Welcome back to Cairnlea where the sun is out, the sky is blue and flags hang limp. This is the sort of day to play high quality croquet. We have doubles today, Eng v NZ and Aus v USA.

Most players has yesterday as a Rest Day, but NZ were back in action finishing off their final doubles to close the Test score to 10-11. This could be important if they can beat England and England beat Australia. It is a straw, but one worth clutching.

Yesterday afternoon the team orders were given to the manager and the big news is that Australia have changed their doubles pairings. The Fletchers are split and Robbie plays with Dwayne and Mal plays with Edward leaving the old campaigners Ian and Stephen together.

Today we'll have;
Lawn 1 Mal + Edward v Zack + Matthew (this already feels like a must win for the USA)
Lawn 4 Ian + Stephen v Jeff + Tom
Lawn 5 Dwayne + Robbie v Ben + Stephen

Lawn 2 James + Harry v Paddy + Edmund
Lawn 3 Mark + Jamie v Jenny + Greg
Lawn 10 Christian + Samir v Aaron + Felix

I'll try and provide updates on all 6 throughout the day, but I'll focus on lawns 1+2

The temperature is meant to reach 23 degrees today and even at it's current 14 degrees feels so much warmer. I know it's doubles, with it's lower standard of play, but I reckon we'll get half a dozen triples today.

So, looking back to the thrilling Aus v NZ Test, what were the turning points. I think winning the doubles on day 4 was important for Aus, particularly after Mal + Robbie lost. The other key factor was that they won the top singles 4-0, so a full team effort and a worthy victory for the defending champions. The second Test offers the chance for them all to settle further, improve their standard of play and for Edward to get somewhere near his normal standard.
England just need to beat NZ to set up a probable week 3 final v Australia. NZ could do with winning 12-9 or better to improve their net matches and increase their own chances of winning.

From a US perspective, Essick and Watson need to shhot better and Jeff and Tom need to play better. The USA remains a potential banana skin for other teams, but I think their chances of winning are now zero.

Practice has now finished and play will start in 10 minutes

Matt supershot, Ed to just S of C2. Zack hits Mal, rolls down getting a rush pointing at A-baulk and cuts it half way to h1. Makes h1 and needs to roll off h2 from the W boundary......overappraoches to 2y 45 degress....fails hoop. Mal hits 4yarder

Paddy 8y N of C4. James to just S of C2. Edmund misses partner from A-baulk, leaving Harry balls a foot apart. Harry goes to B-baulkand makes a double from 10y W of C2........misses, finishing 2 feet S of Paddy

Mal makes h1 and has a 4ball break.

Ian fails h1. and looks like he's glued on the wire. Tom takes 11 yarder for a 4ball break......hits

Edmund has made h1 and is approaching h2 off an oppo ball.. Good shot gets a 4 foot straight hoop and Edmund now needs to get on his h3 pionner which is 2y off the N boundary

Mark makes h1 with and oppo ball in C2

Christian makes h1 with a rush back to the E boundary

Ben has just made h4 on a break,

Tom is quite fun to watch - he's so jaunty when things are going well - he almost skips along

Edmund takes off leaving a ball behing h2, but gets a rush and makes h3 and rushes back behind h2. His h4 pioneer is fairly close to the treacherous E boundary. Doesn't get a rush to h4, approaches to 4 foot 30 degrees and bullies the hoop into submission - Edmund has the hardest hoop shot in the AC world. He now has a break.

Mark misapproached h2 from the corner. Jenny misses a 28 yarder from h2 to h4. Mark hits his 7 yarder at partner, but rushes poorly to h2, fnishing near h5. Rolls up short and only flicks the outside of the wire. Greg has an 8 yarder...hits

Christian looks like he got a C2 cannon and is now on h4 needing a 3y backward take-off....copes and has a break

The speed of play today is already much faster in the kinder conditions

Greg has picked up a break

Edmund grovels through h6 and has a hampered shot.....hits

Ben has reached 4-b and is trying to make a spread.

Mal has reached 4-b and has made an NSL

Tom is till on his break and has reached 2-b

Matt lifts the ball at h4 and takes the long lift from near C3........misses narrowly

Robbie lifts the ball at h2 and takes the long lift........misses through the middle.

Greg runs h3 by 19 yards and has a range of longish roquets.......turns round and takes a 12 yarder at the ball he approached h3 off......hits

Edward approaches h1 to 2feet 45 degrees and clangs. Zack hits 5 yarder

Christian misapproaches h6 on his break and retires to C4. Aaron misses about a 4-5 yarder

Samir may be wired from Christian in C4 but will want to join up anyway....does so.

Stephen has made h1 and hit a return roquet and has a delayed tp ahead of him.

Zack makes h1 and approaches h2 to unrunnable.... he joins partner leaving Mal at h2 and Edward at h3

Tom reaches 4-b with a spread. Ian lifts the ball at the peg and takes the long lift, missing to C4

Stephen fails h3 but may be wired from Dwayne. Robbie takes a 7 yarder at the h4 pioneer from C4......hits

Zack goes back to C4 finishing next to partner leaving a double for Edward near h3 which he turns down in favour of shooting at Mal at h2.....hits.

Jeff has made h1 with a 3ball break

Edward takes off short off h4 and is lucky to avoid being cross-wired.......hits the ball and a half target.

