Hi everyone, sorry for a slightly late start - was chatting to Rudy Rencoret, who I haven't seen since 2006 in Sydney at the Australian Open (ok, maybe he came to NZ in 2007).

Lawn 1: Greg Fletcher of Australia vs Samir Patel, the England Mac captain

Greg put black up as a supershot
Samir to max distance position on the east boundary.
Greg hit from corner 3, rushing the ball off teh south boundary below hoop 4.
Croquet stroke was short, giving a northwest rush, took off from black, and is very angled. Contemplating this - looks like a little more than 45 degree.
These fellow have new hoop holes.

Lawn 2: Jose Riva (Spain) vs James Death (England)

This will be our italicised feature match. The young Spaniard who has had some scares on the way to round 2, vs James Death, a hugely talented player who has been a little out of form, and shooting poorly in recent times. James' hitup didn't look too convincing on the shooting stakes.

1. Jose: black to east boundary

2. James red just out of corner 2

3. Blue missed from corner 3 to corner 4

4. Yellow missed from A baulk at black on the east boundary - but not a dreadful shot, so no rush to the corner

5. Jose hits yellow, takes off to blue, no rush, and he's rolling partner to hoop 1 - good luck - I couldn't get near it all day yesterday!

And black is short. It's a ruggy old bit of ground there.

James sounded a little disappointed to be playing on the short lawn - particularly given the hoop holes are still originals!!!

Jose retires to corner 1. That was quite defensive as he now has about an 8 yard join on the south boundary

Meanwhile 3rd turn Greg Fletcher took the sensible option and ran to corner 4. I dunno - i quite fancy just joining up and crossing fingers .I did a lot of that yesterday - it almost got me through.

4. Samir shoots from the south boundary - made himself a double and missed on the right.Greg looking like he might yet have a double of black at yellow (south of hoop 2), and red (north boundary nearish corner 2)

6. James shoots from corner 2 to corner 4

7. Jose shoots towards corner 1, hits, takes off to give himself a 5.5 yarder (with the thin lawn). Hits

5. Samir reports that black was wired from blue - bit careless given he was running away from hoop 1 - and only had a single ball at yellow - which Greg has hit, wicking it off the west boundary, and he doesn't have a rush on red, so is playing a big croquet stroke putting red to hoop 1 and going towards partner which is in corner 4.

7. Jose takes off to hoop 1. Shock - it's well short on the hairy rug that is the area in front of hoop 1. (I'm not bitter...- I eventually got through it)

Jose now joined up in corner 1 with a slightly better position

James earlier stated he'd done his cornering for the game, but I bet blue is going from hoop 2 to corner 3...

5. Greg joins partner with blue in corner 4, and black up the buondary a couple of yards. Samir's balls are west of hoop 1 and north of hoop 2. Nice leave with only long shots.

6. Samir into corner 3 with red from hoop 1.

8. James shoots at partner near the east boundary level with hoop 4. Misses.

Good chance for the Spaniard to take the first break

9.Jose rushes blues south of hoop 5. croquets it towards hoop 2 going to James' balls, and he should be away now

7. Greg rushes black up to the north boundary, croquets it unconvincingly back halfway down the east boundary and hits red in corner 3. I guess he's not going for a break. Will be croqueting red back to hoop 1.

This time Jose isn't short - he rushes red SW of hoop 1, plays a nice approach to have a slightly angled, but, closish hoop. ... hits black fully into the near wire - that's not an Atkins win, it was just a poor hoop stroke.

10. James hits, approaches, runs the hoop... by nothing! - referee on. Must be pretty straightforward, otherwise he'd be taking the shot at yellow (partner, near east boundary). It's quite long though - about 3-4 yards... Plays through the hoop and rushes it north. Easy.

Greg finishes his break - red's north-west of hoop 1, and Greg has a rush pointing at yellow which is well north of hoop 2.

8. Samir will be shooting with red - it's a lot shorter this time - hits blue.
As he wandered off he commented "this is going to be a long match". Definitely a slower pace on lawn 1, and that will enable us the odd flick around the lawns for a catchup.

James has a break. After hitting that shot through hoop1, he has pulled all the balls out, and is taking off from his pivot at the peg to blue which is very near hoop 4, and has a good hoop 5 pioneer.

