Morning all, and welcome to Surbiton for the first time today. The overall situation is very clear: GB with two test wins need to beat Australia, no wins, to retain the Shield. If Australia beat GB, then the winner of New Zealand v. USA will triumph.

As I pedalled in this morning it was nippy, but a cloudless sky. But as the players warm up the clouds are moving in. No rain forecast however. Lawns are reading 11 Plummers.

GAME 1

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1 K to middle E boundary

2 R to C2

3 U shoots at K from end of B bailk, misses, joining 4 yds wide

4 Y Misses U & K from B baulk into C4

5 U cuts his 4 ydr on K into C4 for a cannon. U goes to 7 yds E of peg and he's approaching 1 from 4 yds SW. Runs it with no rush. Rolls Y to 3 and gets a rush on U to C2. Hard to tell whether he was trying to rush to the corner or the hoop, but playes an excellent 5 yd take off to get a rush to the hoop and is away

Approaching 4b, heading for an NSL

NSL it is

6 R lifts from hoop 4 and misses long lift into C4

7 Ian overcuts rush to 1 on Y and now has to approach it with a take off fron 8 yds NW. runs it by a yd and misses 7 yd roquet

8 After a brief pause while Beast locates and delivers Bodger's mallet, Y more or less centre balls U

Another pause for mid-court discussion this time. I suppose they're talking about the tpo tactics, but us mortals would be worrying about making hoop 1 still. But then plays a perfect croquet stroke putting Y to 2 getting a rush on K to 1

K in C4 is retrieved after 4 with R at 5. Options seem to be 1 1b leave folloowed by tpo, or ball to 4b with a pop or two. He's put K up to 5 yds W of 4b, and U follows it there. Maybe he's having a delayed tpo after all

Rush on peelee is short, leaving a 1ft 55 degree peel. Will have to play it straight to get it in the jaws, which would leave a 3yd cut to 6

Takes off, leaving peelee 6" more or less straight in front, and rushes U to 6

Rush peels after 6! Rolls peelee to penult going to R at 1b

Death roll penult peel after 1b going to a less than ideal 2b pioneer, 6" WSW of the hoop. Roquetes 5yd roquet on it 6 yds NE of the hoop, approaches to 5 ft, slight angle. Lots of casting. Stops, removes jumper, re-casts

Solid rejection to W boundary

9 Ian lifts U to C1 and rushes 8 ydr on Y to 2, his hoop

Makes 2 & 3 on a 2 ball, with R & K waiting at 4 & 5/rover respectively, so laid single peel for the first game

Rover peel safely accomplished after 5. 4 ball break for the win now

Finishes

Test Score
	0	0

Match Score
	0	1

GAME 2

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1 R to C2

2 Y to 1 yd N C4

3 K into C4

4 U hits Y. Rushes K poorly to 7 yds WNW of 1. Rolls to 5 ft slightly angled hoop position. Smooooooths it 7 yds through, smashes 3yd return back to S boundary 6 yds W of C4

Big hello from Ian to Cerdwen, his missus, tuning in I understand back in Oz

Blimey, feels like Two-Way Family Favourites all of a sudden

Big cut gets Y from just out of C4 to 2 yds ESE of C2, so gets his rush to hoop 2

After 2 rushes back into C2 to get a good rush to 3, rather than crashing through and tonking off the 5 ydr. The old codgers round me nod approvingly

Nick Hyne has just said he'd like to send some greetings, but unfortunately he's Billy Nomates, so can't.

Meanwhile U runs a 3 ft 45 degree hoop 3 with Murray control, leaving a rush to C1. 14 yd take off secures a good rush to C4, where K is a yd off the S boundary 6 yds out of the corner

Excellent croquet stroke puts R to 5 and gets an 18" rush straight to 4. More knowing nods from the codgers

U reaches 4b with a spread. Nice turn, codgers applaud

5 Y lifted to 1 yd E of end of B baulk, where it appears to have an open 10 ydr at R by hoop 2. Hits

Runs 1 with no rush. Puts U to 3 getting rush to C3 on K, R 1 yd off N boundary behind 2. Rushes K to N boundary 3 yds out of C3. Rushes R to 4 yds NNE of hoop 2, takes off to position and crahses through back to the boundary. Standard tpo awaits, which I have no doubt he'll take

4b peel rejects after 3, and Y sticks in 5 from 6" straight in front, presumably trying to get a forward rush

6 K misses U in front of 4b from hoop 6

7 Long discussion, then Y completes 6, rushes R to middle N boundary, sends K to 3 yds E 1b, but rush on U to 6 looks like it hits the hoop first , clangs hoop solidly back to E boundary after take off appoach from 6 yds

More solid play for a break would have been putting R to 1b getting a rush on U to K, but presumably R&Y were very intent on the tpo

8 K hits 5 ydr on R and has rushed to 3ft dead in front of 1, more or less laid tp fror the match

4b peel just through after 3

Rushed back through 3 after 4, and goes to 6 before 5

Momentary palpitation as K hits the peg on it's way to 6 after 5, but springs free for easy roquet

Out of nowhere (which I have to say as I wasn't watching at the time) K gives itself a 40 degree 3b, which it clangs

