Game reports by Phil Cordingley
GB shades first round of doubles 2-1 on first day of Test against Australia. Both teams entered the Test having beaten their opponents 15-6 in the previous round, Australia upsetting the form books with their win over New Zealand.. So this could well be the critical test of the series with, in some scenarios, the winners not needing to win their final test to clinch the Shield. Before the start, the British view was that a good start, if not completely crucial, would certainly make life a lot easier.
The teams had woken to continuing torrential overnight rain, and arrived at the NCC to witness lawns under an inch or two of water. The British team retired variously to the bridge table and array of computer's available at NCC, until around 10 the rain eased and by 11 the lawns had miraculously drained to become comprehensively playable. As the New Zealand team, under threat of having to start their test using club mallets, hurried to affect the rescue of their's that had been locked in the boot of their team car, Australia versus GB began.
In the battle of the flagship pairs Clarke and Fleming's shooting proved decisive in a straight games win as they hit 4 out of 5 long shots, as compared with Clarke and Fulford's 1 from 7. Fleming was particularly impressive, going out from hoop 2 after Martin had been TPOd in the first, and clinching with a TP in the second.
The Avery and Maugham juggernaut rolled on with the standard formula in both games: Maugham to 4b, Avery TPs to finish. Avery remains the only unbeaten player in the tournament.
So the test stood at one match all has the final pairings came to their decider, which would determine which nation could sleep more soundly with a 2-1 lead. In contrast to much of the preceding play from all players, Burrow, the British rookie, played a near faultless turn to complete a delayed triple peel to take the honours.
Game 1: Fulford lays standard E boundary ball. Fleming lays Duffer. Chris misses Duffer from corner III, hitting hoop 6. Martin hits Duffer and goes to 4b with a spread. Chris misses long lift. Fleming clangs 1, wired from Fulford. Fulford misses partner in corner IV from hoop 1. Fleming fails tricky hoop 1. Fulford TPOs Martin, popping Fleming to 2, leaving Chris in corner I and himself in corner IV. Fleming goes off middle of S boundary sending corner IV ball towards hoop 2 going to corner I. Fulford goes back to corner IV. Fleming misses into IV. Fulford rushes Fleming to N boundary and lays for Chris up aginst the wire of hoop 1 (un-rushable to 2, Fleming's hoop).. Fleming goes to E boundary level with 4. Chris roquets partner on wire of 1, but can't approach to get rush to E boundary, so lays up wired by 1. Fleming goes to E boundary level with 6. Chris makes 1, rushes to Fleming, rushes to 2 and clangs trying to run 2 foot hoop hard to the boundary. Fleming trickles off 6 yarder at ball by 2 and finishes.
Game 2 Fleming lays standard E boundary ball. Chris lays Duffer.Martin hits Duffer and has a dream leave. Fulford hits partner by peg and goes to 4b with a spread. Martin hits long lift, fails to approach 1 and retires to corner II. Fulford misses from hoop 2 to 3. Fleming hits from hoop 1 to hoop 3 and lays up outside corner II. Fulford misses into corner II. Martin over-approaches 1 from nowhere, and lays up by 1. Chris misses partner at hoop 2 from E boundary level with the peg. Martin goes to 4b with a spread. Chris misses short lift. Fleming finishes.
Game 1: Forster lays standard E boundary ball. Avery lays Duffer. Meatheringham misses Duffer to 5yards off A baulk. Maugham rushes this through hoop 5 and goes to 4b with an NSL. Forster misses long lift. Avery grovels through 1 but hits. Makes hoop 3 with no forward rush. Rolls to 4 & 5 in preference to taking off to ball in corner IV, but finishes anyway after peeling 4b going to 1b and completing the straight double.
Game 2: Forster lays standard E boundary ball. Avery lays Duffer. Meatheringham goes to 15 inches S of corner II. Maugham hits Duffer, fails to approach 1 from E boundary, so retires to partner on E boundary. Forster goes into corner III from hoop 1. Maugham clangs 1. Meatheringham misses balls at 1 corner II. Maugham fails position from stop shot approach to 1, so lays by 1. Meatheringham misses partner in III from hoop 2. Maugham goes to 4b with an NSL. Forster takes long lift, hitting wrong ball, but sticks in 1. Avery misses from hoop to 1. Maugham later gets in, cross-wires opponents at 1, and lays up in III. Forster misses from hoop 1 to III. Avery finishes with standard TP.
Game 1: Bassett lays standard E boundary ball. Burrow lays Duffer. Hockey misses Duffer to rover. Mulliner hits Duffer and goes to 4B with an NSL. Hockey misses long lift. Burrow misses hampered shot after hoop 2. Bassett hits from hoop 3 to hoop 2 and almost puts partner off the W boundary rolling to hoop 1 from corner IV. Runs hoop 1, but misses 8 yarder at partner. Mulliner misses from hoop 2 into corner I. Hockey goes to 4b from resultant corner I cannon, laying an OSL. Burrow hits the short shot, but hits hoop 4 rushing to partner on the W boundary and is forced to lay up on the W boundary by hoop 1. Basset misses these from hoop 3. Burrow sticks on hoop 3 on opponent's forward ball. Hockey has a leave. Mulliner misses. Bassett gets going, but misses 3 yarder on hoop 3 pioneer into 4b. Burrow hits from hoop 4 and goes to the peg with a spread having completed one peel. Bassett misses short lift. Mulliner penult. and rover off partner, but with no rush to the peg, so lays up. Bassett hits from N to S boundary. Jawses 4b peel after hoop 3 going to escape ball by corner II, hits peg rolling to 4 & 5, and misses hoop 4 pioneer. Burrow misses from hoop 4 to 5. Bassett hits partner in 4b from S boundary. Makes 4 and 5, and rushes to E boundary. Now hits ankle palying croquet stroke, so leaving himself 10 yards short of peelee, and what should have been the 1b pioneer by 6 such that it has a rush to the peg. Which Mulliner duly takes to finish after Bassett misses the 10 yarder.