Samir has nudged blue into the lawn, rushed black to yellow, and is one good rush away from a break.

Your commentary team are Michael Wright, Chris Shilling now, and myself.

Quick update from the other lawns...
Greg Bryant to standard position, Red shot at that. Blue's now on 4back third turn!! That's Greg v Christian Carter on lawn 3.

LAwn 4: Paddy supershot, David Maloof put a ball a few yards in from east boundary (American tactic seen lots at 2010 MacRob), Paddy shot from A baulk and missed, leaving a 10-12 yarder up the east boundary (I could be a bit vague here!) Anyways, Maloof hit that 4th turn and has gone around.

LAwn 5: Mulliner v Hakes has been a bit messy. Stephen made 1, had a hampered shot and missed. Aiken hit and made a longish hoop 1 past the peg, missed the return. Stephen has had the innings ever since.

Back to lawn 1: Samir didn't rush at all well to hoop 1 - rolls down defensively, and is having a leave with red in corner 1, yellow a few yards north, and maybe very slightly inlawn. Black south of hoop 2 and blue still a few yards in from the middle of the east boundary.

(Greg has had a 3rd turn spread - black has a tight rush on red from the east boundary at blue which was hit off the west boundary.)

I'll try putting stuff on lawns 3-5 in brackets, Jose v James in italics, and Greg v Samir in normal

9. Greg Fletcher shoots from hoop 2 towards blue in from mid east boundary. Hits!

Takes off to red and yellow - not sure if it hit hoop 1, but he has a 9 yarder on red in corner 1, and is most likely wired from yellow up the boundary. - looks like it was just short, as it can't have bounced back to there from anything. Anyway... black hits red. Yellow is quite tight to the boundary, so it's not a gimme

(Not ideal for the kiwis... Paddy missed his 5th turn lift and Christian hit his 4th turn shot. Christian puts black south of hoop 4 and has rushed partner directly to hoop 1. Stephen seems to have control of the lawn on lawn 5.)

10. "These hoops haven't been moved since the lawn was narrowed on Sunday... these hoops won't put up a fight"

**"Since when was blue part of New Zealand colours anyway?" - oh dear, someone's noticed the kiwis are ignoring the WCF regs - that's been the case all week.

10. James had a tidy spread.

11. Jose lifts blue from the peg, shoots down the line... hits!, rushes yellow towards the south boundary, but takes off and has an ok rush across the lawn.

Takes off well. For the Spanish contingent, sorry about the lack of scores. James Death leads 9-0 thus far

Back to Greg Fletcher - he did manage to play a decent croquet stroke after hitting that long shot in corner 1, and has established a break.

update on that Samir turn... he had rushed partner into hoop 2, rolled down and had a 4 yard shot at hoop 1 - tried to run it gently - gently ran it with no wire past the peg, and his "leave", was missing partner into corner 1., so he's on hoop 2. Greg has a 4bb.

Jose has made 1, and has full control now

(Maloof got wired from partner near hoop 4 putting a ball up to 4back for the peel. Paddy hit.)
(Christian stuck in hoop , but Greg missed a long shot from just about side on at Christian in hoop 1 - Christian appears to have run 1 and picked off that ball from the west boundary. He approaches 2 off partner and has a long hoop at about 15 deg. Not sure if his hoops were moved - I only saw lawn 1 being moved yesterday.)

11 ctd. Jose makes hoop 2 - now a score of 2-9, but it should be 9-9 by the end of this turn -doesn't look like he's thinking TPO - made 2 off red which is James' 4b ball.

(On lawn 5 Aiken has dug out a break. Stephen on 1 and 2. Aiken is a more deliberately paced player now, so between him and Greg Fletcher I should be able to keep up a bit)

Jose has misapproached hoop 3.... plays a firm jump and he's ok

• James: Not convinced he needed the full jumping stuff*

Up on lawn 3, Christian has failed hoop 2. It was a pretty long hoop. Gets a ref to look at something, but now Greg Bryant is on and twirling his mallet as he checks out the options. Nothing particularly short available. Too far away to see if he can run the hoop or if he's horribly cross wired.

