Morning once again, this time from a distinctly sunny Roehampton, for Day 4 of the Australia USA test. After an outstandingly competitive singles day yesterday the teams remain all tied up at 6 six matches each. The story of yesterday's play was the USA eeking out a two match lead at 6-4 and within touching distance of winning the singles 4-2, only for the Aussies to come storming back to win the last to and re-establish parity. This fight back was typified no more than by than by Kevin Bead's win over Jim Bast. Despite going game down and break down in both the second and third games, he hit critical shots and ran clinical tps to save the day.

So now the 21 match long form test has effectively been reduced to an old style, short format nine match affair. The prevailing wisdom in those days (essentially abandoned after 1986, but making a brief, round robin, re-appearance in 1992) was that carrying a 2-1 doubles lead into the singles was vital, and I don't see any reason to disagree. And thus today is likely to be the pivotal one.

The lawns have been measured at 11 Plummers this morning.

GAME 2

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1 U 16 yd narrow supershot

2 Y hits trickle at U. Approaches 1 to 4ft with thick to. Runs it and hits 8 yarder, rushing it to 2.

No rush to 3, so rolls it off anyway, but misses 11 yarder at U which he has put deep

3 K hits 5 yarder at Y from end of A baulk. Puts Y fairly defensively to the peg, rather than to 2, no rush on U so 12 yd backward to to 1, runs it cleanly and has a 2 ydr on U to continue

U now 6 yds S of 3 as he approaches 2 from 5 yds dead in front. Woefully short and sticks in the middle of the jaws, Y 1 yd E of the hoop

4 R misses 9 ydr at Y from end of B baulk

5 K picks up his break from where he left off, the middle of hoop 2

Puts R in MSL position after 1b

My apologies, R was in fact being placed in position for a reverse spread, which has now been completed

6 Ian lifts R and takes long lift at Y 1 yd off E boundary level with 5. Centre balls it to 2 yds S of C4

My error has been spotted yet again, Y was obviously N of C4, not S. Still, I'm flattered that people prefer to read my commentary than watch the croquet live

Balls are all there for the tpo as he approaches 2 from a ft in front. Given that partner is on 4, dare say he'll definitely go for this option

He does and 4b peel is completed after 3

Standard position as he approaches 6, although escape ball maybe a bit wider of the hoop than he'd like

Q. You come across a couple of pieces of roadkill: a rattlesnake and a lawyer. How do you tell which one's the lawyer?

A. There are skid marks in front of the rattlesnake

That joke in honour of my old American buddies, Tom Hughes and Rich Curtis. Hope you're reading boys

Tpo becomes delayed as penult peelclass to end right beside the hoop. Makes sure 2b pioneer ends N of the hoop, presumably in preparation for a death roll

All of which becomes moot as he fails an angled 1b off U

7 R is hidden from U, so Jeff lifts U to end of B baulk and misses R from there

8 R misses K by penult to E boundary level with peg. Not sure he could see all of it

9 U misses Y to S boundary behind 1

10 Robert centre balls Y on E boundary from 5 yds N of 2b. Rools R to 3 yds W of 6 getting a rush on K pointing to middle of E boundary. Rushes there but puts K off the S boundary in rolling up to 4

11 U hits 10/11 ydr at K along S boundary. Over approaches 1 from 5 yds in front, but runs very angled hoop anyway. Centre balls 4 yd roquet on escape ball

U rolls to 4 & 5 after 3, so Jeff has a standard double peel for the game

Runs 4 to the boundary to pick up K, which goes naturally to 6/penult

I should point out at this point that the "cake" ruse has work: no less a personage than Il Presidente Quiller Barrett himself turning up this morning with one chocolate and a particularly attractive looking ginger and apricot fruit

Penult peeled after 6 and rover peeled 6yds through going to 3b

Rushes Y back to S boundary after 3b and sends it to rover . K goes to penult so that should be that for the first. I've been thinking over the last couple of days that Jeff needs to gain a bit of confidence, perhaps this will do it

Dumergue & Fletcher lost to Lamm & Soo -17

Test Score
	6	6

Match Score
	0	1

GAME 2

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1 Y to 1 ft S C2

2 U to C4

3 R centre balls U from A baulk. Rolls to maximum position on E boundary. Leaves rushe to Y in C2

4 K misses R into C4 from C3

5 R cuts direct to 1, mis-approaches and joins with Y in C2

6 U hits Y from 5 yds N of hoop 1. Rushes R to 1yd short of S boundary. Clangs 2 ft hoop at a bit of an angle, but should have coped

7 R can't see U so trundles back to C2 to join Y

8 U runs 1 and misses R in C2

9 Ian playing R rushes to just off S boundary. Lot of it about this morning it seems. Copes with hampered roquet after running the hoop. Good roll sending Y to 3yds short of 3, but will be approaching 2 from N boundary as the pioneer was barely 5 ft off it

