Good morning from the National Croquet Center.

I'm hoping I've finished with audio commentary.

So back to my traditional text.

Perhaps you can follow Reg v Logan on livestream while keeping your eye on this?

Two key differences between audio and text.

I can talk faster than I can type.

I can read what I write before I hit send.

We're off.

G1T1 Avery black east boundary
T2 Fletcher red duffer 2' E of 6.
T3 Avery misses partner from A-baulk

T4 Fletcher yellow misses red to s bdry.

T5 Avery black rushes blue northward.
Blue to 2.
Rushes red to s bdry 5y w of yellow
Take off falls off lawn.

Fletcher has easy pick up.

Done my usual "research".

Apart from an odd game, Avery and Fletcher have had 2 significant matches.

2013 Fletcher beat Avery 3-0 on the way to winning the World Championship without dropping a game (23-0).
A feat that will surely never be equalled.

2023 Avery beat Fletcher 3-2 Open semifinal St Nottingham.

T6 Fletcher has 4-ball break.

Joel Taylor has been in touch.

You have probably already spotted this [I hadn't] but just in case: the semi finals of the worlds are almost the same as the 2024 open at Nottingham. This year we have Logan instead of James v Reg. The other semi is still Fletcher v Avery.

Avery won that year with three 5-game wins in a row.

T6 Fletcher yellow has made nine.

NSL.

Sorry I neglected to correct Joel's minor error.
The year was 2023.

T7 Avery lifts black from hoop 2 to A-baulk.

Hits red!

Fletcher had laid up more north than usual, so the short shot was longer than the long shot, I think. Maybe he'd left a target?

Avery's rush to 1 is overhit. Maybe 3y WNW of 1.
Take off approach.
Runs hoop.
5 yard return roquet.
Hits.
The pioneer at 2 should be adequate.

Excellent croquet stroke from the south boundary and Avery has all the balls.

He's making 2 off yellow (the 4-back ball) so the tpo is unlikely.

Yellow is sent to 4.
4-ball break.
Does Avery do POPs?

I've just checked that the livestream is covering Logan and Reg.
I see they've got scoreboards for both semis.
I struggled to keep one up to date!

I have an expert join me.
He too would be surprised to see Avery POP.

Slight hiccup for Avery as he's rushed a ball into 2. It should not endanger the break but he may have to rethink the leave.
Ref is on, just a courtesy.
Avery makes 1-back.

Debbie has beaten Gabrielle 22-21(t) 22-21(t).
"Embarrassing."
Debbie now has a Plate semi with Sherif.

Clips: Fletcher Red 1 Yellow 4-back
Avery Blue 4-back Black 1

Leave
Yellow 2' SE of 2
Red NSL ball at 4.
Black 12y N of 4th corner with rush westward.

T8 Fletcher lifts red to A-baulk.
Hits black.

Yellow is of course 2' SW of 2.

Fletcher overhit rush to 1.
On or near s bdry.
Rolls up nicely.
Thru and has a standard TP ahead.
Or should I say on-time?

I don't know if the end of Zack Watson v Stephen Forster has been bruited to the croquetverse yet.
It is one of the worst cases of brain failure I have seen on a croquet court.
Let me set the scene.
Second round of the knockout, game 5.
Forster fails to finish a tp (I think), pegs one ball out.
Watson's clips are 1 and 4-back.
Watson plays an all round 3-ball break, makes a good lift leave, forster wired from the peg, laying up near the west boundary.
Except of course there is no lift.
We've all done that sort of thing.
Later....

Fletcher jawses the 4-back peel after 3, rushes it thru before 5. Plays a roll hoping that peelee hits hoop 6. It does not, but it's fine.

...
After a few turns:
Forster (peg and box) is 2y S of 2. He is responsible for the ball.
Watson is for rover and peg.
Watson runs rover with partner near the end of A-baulk.
Hoop and roquet.
What do you do here?

Fletcher red has peeled yellow thru penult after 6.

Back to Watson.
I'm imagining most of you would be rolling a few yards east, ideally wired from Blue by hoop 5, but at worst leaving a rush to the peg conceding a 30 yard single ball target.

This is not what Watson did.

Before 3-back Fletcher red tries to peel yellow thru rover. Not through, it's in front of the hoop, maybe just in the jaws?