(Aiken has a 5 yarder at red, Greg is taking a 10 yarder at yellow in hoop 2, Paddy has had a good leave against Maloof)

Well, it look liked Aiken had a long shot - but we've just seen him run hoop 4 well. That break is fully controlled now.

Jose through hoop 4, all under control

Greg Fletcher through 1back

(Maloof against PAddy: Maloof into corner 3. Paddy has a rush north of the peg, yellow near corner 4, red in corner 3)

(Greg on lawn 3 shoots at yellow - misses into corner 2 - Christian runs 2 with yellow. Red is a foot in from the boundary but he's playing to pick off blue...hits. Black is a good hoop4 pioneer, so he only needs to rush well to hoop 3)

Greg Fletcher through 2back. Christian Carter through 3 and has an equalising break under way.
Greg Fletcher will have an NSL. Samir on 1 and 2 - it's his hoop 2 ball that has been left by hoop 2.

Jose is on hoop 6. He has full control.... !!!!...!!!

Jose having a 1back leave!! He'll make hoop 6 (6-9 for those at home) and has left black and yellow at hoop 1. This is a bit aggressive so early in the match!

I know there's an argument I should be playing in the bowl, but it's just lovely sitting here watching the match with James and other croquet friends.

(Aiken up to 2back and all looking good, Paddy is taking off from partner to two joined up balls, and Christian is going around still on the other lawns)

Greg Fletcher is through 3b and has an NSL. Yellow looks a long way out from hoop 4, so he'll have to be careful to not to leave it as part of a target.

Greg Fletcher has first break. Black on 4b, red on 2, yellow and blue on 1

Jose meanwhile has got his cross wiring, mis-hits his rush and nearly un-wires things. He rushes to near 1back, but he will be rolling over to corner 3 anyway

I've just had the pleasure of meeting Jose's mum - a very nice lady, and easy to see the family connection there. Jose's lovely too.

Right - Jose rolls them across, looks like black is wired from red (the 4b ball), yellow is wide open on everything.

10. Samir lifts yellow from hoop 4 and is shooting down the long boundary. Misses everything - including the barrier - fortunately we have Kevin Beard at fine leg who returns the ball, and yellow's replaced into corner 4. That'll be a delayed TP on offer for Greg Fletcher.

11. Jose finishes his break, a really nice turn, but very aggressive option laying for a sextuple. Still, if he's planning to go toe to toe with Reg, it's likely he'll need to do something stronger than tidy breaks

12. James shooting at blue with yellow. That's about 35 yards. Yellow bouncing a bit, James watching.. he thought he had it! - but it skims past blue.

13. Jose back on the lawn.

James: "centre ball till the green patch in the middle of the lawn" He was starting to walk after it and then it turned.

(Christian... through 3b, all the balls neatly near 3b. Paddy seems to be shooting at partner with Maloof joined up - not sure what happened here. Stephen has missed his lift against Aiken - I expect him to finish from here)

(Paddy has missed)

*Jose stops yellow into the lawn, has a rush on blue pointing... south - tries to rush it to the south boundary - nails the peg!! - but it ricochets towards hoop 4 - quite handy, as he can put that to hoop 2. This sextuple is already looking a little unlikely. Short on his split to hoop 2 - doesn't get a rush to 1!! - takes off...sails through with no wire, and has a 4 yard return. (7-9 the score)

Hits red in the middle

Greg Fletcher has made hoop 1 on his second break, and is approaching 2 off partner.

Joe Hogan is here in civvies. about 5 people withdrew from the 16-person Bowl. The distant consolation venue (a necessary evil), I guess didnt appeal. Our house still has John-Paul Moberly in the final.

Jose has a change in plans - it'll be a TPO - he'll put James' red ball through its final three hoops and peg it out, while making 12 points for himself. Approaches hoop 2 off partner... it's travelling... it's a 4inch straight hoop - he's through (8-9)

The hoops on onto their 4th day's play. Not sure how no time was available for them to be moved on the playoff day, as the only play here ended up being single games (double banked!) on lawn 1.

So, where are we...

Jose has made hoop 3, run into the peelee, 4 pioneer is a bit short, but he'll cope.

Greg Fletcher put out a very short hoop 4 pioneer, and has had to leave yellow in the corner. I think we'll be looking at a ball to the peg. Rushes black into hoop 4. So he has good balls at 4 and 5 - will probably rush black somewhere after 4 and take off to corner 4. Maybe he can put it to the side and Willock it up to 4back?

