AUCKLAND PARK - CROQUET

Croquet at CCJ

CCJ has three superb full-size tournament lawns. The Croquet Section is always ready to welcome new members. All equipment is provided. Any member of CCJ interested in giving croquet a go should just come along to one of our regular Club sessions, see “Croquet Programme”.

The size and quality of our complex – there are even floodlights for evening play - puts CCJ in the top bracket of croquet venues internationally. Both Association Croquet and Golf Croquet, to World Croquet Federation rules, are played.

Between Tuesdays and Saturdays the facility is fully serviced from the bowls and croquet pavilion (on Sundays and Mondays refreshments may be obtained from the main club house).

Croquet Administrator and Coach

David Dladla is our full time administrator and coach. He ensures that the lawns are properly laid out and the required equipment is available. He is available to coach croquet and to give advice on equipment and on the rules/techniques of both codes of the game.

Victor is seen below playing in a recent Centenary tournament

The facility is for the use of croquet section members and their guests and for tournament play.

For corporate and private parties, there is a three quarter-size lawn on kikuyu grass nearer to the main clubhouse, which can be sub-divided into smaller lawns when a simple version of golf croquet is played.

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Croquet holidays for overseas visitors

Bona fide overseas croquet players can enjoy reciprocal membership rights at CCJ - accommodation can be booked at The Lodge and all the other facilities at Auckland Park can be enjoyed – ideal for croquet players with non-playing partners. Visiting players can play and practice on their own, join in one of our regular club sessions for either golf or association, or receive coaching from Victor Dladla. Competitive play can be arranged in the form of informal – association or golf – mini tournaments involving local players who will be delighted to have the opportunity of matching their skills against new opponents.

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tournamentS

CCJ hosted an open association croquet tournament from 16th to 24th February 2008 with 20 overseas and 8 local players taking part.

Five separate events were played in almost unbroken sunshine on CCJ’s four lawns – with the occasional use of two additional ones at the Zoo Lake CC 4 km away.

The results were as follows:

A Class singles: Winner: Andrew Winn (for the second year running). Runner up: Dick Knapp.
B Class singles: Winner: Michael Town. Runner up: Mary Knapp.
Handicap Singes: Winner: Bob Stephens. Runner up: Esther Jones.
Advanced Doubles: Winners: David Mumford & Michael Town. Runners up: Dick & Mary Knapp.
Handicap Doubles: Winners: Tim Dutton & Mary Knapp. Runners up: George Noble & Sue Strong.

Sue Strong, George Noble & Sylvia Steer enjoying the sunshine …	The lawnside bar was on tap all day …
Meshack Mazibuko and Victor Dladla were photographed for an excellent article in “The Star”	Andrew Winn with The Culligan Tray
Trophies were presented at the outdoor spit roast dinner on the final evening …
Mike Town receiving The Chris Bennett Trophy from Esther	Bob Stephens won The Cherry Coulson Shield
The Doubles winners received beadwork croquet souvenirs…
Mike Town & David Mumford	Mary Knapp & Tim Dutton

For all tournament enquiries contact Victor Dladla.

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Recruitment and development

Croquet was re-introduced to Country Club in 1997. CCJ has subsequently become one of the strongest croquet clubs in South Africa. Meshack Mazibuko and Victor Dladla have represented South Africa twice, in Cairo in 2000 and in England in 2003.

CCJ croquet has enjoyed positive growth over the last few years. As a result of excellent in house coaching members' handicaps are continuously improving. Now that our facilities have expanded so dramatically, so has our capacity for membership. Our aim is to make all CCJ members – young and old, male and female, retired or working, aware of the benefits croquet has to offer.

Unlike the northern hemisphere, South Africa does not enjoy long summer evenings, and as a result has until now been played more by the retirement fraternity. The installation of lights enables CCJ members to play after work on weekdays and continue well into the evening. Introductory evening events with lawnside drinks and snacks will become a regular part of the calendar.

Croquet is somewhat like golf in the way that it accommodates players of differing skills through the use of handicaps. There is no discrimination by way of gender or age. Some of the longer "roll" shots might require greater strength, but on the whole physical fitness is not important. Croquet is therefore open to all.