From the end of A-baulk, Watson rolled the croqueted ball 7y east of peg and pegs his other ball out.
Crazy, no?
I mean even if Forster had missed, even a good shot like Watson might have missed a 7-yarder at the peg under pressure.

Forster aimed at the ball, hit (hilled on, allegedly), finished.

Fletcher wins game 1 +17tp.

The match is best of 5.

Not the usual glorious sunshine today, somewhat overcast.

G2T1 Fletcher blue east bdry, maybe 12y N of 4th corner.
T2 Avery Yellow to B-baulk.
Just south of 2nd corner (9"?)

T3 Fletcher black shoots at blue from A-baulk but not end of A-baulk. I guess hoop 4 must be in play.
Misses.

T4 Avery red makes target from B-baulk.
Misses to the right of black and blue.
Red is 3y S of blue.

T5 Fletcher black rushes blue just N of red.
Rushes red to a few feet past hoop 1.
Makes 1, has 3y rush pointing eastward (roughly).

T5 After 1, black rushes red near 4th corner.
Red is sent to the vicinity of hoop 3, black is just shy of the perfect posi.
Excellent cut rush threads between 6 and 2 to 4' east of 2nd corner.

The hoop 3 pioneer is 3y ESE of hoop.
Fletcher black runs hoop 2 to the boundary.
Rushes yellow back to the west boundary.
(He could have had a 6-yarder at blue but why take the risk?)

T5 Fletcher black rushes blue near 3rd corner.
Good croquet stroke and he has 3-ball break with the fourth ball already a few yards in from 2nd corner.

T5 After 3 Fletcher rushes NW.
The rush on yellow ain't great, but it's good enough.
Ooh, slightly angled hoop 4.
Runs it to the boundary.
You don't want to go gently with these hoops.
Hits return 5-yarder.

Hang on, what's happened here.
Must have hit the peg in the croquet stroke.
Fletcher has an 8-yarder...

...nails it.

Not quite under full control yet.

But that's a good stroke and it will be a clip on 4-back shortly.

I think I can trust the world #1 not to break down while I get a coffee.

I don't think I've mentioned that this is on court 7.

Tomorrow's final will be on a court that does not yet exist.

It will be in the centre of courts 6 and 7, but rotated through 90°.

I think this idea was first deployed at the 2008 Worlds in Christchurch, NZ.

T5 Fletcher has made 9.
(All other clips on 1.)

Leave:
Yellow 7y S of 2nd corner, close to if not on the boundary.
Red is the NSL ball, looks like it's in the right place.
Blue has rush on black to yellow, maybe 13y N of 4th corner.

T6 Avery lifts Yellow to A-baulk.

Misses.

Looking at where Avery has replaced yellow, blue was maybe a foot in-lawn.
I did notice that after 3-back Fletcher first roqueted partner, as that was the only way he could get red onto the correct spot.

T7 Fletcher blue has 7 or 8' rush of red to 1.
Good length, maybe 3y south of hoop?
Through hoop, should be able to organise the first peel of the TP after 3.

Just noticed I'm down to 33% battery on my phone, and I've left my charger at the house. Might have to cadge another device from someone, though Fletcher might finish the match beforehand at the current rate.

T7 Fletcher blue peels black thru 4-back after 3.
I'm surprised that went through, it was angled but Fletcher was able to play a straight croquet stroke.

And now let me mention our generous sponsors.
Wait, I don't have to do that anymore.

The other morning I was commentating with Chris Clarke. After an hour or so someone finished a turn and the excellent videographer Armando told us that there will now be a commercial. We were not forewarned.

So an ad for IDo livestreaming appeared on our monitor, various shots of sports arenas were shown, but we in the booth heard no sound. So Chris and I thought we'd better say something. "Do you recognise that baseball stadium?" "Ooh look, surfing." That sort of thing. Afterwards Armando patiently explained that there was audio on the commercial, we didn't need to comment.

Meanwhile, I think Fletcher has done all 3 peels before 3-back. After 3-back he rushes peelee into hoop 5, so an awkward take off.
Now approaching 4-back from 10' east.
Pretty good.
Runs hoop to boundary.

I don't currently have an expert beside me to keep an eye on Fletcher while I type.

Fletcher must have been about 90% to finish once Avery had missed the lift.
Certainly once he'd made hoop 1.

Fletcher wins game 2 +26tp.