Well, that is incredibly disappointing. John Wall very kindly made me a batch of shortbread yesterday. Something I've not had in years. It appears someone helped themselves to the closed container - thanks for nothing people - I didn't even get to taste one. There will be a delay in the commentary while I'm pretty pissed off.

Yay - resolved.. after hunting through about 10 containers... commentary back...
...shortly .

Right - work emails are under control..

Lawn 1. Greg Fletcher ran a solid hoop 5, had a 5 yarder at partner which he hit - has put black to 4back, but he's up to hoop 6 - will try the peel before 1back.

Lawn 2. Red is in front of penult, and Jose has a bit of a cut to 1back. So he has 12 hoops done, James has 10. Rushes it fairly north of 1back, but all under control.He shoudl finish this turn and then we'll have some fun

Lawn 2. Red is in front of penult, and Jose has a bit of a cut to 1back. So he has 12 hoops done, James has 10. Rushes it fairly north of 1back, but all under control.He shoudl finish this turn and then we'll have some fun

Lawn 3: Christian has struggled to get going with the second ball -there have been a lot of leaves. Taking croquet... puts his mallet down to help line up the takeoff line. This is something kiwi Peter Parkinson also does.

Takes off to blue -near corner 2 - doesn't get a rush to hoop 1.

Jose runs 1back, has a longish rushpeel on red... yellow is closer to rover than 3b... hits it well - he has peeled penult and red is about 5 feet north of rover - can have a go at the peel going to blue at 2back!!

Short discussion about the lawn not being short, it's narrow - well put by Michael Wright... "it's a Wilson, not a Mulliner"

Units are 6.5 wide, and 7 long

Lawn 4: Maloof just run rover. He's 4back and peg with a leave. Maloof had the best of Paddy in the Florida worlds, I'm hoping for a kiwi reversal here!

Stephen has his face buried in his device and looks like he could be doinga commentary on lawn 5! - it would be handy - too many lawns to keep track of here. Aiken has teh balls set up for a delayed TP

Lawn 3: Christian has failed to approach 1 and runs away to corner 4

Report from the plate... Alison Sharpe had a spread when for 3 and 4back, Andrejs lifted his ball to B baulk, he was for hoop 3 also - shoots... and run hoops 3 and 4. His record this tournament for a game is 4 - he must be on track to break that!

Jose has jawsed Rover before 3back, having hit the wire before 2back, he is approaching his hoop going uphill. At the end of this turn he'll have 18 points, and JAmes will have 13. James will be pegged out, we aren't 100% sure if Jose will peg himself out. He hasn't peeled his partner ball, so 1 v 1back looks a bit dicey.

Lawn 1 Greg Fletcher hasn't had any peels, it is a controlled break to the peg

awn 4 Paddy facing a long lift - Maloof has had a very horizontal reverse spread. DAvid's balls are nearly peg high on the east boundary, with a rush pointing at blue near the peg, and black has just been picked up from the east boundary.

Paddy is taking the "short" shot from the end of B Baulk - likely trying to find the flattest piece of land to shot over...

Misses.

Jose has the peel, has made 4back. Rolling partner to rover getting a rush on red. It's a bit long, but he'll cope with that.

Aiken has peeled black - not sure when that happened - likely jawsed before 6.

On lawn 3 we've had another leave, with Christian together in corner 4 and just west of that, black looks to have a 14 yarder... shoots... hits!

check out Andrews commentary...there is a match finished already

Alrighty - cheese scones - HOT cheese scones for morning tea.Very nice. Catering at Kelburn by all accounts excellent.

Maloof has made 4back, and has played a good stroke stroke to put out a rover pioneer and get a rush to penult. This should be 1-0.

Greg Fletcher still going on his second break

Jose has made rover of partner, rushed partner to near corner 4, and is taking off red near the peg

18-12 t oJose

18-13 to Jose

19-13 to Jose - he has pegged out both balls!!

ok, let's concentrate on that one for a bit. (Maloof will run rover from in the jaws, Aiken has played a really nice rush after 2b, and Greg Bryant has a break)

James on 1 with yellow, has a contact, and blue is on 1back. This could still be anyone's

David Maloof beat Paddy Chapman in game 1 26-0

Nope - black was somewhere small. sorry

James rolls to a 2-3 yard straight position at 1, putting blue ENE of hoop 2. Runs a very smooth hoop - game on! Lines yellow on the north boundary.. shooting..

