Good morning from Surbiton.

This match will be on lawn 5.

Sorry chaps I was misinformed that this match had found another commentator.

Wright (Blue) has had the first ball round to 4-back, setting up for a spread.  All other clips on 1.

Tidy enough spread.

Soo has lifted Yellow (the ball near W bdry).  Is taking short shot at Black (9y N of 4th corner).  Misses.

Good morning everyone -I've been allocated this match.

Skinley rushes 4 yards short to hoop 1 and underapproaches..............retires to partner on the East boundary

Lamm shoots R at hoop1 to Y at hoop 2.........hits 18 yarder leaving Y nicely at hoop.

Lamm has been a big TPOer, so we'll have to see whether or not he fancies another.

Poor shot means Lamm fails to get any sort of rush to hoop 1.

Cuts his rush to 11y W of C4...............needs a good roll now

Good pace............5 foot straight hoop.........

He's through, but he's got a 6 yard return roquet. Lamm has looked pretty solid at this length...............

hits it in the middle.

Lamm left U behind after hoop 1, so will need to play some good shots for a standard TPO

No, it's still there as he makes hoop 3. Perhaps just a ball to 4-b.

Lamm is hampered after hoop 3............Vincent is called to watch.....................

The shot is clean, but misses K.

K now has an 8 yarder...............hits

Skinley now has very good break prospects

He's made hoop 1 and should have a standard TP if he can rush Y to hoop 2 from 10 yards

Rushes to 3 yards straight

Approach goes left and he's left with a 20 degree hoop. Should be ok, but failable...............

..........blobs

It looks like K has finished on the left hand wire of hoop 2. It's certainly not very easy for Y to hit it. If K can't run, then R can shoot at Y

Y shoots at U which is 2 feet E of hoop 3................misses

Tough choice now for the Kiwis.

Wright takes the sweaty 6 yarder U at Y......................hits

Y is 5y NNE of hoop 3

R 1 y SE of hoop 5

UK are laid up 6y S of C2, wired from R

Y shoots at R.................misses

Skinley didn't get his standard TP, but peeled 4-b before hoop 6

He's now peeled penult before 4-b

Meanwhile........on lawn 3

THE BEAST IS BACK!!!!!!

Well played Dave!!!

Skinley has a 1 foot irish peel at rover

It's through nicely.

Game 1 to Skinley & Wright +23TP (S)

Test score NZ 7 USA 2

Y Soo

R Lamm

K Skinley

U Wright

T1 Y 14y supershot

T2 K dribbles at Y from C1.............misses to 2y NE of the peg

T3 R dribbles at K from end of B-Baulk...................hits

Lamm has made hoop 1

Lamm now has a 3 ball break and is for hoop 4

Lamm 3-b pioneer is at rover, but it shouldn't cause a problem.

It is really getting tricky to distinguish between the abilities of the players with the conditions being so easy.

Lamm is round to 4-b (sorry no graphics from me today, wrong computer)

He's made a 3 ducks leave

Wright shoots U at R from A-Baulk.................misses

Soo chooses to rush to U before hoop 1 and is now rushing from C2 to hoop 1.....poor shot finishes on Wboundary 8y N of C1

Good approach to 2 feet, but he's run the hoop by 10 yards and now has an assortment of 8 yarders

Misses Y back to S boundary.

Y 9y E of C1

U 1y N of hoop 1

K 4y SW of hoop 2

R 2y SW of C2

Wright takes the unusual choice of playing U to C1.

Y hits U................Aaron has suggested I've been quite lenient on my description of Wrights shot and he's right. I'd always have played U at K.

That wasn't very good from Soo..................he's failed hoop 2 and is looking the most nervy player here.

Skinley has a good chance of a break. The Yanks really need all 3 today

Skinley has made hoop 1 and has a break

On lawn 4, Fulford gets the benefit of making a defensive spread third turn............I haven't seen anyone else in the event using their brain in such a manner. The modern player seems to think the game is just about shooting

Skinley is still going round on his 4 ball break

Skinley is round to 4-b, but hasn't done very well with getting control for his leave. I'm not really sure why.

Skinley has managed to drag together a B-Spread with UK 3 yards apart on the E boundary. R is at the peg

Y is taking a 1 fingered lift at R.......................misses

NZ are starting to assert in all 3 matches

Wright rushes too close to R at the peg, so he hasn't got a hoop 2 pioneer.

However, he's made 1, so should be away.

Wright only manages to snick his rush to hoop 2, so tries to roll up from just N of the peg.

2 yard 30 degree hoop looks tricky to me.............

Through to the boundary as if the hoop didn't exist.

After some work, Wright now has a standard TP.

Jawses K in 4-b after hoop 3

This isn't tidy from Wright, but it's still going

I spoke too soon. He had a 3 foot hoop 5 and has run it to 1cm S of the peg..................can't hit anything

Plays to C4.

R is N of 5

Y is E of 6

K is in 4-b

K plays 4 feet W of U

R shoots at K.................misses

U is playing and trying to dig out a break from an unpromising position

I think Wright has just sent Y off the N boundary with his approach to hoop 6

Y shoots at R near C4.................misses

U is taking a 12 yarder ay K.......................misses.

Hopefully they'll have lunch now - I'm hungry

Jeff sends R to hoop 3 and finishes 5 yards short of U....................hits, but he's rushed it 10y N of K and needs a good take-off to get his rush to hoop 2.

No, he's opted to croquet U to hoop 4 and finished with a rush on K pointing at hoop 1.

Cuts it 16y N of C1, an important roll to hoop 2 now.................

Average - he's got a 2 yard 20 degree hoop. Hits loads of the far wire, but it's through by 1 foot and he's got a 4 yarder on K...............

Hits and a standard TP is ahead of him

Fails to peel 4-b after hoop 3. I think Soo might be best just focusing on a break to the peg now

Soo has made hoop 6 and has kept going back to the peelee which is still lurking dangerously around 4-b

Rushes it into the jaws of 4-b after hoop 6 and peels it with a take-off going to his 1-b pioneer

This turn hasn't been all that tidy, but it's still going. Soo has just failed to rush the peelee in front of penult for the peel before 4-b and will now need a straight double

Good ball positioning here from Soo for the straight double. He's one of the best Yanks for understanding of the game.

Irish peel sails through, but it's overhit and finishes 3y S of rover

Fails to rush into peeling position at rover and they're thinking about what leave to make. It will be rover and peg v 6 and 4-b

K (for 4-b) is 11y W of hoop 6

U is in the middle of rover

R is 11y N of C4 and has a rush on Y to K

Lunch

U lifts to B-Baulk and rushes R to C4

Long hoop 6 for Wright coming up................

Runs it and has a break. It's all about making a good leave now.

I like Y in 3-B, R over on the W side of the lawn and UK laid up 12 to 13y N of C4 with a rush to R.

But Y on 4-b is also playable, though less easy to achieve in my opinion

Looks like Wright is following one of my Golden Rules....."If in doubt, a diagonal spread is never bad"

It's a diagonal spread with Y at the peg

R lifts to A-Baulk and shoots at K.................

No, Lamm is now in B-Baulk and is shooting at Y................

Hits the peg and finishes 2y NE of A-Baulk. That should be match to the Kiwis

Skinley has made 4-b and has all the balls

Skinley and Wright win game 2 +3, and the match 2-0

Test score NZ 8 USA 2

The other lawns are also looking Black