Game 2: Bassett lays anti-Duffer. Mulliner lays Duffer anyway,1 yard short of penult. Hockey hits Duffer, runs 3 ball to 2b, where he sticks. Burrow goes to 4b with a spread. Bassett hits long lift. He rushes the peelee into the wire of 4, so no peel after 4. Hits the peg peeling 3b going to 6, but hits pioneer anyway. Goes to the peg with a cross-peg. Mulliner takes the long lift and hits the wrong ball. Under approaches 1 after bad rush. Fails 3 after backward take off approach with standard TP waiting, but on opponents forward ball.. Bassett has a leave. Burrow misses. Hockey goes out from 4b.
Game 3: Bassett lays anti-Duffer. Burrow goes to 1 foot S of corner II. Hockey misses partner.Mulliner hits opponents from A baulk, but misses hoop 4 pioneer from 3 yards. Bassett misses partner on W boundary level with 6 from hoop 4. Mulliner misses from S boundary at ball at hoop 5. Hockey gets hampered after hoop 1, and retires to partner on W boundary. Mulliner hits 9 yarder from beyond hoop 2 and goes to 4b with a spread. Hockey misses ball by the peg from corner III into corner 1. Burrow finishes.
Great Britain wins first round of singles 4-2 to lead Australia 6-3 in Test. GB shot off to a 4 match lead as Fulford, Clarke, Maugham and Mulliner all won in straight games by lunchtime, leaving the final two matches to battle out their deciding games. To their credit, the Australians took both to stay in touch overall. Indeed Simon Hockey engineered the most exciting of comebacks to beat yesterday's hero Matt Burrow when he was all but over the line.
Fulford was at his imperious best as he completed his second sextuple of the event to clinch against Fleming this after Fleming had hit the tea lady!
The extent to which it is reasonable for the out player to delay the continuation of play following a break by his opponent, or the resumption of play following completion of the games in a best of three, was brought into sharp focus in Clarke versus Bassett. Needless to say there had been some previous, as at the World Championship in Wellington last year, the ROT had been required to decide whether Bassett's request to take lunch at 9:45 after their first game finished in a 26TP win for Clarke fell within that definition of reasonable. This time, following lengthier than normal interludes after Clarke's breaks in the first game and after the hoop re-setting at the end of that game (another win for Clarke by 26), Clarke's request for a referee in charge was refused. Clarke adopted the stoic approach, and swiftly won the second by 26 as well.
Maugham's shooting was particularly impressive in his victory over Martin Clarke who made few mistakes and whose own shooting was none too shabby.
Avery finally lost his unbeaten record after losing the decider against Forster without taking croquet.
Mulliner took advantage of Meatheringham's errors to win in a slightly flattering straight games win.
But game of the day, possibly of the Shield so far, went to the decider between Matt Burrow and Simon Hockey. Following a TPO, Burrow takes a 2-ball break to 4b and subsequently makes 4b & penult. and lies up in front of rover, in the meantime having pegged off partner, with Hockey still for hoop 4. At this point Hockey hits his 23 yarder and two balls to 4b to level the position. The game then fluctuated as first Burrow, and then Hockey ran long rovers to gain the advantage, before Burrow missed a 13 yarder at the death to allow Hockey to peg out from three yards.
Game 1: Fulford lays supershot. Fleming goes to optimum position on E boundary. Fulford hits down E boundary and goes to 4b, leaving partner an E boundary rush on opponent ball to partner on W boundary level with 2. Fleming misses short lift shot. Fulford finishes.
Game 2 Fleming lays standard E boundary ball. Fulford lays Duffer. Fleming hits Duffer and has a dream leave. Fulford hits ball at peg and has a 1b leave.. Fleming hits tea lady and goes to 4b with an NSL. Fulford misses long lift. Fleming gets going, but sticks in 2b with one peel done and leaving Fulford a break. Fulford does 1b peel after 2, 2b peel going to 4. 3b peel going to 6, jawses 4b peel with 2b pioneer at 4b, completes 4b peel with 3b pioneer also at 4b, and finishes with a delayed double peel.
Game 1: Clarke lays standard E boundary ball. Bassett lays standard W boundary tice. Clarke misses partner from A baulk. Bassett misses double from B baulk into corner IV. Clarke goes to 4b with a spread. Bassett misses long lift. Clarke goes to the peg, but does no peeling after having to rebuild his break when the hoop 4 pioneer ends up at hoop 5 via the peg after hoop 2. He leaves opponent balls on back of 4b and rover, neither rushable to hoop 1, and lies up tight in corner IV. Bassett lifts the ball at 4b and misses half ball target at rover. Clarke finishes.
Game 2 Bassett lays standard E boundary ball. Clarke lays Duffer. Bassett misses partner from corner III. Clarke misses Duffer. Bassett misses partner in corner IV. Clarke misses Bassett from hoop 6. Bassett goes to 4b with a spread. Clarke misses long lift. Basset fails to approach hoop 1 and retires to W boundary near partner at hoop 2. Clarke misses from hoop 1 to 2. Bassett hits 6 yarder at partner by 2 and fails to approach hoop 1 again, and retires back to partner. Clarke misses partner on E boundary from hoop 1. Bassett fails to approach hoop 1 for the third time and runs away. Clarke joins up with partner 2 yards NE of hoop 1. Bassett, leaving 4b ball near hoop 2, misses Clarke by 1 with his hoop 1 ball. Clarke TPOs Bassett, leaving his balls in corners III & IV. Bassett palys thick take off from corner III to corner IV, rolls to hoop 1, but clangs. Clarke retires from hoop 1 to corner IV. Bassett clangs hoop 1 from where he has rebounded to, this time to an apparently unrunnable position. Clarke misses partner off N boundary behind 2 from corner IV. Bassett attempts apparently unrunnable hoop 1, and duly fails to run it. Clarke finishes off laid 3 ball break.