Hits blue gently in the middle. is approaching hoop 2 from hoop 6. I don't fancy two off against James - still, if he had an extra ball now...

Approaches 2 well, putting blue an inch in from the yardline - perfect stroke

one yard hoop 2, about 10 degrees... catches a lot of wire, but makes the north boundary line

19-15

Greg Fletcher on lawn 1 is on the peg, but he has run rover to position A, and might not be able to see anything - or does he actualy have an easy roquet... yeah, that looks very doable.. hits it in the middle

James underhits (over cuts?) his rush to 3. Blue very deep, but yellow has a very short and angled hoop.

hits it firmly and runs the hoop by a few yards. Has an 10 yarder at blue - slips past the outside edge - and just bounces off hoop 4! "done the hard work" - I failed to mentino James was delayed starting that turn as he was making me a cuppa

That was 14th turn

15. Jose takes perfect position at 1back from between hoops 3 and 4 - so good that James is shooting

16. James shooting from next to hoop 4... watching... slips past.

Meanwhile, on lawn 5, Aiken has misapproached 4back with a straight double peel to do.

Greg Fletcher on lawn 1 will be having a B spread of something of that ilk

"Mulliner missed a shorty" - missed about a 5 yarder. He's standing on the sideline practising that swing, as Aiken runs penult and bounces off rover.

17 Jose picks off yellow, plays a really nice approach, and runs 1back well, but past blue... has a 4 yard return... Jose leads 20-16

Middles yellow..

(Aiken missed having run penult - he is now 4b and rover)

Greg Fletcher's leave... red a few yeards in from the middle of west boundary, black off east boundary level with hoop 4, yellow a few yards ENE of the peg, and blue into corner 2.

Slight delay on lawn 2 as Jose seeks out his ball in the hedge - he has distracted Mulliner who generously joins the search. 21-16

Jose approaching 3b from NW of hoop 5 - perfect shot.. has about a 2 foot straight 3b.

Jose approaching 3b from NW of hoop 5 - perfect shot.. has about a 2 foot straight 3b.

Runs 3b (22-16) with control, and has a 4 yard rush to 4back which he hits, but not well

Runs 3b (22-16) with control, and has a 4 yard rush to 4back which he hits, but not well

Rolls up to 4b from peg high, and it's a really good shot. Bit angled, but no problem running this to the boundary -he has a rush to north of penult. Sorry for the repeated comments, connection being a bit funny

Lawn 1: Samir looking (quite reasonably) confused as he contemplates his options - he's 1 and 2 against 4b and peg.

*Jose runs penult with no wire and will approach rover from just south of the peg.8

James ruing the old hoops "These hoops are just not fighting at all* - lots being run with no wire.

This time a poor hoop approach, but he creams through rover to the boundary.. Joes wins 26-16 TPO

Sorry - Jose wins the first 26-16 TPO James will be requesting the hoops to be reset

Lawn 1's conclusion

Samir joined up with partner on West boundary, Greg misses from corner 2 down to corner 1.

Samir rushes partner across to black on the east boundary.

Aiken looks like he's finshin game 1 against Stephen.

Samir's rush to hoop 1 - smashes into hoop 4.

Rolls black north of hoop 1, and he's going to blue in corner 1 - that'll make the line of that rush more understandable.

Paddy's in play with a good chance of the first break. We think Maloof hit 3rd turn and pulled the balls out and that this is 4th turn.

Samir has crashed through hoop 1 - by about an inch. Hits his hampered shot, black short to hoop 3 - he needs to pull this together a bit.

Aiken has two referees watching - not sure what happened there - something about trying to put black through the hoop with yellow in the way of everything - I think this turn will finish on rover and peg... he was putting out a side ball and it drifted into the way.

Samir is through 2, and has rushed blue to the south boundary. puts it as a decent hoop 4 pioneer and, more importantly, has a good rush on red back up to black (which is 2 yards north and a bit east of hoop 6. He should get this break around now, and we'll expect an MSL with blue (peg ball) tight on hoop 2.