Edmund has reached 4-b but he's put out a ball NSL ball at h4 which is hittable from A-baulk. The Kiwis consider their options

Edward makes h1 with a rush to a ball 8y S of C2. Still some work to do to get a break. Makes h2 with a h3 pioneer at h6

Greg has made 1-b on his break.

Robbie makes h1 ...... will he tpo?

Aaron shoots from C3 at oppos near C4.......hits

Edmund makes a southern cross variant - his ball in C2, an oppo mid W boundary, an oppo just E of h4 wired from Paddy 7y N of C4

Robbie isn't tpo'ing

Edward has made h3 and has a break

Jeff's break is a bit ragged, but he's still going......no he's just missed a 7 foot rush to h4

Harry lifts the ball just E of h4 and goes to B-Baulk to take the shot at Edmund in C2.......hits. Good croquet stroke sends a ball to h2 and gets a good rush on partner in the middle of the W boundary. Bad rush only moves partner 3 yards and he's got and 8y backward take-off to h1. Good shot obtains a 2 foot 15 degree hoop which he runs by a foot, hits a 6 yarder and has a break.

Greg reaches 4-b with an NSL. Mark lifts the ball at h4 and takes the long lift.....misses to C4. Jenny fails h1, but is wired from Jamie. Jamie shoots at Mark in C4..........misses. Can Jenny run h1 up to h2?

Edward has rushed partner 5y S of 4-b after h4 and attempts a straight peel....bounces off the wire

Jenny runs h1 to 3yards away from partner at h2. Needs to approach h2 from 3 yards SW or go to oppos in C4. Approaches h2 and fails the hoop. Mark has a 3 ball break

Stephen has made h1 with agood chance of a break

Edward is hampered after h6....hits. Sends partner to 2-b with no peels completed.

Harry is hampered after h3.....hits

Robbie has reached 4-b with an NSL. Stephen lifts the ball at h2 and takes the short lift....misses

In the distance on lawn 10, it looks like Aaron has made an error and Samir is in play

Dwayne rushes well to h1. He now has a standard tp ahead of him.

Samir makes h1 with a break

Edward is trying to rush partner to 4-b after 2-b......poor approach to 2-b, clubs it through by a foot and is unlikely to even get 1 peel now

Mark has a 4-ball break.

Alarm bells already ringing for teh Kiwis. Two big errors from Jenny after Greg has a rare first ball round. English in breaks on all 3 lawns.

Aussies also starting to press forward with breaks on their three lawns.

From a neutral perspective, come on the underdogs!!

Dwayne peels 4-b after h3

Edward reaches the peg with no peels and a horizontal spread

Harry reaches 4-b with a disgonal spread (not really a polarised enough leave against 1+4-b, but he's playing will James who won't mind doing a delayed tp.

Stephen reaches 4-b with an NSL ..... is that Jeff' h4 ball at h4 and can it run the hoop?

Mark reaches 4-b but doesn't have the balls in a tidy position for his NSL....aborts to a good old-fashioned OSL.

Actually, Harry has joined up on the E boundary, so perhaps the balls at the peg are open?? Paddy is taking the shot at partner at the peg...it's an 11 yarder.....misses

Jenny lifts the Westerly ball and takes the short lift.....misses

Zack lifts the ball at the peg and takes the "short" lift....misses by a long way.

On lawn 4, the ball at h4 looks like it lifted and took the long lift missing. Ian has just taken off from h3 to ry and get position at h1 with balls at h2, h3 and C4. Gets 2y straight position and runs it off the N boundary giving him optional 14 yarders. Shoots at partner SW of h2.....misses

Mal fails to get a rush to 4-b and takes on a very aggressive approach from 18 yards away. Plays it well and runs a 5 foot 20 degree hoop to the boundary. Now needs to hit a 6 yard return.....middles it to rover. That should be game 1 to the Aussies

James has made h1 by inches and has called a referee

James's shot was pretty easy and he middles it. Has a 5 yard return roquet after h2, plays an awesome shot rushing it to partner and now has a standard tp

Tom hits from h3 to C4 and will be making a leave for Jeff

Mal finishes to take game 1 +25

Dwayne has broken down 2-b and penult. Stephen looks like he's on h4 with a break

James rushes too close to his h3 pioneer and can't get partner behind 4-b. He still looks nervy, but he did for most of the English summer and still won the Men's and Opens.

Jamie peels 4-b after h3.

Samir reaches 4-b and it looks lie a reverse NSL

It's not a great leave from Tom. He's left partner (for h4) an 8 footer pointing at h3 from C4. Ian takes a 20 yarder at partner SE of h3...........misses

James has sent peelee out as his 1-b pioneer with no peels done. He should be trying to rush to peeling position after 1-b

Jeff has already committed partner to 4-b and he still hasn't got a break. It's a positive line of play, but I'd love to see a ball to the peg with a strong leave

Jamie peels penult down to rover after h6 and should finish from here.

James fails an angled 1-b to give Paddy a 4 yarder for every ball in the world.

Jeff has played some good shots and has control

Aaron lifts the Easterly ball and takes the long lift from A-Baulk.........misses

Jamie is looking like England's best player as he jawsws rover going to 3-b

Paddy hits his 4 yarder.