Runs angled hoop by a yd and hits 5 ydr. Terrific croquet stroke puts U a yd in front of 4. After 3 safely negotiates to from Y on E boundary level with hoop to K in C4 and he's definitely away

Meanwhile on lawn 1 Bast & Huneycutt have beaten Beard & Landrebe so the Aussies now finding themselves in a similar position to yesterday, needing to fight back from game down here just to stay in touch. I really don't see them coming back from 9-6 down tomorrow, 8-7 and they have a fighting chance

Reaches 4b with an NSL. U, hoop 2 ball is a yd WSWish of 2, so might not need to move too far in from end of B baulk to be able to see it

10 Rich lifts K and misses short lift. Guess there wasn't much showing of U from B baulk

As U is close to 2 already Robert just has to make 1 off partner for a standard tp. For the nth time today hoop 1 is approached from S boundary. Runs 2ft straight hoop after excellent approach

4b peel goes through 6" after 3, picked up no probs after 4

Penult peeled through 3 yds after 6

No good rush on peelee after 1 back. Happy to have it 4 yds W of 3b line and roquet it across to rover directly after running 3b. Doesn't get it in front however, so rover peel will be straight now

Runs penult. R 1ft dead in front of rover, pivot (U) by the peg. K croqueted to escape ball position, U rushed 1 yd short of R, so deep ball being dispensed with. Certainly shouldn't be needed

Irish peels to a yd off the S boundary. Copes

Dumergue & Fletcher beat Lamm & Soo +25tp(F)

Test Score
	6	8

Match Score
	1	1

Lunch, with the decider for our post prandial delight and delectation

Later, dudes

GAME 3

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1 K narrow 15 yd supershot

2 R W boundary 8" S C2

3 U hits R from B baulk

Poor croquet stroke puts R peg high on line of 1 & 2 (fine) but leaves U 9 yds N of K (not so good)

U misses K to S boundary 3 yds E of end of A baulk

4 Y hits 3 ydr at U. U to 2 and approaching 1 with 5 ft backward take off. Runs it cleanly and hits 4yd return for a 4 ball break

In game 1 Robert played turn 2, hitting the supershot and attempting a 2 ball break. More conservative approach this time, but still, in effect, opting for Robert to go round first

K looks like it's found its way to hoop 1 in preparation for some popping as Y runs 3 but with no forward rush

K popped to 2 on the way to 5, only by 6". Rushes U on top of it after 5. Rolls Y to 2 yds S of 1, cannoning K off the hoop line so he can rush it N. Sends it to 1b going to 6

No attempt made at 2nd pop, so presumably we're going to see U left on the back of hoop 1

That is the leave they want (now), but don't get it after 2b, so leave U & R at 2b to have another go after 3b

Looks good now, K 1 yd off W boundary level with 6

5 U misses long lift into C4

Correction: to 1 yd W of C4

6 R misses 5 yd return roquet after 1

7 With Y at his hoop, K takes the obvious 20 ydr at U, missing into C4

8 R hits 16 ydr at U and now has a C4 cannon with Y at his hoop

I beg your pardon. Previous shot by K failed to get into the corner (!), not a cannon now. Tries some cunning cannoning to get U into the lawn after cannoning K and leaving a N bound rush, but misjudges it and R roquets K unintentionally so now has to play the roll from C4 vicinity to 2 & 3

No rush after 3, but going for the standard tp anyway with hoop 4 pioneer approx 2 yds out of C4 along the line to hoop 1. Rolls Y to 5 ft peeling position from N boundary, and gets 1 ft rush back to good peeling position after the hoop

Jawses peel, poor rush to approx max. position on E boundary

Rolls K behind 4 but no rush on U. U goes well past 5 approaching to 2yds staright in front. Clubs it through no wire, almost roqueting the escape ball on the rebound from the wall. Rushes N and opts to go to peelee which will leave a 22 yd to to hoop 5 pioneer 5 yds NW of the hoop

Peg slightly in play for to, so gets 4yd rush on U which he hits solidly to leave an approach from 3yds dead in front. Nervy clang from 2 ft very straight. Calling ref to check if hoop is too tight. Claim refused, despite the fact that ref is an Aussie!