Greg Bryant is on a TP of some sort on lawn 3 - he has peeled 4b and is peeling penult - straight?? - red is next to hoop 6, yellow is north of the peg. Will have to see what he does next

Paddy's going around - this is better for the kiwis!

Yup - Greg's on a straight double. Blue ends up between peg and rover - nicely through, and black stops helpfully in the jaws of penult.

Samir's break is now fully under control, so a catchup...

Lawn 1: Greg Fletcher 4b and peg, Samir 2 and on a break.

Lawn 2. Hoop 3 has just been reset.. James fancies all the hoops being reset - into fresh ground

Lawn 3. Greg Bryant looks to have rushed partner a yard south-east of rover - looks like a dreadful rush! - he's taking off to rover, and will finish the break under control, but Christian (1 and 4b) will have another shot.

LAwn 4: Paddy still going on the first break against David Maloof

Lawn 5: Stephen has missed again. Aiken just needs to rush to rover.

Lawn 2 - Jose is back ... and they're ready. JAmes has won the toss on this one and chooses to go in. Jose sticking with black and blue.

Aiken rushes well to rover, will win 26-1

On lawn 1 Samir runs 1b - with no wire again.. mallet in air as he needs to hit blue first to sort out his leave, and black is behind yellow

1. James supershot with red to 4 yards north and 1.5 yards west of rover

2. Jose black to max distance position on the east boundary

3. James misses down the boundary into corner 4

4. Jose shooting at partner from the end of A baulk...bonk! - hits black pretty centrally

Lawn 3: Greg Bryant's turn for a defensive leave. Red middle of west boundary (it's for hoop 1), yellow mid east boundary, blue and black in corner 4 pointing north. These lawns are so easy at this stage of the competition Christian should be backing himself to hit this short lift and have a crack at finishing.. ... this game is so easy from the sidelines!

Jose rolls black to 2, has a rush to 1 which he clips, over-cutting it towards hoop 5 - takes off well - and runs the hoop well - very well - utterly cleanly to about peg high - but hits red, rushing it back south of hoop 1. Should be a ball around now

Lawn 1: Samir has had a nice leave, and Greg Fletcher is playing his black ball, lifting it from hoop 4... blue is sitting 2 inches from the south-west wire of hoop 2. really tidy leave, and Greg is taking the do or die shot. .. That must have been close!! - but misses. For a big roll out of corner 4 after hoop 2 Samir will have a standard TP. This is very much like a MSL position without having to do the rush to hoop 1 first.

Lawn 2 - Jose has full control now - should be 9-0 after this break finishes. Spotted yellow in the corner - of course .. this is 4th turn. Black is a bit short - he'll have to roll out of the corner past it, but it's quite straight as a hoop 4 pioneer

Looks like Aiken and Stephen are lunching on lawn 5 (well, they're lunching in the clubhouse actually)

Stephen has just wandered past with a wallet in his hand - they'll be lunching somewhere.

Jose makes 3, croquets red to 5 going to partner at hoop 4 - avoiding that awful long takeoff. Red went SW of hoop 5, but he'll cope coming out of corner 4.

Jose makes hoop 4, rushes black off the east boundary level with 4, and croquets it back in lawn going to corner 4

Lawn 1: Samir opts to make 2, croquet blue to hoop 4 (well, 5 yards south of hoop 4, which is fine with black in the corner) and goes to partner. Taking off from partner and it'll be a delayed TP

Up on lawn 3, Christian hit his lift, by the way. It looks like he has made hoop 1 and has a decent chance of a break now, with yellow near hoop6 and he has a rush on black - no- that was a rush on black to hoop 2 - and it'll be a looong backward angled takeoff.... that takeoff was from the eastern half of the lawn too. ...and he's short. And black will have a shortish shot on yellow, OR a choice of joining up with partner in corner 4. This looks bad for Christian.

Jose is making 1back, has all the balls.