9 Y roquets K to S boundary 5 yds W of C4, U & 6 (Y's hoop), R 4 yds E of 6. Long discussion, presumably about whether to dpo. Ultimately plays not a very good croquet stroke putting K 3 yds ENE of 6 and leaving 4 yd shot on R. Hits U. It's possible he was crossed from R by 4b. Takes off from 18 yds and cuts Y to 2 yds E of 6, stoppo approach sends R to 1b and leaves Y an easy hoop

Can't see there being any of the dpo now, so I'm expecting a ball to 4b

Runs 3b with all the balls there. Was looking like an NSL with K on 4 until he bumps into partner sending K to 8 yds S of 2

Ends up with R&Y in C4, R with a rush to C3, K middle of E boundary

10 K misses short lift

11 R making 2 off Y. No rush after 2, so no peel attempt after 3. Y now 4ft in front of 4bas R approaches 5. Hoop 6 pioneer is a bit far S, approx 3 yds ENE of 6

Jawses 4b peel going to 6. Completes peel after, and rolls peelee to penult going to penult. 2b pioneer in good position 4 yds NNE of 2b if he fancies a death roll

Which he does, getting a 2 ft rush on said pioneer

Peelee rushed to 4/5ft in front of rover after 2b. Peelee ends up dead in front of rover not quite in the jaws going to 3b

Ignored after 3b. Good control after penult will give him a chance of the rush peel before rover thus avoiding having to rush back to the peg after , but shouldn't matter even if he doesn't get it

Gets a forward rush after penult, but rover pioneer is a bit too far N, so rover peel is Irished from in the jaws. Finishes

Maugham and Beijderwellen beat Fletcher & Dumergue +8tp(M)

Test Score
	1	0

Match Score
	1	1

Lunch

GAME 3

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1 K supershot, first of the test

2 R to middle E boundary

3 U misses R from B baulk into C4

4 Y misses R from A baulk

5 K misses Y

6 Rutger hunts for partner. Finds him, discussion ensues, presumably about who should play. It does look easier for R as it can rush cannon K into the lawn with Y a bit. That's what they decide, but the rush cannon misses. R now rushes K into C4 for a cannon

Cannon sending K to 2, inevitably leaves U 7 yds short of 1, but the 3 ft 45 degree hoop is hammered a yd through and the 4 yd roquet clubbed to hoop 6.Rolled to 3 going to y, and the 4 ball break is established

I should take this opportunity to offer my profuse apologies to Ceridwen, whose name I misspelt earlier. Particularly careless in view of the fact that, anticipating just such a rookie error, I had written it down beforehand. Sorry!

Mind you, you'd have to say life was a lot easier in the days when all Australian women were called Sheila

We're just waiting for the Beast to reach 4b here. Rutger's not had a leave named after him yet, so will just have to wait and see what he gets

Conclusion seems to be if your partner's not had a leave named after him, do the one that's named after yourself

MSL it is

7 U misses long lift to 1 ft W of C4

8 Takes off to hoop 1 from 3 yds E, clangs 2 ft 60 degree hoop to W boundary 5 yds N of C1, conceding wiring lift to ball at 2

9 K lifts to C1, hits 5 ydr, but hits hoop 1 getting cross wired from R, sending Y to 2. Misses U into C4. Big let off for GB there

10 Y misses 19 ydr at R

11 With a 4 ball break for either ball, Robert is playing K, so I'd be surprised not to see a tpo here

Balls duly arrive at standard tpo position as Y approaches 3

Only for R to be sent to 5 after 3 for another of those "What do I know?" moments

This could be a confidence thing after Robert put down his finishing turn in game 2

Goes to 4b, Y 4 ft off W boundary level with 6

12 Y takes short lift from End of A baulk, might be a bit of R poking into view

Misses

13 U roquets K first, gets severe cut on U to 1, which he plays extremely well to a yd SW of the hoop. Runs it and rushes back to E boundary 4yds SE of K. K goes to 3/4b and gets a 2 ft rush to 2 on Y which is 2 yds W of 6. Terriffic shot, so now approaching 2 from 2yds dead in front with everything else in position for a tp to clinch the match

Puts the escape ball deep to leave an incourt rush after running 2 to the boundary. All there now as he approaches 3

I've just been graced with the company of George Noble, who for those of you who don't know does most of the work at Surbiton. A couple of days ago he finished a six day stint of mowing seven lawns every day single handedly, a total distance of 42 miles. Respec!

He's asked me to pass on his message of peace, love and understanding to the world. Meanwhile 4b peel sails 4yds through and has been collected after 5

This has been an extremely accurate break thus far by Ian Dumergue, completely vindicating the Aussies choice of who should have the first ball round

Vigorous penult peel takes no wire and goes through 6 yds S of rover. 1b pioneer is 6" S of 1b, so getting a forward rush, helpful for digging out K again could be tricky

But rushing pioneer into the jaws of 1b seems to neatly solve that problem

Everything back in good position as he runs 2b

Well I say that, as he gets cross wired from peelee after 2b. Conks 4 ydr on 3b pioneer to in front of the hoop, so just means the rover peel will be straight now

Straught peel from 1 ft dead in front...

...is Irished through 3 yds, U grovelling through to leave slightly awkward shot on escape ball as rover is in play

Courteously calls for ref but walks all over it

Finishes

Test Score
	1	1

Match Score
	1	2

Maugham & Beijderwellen lost to Fletcher & Dumergue -19 +8tp(M) -17tp(D)