After changing platforms, I realize I need to build up my links again in the right column. A site I find to be extremely useful is the Maui Croquet Club website. Tons of useful information and probably the best list of club links around.
And of course, the USCA website is a critical link. Normally, it has a good list of news in the lower section, though nothing new has popped up since mid-July.
Another summer is reaching it's final weeks, but I was able to put in a lot of work on the croquet fields. My little social backyard club here in Kansas City successfully implemented some golf croquet events that seemed to breathe new life into the summer tour. I've gotten a chance to play more six-wicket at the Kactus Creek Croquet Club up in Parkville, Missouri. I know now that's where I want to be -- the six wicket game.
Still, Kansas City is nine-wicket country and the September 25-27 USCA Nine-Wicket National Championship is now in the wheelhouse. I was eavesdropping on a discussion about consistency of rules between the nine-wicket game and six-wicket. I suppose that's all up for debate depending what the goal of nine-wicket game should be. I'd like to see more uniformity, but that is a post for another time.
It reminded me though that during the annual cutthroat nine-wicket that my backyard club holds, a veteran of that scene wanted to debate the out of bounds rule. In nine-wicket my interpretation has been that if the ball touches the line, it is out of bounds. We've always played it that way and I was surprised that this player wasn't aware of this. It of course differs from the six-wicket halfway rule, but I think makes sense for deeper grass of the nine-wicket game which often utilizes painted boundaries. Finding the true center of a painted line will always bring up debates.
This player argued though that it should be all the way out to match the all the way through the wicket rule. He lost the debate of course; however, I'd never really thought of it that way and frankly, I have to agree with his point. For simplicity, it seems that the OOB for nine-wicket and six-wicket should match the through the wicket rule. I suppose though that the nearly two inches of extra field could have profound effect on the six-wicket. Still, as I hop back and forth between the different games, I sure would love some consistency.
Dylan-Publisher / Croquet Network
I'm getting ready to embark on a four-day practice session of six-wicket up in Parkville, Missouri. This six-wicket video seemed appropriate. On top of that, I really liked the homemade deadness board.
After a little bit of jumping around, Croquet Network is back on blogger. The site just didn't merit the pay model over on squarespace. Expect posting to start flowing again soon.
Ben Rothman is the last American standing in the WCF World Championships in West Palm Beach, Florida. Today, he'll be taking on #2 Robert Fulford from England. The sixteen that remain:
Chris Clarke | England | #1
Robert Fulford | England | #2
Reg Bamford | South Africa | #4
Rutger Beijderwellen | Netherlands | #5
Stephen Mulliner | England | #6
Ian Lines | England | #9
David Maugham | England | #10
Stephen Forster | Australia | #11
John Gibbons | England | #12
Robert Fletcher | Australia | #13