Game 1: Maugham lays peg high supershot. Clarke hits, sends Maugham to anti-Duffer position, and lays Duffer himself?! Maugham gets first break and goes to 4b with an NSL. Clarke hits long lift and completes a TPO, peeling rover going to 4b. Negotiates an untidy finish when he ends up with nothing S of the hoop when running rover and a 4 yarder on partner after the peg out. Rolls both balls off E boundary, one into corner IV and one level with the peg. Maugham now hits four 25 yard or longer shots, only progressing to hoop 2. At which point Clarke sticks in hoop 2 on partner, Maugham hits his fifth long shot, this time from corner 1, and finishes.
Game 2: Maugham lays supershot. Clarke hits, sends Maugham to anti-Duffer position, and lays Duffer himself?! Maugham hits Duffer, lays up with 3 balls across the peg after failing to approach hoop 1. Clarke hits, fails to approach hoop 1 and takes position. Maugham hits from hoop 2 to the peg and goes to 4b with an NSL. Clarke hits the long lift shot and goes to 4b, peeling partner to 2 and laying an OSL. Maugham hits down the E boundary and completes his TP, also negotiating an untidy finish when he rushes the peelee into hoop 5 after 3 back, necessitating the making of 4b and penult. off the 4b pioneer.
Game 1: Hockey lays anti-Duffer. Burrow lays Duffer anyway. Hockey hits the Duffer, fails to get a rush to 1 and has a dream leave. Burrow misses down the East boundary. Hockey goes to 4b, with an OSL leaving himself a rush to corner IV. Burrow takes the short lift shot anyway, but misses. Hockey misses hampered shot after penult. with the peelee waiting at rover for the straight peel.. Burrow gets going, but is faulted (push shot) hitting hampered shot after 1b. Hockey runs rover and lays up. Burrow hits partner from rover to the W boundary level with hoop 2, goes to the peg with a reverse OSL. Hockey misses. Burrow finishes from 2b.
Game 2 Hockey lays standard E boundary ball. Burrow lays Duffer tice. Hockey misses Duffer tice to rover. Burrow hits Duffer tice and goes to 4b with a spread. Hockey hits long lift and goes to 4b with an NSL. Burrow misses long lift.. Hockey finishes.
Game 3 Hockey lays anti-Duffer. Burrow again lays a Duffer anyway. Hockey again misses Duffer to rover. Burrow misses Duffer, hits the peg (from which he had been "balled" by the Duffer!) and ricochets to the S boundary level with 4. Hockey hits the Duffer on the way back, but sticks in hoop 2. Burrow hits and sticks in 1. Hockey misses from hoop 2. Burrow gets going but clangs 4 trying to run it to the boundary. Hockey goes to 4b with an NSL. Burrow misses the long lift. Hockey fails to get a rush to hoop 2, plays a good rollup from a bit N of hoop 1 to 3 feet slightly angled, but clangs. Burrow hits from hoop to to hoop 3 and TPOs Hockey (with his backward ball for 4, Hockey for 2). Puts partner 5 feet N of corner IV and goes to corner 1. Hockey plays thick take off from corner IV to short of corner I, and misses. Burrow splits Hockey to W boundary level with 2 going to partner and lays up in corner IV. Hockey hits 30 yarder in corner IV, makes 2, rushes to 3, runs it to 6 yards N of 4 and misses ball on N boundary behind 4. Some cat & mouse stuff until Burrow picks up a 2 ball break, making 1b with a rush to Hockey in the middle of the S boundary. Rushes close to and E of Hockey's ball. Takes off and makes 2b. Sends Hockey to 4b going to partner on S boundary. Approaches 3b with normal drive getting good position sending partner to 6 yards S of 4b. Runs 3b, but leaves 10 yarder at partner, missing into B baulk. Hockey lifts to ball in B baulk, rushes Burrows peg ball to 4 but clangs. Burrow hits with peg ball, sends Hockey to hoop 1, and at this point has a chance to send partner to 4b and peg himself out. Instead rolls off in corner II. Hockey misses from hoop 1. Burrow plays dodgy 2 ball break, sticking in penult. Gets a reprieve when Hockey misses double (with aid of the lift) from B baulk. Burrow pegs out peg ball. Hockey misses penult. ball (by penult.) from S boundary. Burrow misses 10 yard pickup. Hockey rolls to 4 but clangs 6 yard hoop. Burrow hits, takes off to penult. and takes position. Hockey misses to middle of N boundary. Burrow runs penult. and takes position at rover. Hockey hits, rushing to hoop 1. Rolls up to 18 inches dead in front of 4 and two balss to 4b, where he clangs after over-approaching from the side. Burrow lags to 5 yards N of rover. Hockey hits, rolls up to 4b but clangs it again. Burrow declines half ball shot at Hockey from 4 yards and takes long position at rover again. Hockey runs 4b and gets good position at penult., and is now favourite to win. Burrow runs 3 yard rover and goes to 3 yards off W boundary about level with the peg to become favourite again. Hockey runs penult. to 4 feet S of the peg and runs rover to regain the ascendancy. Now appears to lag up to cross pegged position 2 yards E of peg, narrowly avoiding leaving a double target. Burrow misses 13 yarder at Hockey. Hockey finishes.
