats Hakes 26-10 to take the match 2 games to 1.
Verge and Mayard-Husson are just the same as they were when I last discussed them. I shall not mention them again until the do somethign productive.

Lawn 4.
Time is about to beat Landrebe...
Luckily for her, she goes out on a croquet stroke before the clock went, which leaves her with a shot after time with her hoop 2 ball...
Fisher plays off into a corner.

Landrebe misses a 15 yarder, and Fishe wins Game 2, 19 hoops to 12.
I might leave the commentary for that one to anyone else who wants it...

Lawn 3.
Bassett scrapes through 4back and appears to be hampered. Will have an open shot at the ball at penult if she wants it.
Her partner is 3 yards off the south boundary between 1 and 5, so this is a must hit...
She didn't hear me.
Robinson has a choice of 3 yard lift shots.

Oh dear.

Also on that lawn, Shilling does a diagonal spread. His clips are now on 4back and 1, vs Malcolm Fletcher's peg and rover. The peg ball has been left by the peg.

Lawn 2.
Mayard-Husson has made it round to 4 and broken down, but is now back in without Verge making anything.
Has a 4ft hoop shot if she wants it.

Lawn 3.
Time seems to have gone with Bassett and Robinson.
Scores are... Bassett on penult and peg, Robinson on 4back and peg.
Robinson rolls for 4back from penult, and gets good position.
Fails hoop.
Bassett is 1 hoop ahead, with 1 turn to play.

Lawn 2.
Verge wins on time, in straight games.
17-12.

Lawn 3.
Fletcher picks up his rover ball, takes it to the end of A-baulk and hits it at his partner by the peg.
Hits his partner to elsewhere.
Just has 1 hoop to go and two pegsout to take the match.

Fletcher takes Game 3 v. Shilling. 26-9.

So, matches still in progress will be:
Fisher and Landrebe on Lawn 4, and Bryant and G. Fletcher on lawn 1.
Both have started, but I won't be commentating. Done my dash for today.

At the moment the match score for today is. 5 matches to 1. The Test is therefore at least a draw (NZ led 3-1 after yesterday), with Aus a potential winner if they pick up one of the remaining two. This would also be a series win.
Stay tuned.

Bye for now.