Hail all,
well, job a little tedious as no work whatsoever at the mo so just surfing th enet. everyone very friendly and cheerful so all’s well. getting ready for gower tonight – should be a good weekend if it doean’t pour down with rain. sat is supposed to be ok, but maybe rain on sun. what time are the cravens getting here? will get beds ready.
well, better go and look like i’m doing something. Bye for now
t

There appear to be just as many sets of croquet ‘rules’ as there are croquet websites! However, after submitting my formal complaint concerning taking a ‘foul’ shot again, this is what I got in reply:

“Faults and Penalties:
There are no penalties for faults, fouls, or strokes out of turn. All balls are replaced, offending strokes are replayed, and play continues in the proper sequence.”

Something I completely forgot was that in doubles a version we used to play allowed either ball of a pair to be played on any one turn. As the rules state:

“In International Rules play it is not required to follow the blue-red-black-yellow sequence. Turns alternate between the two sides, and on your turn you may choose to play either ball.”

Also worthy of note, considering the Decoy/Pliskin tendancy to hold informal committee meetings prior to and during each shot, is this:

“Expeditious play is required at all times. Deliberate time-wasting is absolutely improper.”

Wet weather, bad asthma. I find I can barely climb into the attic to check the Test match is still rained off, never mind do anything really active. If it stops raining for long enough it’ll be croquet rather than crud for me. That’s a shame since I was looking forward to testing my skills against Pliskin with his ludicrously overweight bat.

It only started raining after John came round and moaned about climate change and the merciless sun and how we were all doomed to premature extinction. I begged to differ but he was having none of it.

the power of my bat is unsurpassed. Not even by pliskin’s attempts at a copy.

All hail the crud champion!

Also played golf late on sunday. shockingly, solid posted the best score of the day with a creditable 34. slightly and i only managed 35s. we ended up play the last few holes of the final round in near pitch black resulting in much time spent searching for balls. solid lost his ball at the final hole.

I played Liv at crud this weekend. I lost the first two sets (of a five setter) , 6-1, 6-2, and then won the next 7-5. That was on Saturday. Coated with a thick sheen of sweat, we cycled to the beach for a swim. Then, on Sunday, I lost the final set 6-2. Crushing defeat!

We started another game (a three setter), which Liv won the first set of 6-1 and I countered with 6-3.

Although Liv had all the rub of the green, with a stack of shots hitting the sticks and bouncing in off the tree, the dismal fact is, I hadn’t got sufficient skill to deal with his power play. Also, my racquet was clearly past its sell by date.

Oh: Tan’s coming back tomorrow. Should be in around 1pm.