Good morning from Kelburn. We have blue skies with the odd cloud and a temperature around 19 degrees. The 5 lawns are getting better each day as they dry out.

I'll be trying to give commentary on Patel v Fletcher on lawn 4 (which is some way away from my perch in the clubhouse) and Morgan v Clarke which is in front of me on lawn 1.

The lawns are running around 10 seconds and have some nice faster patches developing. The key difficulty though is the wind which is meant to average 30kmph with 60kmph gusts. The lawns are fairly exposed on the side of a hill.

The players are practicing.

Most players are wearing white except the Kiwis in black. Greg Fletcher has green shorts.

The players are making conditions look tricky.

Fletcher (UK) v Patel (RY)
1. K short (only just past h5) narrow supershot
2. Y max distance E boundary
3. U misses Y from C3
4. R misses Y from A-Baulk
5. K shoots at RY which are about 1ft apart..............misses

Fletcher v Patel
6. Patel obtains a dolly rush to C4 and gets a cannon. The cannon sends Y 5y short of h2, but he finishes 8y short of h1. Approaches with a roll and and clangs the hoop.
7. Fletcher has a 5 yarder……….hits quarter ball…..handy. Approaches from 3 yards to 2ft straight and he’s away.

This is a crucial game for Fletcher who is trouble on 3/6

On lawn 3, Trimmer is having the first break against Riva

Morgan (RY) v Clarke (UK) – Lawn 1
1. R 13y N of C4
2. U just S of C2
3. Y shoots at R from A-Baulk…………..misses by 3 balls on the N side. Jenny will have a 20 yard double from B-Baulk

Morgan (RY) v Clarke (UK) – Lawn 1
These 2 players played in the Mac and Morgan won both games 6th turn.
4. K shoots at RY double from B-Baulk……………restalks due to the wind……………….hits the middle of Y.

Morgan (RY) v Clarke (UK) – Lawn 1
4 (cont.) Clarke opts just to take off to get a rush on R to h1 rather than croqueting Y into the lawn. Gets a good rush and takes it to 8ft S of h1, approaches to 2 ft and runs it getting a 5ft rush pointing approximately at C2……can she hit it hard enough to take it C2? Jenny sometimes rushes short of h2, approaches sending the ball to h3 and runs the hoop then picks off the 6 yarder into C2…what will she do here?
Waiting for double bankers……
Restalks……rushes to 1 yard straight in front of h2…………..approaches to 1ft staright and fails the hoop trying to run it hard.

Morgan (RY) v Clarke (UK) – Lawn 1
5. Morgan roquets the ball in h2 to 4 yards S of h2 and takes off to the ball in C2, hits it and croquets it to 4y NW of h1 and goes back to partner on the E boundary.

Morgan (RY) v Clarke (UK) – Lawn 1
6. Clarke shoots from h1 to h2 (about 16 yards)……………….misses

Fletcher (UK) v Patel (RY) (Lawn 4)
7. (cont.) Fletcher gets to 4-b with U with an NSL.

Trimmer v Riva (Lawn 3)
Trimmer gets to 4-b with an NSL where the ball at h4 may not rush well to h1

Fletcher (UK) v Patel (RY) (Lawn 4)
8. Patel lifts Y at h4 and shoots at K from C3…………misses to C4.

Morgan (RY) v Clarke (UK) – Lawn 1
7. Morgan makes h1 and has an easy 2 yarder that is marginally hampered ….hits. Now has a break if he can approach h2 from 4 yards straight………………..2ft straight hoop, run smoothly to the boundary – he’s away.

Riva has missed the short lift with his ball at h2 against Trimmer. Pete tries to bombard the ball off h4 from 7 yards whilst getting a rush on partner to h1 as a back-up. The bombard misses, but he rushes well to h1. Should be a standard tp from here if he can rush to h2 from h4.

Fletcher (UK) v Patel (RY) (Lawn 4)
9. Fletcher has made h1 with ball at h2

Trimmer rushed pretty well to h2 but seems to have broken down as Riva is now about a run h1 with a break ahead of him. TPO?

Morgan (RY) v Clarke (UK) – Lawn 1
7. (cont.) Morgan has taken R to 4-b with a diagonal spread.

Morgan (RY) v Clarke (UK) – Lawn 1
8. Clarke lifts K at the peg and takes the long lift from C3…………….. misses to C4 or maybe just W of it.

