Bath continue their Short Croquet success

On a gloriously warm and sunny June Sunday, cooled by a brisk breeze, Bath’s Short Croquet team welcomed a team from Lym Valley, who had travelled over from the Lyme Regis area in Dorset. The visitors have a very small club to draw on when selecting their teams and, unusually, they play only AC at the moment, though this may change soon apparently. They are a very cheerful and friendly bunch and obviously enjoyed playing on Bath’s quite fast lawns, though it did take a while for them to get used to their speed.

Bath fielded a relatively less experienced team than hitherto, preferring to give our higher handicappers a chance this time, and they certainly did us proud! They included Alex Hudson, now SC3, who isn’t often available to play but hasn’t yet lost a competitive game, and rapid improver Neil Pinker whose handicap has very recently been brought down to AC12 (SC4). Both played with great panache, with Alex maintaining his unbeaten record and Neil winning three out of four of his games. Alex in particular impressed with his determination not to lose. Against Lym Valley’s strongest player he found himself with his back ball still on H1 when the timer went off, with no bisques left. Undaunted, he played a perfectly constructed six-hoop break to Peg! His SC handicap has now fallen to 2.5.

Tony Jackson (SC6), played very well too, with a particularly fine 14:2 win over Lym Valley’s captain, and Sue Duncan (SC9) continues to improve with every match she plays. Both won three out of their four games as well, giving us a final score of 13:3.

Bath is currently at the top of the Short Croquet (Restricted) League table. Our next Short Croquet fixture is a return match against Winterborne Valley at home on Sunday 3rd July.