Game 1: Forster lays standard E boundary ball. Avery goes to 1 foot N of coner IV.. F misses into IV. Avery hits double in IV, fails to approach hoop 1 and retires to partner by hoop 2. Forster hits from hoop 1 to 2 and lays up on the E boundary. Avery misses from hoop 1 to 2. Forster fails to approach hoop 1 and retires to partner at hoop 3. A very bisects the double at hoop three from hoop 1. Forster gets going but clangs hoop 3. Avery lays up by hoop 1. Forsater misses from hoop 3 to 4. Avery fails to approach hoop 1. Forster hits with hoop 1 ball and goes to 4b with a spread. Avery misses long lift. Forster goes to the peg, completing the 4b peel going to 1b and a posthumous penult. peel, and lays an OSL. Avery misses from the peg at Forster on the E boundary. Forster finishes.
Game 2 Avery lays standard E boundary ball. Forster lays Duffer. Avery misses partner down E boundary. Forster misses his own Duffer. Avery misses partner in IV. Forsetr misses return shot at Duffer. Avery goes to 4b with an NSL. Forster hits the long lift and goes to 4b with a spread. Avery misses the long lift. Forster fails to get going. Avery gets going, but sticks in 6 on Forster's forward ball with peelee in front of 4b. Forster has a leave.. Avery hits with hoop 6 ball and finishes.
Game 3 Forster lays standard E boundary ball. Avery goes to 1 foot N of coner IV.. F misses into IV. Avery misses double in IV. Forster goes to 4b with a spread. Avery misses long lift. Forster goes to the peg doing 1 peel with a spread. Avery misses the long lift again. Forster finishes.
Game 1: Mulliner lays supershot. Meatheringham goes to optimum position on E boundary. Mulliner misses Meatheringham from B baulk, joining with it. Meatheringham hits on the E boundary, but misses cut rush after running hoop 1. Mulliner misses partner on N boundary, joining up. Meatheringham misses Mulliner from E boundary level with hoop 4. Mulliner goes to 4b with a spread. Meatheringham misses long lift. Mulliner gets going but takes off short to corner IV after hoop 3 and misses. Meatheringham fails to approach hoop 2 and lays up behind it. Mulliner misses partner on S boundary behind hoop 4 from hoop 3. Meatheringham goes to 4b with a spread. Mulliner misses ball at peg from corner III. Meatheringham goes to the peg with no peels and lays a "B" spread. Mulliner hits from peg, goes to peg with no peels, pegs out Meatheringham leaving his balls 3 yards N of IV and W boundary wired from approach to 4b by hoop 6. Meatheringham misses Mulliner's peg ball. Mulliner attempts a leave but has to separate.. Meatheringham misses the peg ball again. Mulliner lays up in corner IV. Meatheringham misses. Mulliner goes to the peg but only pegs one ball off.. Meatheringham misses subsequent 6 yarder. Mulliner pegs out.
Game 2 Meatheringham lays standard E boundary ball. Mulliner lays Duffer. Meatheringham hits Duffer, but sends partner off the W boundary level with hoop 2 trying a stop shot approach to 1 from the S boundary. Mulliner hits ball at 1 and goes to 4b with an NSL. Meatheringham misses long lift. Mulliner goes to the peg with a posthumous 4b peel but still manages a spread. Meatheringham hits long lift but miasapproaches hoop 2 and retires to corner III. Mulliner misses partner by hoop 3 from hoop 2 to E boundary. Meatheringham misses from corner III down E boundary. Mulliner misses partner on E boundary. Meatheringham declines 15 yarder back down E boundary, and misses 27 yarder at partner in corner IV. Mulliner finishes.
GB again shades doubles 2-1 to lead Australia 8-4 overall.
They achieved this using pretty much the same script as the first round of doubles on Thursday, but with a different cast. This time Avery & Maugham were left with the task of taking the decider against Bassett & Hockey after the other matches had been shared 1-1. David has scored two Mac clinching points, one in Australia in 1993, the other in New Zealand in 2000, the latter under the most testing of circumstances (winner-takes-all GB v. NZ test stands at 10 matches all, Maugham and Garrison stand at game all). So the GB contingent might have been forgiven for feeling some confidence as he took the helm to play the decisive TP turn. This after Avery, the hitherto TP machine of the partnership, had gone round first for only the second time this event. (Indeed, he later claimed to have had to ask Maugham for advice on what to do at the end of that turn). But this is the Mac, so anything can happen. In fact, as I think is often the case with top class players, any initial tension is replaced by growing confidence as the turn progresses, and David just looked stronger and stronger until the point was in the bag.
So tomorrow tying the singles 3-3 will be enough to see GB victorious in the test.
Game 1: Forster lays standard E boundary ball. Clarke goes to corner II. Meatheringham misses partner down the E boundary into corner IV. Fulford hits in corner IV, goes to 4b popping F to 3 and lays with opponent hoop 3 ball just out of corner IV, opponent hoop 1 ball in middle of W boundary. Clarke tight in corner II with a rush to corner I. Meatheringham misses short lift. Clarke digs out standard TP. He fails to put peelee in position from nowhere approaching 6, but recovers by immediately rushing 2b pioneer to 2b and returning to do a take off penult. Peel going to 1b. Finishes.