Fletcher (UK) v Patel (RY) (Lawn 4)
9. (cont.) Fletcher is still going and is setting up for a delayed tp………………hasn’t been able to attempt before h6.

Morgan (RY) v Clarke (UK) – Lawn 1
9. Morgan has loaded h2 and rushed 5y S of h1. Approaches to 1y 10 degrees…………….restalks……very gusty now……….calls a referee to check if through the hoop – it’s not through by a widget.

Morgan (RY) v Clarke (UK) – Lawn 1
10. Clarke has a 6 yarder U at Y in h1………………hits. That’s her h1 ball, so she now has a 3ball break.

I've lost control of Trimmer v Riva. Trimmer has been on the lawn again, so Riva must have broken down. Neither player is in play at present!!

Morgan (RY) v Clarke (UK) – Lawn 1
10 (cont.) Clarke is playing a scrappy break without any forward rushes and has just taken off the lawn going to partner in C4 after h3.
11. Morgan has a 9 yarder with his 4-b ball at Clarke in C4…………….misses

Fletcher (UK) v Patel (RY) (Lawn 4)
9. (cont.) Fletcher is still going and has reached 2-b with no peels

Trimmer is taking croquet on lawn 3 v Riva

Morgan (RY) v Clarke (UK) – Lawn 1
12. This was the turn in which Morgan bt Clarke in their best of 3 match at Mission Hills. Playing conditions are somewhat different here.
Clarke makes h4 and has the other two balls in lawn, but not close to useful hoops. Good rush to h5 and her h6 pioneer is 2y NE of the peg. Grovels through h5 and has a hampered shot…………looks fairly easy……….nope, she’s looked at through the hoop, a left handed sweep and a right handed….before making the shot look easy as I first thought. Still needs a couple of decent strokes to bring the break together.
1-b pioneer is 3y SSE of the hoop and she rushes 1ft E of h6. She’s through and should have enough balls to get to 4-b now.

Morgan (RY) v Clarke (UK) – Lawn 1
12. (cont.) Clarke has a tough 2-b……….2ft 30degrees……clangs it. Morgan has plenty of balls to potentially finish.

Fletcher (UK) v Patel (RY) (Lawn 4)
9 (cont.) Fletcher reaches 4-b and peg with a diagonal spread. This would be a huge win for him.

Fletcher (UK) v Patel (RY) (Lawn 4)
10. Patel hits a 7 yarder at what was an open ball at the peg. Will he go to 4-b or to the peg and peg out Fletcher?

Clip recap
Fletcher 4-b and peg v 1+1
Morgan 1 +4-b v 2 + 2-b

Morgan (RY) v Clarke (UK) – Lawn 1
13. Nope – Jenny has bounced back to cross-wired, so Morgan has a 3 yarder with his 4-b ball or a 5 yarder with his h1 ball to get everything. Takes the shorter roquet – not sure that was the right option. Makes a leave with Clarke at h1 and h2.

Morgan (RY) v Clarke (UK) – Lawn 1
14. Clarke shoots from h1 to Morgan near C4…………….misses.

Trimmer has beaten Riva. This may mean Riva needs to win his last 2 block games to get into a play-off, depending on other results.

Jose is back in the clubhouse and tells me he blobbed h4 from straight in front.

Morgan (RY) v Clarke (UK) – Lawn 1
15. Morgan fails h1 off partner. He may have bounded to 3inch position – difficult to tell from here
16 Clarke shoots from h2 to h1 with her ball for h2…………….misses

Morgan (RY) v Clarke (UK) – Lawn 1
17. Morgan makes h1 and rush partner to h2…………….clangs from 18inches straight. Once again, he may have bounced back to 3inchs straight – I can’t tell.
18 Clarke shoots with her 2-b ball at h4 at partner 5y E of C1……………….Jace Hobbs’ hat blows from lawn 5 to lawn 4…………..Jenny waiting for the double banker to run2-b………shoots…………hits. Not easy to make any hoops from here.

