This is the Club's premier summer AC event but unfortunately only attracted a very small entry so that it was not possible to run the three advertised class events. 12 players entered but due to Covid and a dental emergency we ended up with 10 players so the competition in one class only was played as a Swiss.
Both Tuesday and Wednesday had pleasant weather, albeit a little windy windy.
The Manager generally prefers a strict Swiss but some slow games in the first two rounds forced a change to a flexible Swiss and less than optimum pairings in the third round of the first day. That day saw split results with only James Tuttiett winning all three matches. The fourth round spelt a set-back to James as he lost to scratch player John Daniels, putting them both and Liz Farrow on 3/4 wins and 4 others snapping at their heels with 2/4 wins and one round to go.
On Wednesday afternoon, having been quickly trounced by Jon Diamond, I watched much of a lovely game between Liz Farrow and James Tuttiett (back playing with some fluency, he said, after some years in the doldrums), which James won with a well controlled TP.
Meanwhile on lawn 3 a very tense match was unfolding between David Marcus and John Daniels. David is known for his - shall we say deliberate - speed of play and this seemed to be getting to John part way through the match. They were neck and neck with 10 or so minutes to go but in the end John pulled ahead on time. David then hit a 30 yarder across the lawn for his final turn but was unable to get sufficiently in front of 4-back to start a final burst to the peg and so went down 22-19.
Congratulations to John Daniels.
The cup John is holding - the Abbey Challenge Cup - is one of the Club's oldest, having been used continuously for A level AC play at the Summer Tournament since 1927 (apart from the 1939-45). It has a few well-known names on it, including D D Steele and John Solomon. Not much is known about W H Abbey, except that he was a generous benefactor of the Club in its earlier years.
(Data from CroquetScores)
| All | Games | Wins | Results |
|---|---|---|---|
| John Daniels (0) | 5 | 4 | J.Isaacs +20,J.Low +2,L.Farrow -23,J.Tuttiett +1,D.Marcus +3 |
| James Tuttiett (1.5) | 5 | 4 | C.Daniel +3,D.Marcus +1,D.Marcus +7,J.Daniels -1,L.Farrow +14tp |
| Cliff Daniel (4.5) | 5 | 3 | J.Tuttiett -3,D.Marcus -3,D.Marcus +5,J.Low +17,J.Isaacs +13 |
| Jon Diamond (0) | 5 | 3 | D.Marcus -8,L.Farrow +13,J.Isaacs -18,D.Marcus +13,J.Low +24 |
| Liz Farrow (1.5) | 5 | 3 | P.Thompson +9,J.Diamond -13,J.Daniels +23,J.Isaacs +11,J.Tuttiett -14tp |
| David Marcus (2.5) | 5 | 2 | J.Diamond +8,J.Tuttiett -1,C.Daniel -5,P.Thompson +25,J.Daniels -3 |
| Jonathan Isaacs (2.5) | 5 | 2 | J.Daniels -20,P.Thompson +17,J.Diamond +18,L.Farrow -11,C.Daniel -13 |
| Peter Thompson (1.5) | 5 | 2 | L.Farrow -9,J.Isaacs -17,J.Low +19,D.Marcus -25,D.Marcus +8 |
| John Low (4.5) | 5 | 1 | D.Marcus +16,J.Daniels -2,P.Thompson -19,C.Daniel -17,J.Diamond -24 |
| Deborah Marcus (8) | 5 | 1 | J.Low -16,C.Daniel +3,J.Tuttiett -7,J.Diamond -13,P.Thompson -8 |
Finals Week will run from Monday 26th to Sunday October 2nd.
Graham Tucker
Congratulations to the winners of each block: Richard Brooks, David King, Simon Turner, Martin Daniels and Fiona Falls.