From having complete control out of h4, Jeff is now approaching h5 from 3 yards E......clubs it and has no hoop. ..retires to C1,

Paddy has made h1, but hasn't sent partner within 5y of h3 and ends up having to croquet it into position from over 3 yards to the side and fails. He now needs to bombard it into peeling position, which again doesn't work

Mal starts game 2 and plays 14y N of C4. Matt goes into C2 once again missing his desired target. Edwards shoots from 3y W of C3, going off 3y S of partner. Zack takes the double from B-Baulk...............hits

Jamie finishes to win game 1 +16tp. Jenny had multiple good chances and we're going to have to capitalise on those this Test.

Paddy has a more angled h4 than he would like and plays a rare firm hoop stroke to the boundary. He's now setting up for a delayed tp. Lovely control out of h5.

Look like Jeff has misses oppos in C1 and Ian had a good chance.

Zack has made a leave

Christian is making 2-b - I'm not sure whether he's had any peels

Stephen reaches 4-b and Robbie misses the long lift to C4

Edwards takes a 20 yarder towrds C3 with oppos near C2.....misses

Paddy jawses the 4-b peel before h6 and at last plays a good rush to h6 (he's left a couple woefully short). That should be a confidence builder. Rushes towards C3 after h6, but it flicks off h3 - has the peelee moved? Gets caught out by the hill and his 2-b pioneer finishes 5y N of 2-b. Rush-peels 4-b and opts to send partner out as a second 2-b pioneer

Matt needs to roll off h1 from near the end of A-Baulk......does well and he's away.

Christian has overapproached 4-b......retires to C2. Good chance for the Kiwis.

Paddy's 3-b pioneer is 8y short.....this isn't great

Duff commentary, Stephen went to the peg rather than 4-b because Ben had an early ball round. Ben has now finished from 4-b + peg to win the first +9

Aaron has just made h4 on a break

Matt has just made h4 on a break

Paddy is trying to reorganise the balls for a delayed double. Rushes 8feet NNW of 3-b....this is looking ugly.....takes off into the wire of h4.....not sure where he can run away anywhere good......

Game 2 starts Jenny to 9y N of C4 - thrashed to let off some steam. Mark plays to just N of C4. Greg shoots at Mark.....hits

Ian has picked up a break and is for h5.

Matt reaches 4-b with an NSL. Edward lifts the ball at h4 and takes the long lift...........misses

Greg made a leave, Janie missed and Jenny has now failed to get a rush to h1 and made a leave guarding C1

James has picked up a break and could have a dpo, an stp or a ball to the peg - you never know with James, so I'll keep my options open

Zack plays a 10 foot backward take-off to h1 and finished short, unrunnable...retures to partner N of h2. Mal shoots from h1 to h2.....misses

Stephen has the first break in game 2

James is going to the peg

Jamie shoots at Mark near C4.......misses

Jenny makes h1 and is hampered....shoots at oppos.....misses to give them a 4 ball break

Aaron has reached 4-b with a sort of cross-peg

Zack makes h1 with a 3-ball break

James has reached peg. He makes a reverse spread. Recap 4-b +peg v 3-b + penult.

Christian takes the long lift and pogos up and down indicating that he thought it was close. Felix takes croquet almost 2 and half hours into the day. Makes h1 and has a 3ball break

Ian is still going on his break....might try a straight 4-b peel

I'm expecting Edmund to shoot. He's at the peg and the Easterly ball is quite close to the boundary and he doesn't have to concede any lifts. Yes, Edmund has lifted the ball at the peg and shoots from near C1 at oppo......misses to C2

Zack end sup approaching h4 from 4 yards which was sloppy...runs it off the boundary and now has a 5 yarder.....copes. now has set up a delayed tp

Ian looks like he's got a peel on partner and will now focus on reaching the peg.

Zack has run h5 by a couple of millimetres - quite handy as he can play the rush through the hoop. His 1-b pioneer is N of h6. Peels 4-b before h6

Stephen is still going round.

Harry rushes to 5y SE of 4-b.......overapproaches to almost the side of 4-b. His partner is 5y NE of the peg. Dare he join up mid-lawn leaving Paddy a 13 yarder or will be go to the S boundary and try and guard the shot. I'd be tempted just to play to C1

Felix looks great on the lawn. He's got a long stride and looks positive. That should guarantee he breaks down soon!!!

Zack is approaching 1-b from 3y ENE. I mentioned that he wasn't the finished article and he needs to play tighter breaks to deal with the adverse conditions he'll face outside the US. Anyway, he's made 1-b and his 2-b pioneer is partner which is 2y N of rover

Harry plays to the E boundary about 10y away from partner. Paddy has a 13 yarder at James mid-lawn or a 17 yarder at partner near C2

Ian has reached peg + penult and is trying to make a cross-peg which fails and he splits up going to C2. Jeff hits a 5 yarder, but can only make a leave offering some 13 yarders

Paddy shoots at partner......misses. Harry takes his 10 yarder.......misses. Paddy has a rush S on partner, so it's a slightly easier pick-up for his ball although Edmund has a ball nearer his hoop and wouldn't need to concede a lift after pegging James out. Tough choice.......Paddy plays..... fails to get in front of 3-b and plays 3y S of partner in the middle of the W boundary - that was a great chance to take control.