Jose leads 6-0, about to be 7-0, 4th turn of game 2, he is game up

Lawn 4: Paddy is getting his second break under control. Yellow had missed the lift into corner4, he's approaching 3, and his hoop 4 pioneer is a couple of yards south of hoop 4 - nice place for it (unless you like rushing down after hoop3 and putting that corner 4 ball up as an escape ball for the delayed peel - thereby avoiding what C.Clarke call "the most difficult shot in the game"

Jose now 7-0 up, and he has put yellow very defensively on the west boundary - I thought for a moment it might be an MSL coming (yellow on the wire of hoop 2)

Lawn 1: Samir has the balls well set for a delayed TP

Lawn 3: Christian looks to have played an excellent scatter, Black left nearish north boundary from where he took off, and red and yellow about 9 yards apart on the east boundary. Greg Bryant shooting up from corner 4.

Lawn 4: Paddy approaching hoop 4 and will have a delayed TP on offer to equalise the match

Last worlds Maloof beat Paddy 3-1 in the quarter finals. Time for revenge.

Jose now up 9-0, has rushed red to the east boundary, is croqueting it up to peg high, and he'll give James a 13 yarder into corner 4.

Lawn 1: Samir has peeled yellow into just about the yardline area, and has no 1back pioneer (well, it's 2-3 yards west of hoop 3. Runs 6 and hits black - so has blue NW of 6 a 1b pioneer now. Partner will head to 2b

Jose rolls blue and black off in corner 4. James facing a very defensive leave, however if he lifts red and hits, he can get a dolly rush to yellow level with hoop 2, and it won't look so defensive for long

LAwn 3: Greg must have missed - frow corner 4 towards corner 3, and Christian now has a standard TP on offer. Hits long shot at partner, rolls it to 4b, hits long roquet into corner 3, and that black is still about 8 yards NE of hoop 2.

Lawn 4: Paddy looks to be peeling 4b from very short distance (he has a referee on), going to his 1back pioneer. No 2back pioneer - red is between 6 and the peg and east of that line. The lawns and hoops are easy enough that he'll cope.

Paddy plays the takeoff - blue stubbornly not through 4b.

"He hit that really badly, That was really wristy off the bottom bevel" - that was a spectator's opinion of James' shot at blue (the northern ball) after lifting red from the middle of the east boundary

James is back "bother"

Lawn 3: Christian approaching hoop 2 from quite a way back, it's a bit long and angled, but should be very doable.. runs it to the north boundary... Blue is still in corner 3

Lawn 1: Samir's delayed TP looking good - 3b pioneer is north and level with rover, but black is near it.

Jose plays a wee promotion, hitting black onto blue onto red, to be able to get partner out a bit, but plays a bad takeoff, and doesn't rush to yellow. That's problematic, as he left yellow on the west boundary. Plays a HUGE rolls and he has straight position. Straight 6 yard position - time to head home Jose still leading 9-0

Lawn 1: Samir makes 3b - rushes blue into the back of penult - that's a bit of a nuisance, but I think he can flick it out getting a rush on yellow

Bit short and will have a 7 foot peel attempt going to a good escape ball. He's deciding exactly what line he wants to play this roll from.

James will be shooting with red at blue and black. Yellow is on the west boundary level with hoop 1, and red is a couple of feet NE of hoop 2. ... no... cornering!! - red plays into corner 2, and first world champion, Joe Hogan, does the fielding.

sorry - shoots into corner 3, of course

Yellow is reported by James to be about 6 inches off the yardline

Lawn 1..Samir's peel bounces off, so it'll be a straight double. Doesn't rush well to 4b, approaches it badly, and we're back in business as he runs an 8 foot hoop.

Jose hits partner, rolls it to north of hoop2 and has... a 10 yarder on yellow! (maybe 9 on this narrow lawn). Hits all of it. Needs to approach hoop 1 from the west boundary. I told you it was a hairy rug south of hoop 1!

Jose has played another absolutely beautiful hoop approach from the side. We shuffle chairs around as Jose makes hoop 1 and is looking at a massive cut rush into corner 3. It's on, as he'll need to get to his northerly hoop 2 pioneer. Rushes yellow off the middle of the east boundary. Great chance to get going here.

Back to lawn 1: Samir has a straight double... peeling yellow from a foot in front... it's a perfect yellow - peels to 5 feet in front of rover. Red is ugly.. hits lots of both wires... and bounces back to 2 inches in front of penult. Great result for Samir.