Morgan (RY) v Clarke (UK) – Lawn 1
18 (cont.) Clarke rushes Y 3y E of 2-b and takes off to get an 18inch 20 degree hoop…….runs it wel and hit partner. Takes off leaving partner in C1 and rushes well to 3-b. Can she get a cross-wire at h2? No, she’s not playing with enough control to do that. After 3-b, Clarke rolls Y to h3 and it hits 4-b finishing 2inches in front of 4-b. R has been left just out of C2 and she lays up close to C1.
Clip recap
2 and 4-b v 2 and 4-b

Sorry, I though she was going to do that, but she's rolled to C4 and her balls are 4inches either side of the corner!

Fletcher (UK) v Patel (RY) (Lawn 4)
10 (cont.) Patel goes to 4-b with an NSL
11. Fletcher lifts the ball at h4 and takes the long lift………………..misses

Morgan (RY) v Clarke (UK) – Lawn 1
19. OK, things have got a bit weird. Jenny has conceded a lift with the ball that just in front of 4-b despite the fact that I could see a clear route for it to hit R in C2. So Morgan now has a 13 yard double at the balls in C4………………misses.

Morgan (RY) v Clarke (UK) – Lawn 1
20. Clarke has to approach h2 sending Morgan to h3. A good croquet stroke gives her a 1y 10 degree hoop with she runs very well. Sends out a very short h4 pioneer and underapproaches h3 but runs another good hoop. Needs to rush to h4 from 9 yards ……….overcuts her rush and is 3yards WNW of h4………approaches really well to 18inches straight….runs it well and has a break.

Fletcher (UK) v Patel (RY) (Lawn 4)
12. Patel has picked up a break with his second ball and can opt to try a delayed tp with the fallback of pegging Fletcher out if it doesn’t finish.

Fletcher (UK) v Patel (RY) (Lawn 4)
12 (cont.) Patel has made h6 off partner and is struggling to keep the balls under control.

Morgan (RY) v Clarke (UK) – Lawn 1
20 (cont.) 5 yard return roquet after 2-b for Clarke……rushes it nicely…should get to 4-b and peg here.
Clip recap
Morgan 2 and 4-b
Clarke 4-b and break (for 3-b)

Morgan (RY) v Clarke (UK) – Lawn 1
20 (cont.) Clarke fails 4-b from 4inches 10 degrees

Morgan (RY) v Clarke (UK) – Lawn 1
21. Morgan has a standard tp ahead of him if he can rush to h2 from h6. Fails h2.
22. Clarke now has a laid break for her 4-b ball.

Fletcher (UK) v Patel (RY) (Lawn 4)
12 (cont.) Patel misapproaches 4-b and retires to C2. Fletcher now has a lift which will give him a 2y rush to 4-b from B-Baulk with a ball in C2 and another 5 yards off the middle of the W boundary. He could opt to rush straight to that ball.
13. Fletcher opts to take a 3 yard rush to Y off the W boundary……………cuts it to h2. Some work to do.

Fletcher (UK) v Patel (RY) (Lawn 4)
Clip recap
Fletcher 4-b + peg
Patel 4-b + 4-b

Fletcher (UK) v Patel (RY) (Lawn 4)
13 (cont.) Sorry, Patel didn’t retire to C2, he played a scatter which explains why Y was near the W boundary. Fletcher has now rushed to R which isn’t in C2, but 8yards E of C2. He is 3y W of it and is trying to get a rush to 4-b. Wind reaches higher speeds now.

Fletcher (UK) v Patel (RY) (Lawn 4)
13 (cont.) Fletcher takes off and get a decent rush to 4-b……………rushes it 3y ENE…………takes off ……..too far………..5ft 20 degree hoop….tough……………..clangs.

Morgan (RY) v Clarke (UK) – Lawn 1
22 (cont.) Clarke reaches peg and 4-b. The leaves is a shocker as her last two strokes hit R in the middle. R (4-b) has a 2 yarder at a ball in C4 and her peg ball is at h4.

Fletcher (UK) v Patel (RY) (Lawn 4)
14. Patel hits in and has a 4-ball break with an opportunity to peg out Fletcher to leave 4-b and peg v 4-b.

Morgan (RY) v Clarke (UK) – Lawn 1
23. Morgan has left Clarke’s balls at h2 and h3 and rolled down to 7y N of C1.
24. Clarke shoots from h3 to h2 (it’s her backward ball)…………………….misses. Standard tp again for Morgan with a peg-out of Clarke to fall back on.

Off to watch the superbowl. that's all for now.