Jamie has reached 4-b with an NSL. Greg lifts the ball at h4 and takes the long lift.....misses to C4

Zack is hampered after 3-b.....looks tricky.....asking for the proud carrots to be humbled......hits. Then plays a great roll to peel for his delayed double.

Mark makes h1 with a delayed tp ahead of him

Stephen reaches 4-b and Robbie takes the long lift..........rushes it to C4

Surprisingly, the English corner James's ball near 3-b to C2 instead of shooting at the ball at 4-b - perhaps it was hampered? Paddy has a 3y "cut-rush" to James's ball in C2.......misses. The two top Kiwis aee having a nightmare day.. James has a 5 yarder.....hits. Puts Edmunds ball 3y SW of 4-b, Paddy's ball 5y W of h1 and tries to rush to wired near C3. Plays the rush poorly and is looking at rolling 5y to wired position - rolling to C4 looks safer

Zack fails the penult peel before 4-b and now has a straight double. Peels penult 4 feet ESE of rover. Fails to rush anywhere near rover in front of rover and will be laying up rover + peg

Ian corners against Jeff. Jeff makes another leave, cross-wiring oppos at h4 and near h3 - it's a good leave.

Mark has a break and is making 1-b with partner at 2-b, no peels done.

James does well and gets mostly wired with a rush to 4-b near C3. Edmund takes half a ball at 11 yards...........hits. Felix and Edmund have been great this event. It's time for the others to join the party.

Zack makes an OSL. Mal lifts the Easterly ball and takes the short lift.......hits.

On lawn 10, it looks like Felix reached 4-b and Christian hit the lift and is taking his 4-b ball to the peg

Edmund makes penult and rushes back to the N boundary. Can he make rover and peg James out? Good take-off gets a rush to rover - or he could cross-wire at 4-b and join up near C1. Rushes to partner near C1 and is unlucky to run into the middle of it. Now needs a 3y take-off to get behind the ball he's cannonned to the boundary. He's short and will now be laying up for Paddy near C4

Mal has made h1 and should get going. Now has break.

Jeff has failed to get in front of h5 and has given up the innings.

Mark reaches peg and 4-b with a vertical spread.

Ian joins partner near C3

Jenny lifts the ball at penult and misses the long lift leaving a tricky finish for the 4-b ball.

Mal fails h4. Matt has a 4yarder at half a ball in h4 or Zack has an open 5 yarder. Matt takes his shot for the game.......hits.

Harry shoots at Paddy in C4......it gives an easy finish if he hits.....misses. Paddy really should finish a single peel from this - he can rush in front of rover after making 3-b

Meanwhile, in the distance, Dwayne has got a break, so Ben must have made an error.

Paddy makes 3-b, but without a rush - in fact he may be balled from hitting partner first - he doesn't want partner at penult. Manages to hit partner and sends it 2y E of rover.

Felix is still striding confidently around lawn 10.

Zack wins game 2 to equalise +23

Didn't see what happend on lawn 3, but Jamie appear to have made 4-b and penult and broken down at rover and Greg is in. It would be a big one to win from so far down

Paddy makes 4-b but hasn't good a good enough penult pioneer to justify going back and tidying up the peelee at rover. He does have the peg-out of James's ball to fall back on, but I'd really expected him to finish here.

Greg has not got going and has made a leave

Felix is still going

Dwayne is still going

Jeff and Tom have regained the innings

Paddy puts out a good deep ball and rushes partner to 2 andd a half feet at 15 degrees. Lots of options from here, including peeling after rover.

On lawn 6, I think Jamie has shot from h2 to h1 - that's the last shot I'd have taken. Jenny had a 4 ball break.

Paddy's peel looks a bit straighter than I suggested

Paddy and Edmund are both lining up the peel (Paddy's eyesight is getting worse - he's an old man now :-) ) Smooths through an irish peel.

Jenny has made h1 and no longer has a 4ball break. She's rolling up to h2 from 6y away. Plays it well and runs a 3 foot hoop, so she's got a 3-ball break.

Jeff has picked up a 3-ball break but is hampered after 1-b.......misses

Looks like Felix reached 4-b and Samir missed the lift.

Stephen has a 9 yard lift shoot at 2 balls SE of h2 - not a double.......hits

Paddy has a 10 foot peg-out........hits to take the first +5

Jenny has recovered the 4th ball and is going round.

Stephen finishes - +10 I think

Dwayne has a break which is on 4-b, possibly with 1 peel complete

Felix has failed penult leaving pen + 4-b v 4-b +peg. Samir failed 4-b with Aaron's ball, but Aaron only made 1 hoop and subsequently Felix has pegged out Christian. This is a catch-up because it's 100 yards away.

Aaron and Felix are laid up near C4 and Samir is near C2. We think it is penult + peg v 4-b and I've just been told that Aaron missed a 2 yarder earlier after 4-b.

The refs are on lawn 5, so it looks like Dwayne finished - he might even have had all the peel early??? Not sure

Jenny has reached 4-b but her ball in front of h4 for her NSL is poking out. Needs to avoid giving an extra ball in the background. Jamie lifts the ball at h2 and wanders down to A-baulk.........probably shooting at the partner in front of h4..........hits the hoop and stays a yard away. Chance for the NZ Captain to equalise.

Samir plays 10y N of C4.