Jose croquets yellow to hoop 3, rolls red to north of penult getting a tidy rush to hoop2

James is ruing cornering (rue-ing? - yuk)

Samir has a deepish ball (8 y deep), good side ball, and he tries to cut partner close to the hoop - looks like he has given himself a bit of an angle.

James whittering about the hoops again as Jose runs 2 off the north boundary. He has a chance of standard TP with a good roll

Samir's peel - puts yellow in the jaws. Plays a good half jump putting both through, and if you read back you'll see he had a "deepish ball" only - but he has hit it (it bobbled a lot over the drainage line). Very nice comeback

Samir wins game 1 26TP-21

I know the feeling - that was my game three with Dave yesterday.

Paddy Chapman v David Maloof scores so far: 1-26, 26TP-0

It's lunch on Paddy's lawn. and it's lunch on Samir's lawn probably. "3 hours for a 4 break game" on Samir's lawn

Jose rolled blue across after hoop 2, has made 3 and is peeling from about 5 feet and a fair bit of an angle. He'll be happy to jaws this one.

In case you were interested in the other lawns...

lLawn 3: Greg Bryant still on rover and peg, Christian Carter appears to have no peels, but is getting around to the peg, and will be peg and 4back.

Samir commented he thought yellow might have caught both wires simultaneously to dribble through to a perfect spot. Graeme Roberts has suggested it's at least 0.6mm on all diameters (3/64th of an inch)

Jose lines up the peel.. stop shot - really good shot - peels cleanly.. (that's 13-0), and now has run hoop 4 off the boundary: 14-0

This should be the last turn of the game - stay tuned folks!!!

of the match, sorry. (sorry James)

Lawn 3: Christian seems to have wandered off midbreak for a drink. Can't see what's going on... he seems to have rolled up the lawn to set up a straight triple, but to have overrolled. Hard to tell.. we'll keep an eye on this - James is running through all the options he can find. After a walk off to the shelter for his bottle, Christian is clearly still on the lawn. He might have wired himself from partner, but I don't think so...

*Back to the action.. Jose has made hoop 6 and is peeling partner... James on the score "too many to not enough". Jose has 1 hoop to make with his blue ball, and 6 with black. He should finish this turn...

Way down on lawn 5 Stephen Mulliner is having the first break against Aiken Hakes, who won the first game of their match

There'll be all sorts of whining about best of 3/5 if these matches finish early.

Aah - Christian is back on lawn 3. He has another hoop to make, no peels done, looking at leave options. Might have been a slightly aggressive shot from Greg, but nothing looked particularly tasty there.

*Jose through 1back... all under control.... but it's.... *

it's Strat Liddiard!! - where'd he appear from? lovely to see him.

Sorry team... Jose still well under control... he has peeled rover before 3back, has yellow south of penult, and rushed partner back up well to be able to put it to penult going to his 4back pioneer.

for those in Spain... he has 21 points, and only 5 to go to be in the World Championship quarter finals

Lawn 5: Stephen around with a spread. Aiken lifts the ball from the peg and taking the (very) long lift

Lawn 3: Greg doing the same

Aiken watching Jose finish first. And watching Greg

Greg shoots... misses narrowly. Christian with a chance to snatch game 1

Aiken stalking, as Paddy returns to his lawn.

Jose through 4back, has a good rover pioneer, rushes yellow up and thereby nudges blue a bit closer to penult.

Aiken hits - rushing yellow off a few yards north of corner 4

Jose through penult. One hoop to go.

That flurry of work emails that interrupted at teh time of biscuit-gate has dropped off too. Next time my out of office message will be more along the lines of "bugger off, and don't email me again unless it's about croquet or golf".

Aiken has played a nice croquet stroke and has a rush to blue

Jose finishing

Jose Riva (Spain) beats James Death (England) 26-16 TPO, 26TP-0

Back to lawn 3

Christian makes 4back off black, hits, rolls it to rover getting a good rush on a good penult pioneer, can't see this not finishing

PAddy v Maloof: corner 2 opening and Paddy hits partner from the end of A baulk

Aiken through one...i wonder if we will see a TPO?

Christian Carter wins game one 26-23

Let's start a new thread.... new commentary starting in 2 mins.