Fletcher leads 2-0 (best of 5).

Tournament Director Michael Albert is just checking the hoops between games.
He and his team are doing an excellent job.
Besides his many duties Michael is often here at 630 am fettling the hoops.

I should also praise Tournament Manager Jeff Soo. He appears so calm, even when Block D was heading for a 3-way tie, to be resolved starting Tuesday 4pm. Or when the second round match between Avery and Johnston had to be pegged down with just 3.5 out of 5 games done. He even joined me in commentary one morning. "Don't you have things to do Jeff?" "All under control" was his mild response.

Game 3 yet to get underway.

It's not an early lunch, just a ten minute break.

Not just Michael and Jeff we have to thank.
This morning Michael introduced the ground staff. Sorry i dont have their names to hand. They are here at 4am, cutting and rolling, sometimes doubly.

Jeff's wife Eileen managed and refereed at the satellite venue. (The Beach Club in Palm Beach)

Then the caterers, the bar staff, the referees...
I'm sure I've forgotten someone...

To illustrate the long hours these volunteers work, one day the Manager sent a message to all players just after 6am, then another just before 11pm.

To get to Palm Beach from West Palm Beach one has to cross a waterway which rather large yachts ply along. So the bridges are in fact drawbridges.
Jeff considerately gave the schedule for the drawbridge raising so players could judge which bridge to use.

G3T1 Avery red supershot. 2y NW of 5.
T2 Fletcher max distance E bdry.
T3 Avery misses from A-baulk.
T4 Fletcher makes double from B-baulk.
Hits.

T4 Fletcher doesn't get good posi for rush of red to 1. Rolls up from S bdry. Angled hoop. Clubs it through. 5-yard return roquet. Hit to S bdry.

T4 Fletcher big roll after 1. Red is within a yard of hoop 3. Good take-off to hoop 2 pioneer, which is 5y E of 2.
Runs hoop cleanly to boundary.
Clip will be on 4-back in 15 minutes.

I've just been reminded that in 2013 when Robert Fletcher became World Champion he was slow. The final finished 3-0 at 6pm.

I'm pleased to report he has speeded up, plays at a good steady pace.

T4 Fletcher has reached 1-back in full control.

As on game 2, instead of leaving a ball just SW of 2, Fletcher prefers to croquet it near the west boundary.

T4 Fletcher has made nine.

Again Fletcher roquets partner first after 3-back.
Not sure exactly where yellow is. It appears to be in position to go through 4 from an inch in front. Good last stroke yields blue a rush to red.

T5 Avery lifts red to A-baulk.

Hits Blue!

Clearly the exact position of yellow is key but I cannot run 30 yards to have a look.

From the south boundary Avery croquets black near 2 getting rush on yellow, which must be rushable to 1.
Good rush, he's away.

TPO??

Black (for 4-back) is the hoop 2 pioneer.

In running 2, Avery red roquets Black.
Black is sent 6y shy of 4. (Poor shot.)

T5 Avery has 4-ball break.

I think the only error so far is Avery's takeoff going off the lawn at the start of the match.
I guess that may be the lawn's fault.

• may have been*

T5 After 1-back Avery leaves Blue 6" SW of 2.

For the third consecutive time, the first ball to be roqueted after 3-back is partner.

Clips:
Fletcher Blue 1 Black 4-back
Avery Red 4-back Yellow 1

The yellow ball is a yard or more in from the east boundary.
So, Avery's last shot is a scatter, leaving a rush pointing somewhere near the end of B-baulk.

T6 Fletcher lifts Blue to B-baulk.
Tries to find a target but hoop 3 is in play.
Moves one of the clips on 4-back to the other stanchion.
You'd have to think if he hits then he'll finish the match...

T6 Fletcher misses!

Didn't look too close.

T7 Avery Yellow is about to play the key croquet stroke from 4th corner getting a rush on the black (at 4) to 1.
Good stroke!

Now it is Avery who has an on-time triple on his mallet.
(Sorry if that's an incorrect use of the American idiom.)

T7 Avery Yellow has run 3 and roqueted Red. He decides he needs a rush on the escape ball so has to allow for pull.
Red has not gone through but it appears to be in the middle of the hoop.

T7 After 4 Avery has a perfect backward rush.
Red is rush peeled.
Unlike Fletcher Avery elects to play a takeoff rather than a roll.
Avery makes 5 with a forward rush.