Game 2: Clarke lays supershot. Meatheringham misses to 2-3 yards S of 2. Fulford hits Meatheringham from B baulk, goes to 4b with a dream leave. Forster hits long lift, but elects to rush directly to 1 rather than via Fulford's ball on the West boundary. Pays the price when he clangs having had to approach 2 from the W boundary. Fulford has a leave tight in corner IV. Meatheringham hits from corner III to IV and goes to 4b with a spread. Clarke misses ball at peg from corner III. Forster fails position at 2 with take off from N boundary, trickles back to partner by hoop 3, leaving Fulford a perfect single ball target from 2. (Not a happy Bunny, he came over especially to tell me). Fulford misses balls at 3. Forster makes 2 and 3, with no rush to 4, but plays an immaculate cut into corner I, just out of which Clarke's ball yet lurks. Elects to play a split starigth 4b peel going to 4b pioneer. Pell jawses and has to be cannoned through. After 4b croquets peelee immediately in front of 6, and elects to cannon it out of the way with the penult. Pioneer. In doing so over-approaches penult and clangs on the Brit's backward ball.. Clarke finishes.
Game 1: Bassett lays anti-Duffer. Avery goes 1 foot N of corner II. Hockey joins partner on E boundary, leaving 4-5 foot rush towards the peg. Maugham misses down the E boundary. Hockey rushes to nowhere useful, so lays up in corner III. Avery misses from II into III. Bassett misses hampered shot on Maugham after hoop 1. Maugham goes to 4b with an NSL. Bassett hits long lift, makes 1 but fails to approach 2, laying up with partner behind 2. Maugham hits behind 2 from hoop 1 and lays up in corner IV. Hockey misses from hoop 1 into IV. Avery hits his hampered shot after 1, plays a good take off to get a rush on the ball just out of IV, but ends up on the back of 1b with a takeoff approach to hoop 2 from the N boundary, so retires to W boundary level with 2. Bassett misses from hoop 2 to 3. Maugham hits partner on W boundary from hoop 1. Lays up by hoop 2 with opponents balls on E boundary level with 3 and a few feet off S boundary behind 4. Hockey plays S boundary ball to corner I. Avery overcomes getting hampered on hoop 5 pioneer after split out of corner 1, and goes to the peg with no peels leaving a spread.. (Thus the Australian cornering has probably earned them another lift shot, rather than the 30 yarder they gave up in return). Hockey misses the short lift. Maugham finishes.
Game 2: Bassett lays anti-Duffer. Avery goes 1 foot N of corner II. Hockey joins partner on E boundary, leaving 4-5 foot rush towards the peg. Maugham misses down the E boundary. (Snap). This time Hockey rushes into the peg on his way to corner II, so rolls off 1 from where he lands, but sticks in 2 after rolling it off from corner II. Avery shoots from hoop 4 at partner in corner IV, catching a break when he hits hoop 4 but runs it to the potential sanctuary of the S boundary. Hockey runs 2, hits partner at 3 and gets going. With the help of an approach to 6 from by 4b, he goes to 4b with an NSL. Avery misses long lift. With the aid of a Hogan roll after hoop 1 to send the corner IV ball to hoop 3 going to the hoop 2 pioneer himself, Bassett finishes with a standard TP.
Game 3: Bassett lays anti-Duffer. Avery goes 1 foot N of corner II. Hockey joins partner on E boundary, leaving 4-5 foot rush towards the peg. Maugham misses down the E boundary. (SNAP!). Hockey sticks in 1. Avery misses balls at 1 from hoop 1. Hockey sticks in 2 after rolling up from W boundary. Avery misses partner who is 1 foot W of IV on the S boundary to 1 foot N of IV on the E boundary. Bassett misses partner in jaws of 2 from S boundary between hoops 1 & 5. Avery manages to cut to within 4 yards of 1 at about 45 degrees, approaches and goes to 4b, popping Hockey to 3 and leaving a reverse NSL. Hockey misses the long lift. Maugham finishes.
Game 1: Mulliner lays standard E boundary ball. Fleming lays Duffer tice. Burrow hits partner from A baulk. Rolls to Duffer, has a dream leave after failing to get rush on Duffer to 1. C hits double from B baulk and goes to 4b with an NSL. Mulliner misses the long lift. Fleming finishes, rushing partner back to do the 4b peel after 4.
Game 2: Mulliner lays standard E boundary ball. Fleming lays Duffer tice. Burrow misses partner from A baulk. Clarke misses resultant E boundary target from A baulk. Burrow puts hoop 3 pioneer into hoop 6 after 1 and hoop 4 pioneer into the peg after 2, but goes to 4b anyway with an NSL. Fleming misses long lift. Mulliner clangs 2. Clarke hits from hoop 2 to 3. Plays a good roll approach to 1 from corner IV, but clangs. Mulliner misses partner just off the E boundary by 4 by nothing. Clarke goes to 4b. Mulliner misses short lift. Fleming finishes, despite getting hampered after a good Irish peel of rover.
GB has its eigth unbeaten day in nine (the other being drawn) to win the second round of singles 4-2 against Australia, thus establishing an unassailable 12-6 lead in the test. The final round of three doubles will be played tomorrow.
Avery and Fulford were as solid as ever in completing straight game wins over Meatheringham and Bassett respectively. Bassett put up considerable resistance, but Fulford's shooting proved merciless on the day.
Forster and Clarke looked equally convincing in their straight games wins over Mulliner and Burrow respectively. Mulliner had one opportunity to equalise in the second, but Forster pounced to win in two turns when he did not. Burrow again made unforced errors, mainly sticking in easy hoops.
At this point GB lead the test 10-6 with the final two singles poised at 1-1, and needed just one of these to clinch victory. At this point we normally play our "win critical point" card in the shape of David Maugham, but today Chris Clarke overcame some brain deadness to come up with the goods with a TP in the third game of a high-class match against Bruce Fleming. Not to be outdone, David Maugham put the icing on the cake by eventually overcoming Simon Hockey. Surprisingly for two such good shots, this match seemed to be littered with missed short roquets on either side.