Jenny & Greg take lunch

Felix makes a leave.

The Kiwis are getting back into this match.

Aaron rushes to 4y NE of penult, approaches to 4 foot straight, bounces out. Samir has a shot from near C4 at 2 ball at penult (not a double)............misses

The Kiwis are looking at rushing S of rover - the h2 wire must be pretty wide I would have thought. Will Samir have another open shot?

Felix has laid up near the S boundary and Samir has played mid E boundary. I think we'll be taking lunch now - unreasonable to expect a game to finish in 4 hours on a sunny day :-)

Quick recap of the Kiwi matches
Paddy and Edmund game up (well played Edmund!)
Greg and Jenny game down 1+4-b v rover and peg with Greg having all the balls after a missed lift
Felix and Aaron penult + peg v 4-b + box

Essick lays a narrower super than usual, but still wide-ish. Aussies lag another ball out 5y E of the supershot. Zack shoots gently at Matt from the end of A-baulk.....hits, picks up break

Zack misses 7 foot cut-rush to 2-b, giving Edward a 2 yarder for all the balls.

Game 2. James 9y N of C4. Paddy just S of C2. Harry misses partner from A-baulk. Edmund shot from A-Baulk........misses

Edward is already taking off from h4 to his h2 pioneer - that's just poor break hygiene. Ends up with a 3 yarder pointing S of the h2. Smashes through to the boundary - his h3 pioneer is 9 yards away from h3. Misses 4 yard return roquet after h2.

I've been quite gentle on the players so far - playing in the cold and wind is hard work and the first couple of days of the Mac are always nervous. They have less excuses today.

Matt misses a 13 yarder that gives Mal an 8 yarder or a 17 yarder at partner. Mal takes 8 yarder........middles it. Plays a stoppo approach to h1, gets 5 foot 25 degree hoop....clangs! Matt has a 4 yarder for a break...hits

James plays well to pick up the break with precision....nice to see a bit of quality.

I spoke too early, James doesn't get in front of h3 and retires to partner

Game 2 Stephen 9y N of C4, Jeff long Duffer, Ian misses partner from C3 to 1y W of C4. Tom hits Ian

Matt is setting up for a quintuple. I'm actually ok with this. The playing conditions aren't that tricky today and if he can get 2 or 3 peels, it will be very handy

Tom overapproaches h1, goes to C4 instead of joining up - that's wrong

Paddy shoots from h3 to h4...........hits

Matt fails the 2-b peel getting a rush to h4

Forster misses joining up......wouldn't it be nice were the Yanks were still joined up. Jeff plays to C2

Aaron has made penult and has an angled rover......the Kiiwis are looking at wired spots for Aaron's ball

Game 3. Robbie has the first break

Greg makes h2 off partner with both oppo balls at least 8yards from h3. A few good shots needed to get his tp started on time.

Paddy is making hard work of his break....runs h3 by inches and calls a ref.....looks like a forward rush to me.....copes

Samir has hit the ball at rover and has taken off to Aaron's ball that eventually played to C2. He now needs to roll off 4-b from C2.........poor stroke leaves Samir between h3 and C3. Felix id 2y SW of h1, so some cuddling opportunities

Matt is still going without any peels

Samir plays 8y W of the peg. The Kiwis could take a long time deciding what to do from here!!!

Greg didn't get the standard tp going and has just run h4 and will be setting up the delayed tp

Ian has managed to lose the innings without making any points. Tom is in play without a break

Aaron went back to C2 and Samir took abaout a 13 yarder at Felix SW of h1.......missed. Felix picks off Samir, croquets him towards C4 and joins Aaron near C2

Matt reaches peg with no peels and makes a horizontal spread. I liked the positively in the turn together with a willingness to give up. Recap Game 3 2-b + peg v 1+3

Mal lifts the ball at the peg and shoots from C3........misses. Zack has a long rush pointing at h5, so plenty of work to do

Morgan lifts the h2 ball after an NSL from Robbie and takes the short lift.......misses

Greg still has no peels and is sending partner to 2-b

Samir shoots from C4 and hits the ball in C2. Croquets a ball 2y SE of h2 and gets a rush pointing SE. Plays a good rush to 4y SW of 4-b. Approaches well and runs it off the boundary to get a rush. Should finish

Zack makes 2-b off partner and rushes back to the ball near the W boundary. Fails 3-b leaving an 8 yarder for Mal or a 14 yarder joining up for Edward. Surprisingly, Edward plays..........hits

Samir fails to get a rush to penult, but has a good pioneer at rover!! Approaching penult from 7y W.......rolls up.....slightly overhit......definitely runnable from where I am, but he's looking at taking wired position. I'm going to take the hoop on......and so is he.......it's off Aaron's ball........runs it well to just N of the peg and is open on his 4 yard return roquet.....hits.....big first game for the English from a lost position

Tom picks up a break and fails 1-b leaving Ian or Stephen a 7 yarder. Ian plays.....hits

Greg misapproaches 3-b on his 4 ball break....there aren't any good spots to run away to . The rover ball has a 6 yarder at partner at rover or a 9 yarder with the ball at rover in the background.....really ugly.

Samir wins +3

Bad 10 minutes for the Kiwis

Paddy reaches 4-b with a spread.