| A | RB | CH | LF | BA | CM | AH | AF | AS | Wins | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richard Brooks | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 1 | |
| Chris Heath | 4 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | |
| Liz Farrow | 4 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 2 | |
| Brian Aikens | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 7 | |
| Chrissie Merrington | 4 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 4 | |
| Andrea Huxley | 2 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 3 | |
| Andrew Fall | 3 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 6 | |
| Andrew Stewart | 5 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 8 |
| B | BH | SN | DK | DC | GT | SA | TN | AG | Wins | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beryl Hughes | 5 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 6 | |
| Sue Nicholas | 7 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 3 | |
| David King | 3 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 1 | |
| David Cook | 3 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 8 | |
| Gavin Taylor | 7 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 7 | |
| Simon Ancell | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 2 | |
| Tony Nicholas | 7 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 5 | |
| Alan Grundy | 7 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 4 |
| C | LG | RN | ST | DS | AN | GT | PG | VL | Wins | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linda Gavigan | 5 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 3 | ||
| Robert Nicholls | 3 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 6 | ||
| Simon Turner | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 1 | ||
| Douglas Shand | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 2 | ||
| Adam Newbould | 3 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 4 | ||
| Graham Tucker | 5 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 5 | |||
| Paul Green | 3 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 7 | |||
| Vincent L?Estrange | 3 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 5 |
| D | LA | RF | FA | KN | MD | KY | Wins | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Les Ardley | 7 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | |
| Rosemary Faulkner | 6 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 4 | |
| Francis Ainley | 6 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 2 | |
| Karen Newbould | 3 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 6 | |
| Martin Daniels | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 1 | |
| Konstantin Yudintsev | 7 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 5 |
| E | CA | FK | DC | FF | NB | VY | Wins | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Ardley | 7 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 3 | |
| Freda Knight | 6 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 4 | |
| David Comber | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 2 | |
| Fiona Fall | 7 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 1 | |
| Nigel Bathe | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 6 | |
| Victoria Yudintseva | 5 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 5 |
Thanks to Frances Low for managing the event.
The Sussex A team traveled to Surbiton on Wednesday 24th to play our final match of this year’s campaign.
In an effort to field a stronger team, Surbiton’s captain Gavin Taylor had made some changes from last year’s line-up. This included not playing himself and the return to the team of the very experienced Don Beck.
The Sussex players were:-
Richard Brooks -2 (capt.)
Morgan Case -2
Liz Farrow -1
Paul Castell -1
Surbiton’s team was:-
Don Beck -1
Andrew Wilson 0
Barry Holland 1
Martin Burger 3
Gavin Taylor (non playing capt.)
With a nine point handicap advantage we were considered to be the favourites, however what ensued was a very close match indeed.
On arrival we were rather taken aback by the state of the lawns. They must have suffered more than we did from the hot dry spell. Quite a lot of debris from a recent mowing was evident, particularly on lawn 2 where the doubles was played. It was also disappointing that their groundsman decided that he should remark the boundary lines whilst the match was in progress.
Now I’ll stop wingeing and get to the match itself. Morgan and I struggled to adjust to the conditions and lost the doubles 2-1. The singles were one apiece at lunch with Liz winning hers and Paul losing his, the score line being 2-0 in each.
Going into the afternoon session we needed to win three of the four remaining matches to gain a victory.
Conditions on lawn 2 were a little easier after the break, with the debris having by now been largely broken up and dispersed by the footfall of the players.
Morgan was first to finish, winning his singles against Andrew 2-0 and this was followed by Paul beating Martin 2-1.
Next to finish was myself and Don who I first played in a competitive match about fifteen years ago. It was the final of the SECF singles which was played annually at Compton. This competition is no longer in the calendar, replaced by the Southern Challenge, regrettably as far as I’m concerned. Don won on that occasion and also in this match 2-1 (I wonder if he remembers what happened to the claret jug?).
Now in their third game and unbeknown to Liz the the match result now hung on her tussle with Barry, which she won 2-1.
The final outcome was Sussex A beat Surbiton 4-3
I would like to thank my team who saved the day for me in this match and also to thank Bob Clark who played for us in earlier matches. We wish him a swift recovery from his broken arm.
I apologise for this rather lengthy report. If you’re still reading it I can assure you that it will be my last as a SECF team captain. After two seasons and eight consecutive wins I’ve decided it’s time to hand over to someone else. I had informed my team members of this halfway through the year so it will no surprise to them.
Richard Brooks
(The Webmaster would like to thank Richard for consistently providing match reports for the teams he has captained.)
Sussex played in division 1 of the Inter Counties held at Cheltenham on 20th/21st August.
This year the team was made up entirely of Sussex County members:-
Gabrielle Higgins -2
Liz Farrow -1
Morgan Case -2
Richard Brooks -2 (capt.)
In the past we have enjoyed home advantage in all but one occasion when demoted to Div. 2.
Fortunately we gained promotion straight away and we’re able to return to Southwick the following year.
This was the first of a two year stint for Div. 1 being held at the Cheltenham venue. It was reassuring that our team were able to prove that we can perform successfully away from home.
We finished mid table with six wins out of eleven matches which put us in sixth place overall.
I finish by congratulating my team and thanking them for their help and support over the weekend.