So whilst the remaining matches are important in the event of an overall tie, it will be hard not to have one eye on the final test against New Zealand, in which a GB win will secure retention of the Shield, and a close loss may well be enough.
Game 1: Fulford lays supershot. Bassett goes to optimium position on E boundary. Fulford hits down E boundary, goes to 4b with a dream leave, with the rush from E boundary on opponent ball. Bassett hits from A baulk, goes to 4b with an NSL. Fulford hits the long lift, sets up standard TP, but has trouble with the 4b peel, finally rush peeling it after 6. Eventually he clangs 4b himself, trying to run it to the boundary with the peelee waiting in the jaws of penult. Striker's ball stays in front of 4b, so neither it nor peelee are rushable to hoops 1 or 2. Bassett lifts hoop 1 ball and rushes partner just off B baulk to penult. Cannons the ball out of the jaws, but mis-hits hoop 1 rush to hoop 4, in such a position that he can't try rolling off 1. Retires to partner by penult. Fulford hits with the penult ball from hoop 4 to penult. and goes to the peg. Lays up in corner III with opponent's hoop 1 ball on 4b wired from corner III and 4b ball in corner I. Bassett misses from 4b to I. Fulford finishes.
Game 2: Bassett lays anti-Duffer 4 yards N of hoop 4. F goes to corner II. Bassett goes to E boundary with in court rush. Fulford misses anti-Duffer ball. Basset misses 10 yarder down E boundary to corner III. Fulford misses partner in corner II. Bassett misses from hoop 4 to corner II. Fulford misses slightly hampered 7 yd roquet after just running 1to 9 yards out of corner II. Bassett hits 9 yarder from corner II, goes to 4b with an NSL. Fulford hits long lift with hoop 1 ball, TPOs, leaving balls in corner II and on E boundary level with 3. Bassett rolls from E boundary to hoop 1 and corner II. Plays thick take off from corner II getting 4 feet dead in front of 1, the croqueted ball going to N boundary E of hoop 2. Clangs 1 on forward ball. Fulford has a leave. Bassett misses. Fulford finishes.
Game 1: Clarke to East boundary level with peg. Fleming to 9 inches S of corner II. Clarke tries to lag to partner, but leaves a double from B baulk. Fleming hits double from B baulk, goes to 4b with an NSL. Clarke hits the long lift but fails hoop 1 off partner. Fleming hits from 2 to 1 with forward ball and lays up. Clarke misses from middle of E boundary to corner II. Fleming finishes.
Game 2: Fleming lays standard E boundary ball. Clarke goes to corner II. Fleming misses partner down the E boundary. Clarke hits partner in corner II and has a leave. Fleming misses partner on E boundary level with rover from hoop 1. Clarke goes to 4b with a spread. Fleming misses long lift. Clarke finishes.
Game 3: Clarke to East boundary level with peg. Fleming to 9 inches S of corner II. Clarke to lags to partner. Fleming misses down E boundary into corner IV. Clarke rushes direct to 1, makes 1 but fails position at 2 with stop shot approach out of corner 2. Fleming misses balls in corner II from hoop 3. Clarke goes to 4b with a spread. Fleming hits long lift and goes to 4b with an NSL. Clarke misses long lift. Fleming plays a poor split after hoop 1, and misses 7 yarder at hoop 2 pioneer. Clarke misses 7 yarder at this from hoop 3 into corner II. Fleming hits hoop 2 pioneer, splits it to 3 getting position at 2, runs it almost to the boundary, but misses ball in corner II. Clarke lays up in corner IV, leaving a reverse rush as he has got the balls mixed up. Fleming misses from hoop 1 to corner IV, coming back in contact with Clarke's 4b ball, which Clarke still thinks is his hoop 1 ball. Clarke lifts 4b ball, now realises his mistake, but is misadvised by the referee on call that he has irreversibly elected to play with this ball. Has a leave in corner I. Fleming misses 17 yarder from hoop 2 to hoop 3. Clarke gets delayed TP going, and recovers from rushing too close to 3b by executing a good hoop and rush position. Gets good position for straight rover peel, but peel sticks, is knocked through by striker's ball, which ends up in difficult hoop running position where it looks tough to hit it hard enough and avoid a crush or double tap. Hits it hard, and gets a break when it glides past peelee without hitting it. Finishes.
Game 1: Clarke lays standard E boundary ball. Burrow lays Duffer. Clarke hits Duffer and has a spread. Burrow misses down E boundary. Clarke gets going but breaks down at 2b with no peels. Burrow sticks in 1. Clarke misses from hoop 2 to hoop 1. Burrow sticks in 2. Clarke takes 4b ball to peg with an OSL. Burrow misses the short lift. Clarke finishes from 2b.
Game 2 Burrow lays supershot. Clarke misses, trickling to peg. Burrow misses hard into B baulk. Clarke goes to 4b with an NSL. Burrow misses long lift. Clarke goes to the peg with an OSL, no peels. Burrow hits from peg to E boundary and goes to 4b with an NSL where the ball on 3b is difficult to rush to 1. Clarke misses ball on 3b from B baulk. Burrow fails to rush ball on 3b to ball on S boundary, leaving it by 3b. Takes off short for rush on S boundary ball and misses cut. Clarke finishes from 4b.
