Eights Week Conditions

Conditions for the President's Cup, Chairman's Salver, Spencer Ell Cup, Treasurer's Tankard, and Selectors' Weekend

1. Places will be allocated by the AC Selection Committee. Please indicate your availability in the members' section of the Croquet England website, or by mail to the Croquet England Office using the Availability form. Only leave a box unchecked if you do not wish to play in that event. The Selectors will not place you into a lower Eight because of your availability. You will not be considered if your availability is not known to the Selectors. Please refer to the Selection Policy and Procedure.

Conditions for the President's Cup, Chairman's Salver, Spencer Ell Cup, and Treasurer's Tankard

1. Selection: The above four events will be played for by, respectively, the first, second, third and fourth best eight players entering Eights Week.
2. Each competitor plays a single game against each of the other competitors in an event twice. If any competitor fails from any cause to play through the whole of the games in a series, Regulation F2(f) will apply. No substitute will be permitted in the first series after all of the first-round games have begun; substitutes will not be permitted in the second series in any circumstances.
3. Single games throughout, provided that in the event of a tie in the number of wins the possession of the trophy for the year will be decided by a play-off if time permits (AMD). For a 2-way tie, it will be a single game; in the event of a tie between three or more competitors, the names will be drawn at random and single games will be played in each round.
4. Competitors must make themselves available for all hours of play. Play will begin at 09.30 am daily unless competitors are notified to the contrary. Competitors must report to the Manager on arrival and no leave will be granted in any circumstances.
5. Time limits will not be imposed except as a last resort. Pegging-down will be considered, if practicable and made necessary.
6. Double-banking will not be used, except as an emergency contingency.
7. For the President's Cup and Chairman's Salver, it is expected that Quadway hoops will be used.
8. Once the overall winner of the event (and second place, if there is a prize) has been determined, any game in progress or yet to be started does not need to be played to a conclusion. The abandoning of a game requires the agreement of both players and the event manager.
9. The schedule of play is given below.

Conditions for the Selectors' Weekend

1. The Selectors' Weekend will be played for by 16 players. It should not be regarded as the "bottom Eight", but is intended to provide an opportunity for those who have not established a record sufficient for an Eights place to play amongst themselves and with stronger established players. Accordingly, players will normally be selected if they show some promise even though they may have few results.
2. Established players (who failed to get into an Eight) are selected to ensure the event achieves the desired competitive level.
3. If there is an insufficient entry, established players will be selected in merit order to make the entry up to 16.
4. It is proposed to use the same format as for 2023. This is four rounds of a Swiss competition, followed by a fifth round in which the 6 players on 2 wins are paired against each other. This means there are now 8 players on 3 or more wins, and these then play a three-round knockout to determine the winner. The Swiss continues so that everyone has the opportunity to play eight games over the weekend.

Schedule of Play for Eights

1. A draw is made allocating the letters A to H to the eight players. The left-hand letter is deemed to have won the toss.

Michael Town