Ian is away with a laid sxpo :-)

More correction........Greg was just standing at 3-b looking hopelessly lost and was in fact in front of his hoop. He continues his break!!!

James lifts the ball at the peg to B-baulk and shoots at the oppos from near the end of baulk.......hits. He's for h3, so don't expect any peeling.

Dwayne makes h1 - can he have a two tp match?

Greg reaches the peg with a spread

G2 Samir 8y N of C4. Aaron just S of C2. Christian misses Samir from A-baulk. Felix takes the long double.......flicks the outside of the front ball.

Edward is going to the peg and intending to peg Matt out. That would leave 1+peg v 3-b

Ian has a break still.

Dwayne peels 4-b after h3

James reaches 4-b and is making a spread

Ian is on h6 and still has a 4ball break

Felix makes a leave

Jamie will be shooting, so they've left Mark's ball at the peg and lifted the other ball to B-Baulk. It's a horizontal spread....Jamie shoots from 5y W of C2, maybe at the in-lawn ballfor flatness......misses

Edward pegs out Matt in the decider. He's left his ball a foot E of C2 and Mal's ball 8y N of C1 to get h1 in the way of the approach to 3-b. I'm not a fan of this, because I want my ball near/in C2 and the peg ball in C1. Zack plays a thick take-off from C2 moving the ball 10yards E, hits Mal's ball and rolls to 3y straight position at 3-b........runs it off the N boundary an will have a 10 yarder at the peg ball........can't believe it has missed.

Edmund lifts his ball at h2 and takes the long lift.....hates it.

Aaron fails to approach h1 well enough and retires to partner. Christian shoots at partner in C4.....misses. Aaron has a 5 yarder for a good chance of a break.........hits

Jenny finishes to complete a big comeback and equalise +3

Harry makes h1 and has an angled h2......faults a jump shot and calls a ref followed by the opponents.

Edward takes a 23 yarder at Mal......hits. They could take either C1 or C4 here - depends what Mal fancies. They don't seem to be close to any wires

Aaron has once again failed to get position at h1 - they can't keep giving bonus shots away.

Edward rolls down towards C4

Aaron plays to C2 - that's 12 yards away from Felix. Samir takes a 16 yarder from h1 to partner......misses

Zack plays just S of C3. Mal leaves a rush to h1 that's probably wired near C1. Zack correctly moves to C4 (1 y W)

Felix corners - that's a bad loss of the innings

Mal makes h1 with a rush at C4........can he finish? Rushes into C4. Mal runs 2 with a good rush back towards C4 - this should finish from here, partner is 3 yards out of C4

Paddy has the innings and is making a leave for Edmund

Forster is in play with a 3 ball break

Ben is in play, so Dwyane's triple must have failed - looks like it may 4-b and penult v 1+break

I missed what happened with Mal, but he rushed close to partner and has now failed h3 and left Zack a 17 yarder with possibly a ball in teh background at his hoop. Zack shoots for the match.....misses. Mal has a 7 yard pick-up that could win or lose or a safer 10 yarder at partner that could possibly win.. Takes the 10 yarder.........good choice in my opinion.........hits quarter ball. Doe she dare leave it mid-lawn and approach h3 from the N boundary - I would.

James takes a 25 yarder at oppo near C4.......misses

Mal and Edward still thinking.... they have opted for the aggressive line of play. Takes off to Zack, hits and plays a stoppo approach.....overhit.....3foot 35 degree hoop with Zack 3 yards away from Edward........fails to the jaws. Zack has everything.

Ben has reached 4-b and is making a spread

Christian has made h1, but doesn't have a break

Game 3 Corner 2 opening with Jenny missing joined up oppos 4th turn. Mark has been sent in to pick up the break

Edmund is hampered after h1 and it looks trciky, but it's off partner

Robbie misses the long lift

Zack has made 4-b but without a rush and his penult pioneer is 3y SSE. Approaching penult with a 4 foot backward take-off..... 15 degree hoop....through with a rush....he's calling a ref but I think it's for court damage rather that any hampered stroke. Finishes +12 to put USA 1-0 ahead. Neutrals are happy

Edmund misses his hampered shot. Harry shoots at 24 yards at a double........hits

Forster is going round and partner is close to 4-b, possibly already peeled?

Mark doesn't get going and returns to partner

Harry fails hoop 2 again

Greg shoots at oppo......misses

Morgan fails h3

Christian has picked up a break

Robbie takes a 9 yarder......hits

Edmund shoots from h2 to h3.....hits

Jamie has picked up a break

Edmund plays some good strokes and has the chance of a standard tp. After h3, rushes peelee into the jaws!!

Forster reaches the peg with 1 peel with avery diagonal spread. Recap game up peg+penult v 1+1-b

Edmund manages to not peel Paddy from the jaws - it was a thin take-off to get a rush on the escape ball which he needs due to a dodgy h4 pioneer.

Tom (1-b) takes the short lift.......hits

Robbie looks like he's gone from penult to peg and is cross-wiring at Dwayne's hoop, 4-b

Jamie's break is still going.

Edmund rush-peels after h4

Ben and Stephen face a 35 yard last shot........Stephen shoots..........misses.