Game 1: Hockey lays anti-Duffer. Maugham goes to corner II. Hockey joins on E boundary, leaving rush to corner II. Maugham misses down E boundary. Hockey rushes to N boundary and takes off the lawn trying to get a rush on the corner II ball. Maugham gets going but clangs 4. Hockey goes to 4b with an NSL, but with Maugham's hoop 1 ball in the jaws of 4, which he is for with his other ball. Maugham lifts hoop 4 ball but misses the short lift. Hockey makes 1 but refuses a 2 yard hoop 2 and retires to partner at hoop 3. Maugham hits with hoop 1 ball from hoop 2 to hoop 4. completes TPO with the aid of a rover peel after 3b. Leaves his balls in corners I & IV. Hockey plays thick take off from IV to I, fails to roll off hoop 2 and retires to IV. Maugham retires peg ball from hoop 2 to corner I. Hockey misses from IV to I. Maugham has a leave with Hockey in corner II and himself tight in corner IV with a rush to 4. Hockey misses from II to IV. Maugham finishes..
Game 2: Hockey lays anti-Duffer. Maugham goes to corner II. Hockey joins on E boundary, leaving rush to hoop 1. Maugham misses down E boundary. Hockey clangs 2 after stop shot approach from corner II. Maugham misses from hoop 3 to 2. Hockey runs 2 after another stop shot approach, but misses partner on N boundary. Maugham hits from hoop 3 but misses slightly hampered shot after hoop 1. Hockey hits 7 yarder and lays up in corner IV. M augham misses from middle of W boundary into corner IV, leaving a ball at hoop 3, Hockey's hoop. Hockey goes to 4b with an OSL. Maugham hits the short lift, runs 1 with no wire to the hoop 2 pioneer, rolls back but fails to get a rush to 2, eventually clangs 2 on Hockey's forward ball. Hockey lays up in corner IV. Maugham misses from 2 to 3. Hockey clangs 2. Maugham misses 5 yarder. Hockey misses 10 yarder. Maugham misses 9 yarder. Hockey hits 6 yarder and goes to the peg with 1 peel and lays a cross peg. Maugham misses the short lift. Hockey finishes from penult.
Game 3: Hockey lays anti-Duffer. Maugham goes to corner II. Hockey joins on E boundary, leaving rush to corner II. Maugham misses down E boundary. Hockey rushes to corner II, makes 1 but fails to roll off 2 from W boundary. Maugham misses from 3 to 2. Hockey makes 2 & 3, but clangs 4 after a stop shot approach from corner IV. Maugham hits wiring lift and goes to 4b, popping Hockey's backward ball to 3. Leaves opponent's hoop 4 ball in corner IV, hoop 3 ball in the middle of the W boundary and himself in corner II. Hockey misses from middle of W boundary into corner II. Maugham does the 4b peel after 3 with his hoop four pioneer not much out of corner IV. He rushes to S boundary, but clangs 4 after not getting rush on pioneer. Hockey goes to 4b with a reverse B spread, leaving his own ball in corner II and middle of the W boundary. Maugham misses 7 yarder across the peg. Hockey misses partner from corner II. Maugham hits 7 yarder at partner and lays up by hoop 4 with opponent's balls just off the W boundary level with 1 and 4 yards E of 2. Hockey misses from hoop 2 to W boundary. Maugham finishes.
Game 1: Mulliner lays anti-Duffer. Forster goes to corner II. Mulliner joins on E boundary, leaving rush to peg. Forster misses down E boundary. Mulliner rushes to corner II, fails to approach hoop 1 and retires to corner 2. Forster misses from 1 to II. Mulliner fails to approach1 again, and lays up in corner IV. Forster hits from hoop 1 to corner IV and goes to 4b with a spread. Mulliner misses the long lift. Forster finishes.
Game 2: Forster lays supershot. Mulliner goes to corner II. Forster misses in corner II. Mulliner hits double in corner II. Mulliner takes off into peg having made 1 an misses partner at hoop 3. Forster misses. Mulliner fails to approach 2, retires to partner by 3. Forster misses from N boundary behind 2 at Mulliner by 3. Mulliner goes to 4b. Forster misses long lift. Mulliner misses 5-yard return roquet after 1, hitting 2b and staying there. Forster goes to 4b with a spread. Mulliner misses long lift. Forster finishes.
Game 1: Avery lays standard E boundary ball. Meatheringham lays standard tice. Avery hits tice and has a dream leave (sic). Meatheringham misses down E boundary. Avery fails to approach 1, retires to partner at 2. Meatheringham moves ball at hoop 1 to middle of E boundary. Avery has a leave. Meatheringham moves ball from E boundary level with 6 to corner IV. Avery takes off the S boundary trying to get a rush to 2. Meatheringham misses from W boundary level with 2 at Avery on S boundary behind 1. Avery goes to 4b with an NSL. Meatheringham misses long lift. Avery hits hoop 6 taking of to hoop 2 pioneer and misses it. Meatheringham misses partner from 2 to 3. Avery misses. Meatheringham plays a good 20 yard take off to get a rush to hoop 2 on partner not far out of corner 2, but then misses it to the peg. Avery misses form hoop 1 to the peg, close to partner by hoop 3. Meatheringham misses from peg at partner just out of II. Avery has a leave in corner III. Meatheringham misses from hoop 2 to corner III. Avery finishes.
Game 2: Avery hits on 4th turn down E boundary and lays up by hoop 1. Meatheringham misses partner in corner IV from hoop 2. Avery goes to 4b with an MSL. Meatheringham misses the long lift. Avery jawses straight rover peel, but gets lucky with half jump which hits peelee twice, first knocking it through, and then to the side before completing the running of the hoop itself. Finishes.