Strategy, however, does play a major role and players are required to exercise a fair level of lateral thinking. Golf croquet is more sociable with games lasting on average about 40 minutes. Association croquet is akin to chess in terms of forwarding planning, and snooker in terms of geometry – a well contested game will last about three hours.

Unless they already have a croquet background, new members are first taught to play golf croquet, and participate in regular friendly competition. Those wishing to progress to the more complex code of association croquet are encouraged to do so and will be assisted by existing members. Regular coaching by Victor Dladla is available. Practice is essential for anyone hoping to progress at association croquet – the new facilities at CCJ are ideal for this. Players are initially ranked internally but there are plenty of opportunities to play against other clubs at provincial or national level.

In particular, the presence of overseas players at CCJ will give members a considerable amount of friendly tournament play, against a variety of opponents. Members will also be encouraged to watch “exhibition” games between top level players with a lawnside commentary explaining the strategy being employed.

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Equipment and clothing required

The club has 12 croquet mallets for use by new members. The general practice is for members to try out the various types of CCJ mallet before purchasing their own. Mallets are imported from the UK and generally cost in the region of UKP 150, but this will last you a lifetime. This is the only cost outlay required as all other equipment is provided by the club.

Barlow GT balls are used, but the Club now has a set of Dawson balls for top class play.

There is no specific dress code for general play. For competition play, however, whites or predominantly white are expected to be worn. In order to protect the lawns, flat shoes are essential, and sun protection is advised.

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Programme of play

The normal programme for weekly play is as shown on the strip at the top of this webpage. It is only subject to variation during holiday periods and tournaments.

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Committee and National structure

The croquet committee is as follows:

• John Hindle (Chairman)
• Werner Kirchhoff
• Meshack Mazibuko
• Marlene Morris
• Chris Wakeham
• John Woolcott
• Liz Schoeman

CCJ croquet is a member of the Association of Gauteng Croquet Clubs, which in turn is affiliated to the South African Croquet Association. There are four clubs in Gauteng and fifteen clubs in South Africa.

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Contact us

The Committee chairman is John Hindle and his contact number is 082 904 4939, e-mail johnplat@worldonline.co.za.

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An Outline of the Game

Croquet is played on a lawn or 'court' of dimensions 35 x 28 yards. Almost all croquet is played on completely flat, closely-mown fine grass (similar to bowls). Artificial surfaces, such as 'Astro-turf' or cinder, and indoor carpets are rare.

There are six cast-iron hoops set firmly into the ground, and a peg. The layout never varies. Balls, four to a game, each weigh one pound and have a diameter which, in top-class competition, is only one sixteenth of an inch less than the inside width of a hoop.

Mallets typically weigh three pounds. Modern materials improve their durability and balance, but substantial change to their playing characteristics through design is banned.

There are three main variants of the game: Golf Croquet, Association Croquet (International Rules), and American Rules Croquet. In Golf Croquet (or 'the sequence game') the objective of each player is to get one of his balls through each hoop first. When the first hoop is scored all players move on to the second hoop, and so on. Each turn comprises only one stroke. The merit of Golf Croquet is simplicity and an analogy between it and 'Association Croquet' is like that between draughts and chess. Interestingly, the nation most adept at Golf Croquet is Egypt. Cairo's many clubs play floodlit croquet in front of sizeable spectator crowds.

In Association Croquet a large number of different strokes are used to achieve various aims. Once one ball is struck ('roqueted') it allows two further strokes - the croquet stroke, where the player's ball is placed next to the ball roqueted and both are struck, and a continuation stroke, in which another ball may be roqueted or a hoop run. In this way breaks are built and it is not uncommon for a good player to take a ball through every hoop in one turn. In Association Croquet both of a player's balls have to go through every hoop (that is twelve - each is run in both directions) and hit the peg to win.

At the highest level, Association Croquet has complex tactics that involve 'peeling' the partner ball (where a player's first ball will attempt to strike the second ball through its own hoop). One description of croquet in common use is 'snooker on grass', since the range of skills and tactics, allied to superb hand-eye co-ordination, is similar to that of snooker.

Both Golf and Association croquet are governed by The World Croquet Federation and each have their own World Championships.

The third variation belongs exclusively to North America, where a significant variation to 'International Rules' evolved. It differs from Association Croquet in the same way that rugby league differs from rugby union. The skills required for both are transferable, with US and Canadian players, hungry for international competition, willing to adopt the standard version.