Christian has reached 4-b

Tom has gone to 2-b (at least that's where his clip is) and given up the innings again - it's bad tactics and poor play. Forster takesa 12 yarder at partner....misses

Edmund fails the penult peel after h6 - it still looks ok for a death roll, although his 2-b pioneer is 4y short

Jamie has reached 4-b with a spread. Not sure what lift was taken, but it was missed and Mark is now in with a break

Not sure what leave Christian made, but Felix seems to have hit it.

Edmund opts not to death-roll and plays a good croquet stroke. Makes 2-b with a rush N.

Jeff has a wide join with partner, possibly missing Ian??? Ian takes an 18 yarder at partner near C4.......misses

Tom now has a 12 yarder from C2 at Jeff....misses to S boundary near C1.

Dwayne finishes to equalise the Test at 1-1

Edmund's 4-b pioneer is peg high - that's a tough ball to peel to....maybe a straight double?? Fails to get a rush on it and will now need to make 4-b off peelee

Ian makes penult and is laying up for rover and peg v 1+2-b

Edmund rushes 3y short to 4-b from penult........approaches well and smashes it through. He won't be getting any more peels this turn, but the break is back under control

Samir has a break on lawn 10 - I don't know what happened.

Mark is just playing abreak to peg by the looks of things. Can the Kiwis come from from 2 breaks down again?

Jeff takes a 25 yard last shot......misses

Samir makes h3 by 4 yards and can't get the 4-b peel.

Edmund has reach peg with 1 peel. Recap Game up peg+penult v 2+4-b. Making a spread.

Ian rushes 4y past rover and has a backward take-off.......is a bit long.......fails rover

Tom shoots from C1 to rover.......hits. There's a good chance to make 2 hoops and crosswire oppo at h1 here.

It looks like Samir has misappoached h4. He's retired to C3. I'm really hoping for another 5 hours in this one.

Aaron takes a 10 yarder at partner.........hits. Fails to get a rush to h1, but picks up a break.

Tom has rolled over to h4 so it looks like he's cross-wiring at h4 instead of h1. It's further away from C2, but gives Jeff less. I want to give Jeff everything. The Aussies can justify cornering here.Jeez, he's not even cross-wiring now. He sends the oeg ball to h1 and the rover ball to 2y W of mid-E boundary. It's not good enough as a leave for my liking.

James lifts the ball at the peg (that's the forward ball!!!) and takes the long lift.....misses. Whilst his ball wouldn't rush to h2, I thought it definitely rushed to h3, so I'm a bit surprised. Paddy has to finish from penult to take the match.

Mark reaches peg with a spread and Jenny misses the last shot by 3 yards with a bevel.

Paddy has a short cut-rush to penult an d finishes 8 feet W. Approaches to 2 feet 10 degrees, fails hoop. Possibly wired from Harry???

Harry takes 7 yarder at peg ball.........hits. Ideally want to take off to partner in C4, roll it to h3 going to Paddy's ball just N of penult - tough but rewarding. Instead croquets the peg ball 4y W of h3 and goes screaming off the lawn N of partner. Paddy has an immediate 5 yarder or something slightly longer after running penult. Makes sure of the point and shoots at partner......hits in the middle which will make finishing trickier.

Jamie finishes +26 to take the England into a 1-0 lead.

Aaron has broken down, but appears to have an 8 yard guard with oppos at h3 and h4. Samir shoots from h4 to h3...........misses

Jeff is approaching h1 from 5y with balls ahead of him. Runs h1 by 10 yards and has a 7y return.......misses

Paddy fails rover. Harry has a 13 yarder at partner near C4 that would give a chance of a standard tp.

Harry turns down the 13 yarder (which may have left a double) and James takes it the other way (not joining up). Bottom bevels it, missing. Paddy will take a 22 yarder at partner joining up........can't believe it has missed. Which way will the English shoot this time????

Didn't see whether Aaron or Felix took the 8 yarder, but Samir now has a break.

Harry shoots at James......snicks. Takes off 8y short but has a double........hits, promoting a ball into C2 - not good when you are for h2.

Harry takes off the cliff in C3 and Paddy has yet another chance

Ok, slight change in commentator...
Paddy underhits his shot in the corner and doesn't have a rush to rover, Tries to cut it hard and he's now taking croquet in the middle of the west boundary.

Samir is on a break and... puts a ball to 1back and glues striker's ball to the peg. Hw now has a referee out and seems to be trying to run away to corner 1. There appear to be various 7 yarders available. Just off my own lawn, so it might take me a wee while to sort out where the various clips are.

Meanwhile Ian Dumergue has had another go at rushing to rover, and seems to have coped pretty well this time - Im expecting to see him peg out.

Paddy rolls partner down to level with hoop 1 on the west boundary, roquets red which is near corner 1 and is sending that towards hoop 4 for his leave. Yellow is still camped in corner 3

Lawn 10 and Felix has hit his 7-8 yarder. I think he looks like he's hoop 2. I think Aaron is about hoop 4, Samir is for 6, Christian is for 4back.
Rolls up to hoop 2... and it has gone too far. He'll be laying up at this hoop.

Referee on lawn 4 for a difficult hoop shot from Ian at rover - nothing exciting there - Ian runs rover - without a rush. He's going to have a go at the pegout from about 5 feet south of rover, sending striker's ball towards black which is around hoop 2. Misses the peg, and I expect him to peg one out leaving something very long.