T7 Avery does not achieve position for the penult peel after 6.

T7 Avery essays a death roll, peeling partner going to a pretty good 2-back pioneer.
Lot of time lining this up...

.... peelee goes through penult, ending up near the peg.
Yellow is good on blue, maybe 3y away.
Yellow makes 2-back.

T7 Avery has a chance for the rover peel before 3-back.

Almost all players attest that the trickiest feature of these (presumably new) Invictus balls is the amount of pull you get.

Avery misjudged the pull here and red bounces off 2' east of rover.

Avery needs to arrange a straight rover peel to finish.

I've been trying to add "strop" to the croquet lexicon: STraight ROver Peel.

It is yet to gain universal acceptance.

T7 Avery slightly overhits his diddy rush to rover so the peel is a bit angled.
No problem.

Mark Avery wins game 3 +17tp

Robert Fletcher leads 2-1 (best of 5).

Lunch.

Mark Avery was the runner up in the first World Championship in 1989.
Since then he has never reached the semis.

G4T1 Fletcher blue east boundary

T2 Avery Yellow 6" S of 2nd corner.

T3 Fletcher Black at Blue from A-baulk.
Hits, cutting it north almost to peg high.

T3 Fletcher Black takes off to about 3y shy of yellow.
Hits yellow.
Pass roll sends yellow 9y south.
Black looked close to hoop 6, it finishes 7y from east boundary.
Fires off behind blue, has a one yard rush toward yellow

T4 Avery red at Black from A-baulk.

Hits!

T4 good rush to 1 by Avery.

Through 1, 4-ball break.

Avery is the man when it comes to a record hiatus between victories.
He won the Open Championship in 1989 and 2023.

So Avery has been in the top few in the country for a long time. There have been spells where he's just been good, not very good.
There was an especially shocking result at the 1997 opens.

To put the record straight, I have played 28 games v Mark, and won just those two.

Now the other semi has finished, this match is now being livestreamed.
Which is just as well, as my battery is down to 11%.

T4 Avery has reached 2-back.

The black ball has been left a foot or so SW of 2.

T4 Avery red has made 9.

Sorry just wandered off for a bit and something odd has happened.
Again Red roqueted yellow after 3-back.
Avery then decided to go to black.
Even the best expert there is knows not why.
Anyway, black is now 5y W of 2.

T5 Fletcher lifts Blue from by 4 to B-baulk.

Misses into 4th corner.

T6 Avery Yellow rushes red to black, black 3y beyond 1, makes 1 with no useful rush.

Avery approaches 2 from quite close.
Angled hoop.
Failed!

T7 Fletcher black at Red (11y).

Misses!

T8 Avery Yellow runs 2 to the boundary.
Hits black (6y).

T8 Avery Yellow stops black toward 4, it's maybe 4y SE of the peg.
Makes 3.
Rushes to 4.
Blue ball still in 4th corner.

T8 After 4 Avery Yellow rushes black into 4th corner for a cannon.

T8 Avery Yellow is making 5 off red.
If he can get rush he might just get his 4-back peel.
Grovels thru hoop 5.

The ref is on.
This is not easy.
The hoop is banged down so that the carrots are not proud.
He's looking at a less hampered 15-yarder.
Now back to the sweep.
Gets it.
Phew!

Down to 5% battery but Samir has a power bank.

T8 Avery yellow has made 6.
Red had been sent 1' NNE of 4-back, not ideal.
Good little cut rush and he can have a go at the 4-back peel going to the 1-back pioneer.
Peel fails. A whole ball of pull, according to my runner.

Poor croquet stroke after 1-back.
Has to approach 2-back from 4 or 5y.
Angled hoop, copes.
Straight Triple Peel??

T8 Avery Yellow is coming to 4-back.
Red is inches to the east of 4-back.

The balls are perfect for an STP.

Red and yellow are through 4-back.

Avery Yellow roquets blue.
My experts don't like the bombard here.

Avery decides to abandon the attempt to finish this turn.

Clips:
Fletcher 1 and 1.
Avery red penult yellow peg.

T8 After rover, Avery Yellow rushes red off east boundary. Back to black and blue near the peg.
Leaves blue 6" east of peg.
Rushes black off west boundary.
Take off back to red.
Leaves rush into lawn.

