Richard Leach represented Bury Croquet Club in this event which brought together
14 players off all handicap levels mainly 5 down to -3 with three plays on 8,9 and 12.
On a glorious weekend Richard set himself a target of winning half his matches.
The event was all play all and at the end Richard won 8 and lost 5.
Which meant he reached his target and in doing so brought his handicap down from 5 to 4.
Below are two pictures one showing Richard relaxing and the other him thanking one of his
opponents for good game after beating him.

Write-up David Leach

On Saturday 8th August, in glorious sunshine and high temperatures, Crake Valley hosted the 2020
GC Handicap millennium competition.
The day got off to a bad start with news that 2 players from Chester had a punctured tyre on the M6
and had to turn back after it had been repaired. Luckily, David Leach (Bury) and Sandra Cornes
(Crake Valley) were present and agreed to fill the spaces. So we had 12 players from 5 clubs
competing.
At the end of the group stage the semi finals took place. Frank Sharps (Crake Valley) beating Bernard
Lord (Bury) 7-4 and Richard Leach (Bury) beating Peter Uglow (Pendle) 7-5.
The final was keenly and fairly contested. Frank used his 3 extra turns well and the match went to
the 13 th hoop. Richard played a superb first shot to give sight of the hoop but couldn’t capitalise.
After a short exchange of play Frank held his nerve to run the hoop and win 7-6.
All players complemented the club for the quality of the lawns and the surrounding areas. The club
thanked the players for making the competition a most enjoyable day.
The picture shows Frank with his celebratory drink.

Taken from Crake Valley website

The bank holiday was a busy time for croquet at Crake Valley.
On Saturday 29 August, twelve croquet players from six clubs in the north west played the North West Federation’s Short Lawn AC Millennium Competition.
After 3 group matches, there was only one player with 3 wins and seven with 2 wins so hoop difference was important.
In the Semi finals Barbara Young (Bury) overcame John Henderson (Penrith) 12-8 and Neil Adams (Westmorland) beat Ian Theakstone (Fylde) 14-1.
In the final Neil used his additional bisques very well giving Barbara only a few chances on the lawn, before he won 14-5.
It was Neils first experience of competitive play and his handicap was reduced from 5 to 4.
In the 3rd place play off John beat Ian 14-7.
Many thanks to Tournament Manager, David Cornes, and Referee, Jim Allcock, as well as all the helpers that made this enjoyable event run smoothly.
The tournament showed how competitive croquet can be played in a pleasant manner and good company.

Report David Leach

Jack & Graham both entered the postponed GC Open held at Sussex County.
The format was 8 player blocks, all play all, best of 3, followed by knock-out or the Plate.
In the blocks Graham had an number of very close results - including taking a game, 7-2, off Will Gee (-4) for the 1st time ever and just losing 7-6 in the 3rd.
He also took games off eventual semi-finalist Stuart Smith (-4) and England international Richard Brooks but with no jump shot due to his shoulder injury he finished 7th in the block - just as predicted by his ranking.
Having never played a best of three, Jack performed well above expectations taking games of 4 of his opponents including losing 7-6, 6-7, 6-7 to Jonathon Powe (-4).
In fact with 6 extra points he would have reached the knock-out.
The Plate saw Jack continue where he left off. He won his block comfortably, beating 2 minus 3's and and a -2.
The semi's saw him play local player Tudor Jenkins (-1) in his first ever 19 point game.
He 'won' 7-2 then remembered it was a 19 pointer and although Tudor crept back Jack won 10-8.
Then came the rain.....
With a shocking forecast and no likelihood of any play, both the finalists were happy to share the trophy
BUT permission was required from the Tournament Director, who was not present and could not be contacted.
So after a 2 hour wait Jack & Neil (another local player) ventured out onto a very soggy lawn.
Jack gained an early lead in the final and belying his age played a superb controlled game winning 10-7 without any drama.
Stephen Mulliner, the Manager and eventual winner, wrote this on the CA website:
'The youngest player by far was Jack Good, 14. In the blocks, he took games from Tudor Jenkins, Tim Jolliff, Ron Carter and Jonathan Powe.
The latter was a great match with the closest-possible score - 6-7, 7-6, 7-6 to Jonathan.
Jack has a great attitude and visibly improved as the event progressed.
It was both very welcome and no surprise to see him win his Plate block and then defeat Tudor Jenkins in the semi-final
and the improving local player, Neil Humphreys, in the final to win the Plate.
Jack has a great future in croquet if he persists'.

Report Graham Good

Chris Alvey from Bury Croquet Club has been appointed the Board Member with responsibility for the Croquet Performance and Selection portfolio by The Croquet Association. He is a Grade 1 Association coach and helps members to make the conversion to Association Croquet. In conjunction with this new role Chris has also been co-opted onto the working group: Referee Training and Certification

Report Roy Turner

Match report for Day 2.
Day got off to a sunny start with the Anne and Chris Alvey playing each other having both won 3 matches on Day 1.
Anne knocked Chris all over the lawn to take the win by 17 and move into the afternoon games as the clear leader.
David Cornes, Paul Dowdall, Philip Bass, Barbara Young & Steve Skelton also took victories I the mornings play.
The afternoon had the potential to make it a tie break situation for second place, but the final standings were
joint 3rd were John Henderson, David Cornes and Philip Snowdon all with three wins, runner up Chris Alvey with four
and tournament winner Anne Alvey having won all five.
Anne reduced her handicap to 18 whilst David Cornes had his handicap reduced to 14 by tournament handicapper Paul Rigge.
Tournament under-manager Liz Wilson and all of the players would like to extend their thanks to Paul Rigge and
Pendle & Craven Croquet club for their organisation and hospitality

Report Chris Alvey

Jack & Graham Good played @ Ashby on the 27/28th June.
It was in the National Forest GC Championship a qualifying round of the season long (but somewhat curtailed) Ascot Cup.
Given the CA's rather enthusiastic interpretation of the Covid-19 Regulations the field was limited to 12.
We also had to take our own clips, ball markers and even pens to record scores.
In Pool 'B' Graham was seeded 4th but massively outplayed his ranking to finish 2nd - thus guaranteeing a place in the semi but also qualification in the end of season Final.
In Pool 'A' Jack lost 5/5, the scores were 7-6, 7-6, 7-5, 7-4 & 7-4 but they did include the UK #7 and #32.
Sunday saw Graham lose the semi 3-7, 6-7 to Ian Burridge, the 2 hour drive and straight on to play probably not helping.
For Covid reasons (lawn allocation) there was no 3/4 play-off.
The Final between Ian Burridge & Rachel Rowe was a true epic. Ian went 2-0 and 6-1 up but Rachel won the last 3 games all by 7-6 to take the trophy.
An event that we will remember for a long time.
The Covid rules (as applied) need some serious thinking about but many have already been superseded by changes to Regulations.
Everyone knew what they were letting themselves in for and it was a true shame that one individual did not 'go with the flow'.
If they were that unhappy perhaps a graceful withdrawal would have been more appropriate!
Report by Graham Good