GC Inter-Counties

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The victorious Somerset & Lincolnshire teams

The GC Inter-Counties was held over the weekend 17-18 August. Twenty counties took part. Division 1 (twelve counties) was at Sussex CCC, while Division 2 (eight counties) was at Cheltenham.

Division 1

Somerset won Division 1 of the GC Inter-County Championship at Sussex CCC on 17-18 August for the second time (previously in 2019), beating the favourites Nottinghamshire in an exciting, winner-takes-all final round. Both teams had dropped only one match before the final decisive round: Somerset had been beaten by Essex; and Notts had lost a close match to Yorkshire. In the final Somerset v Notts match, the game scores were (Somerset names first): Andy Loakes & Colin Britt beat Ian Burridge & Arthur Rowe 7-3; David Goacher lost to Rachel Gee 3-7; Dom Aarvold beat Will Gee 7-4.

Third place went to Essex with 8/11 wins. Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire took the bottom two places and will join Div 2 next year.

At the prizegiving, Sussex CCC and their team of helpers were warmly thanked for all their efforts before and during the event, and for their excellent hospitality.

Division 2

New boys and odds-on favourites Lincolnshire duly completed an undefeated 7-match masterclass to gain promotion to Division 1 along with worthy runners-up Oxfordshire. In a classic final match between both unbeaten teams, the title was finally decided by the closest 4 games to 3 margin in front of an appreciative crowd lining the Cheltenham clubhouse. Leicestershire took a well-deserved third place leaving clear daylight between the five remaining also-rans.

Many thanks to Cheltenham's grounds team who had prepared eight medium-to-fast courts with firm and unforgiving Ultra hoops, and to their team of caterers who went to great lengths to provide a BBQ lunch to order and a splendid afternoon tea.

Results

The detailed results for both Divisions can be found on Croquet Scores here:

Blocks: https://croquetscores.com/2024/gc/inter-county-championship-blocks

Matches: https://croquetscores.com/2024/gc/inter-county-championship-tests