T9 Fletcher lifts Blue to A-baulk.
Shooting at Black (20y)...

...misses.

Blue comes on 2 or 3y S of 2nd corner.

T10 Avery red rushes yellow 2y east of 2nd corner.
Red rushes blue within a yard of black.
Good rush to 4 or 5' N of penult.
Runs penult beyond peg.
3y return rush just evades hoop 2.

Avery plays excellent rush to rover.

Yellow is 9y W of peg.

Avery Red rushes blue off a few yards from yellow.

Mark Avery wins game 4 +26.

Avery has come from two games down to force the decider

A passing expert who's not averse to a gamble offers 1.6 on Reg for the title.
It has to be explained to me what that means.
He thinks Reg is favourite.
I respectfully disagree.
If Fletcher wins I make him favourite.
If Avery wins I'd call it 50-50.
I'm not going to back my judgment with any money, mind.

G5T1 Avery black east boundary.
T2 Fletcher yellow just S of 2nd corner.
T3 Avery blue hits black from A-baulk.
Takes off to within yardline area.
Rolls yellow 3y WNW of peg.
Fires off behind black.

T4 Fletcher red from by 3rd corner at Blue.
Misses to the right.
Comes on just W of 4th corner.

T5 Avery blue is not ideal for his rush to 1.
Good cut gets him 3y NNW of hoop.
Backward take off.
Through 1, to take the lead in the match for the first time!
He's approaching 2 with a 3-ball break.

T5 After 4 Avery red rushes black near blue.
Stops black back near 4, turns round to hit blue.
Croquet stroke ends up such that he can fortunately hit the pioneer with his backswing thru hoop 5.

T5 Avery has 4-ball break.

Sorry slight error in my description of G5T3
Apparently Avery's takeoff to the ball near 2nd corner just tickled the ball.
We think Avery's ball would have stayed in the court without the nibble.

As Avery took a while to get control, he has not left a ball behind near 2.
All four balls are assembling at 3-back.
Avery blue runs 3-back roqueting red in the stroke.
Thoughts of NSL are dismissed.
Red is croqueted 2' SE of peg.
Black is rushed off 2y N of 4th corner.
Yellow is rushed off W bdry level with 2.
Blue takes off toward Black, finishing near 4.
Blue lags toward Black leaving rush pointing near the end of B-baulk.

T6 Fletcher lifts Red to A-baulk.

Misses Red (13y).

Could be his last shot.

T7 Avery black taps blue, not great rush on red leaves him 7y E of yellow.
Good take-off, OK rush, good enough approach and Avery is thru 1.

T7 After 1 Avery black rushes yellow off south boundary behind 4. Good shot.

Standard triple required to reach the World Championship final.

My experts are querulous about the position of Avery's escape ball but it's fine.

Avery black peels Blue thru 4-back after 3.

After 4 Avery black rushes red back near 3rd corner.
Touch wood but it's going swimmingly so far.

Intake of breath from an expert as the 1-back pioneer goes a yard or two deep.
Maybe 3y N of 1-back.
Avery Black peels Blue just thru penult.
You'd rather have it in the jaws.

Avery is at the end of B-baulk and overhits the croquet stroke.
Red goes a couple of yards past 2-back, black doesn't get a rush on yellow at 1-back.

Avery makes 1-back, croquets yellow to 3-back.
Black rushes blue westward.
I'd be taking off here but Avery plays an excellent roll to get a rush on red to 2-back.

Blue is 3y SSE of rover.

After 2-back, Avery black croquets red to 4-back. He's unable to get rover peel before 3-back but has a chance of it afterwards.
Gets the rush over, but fails to get good posi for the peel. Has an optimistic attempt, which at least hits the hoop.

T7 Avery black is taking off from blue in front of rover to yellow which is 5' W of penult.
Good take-off.

Avery black has to negotiate a straight rover peel of blue thru rover to win the match.

Yellow is the deep ball.
Red is the side ball.
Blue is 10" north of rover.

Irish peel goes well.
Is it too good?!
No blue stops a couple of yards in lawn.

Mark Avery wins game 5 +26tp.

Great comeback.

Just a reminder for those in the UK.
Your clocks go back tonight.
But not here in the USA.
So tune in to the livestream at 2:30 your time.
Or possibly 12:30, I have trouble with these calculations.

Cheers for now,
Andrew