Christian plays into corner 1. Can't see partner, but I think it coud be around corner 4.

Meanwhile, Paddy had laid up on the boundary next to hoop 1. England shoots into corner 3... misses. Paddy should finish from here.

looks like partner was near corner 1 also for Christian - Felix has rushed to hoop 3, and is taking off to that corner - presumably to two balls. Comes up a bit short, but yes, hits red. Yellow is in the corner. and he has a wee take off

Turns out paddy didn't have a rush to rover. Rushes 7 yards south of rover and plays a good takeoff to the other balls in corner 2

Up on lawn 4, Tom has missed his last shot. Stephen has a very short pegout to take the day 2-1 for Australia in the doubles. Hits the middle of the peg.

Paddy has organised a rush to rover - rushes 5 yards north and he's approaching the hoop. This is a chance for the kiwis to equalise.... very nice hoop approach, 2 foot straight hoop which he runs comfortably.

Hits red, wee takeoff to get a rush to the peg... overruns a bit and needs a cut...calls the ref on to watch out for a greivous

Cuts it nicely to leave a 3 yard pegout pointing towards corner 3. He'll have Edmund's younger eyes on to double-check this.

Hits! England 1, New Zealand 1

Up on lawn 10 we have the last match going with the kiwis seeking to equalise and force a decider. Felix has underapproached 3 with a defensive approach, and will be laying up.
Christian shooting fro hoop 4 back into corner 1... middles a nicely paced shot.

Christian needs to take off from corner 1 to corner 3. I expect we'll see the mallet on the ground here as he characteristically uses the shaft to line up the shot.

Yup, lays the mallet down - head across the line of the balls near him, and shaft pointing towards the target. Hits it firmly - it's a very good shot. Remember Christian is on 4back. Samir on 6. Aaron on about 4, and Felix on hoop 3.

It looks like Christian has decided to make some points - through 4back, unning penult with both blue and black together at the hoop. Not sure what's coming now, but red is still in corner 1 and there's a lift pending.

Hits black, is it going into the back of hoop 6? he's lying down to sort something out - very angled shot this. Taking a long time looking and they're up and chatting now

Greg coming back soon to sub.

decision made, eventually Christian croquets Black onto the back of penaul, rushes Blue peg high on West boundry and takes off to Red still in cnr 1

Rolls R&Y off on East boundary crn 4 area.

Aaron lifts his black from H6, takes the short lift from A baulk at red in cnr 4...misses

Samir gets a rush on back to 6,only reaching the peg and a couple of yards East. Rolls to 6, runs 1/12 yard hoop to the North boundary, rushes Black to 5 yeards north of h4 and takes off for a rush on yellow by H4. Rushes to Blue on West boundrary, and has a rush on Blue to 1b

Makes 1b, sends Black to between H4 and H5, rushes Yellow to cnr 2 area, sends to 3b pioneer position, getting a rush on Black to 2B. Makes 2b

Everything handy for a potential finish now

He'll be making 3b off partner, looking for a rush to Rover peeling position after

runs slightly past partner but rushed south of rover for an easy load and rush up the lawn to 4b pioneer

he's through 4b

partner in good position at Rover and a tight pioneer at penault

Samir's ball has taken a nasty turn to the right on his hoop approach to Penault, tries a jump and fails

Clip goes on Penault, Partner on Rover.

Felix strides on, takes the immediate rush to H3, makes it

He's rushed to 2 yards Wets of H4, taking off back to partner in the middle of the lawn. Takes off to Christian's yellow waiting at H5 for a rush to 4 but over hits

Rolls off H4 for a 2 ft hoop... runs it

Felix runs a slightly angled H6 and is in the balls now

Felix through 3b, setting a reverse spread with Red East boundary, Yellow at the peg.

Clips are Y for penault, R for rover, Arron's Blue for 4. Felix places his black clip on 4b

Clips are Y for penault, R for rover, Arron's Blue for 4. Felix places his black clip on 4b

Samir lifting his Red to B baulk, shooting the short lift at oppo, which look well infield beyond H2

Sorry, R is for Penault, Y is for Rover

Misses

Aaron's rush to H4 a bit short, has an angled 2ft hoop, fails the hoop of Christian's Yellow

Christian rouquet's Black, takes off to a southward Rover pioineer at Rover, rushes back and runs Rover

Christain sets a leave with Aaron's Black somewhere near corner 2, Felix's Blue a few yards north-

of hoop 1

with R&Y in corner 1 area wired from Blue

R&Y rush set towards corner 2 and Aaron's ball

Aaron shooting at R&Y, misses

Opportunity for Semir to finish for the match

approaches Penault from 1 yard West, runs the hoop past reception ball. Has partner 1 1/2 yards West of Rover

Hits reception back beyond Hoop 6, takes off to partner, no escape ball for Rover, grovells throuth Rover off partner. NZ will have another shot

Black is in cnr 1, Blue at hoop 2. Will there be one ball off here by the British?

No, Samir rushes partner to cnr 1

Gets a rush on Black to north boundary behind hoop 2

Rolls Black into corner 2, rushes Blue to corner 4 area

Rolls Blue up the East Boundary 12 years, returns to partner in corner 1

Felix shoots at R&Y.....slips past

Christian lining up a pegout from 4 yards West

nails it for the match. England wins the day 2-1 over NZ