[<<] [>>] by Chris Williams
27th May 2005 (Other News)

The ninety first Inter County Championship will be played over the forthcoming bank holiday weekend at Southwick and Compton. In the first division Cheshire, led by Colin Irwin, will be looking to retain the title they won so convincingly last year. Favourites for the second division must be Dorset, led by Pete Trimmer, who are looking much stronger this year, after last year's surprise relegation. Also featuring for the first time for a few years are three times winners Hampshire (though last in 1938!!)

Twenty one counties, plus a CA select side are playing in the event, and are split into two divisions of 11. The bottom three counties in the first division will be relegated and the top three counties in the second division will be promoted. This will be the ninth year where the counties are divided into 2 divisions and only Avon, Cheshire, Gloucester and Surrey have played in the first division in each year. Avon were relegated once, but survived after the Channel Islands dropped out.

Each match consists of three advanced level doubles games, with the pairs being placed into combined handicap order.

Three trophies are up for grabs - both division winners, and a wooden spoon for the bottom county in the second division. A new replacement wooden spoon has been donated this year by John Solomon, to replace the old one, which disappeared three or four years ago.

(Almost) full historic results can be found at www.croquetrecords.com/records/intercounties.htm

The team lists as provided in the last week are

(C) denotes Captain

Division 1

Avon

Ray Ransom(C), David Goacher, Ed Duckworth, Roger Jenkins, Alex Leggate, Roger Tribe, Marcus Evans, Frances Ransom

Cheshire

Colin Irwin(C), David Maugham, Ian Lines, Brian Storey, Ken Cooper, Lawrence Whittaker

Essex

Michael Heap(C), Robert Fulford, Gerard Healy, Jack Wicks, Guy Willard, Paul Stephenson, Colin Hemming

Glamorgan

Chris Williams (C), Ian Burridge, John Evans, Garry McElwain, Kevin Ham, Chris Tuthill, Sue Mackay

Gloucester

David Foulser (C), Dave Kibble, Paul Smith, Louise Bradforth, David Magee, Craig Edwards

Hertfordshire

John Gibbons(C), Duncan Hector, David Lilly, Richard Smith, Sam Symonds, David Tutt, Ian Mantle

Lancashire

James Hawkins(C), David Openshaw, Dave Nick, Bob Burnett, Ailsa Lines, David Barrett, Alan Pidcock

Nottinghamshire

Richard White(C), Keith Aiton, Dean Bennison, James Death, Gordon Hopewell, Patrick Hort, Beatrice McGlen

Suffolk

Steve Comish(C), Mark Avery, Lewis Palmer, Michael Percival, Peter Allnut, Martin Leach

Surrey

Ian Bond, Jamie Burch, Jeff Dawson, Tony Mrozinski, Stephen Mulliner, George Noble, Samir Patel, Chris Patmore, Tim Wilkins

Yorkshire

John Davis(C), Rod Ashwell, Andy Davies, Edward Dymock, Peter Thompson, Charles Waterfield

Division 2

Bedford

Howard Bottomley(C), Jon Watson, Ben Ashwell, Jon Wheeler, George Collin, John Bevington, Brian Harral, Tom Anderson

Berkshire

Joe King(C), John McMordie, Bob Stephens, Bob Harris, Gina Lewis, Martin Burger

Devon

Cliff Jones(C), Brian Smith, John Toye, Jonathan Coombs, Alan Newman

Dorset

Peter Trimmer(C), David Harrison-Wood, Chris Daniels, Tom Weston, Strat Liddiard, William Ormerod, Dave Trimmer

Hampshire

Brian Fisk(C), James Tuttiet, Dave G Nicholson, Graham Gale, Michael Town, Julie Hudson, Paul Salisbury (Guest)

Kent

Ian Price, Dennis Shaw, Peter Nash, David Collins, Dave Mundy, Paul Miles, Robert Alexander, John Hobbs

Middlesex

Phil Cordingley(C), Nick Parish, Nelson Morrow, Tom Coles, Peter Quinn, Nigel Polhill, Graham Brightwell, Gabrielle Higgins, Mike Huxley

Norfolk

Jonathan Toye(C), Nick Harris, Neil Chalmers, Ian Thompson, Bryan Saddington, Jeff Race

Sussex

Roger Wood(C), Bill Arliss, Rutger Beijderwellen, Paul Castell, Alan Cottle, Jack Davies, David Hopkins, John Low, Ian Vincent

Warwickshire

Andrew Gregory(C), Sam Tudor, David Arthur, Martin Granger-Brown, Henry Fellows, Bill Sidebottom, Paul Swaffield

CA Select

Alan Linton(C), Matthew Burrow, Sarah Burrow, Eugene Chang, Chris Irwin, David Mooney, David Price, Frances Low