9 K hits 9 ydr at U 2 yds S of the peg. Looks to me that Y in front of 3 was closer, with as easy a break chance. Rushes R through 5, approaches 2 off Y, sticks in the middle

10 Y negotiates tricky roquet from 3yds due E of 2, completing the running of 2 for K

Doesn't get a rush on R or U, so just having a leave for R. I assume he'd have gone to the peg without conceding a lift if he could. Leave is:

K 2 yds N 2

U 3 yds N 1

R&Y E boundary level with 4, R with a rush to C3

Long think. Dilemma seems to be that U's shot is shorter but gives more away, and K arguably has the option of running away

Eventually K misses 30 ydr at R&Y

12 Ian puts K to 2yds E of 4 and cuts Y to 1 yd S of the peg. Ignores U by 2b and rolls up to 6 directly putting Y deep. Powers the 3 footer to the N boundary

Has a rush direct to 1b, which he takes. Doesn't give himself a chance of rushing across for a death roll peel after 1b and fails to get a forward rush. Poor thick to after 1b sends Y 5 yds beyond penult and leaves a 6ydr on pioneer. Misses into A baulk

13 Either ball can play here, but they elect tolift K, the hoop 3 ball. Sends R to 4 and makes 3 off Y, 4 ball break.

Time for a nice cup of tea and go at the ginger and apricot fruit cake

Mmmmmmmmm delicious. Hint of walnut sets it off a treat

Question arises as to whether to dpo with other ball for 2b. Prevailing opinion is getting rid of Robert is a good idea

Americans concur as penult peel is completed to 9"

I think this could get interesting as Jeff and Ian seem to be the nervy players at the moment

Just had the audited crowd figures from Price Waterhouse Coopers: 40 people this afternoon apparently

Couldn't get peelee to rover before 3b, so has set up for peel after. Just clips rush, so will be straight now

Y in great peeling position, R 1 yd W of rover, but no forward rush after penult. Rolls U to approx 1 yd due E of rover. Could be rushed after rover to a position on the E boundary where 5 is in the way of a roll up to 2b

Peel goes 3yds through, runs rover and rushes U to aforesaid position on E boundary

Y pegged out and K goes to N boundary behind 1b

14 Ian lifts R to contact with U and plays a thick take off to K

Rolls up with a 3yd hoop. Long discussion. It is angled, but doesn't look that bad, and its pretty much for the match if you run it. Only concern could be bouncing across to U with a ball at its hoop

My spotter says it's more angled than it looks, 30-35 say

We've come out of hibernation and the hoop is being attempted

Needless to say after that length of discussion, clangs across towards U. Hasn't hit it that hard, so leaves U a 7 ydr, K a 4 ydr

15 K plays, pokes R 2 yds beyond 4 towards C4 and U&K are laying up on the E boundary, 3 yds S of C2. Contemplating leaving a reverse rush at the moment

Which they do. I don't mind this

15 R goes to E boundary vaguelylevel with 3. Looks trivially easy for K to play and get a rush wired by 2 or 3

If not both

16 Which they do, rush is to R

17 R to N boundary, somewhere near line of hoops 1 & 2

18 U rushes K to 2 yds E of R. To add my contribution to the Fulford worshipping which is undoubtedly going on at Nottingham at the moment, if he were playing, K would be poked towards 2 getting a rush on R, finish. K is indeed poked towards 2, but no attempt made to get a rush to 1. R croqueted to 1 yd off S boundary

19 R goes to S boundary directly behind 4, leaving U 2 yd rush to lay a wired rush to 1 behind 2

20 Which Jeff duly does

No worshipping allowed Phil, Rob finished half an hour ago, keep up the good work though

21 R to 2 ft out of C4 on S boundary

22 U rushes to 1, approaches to a ft dead in front with escape ball 5 yds deep. Doesn't get a forward rush. Rolls K to 3 yds SE of C2 and goes into C2 himself

23 R to middle of W boundary

24 U rushes well to hoop 2 but again fails to get a rush after the hoop by bumoing into partner in the hoop stroke. Looks like a big wired area in vicinity of C3 so rolls across. Doesn't find it, so U&K are on E boundary 4yds S of C3, U wired with rush to C4, K open

Mrs S confirms my thought that Jeff is temperamentally particularly suited to this kind of game, and will be happy for R to continue to play this way

25 R goes to W boundary level with 2

26 U lays wired rush to 3

27 R to C4

28 U makes 3 and rushes to 2 yds W of C4 on S boundary. Turns out R is N of C4, so trivial to get a rush on it to 4. Leaves R short of 4, so stops it to 5 getting position at 4. Runs it to the boundary and picks of 4 ydr at K

K goes 3 yds beyond 6, and U lands short of R which is beyond 5. Takes of from 3 yds behind gets 1 ft straight hoop and runs it with no rush

Roll has too much pass, so R is 4 yds short of 1b and U has 4 ft take off from NE of hoop

Critical point approaching, as R's hoop is loaded. Terrific croquet stroke under pressure puts K 1 yd N of 2b and gets a 2ft rush to 1b

Runs 1b and is know taking croquet by 6 going to 2b and 3b

Complete control over 2b, but a bit scrappy coming towards 4b

But two good strokes and balls are perfect as he runs 4b

Finishes to complete a perfect day for the US

Fletcher & Dumergue lost to Lamm & Soo -17 +25tp(F) -6

Test Score
	6	9

Match Score
	1	2

USA won't be caught now