Richard Brooks
Sent from my iPad
Ready for the Presentation
Appreciative crowd after the Final
Speech by Patricia Duke-Cox, CA Vice-President
Aston Wade, winner of the Plate
Karim Ghamry won the Bowl
The Shield was won by Stuart M Smith
World Champion Matthew Essick receives the trophy from Ian Burridge, WCF President
and is congratulated by 2019 World Champion, Ben Rothman.
Winners and losing finalists with Ian Burrdge and Mike Town, Tournament Manager
The draws for the knockout stages of the Chairman's Cup, GC Handicap Singles, GC Improvers and the Presidents Cup are now on the website on their respective competition pages.
Please take note of the DEADLINES for each round. Apologies for the delay.
John Low
The players gathered at Sussex County ground at Southwick in Sussex for the GC Veterans Championship on 19th July with the weather forecasters predicting the highest temperatures in the UK ever. The entry had reduced to 20 from the maximum of 24 mainly due to the forecast high temperatures. However the rest of the competitors arrived at Southwick not knowing what the following three days would hold.
In the event the first day was the worst as far as temperatures were concerned. Being on the south coast they did not get up to the 40c seen in some parts of the country but they did reach a steamy 32c. The players had heeded all the warnings and were prepared with sunglasses, water bottles and sun cream to do battle against the elements and their opponents.
The lawns at Southwick were in excellent conditions as always having been well watered during the recent dry weather and plenty of iced drinks were available throughout the days. The programme also allowed them to take some fairly leisurely lunches.
Day 1 consisted of two blocks playing 6 rounds each with the remaining 3 rounds being completed the following morning. The top 4 from each block would go forward to the quarter finals. In the Red Block Don Beck was top with 8 wins followed by Richard Brooks and Helena Jansson on 6 wins each. The final place from this block was decided on net hoops and was taken by Andrew Fall. In the Blue Block Steve Leonard won all his nine games followed by Liz Farrow on 8 and Tony Butcher on 6. The last place was again decided on net hoops. It went to David Wise.
The quarter finals of the championship were played in the afternoon of Day 2 with matches consisting of best of three games. Temperatures had lowered a little making the conditions slightly more comfortable. There were some very close matches but the eventual semi-finalists were Don Beck to play Liz Farrow and Tony Butcher to play Steve Leonard. Day 2 also saw the start of the Plate for the remaining 12 players who took part in a cross-block with 6 rounds.
On Day 3 the semi-finals of the Championship were played first thing in the morning with the result that after three very close games all going to the 13th hoop, Liz Farrow beat Don Beck and with three games not quite as close Steve Leonard beat Tony Butcher. The losing quarter finalists played a knockout for the Shield with David Wise beating Helena Jansson and Richard Brooks beating Andrew Fall. The Plate competitors had also completed their cross-block.
So after lunch we were ready for the finals. In the Championship final Liz Farrow took the first game 7/6 but then lost the next two 2/7, 3/7, so Steve Leonard was our winner receiving the Alan Oldham Trophy from Croquet Association Vice-President Jonathan Isaacs. Richard Brooks beat David Wise to win the Shield and after a playoff Steiner Olsen from Norway beat Chris Sheen to take the Plate.
This year, for the first time, players over 75 could compete for the Brooks Vase which was to be presented to the player who gave the best performance in that age group. This year it went to Richard Brooks himself having reached the quarter finals.
Andrew Stewart
22nd July 2022
The Annual "Witches of Southwick v Hove Beach" match - played on the seafront, last night, with lots of Pimms and Food. The format was doubles - level play.
Southwick Team (in alphabetical order): Carl, Francis, Linda, Morgan, Munchie Mike (Capt), Pat, Sandra, Sue, & Trish.
The photo was taken at 8.30 pm with the match drawn at 4-4. Francis and Morgan gallantly volunteered to play a decider, in the fading light, before forty whooping spectactors all drinking up the last wine.
To the roar of the home supporters Graeme Kerr (for Hove Beach) hooped the 12th and led his team to glory - 7-5 - you've never seen such a "victory dance"!
Munchie Mike
A small AC 14pt competition was held today. It's a shame more AC players don't take part because the 14pt game is a great form for a day's event.
Six players from Sussex County, including newcomer David Dickins and two visitors from Medway and Rother Valley had 4 games over the day. Simon Fenn-Tye (who is one of Frances' Short Croquet students) won all his games and therefore the competition. No doubt his handicap will be coming down quickly.
Congratulations to Simon and thanks to all the players for supporting the competition.