Great Britain rounds off the test against Australia with a sweep of the final round of doubles to run out worthy 15-6 winners overall. The critical work was done in the first and second rounds of doubles. GB won the deciding games in the last matches to win the day 2-1 on both occasions, thus establishing 2-1 and 8-4 overall leads, rather than the far more sweaty 1-2 and 7-5 positions which would have resulted had those results gone the other way.
In the class match of the day, Avery and Maugham maintained their 100% doubles record against arguably their strongest opponents to date, Fleming and Clarke. This despite their TP automaton Avery twice not managing to finish with a straight rover peel.
Clarke and Fulford were almost flawless in their match against Bassett and Hockey (Fulford missing on the third turn in game 2).
Burrow and Mulliner proved too strong for Forster and Meatheringham, Burrow producing strong finishing turns in both games.
Two down, one to go.
Game 1: Bassett lays anti-Duffer. Clarke lays 2yards ESE of corner II. Hockey misses Clarke from B baulk, leaving single ball. Fulford hits in corner II, grovels through 1, hits slightly hampered shot, then sails to 4b popping Bassett to 3, leaving Basset in corner IV, Hockey in middle of W boundary, laying up on W boundary tight to corner II. Hockey misses partner in IV from A baulk. Clarke finishes.
Game 2: Clarke lays supershot. Hockey goes to corner II. Fulford misses in II. Bassett misses double in II. Fulford goes to 4b with same leave as game 1. Bassett lifts from corner IV and misses in corner II from B baulk. Clarke finishes.
Game 1: Avery lays supershot. Fleming goes to optimum position on E boundary. Maugham hits on E boundary and goes to 4b, all three balls over by W boundary. Clarke misses from corner I. Avery makes 1 with no rush and takes off the lawn going to the ball in corner II. Clarke goes to 4b with an NSL. Avery misses long lift. Fleming gets going, but gets cross pegged from pivot after hoop 5, and misses to the N boundary. Avery hits the ball at 1b from the peg and gets going. Doing straight rover peel, peelee goes through but striker's ball clangs near wire to un-runnable position. Partially recovers by scattering Fleming (for 6) to middle of E boundary and himself. to corner IV, leaving Clarke (for penult.) joined with Maugham 6 yards off A baulk with a rush to hoop 1. Fleming lifts to A baulk and hits 6 yarder. Sends ball to 2b, rushes to IV, rushes to 6, makes it, rushes to 4 yards S of 1b and sticks in 4 foot hoop on Avery after backward take off. Avery makes rover, goes back to ball by 1b, but hits the peg trying to cut rush it to partner, so lays up in corner IV. Fleming misses from hoop 1 to IV. Maugham pegs out.
Game 2: Fleming lays standard E boundary ball. Avery lays Duffer. Clarke rushes Duffer into penult., has a spread. Maugham misses ball at peg from A baulk. Clarke goes to 4b with an NSL. Maugham misses long lift. Fleming finishes..
Game 3: Fleming lays standard E boundary ball. Avery lays Duffer. Clarke misses Duffer to the peg. Maugham hits Duffer, goes to 4b with an NSL. Fleming misses the long lift. This time Avery's straight rover peel clangs to the side, so he runs rover and lays up on the E boundary with Clarke 3 yards off the W boundary level with 6 and Fleming in the jaws of rover. Fleming hits the short lift and goes to 4b with a spread. Maugham misses the long lift. Clarke clangs 1, finishing dead in front. Avery misses partner in IV from 1. Clarke runs 1 hard to partner at hoop 2, makes 2 with no rush, takes off short to opponents in corner IV and misses. Maugham plays a cannon sending Clarke to the S boundary behind rover and partner to 2 yards beyond 3b. Negotiates the 5 yard take off for position, runs rover to the boundary and finishes.
Game 1 Forster gets 1st break and goes to 4b with an NSL. Burrow misses long lift. Me sticks in 3. Mu lays up in corner II. Forster misses partner by 3 from 1. Mu TPOs Forster with a good turn but with an untidy finish. He completed the peels before 3b, but then rushed the escape ball too close to peelee after 4b, and had to use peelee as rover pioneer. He then managed to stuff this into the peg going to penult., mishit the rush on it, ending up approaching rover from 4 yards with a drive that sent the peelee 2 yards off the S boundary. To ensure the peg out, after rover he rushed partner to the S boundary, but E of peelee so it was difficult to send close to the E boundary. He chose instead to stop it to hoop 4, completed the peg out and went to corner 3. Me tried the direct roll to 3 from corner II for the immediate 3 ball break, tantalisingly finishing a yard short. He takes position establishing the squeeze. Burrow corners from hoop 4 to I. Me runs 3 but fails to approach 4 and retires to S boundary between hoops 4 & 5. Mu corners from hoop 4 to II. Me misses from S boundary to corner II. Mu lays up for Burrow out of corner 1. Me misses from N boundary behind 2 to corner 1. Burrow finishes.
Game 2 Forster lays standard E boundary ball. Mu lays Duffer. Me misses Duffer from corner III. Burrow misses Me down W boundary. Me misses partner on E boundary. Mu hits E boundary double from hoop 6, but immediately takes off the lawn trying to get a rush. Forster lays up by hoop 1. Mu corners from E boundary to III. Me goes to 4b with a spread. Mu hits long lift, essays TPO but doesn't recover after clanging 4b peel after 3, so goes to 4b with an NSL. Forster misses the long lift. Burrow over-approaches 2 and clangs. Forster misses partner at hoop 4 from 2. Burrow runs 2 and misses partner at 3. Forster gets going, completes 4b peel after 5, but misses rush on pioneer to 6. Burrow hits his 6 yarder, jawses the straight rover peel but plays half jump perfectly roll style and finishes.
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