Ed Duckworth | England | #19
Ben Rothman | United States | #20
James Death | England | #27
Leo McBride | Canada | #36
Bruce Fleming | Australia | #41
Chris Farthing | England | #59
| World Croquet 2009 -Block A | ||
| Players | Wins | Place |
| Duncan Dixon (NZ) | 3 | 1 |
| Ed Duckworth (ENG) | 3 | 2 |
| James Death (ENG) | 2 | 3 |
| Chris Clarke (ENG) | 2 | 4 |
| James Le Moignan (JER) | 2 | 5 |
| Ron Lloyd (USA) | 1 | 6 |
| Tim Murphy (AUS) | 1 | 7 |
| Johnny Osborn (USA) | 1 | 8 |
| Martin Murray (SCO) | 0 | 9 |
| Allan Morris (BEL) | 0 | 10 |
| World Croquet 2009 -Block B | ||
| Players | Wins | Place |
| Robert Fulford (ENG) | 3 | 1 |
| Jim Bast (USA) | 3 | 2 |
| Kevin Beard (AUS) | 3 | 3 |
| Jonathan Kirby (SCO) | 2 | 4 |
| David Openshaw (ENG) | 2 | 5 |
| Tony Le Moignan (JER) | 1 | 6 |
| Trevor Herin (USA) | 1 | 7 |
| Jerry Guest (ENG) | 0 | 8 |
| Evan Newell (IRE) | 0 | 9 |
| Koji Moriyama (JAP) | 0 | 10 |
| World Croquet 2009 -Block C | ||
| Players | Wins | Place |
| Stephen Mulliner (ENG) | 3 | 1 |
| Robert Fletcher (AUS) | 3 | 2 |
| Peter Trimmer (ENG) | 2 | 3 |
| Leo McBride (CAN) | 2 | 4 |
| David Walters (WALES) | 2 | 5 |
| Ken Bald (AUS) | 1 | 6 |
| Anthony Ritchie (NZ) | 1 | 7 |
| Charlie Gillmarten (USA) | 1 | 8 |
| Chris Farthing (ENG) | 0 | 9 |
| Peter Just (USA) | 0 | 10 |
| World Croquet 2009 -Block D | ||
| Players | Wins | Place |
| Mark Avery (ENG) | 3 | 1 |
| Paul Billings (USA) | 3 | 2 |
| Samir Patel (ENG) | 2 | 3 |
| Rutger Beijderwellen (NETH) | 2 | 4 |
| Phillip Drew (NZ) | 1 | 5 |
| Dick Knapp (USA) | 1 | 6 |
| Mark Prater (AUS) | 1 | 7 |
| Carole Jackson (SA) | 1 | 8 |
| Simon Watkins (AUS) | 1 | 9 |
| Jose Alvarez-Sala (SPAIN) | 0 | 10 |
| World Croquet 2009 -Block E | ||
| Players | Wins | Place |
| Jamie Burch (ENG) | 3 | 1 |
| Reg Bamford (SA) | 3 | 2 |
| Robert Lowe (NZ) | 2 | 3 |
| Danny Huneycutt (USA) | 2 | 4 |
| Malcolm Fletcher (AUS) | 2 | 5 |
| Rich Lamm (USA) | 2 | 6 |
| Brian Storey (ENG) | 1 | 7 |
| Ed Cunnigham (IRE) | 0 | 8 |
| James Hopgood (SCO) | 0 | 9 |
| Debbie Cornelius (ENG) | 0 | 10 |
| World Croquet 2009 -Block F | ||
| Players | Wins | Place |
| David Maugham (ENG) | 3 | 1 |
| David Bent (USA) | 2 | 2 |
| Colin Irwin (ENG) | 2 | 3 |
| Stephen Forster (AUS) | 2 | 4 |
| Roger Jenkins (ENG) | 2 | 5 |
| Bruce Fleming (AUS) | 2 | 6 |
| Ian Burridge (WALES) | 1 | 7 |
| Anton Varnas (SWE) | 1 | 8 |
| Bob Cherry (USA) | 0 | 9 |
| Kevin Wells (IOMAN) | 0 | 10 |
| World Croquet 2009 -Block G | ||
| Players | Wins | Place |
| Stuart Lawrence (USA) | 2 | 1 |
| Liz Fleming (AUS) | 2 | 2 |
| Ian Lines (ENG) | 2 | 3 |
| Brian Cumming (CAN) | 2 | 4 |
| Marcus Evans (ENG) | 2 | 5 |
| Damon Bidencope (USA) | 2 | 6 |
| Bruno Hess (GER) | 1 | 7 |
| Juan Ojeda (SPAIN) | 1 | 8 |
| Paul Bennett (USA) | 1 | 9 |
| Andrew Winn (ENG) | 0 | 10 |
| World Croquet 2009 -Block H | ||
| Players | Wins | Place |
| John Gibbons (ENG) | 3 | 1 |
| Aiken Hakes (NZ) | 3 | 2 |
| Keith Aiton (SCO) | 2 | 3 |
| Chris Patmore (ENG) | 2 | 4 |
| Greg Fletcher (AUS) | 2 | 5 |
| Doug Grimsley (USA) | 1 | 6 |
| Chris Williams (WALES) | 1 | 7 |
| Ben Rothman (USA) | 1 | 8 |
| Andres de Diego (SPAIN) | 0 | 9 |
| Paul Emmett (CAN) | 0 | 10 |
TOP FOUR ADVANCE TO KNOCKOUT FROM EACH BLOCK
Flickr CC / markymarko