Croquet owes much of its recent growth in popularity to having a well-developed handicapping system. As in golf, once a newcomer to association croquet has grasped the basics he/she will be given a handicap of about 24. Top players will be on scratch or down to minus 2. Each point on the handicap scales allows a player to claim a free turn (called a 'bisque') at any point during a game. So, two players, be they male or female, ten years old or 90, or even fit or disabled, can play each other off their own handicaps, on equal terms, with no quarter given and none taken.

Top-level croquet is, of course, played without handicaps. Between players a match, comprising best of three or best of five games, is normal. Such a match will typically last between two and five hours.

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Organisation worldwide

'Serious' players inevitably belong to a club, though judging by sales of garden croquet sets, those that regularly play in the garden outnumber those in clubs by as much of a factor ten.

A club might comprise only one lawn, or it may have ten or more. The advantages of sharing facilities (well-maintained lawns, equipment, etc.) are matched by having a group of like-minded and willing opponents available for friendly games, club tournaments, inter-club matches and open events. Croquet is an extremely sociable sport. It is quite normal for a player visiting another part of the globe to look up the local croquet club, to wander along and receive a generous welcome.

Croquet is mainly played in a season lasting between Spring and Autumn, during which time there is a wide variety of tournaments to choose from. A large proportion are at weekends. Handicap events are very popular but top players seeking open events also have plenty of choice.

In each country most clubs are affiliated to a national Croquet Association. Such a body will oversee the administration of the game, will attend to marketing issues, publish newsletters, fixture books, etc. and will often provide financial assistance to developing clubs.

The World Croquet Federation (WCF) is the body to which national associations are affiliated. Besides promoting the sport worldwide, the WCF controls the world championships.

An International Laws Committee overseas the laws and regulations and when these are revised each national association is invited to formally adopt them.

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A Brief History

The origins of croquet are obscure. However, it is thought that the sport was introduced to England from Ireland in the 1850s.

In the latter part of the 19th century and early 20th century it grew very rapidly in popularity, being an agreeable pastime for the upper classes, while being played on equal terms by men and women, the old and the young.

When lawn tennis took off croquet declined in popularity and a large proportion of courts were turned over to the new game. Indeed, the dimension of a tennis court owes itself to two fitting snugly within the area of one croquet court.

At the height of its popularity croquet spread throughout the British Empire and this laid the foundations of the game's strongest supporters being within the present Commonwealth.

It is said that snooker probably owes its origins to croquet. A theory, supported by strong circumstantial evidence, suggests that in the rainy season in India, when croquet could not be played, an indoor version was devised. Based on the already established game of billiards, it had green baize instead of grass, six pockets instead of six hoops, multi-coloured balls were retained and the two games have much in common in terms of estimating angles, devising breaks, etc.

Between the 1920s and the 1960s croquet was in decline. However, since then, an increase in leisure time (especially among the retired) and successful attempts to market the game have led to a surge of interest worldwide.

In particular, it is now very egalitarian. Indeed, it is a relatively inexpensive sport and has appeal to a wide range of abilities. In the past 20 years far more young people have taken up croquet and players between the ages of about 20 to 45 form the backbone of international competition. For a sport in which men and women compete on equal terms, croquet has always been a sport where women have played alongside men at the highest levels. Indeed, there was once a famous Australian test team composed entirely of ladies. For a reason difficult to fully explain, while now women still make up about a half of all club players, a much smaller proportion are represented now at the highest levels.

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Golf Croquet - A Synopsis

The opposing sides each have two balls: Black and Blue against Red and Yellow. A side may be one or two people (i.e. singles or doubles). Each side plays alternately in rotation: blue, red, black, yellow as shown on the centre peg.
Each turn consists of one stroke only: no extra turn is gained by running a hoop or hitting another ball as in Association Croquet To start the game, toss a coin. The winner of the toss plays black and blue, and blue always starts.

The opening shots are played from within one yard of the corner nearest hoop 4, and the players aim to run the hoops in order from 1 to 12. A deciding hoop is run if the scores are equal at this point, making thirteen in all. Some games may finish after 7 hoops and other after 19. The winner is the side that scores the most points out of the total hoops contested.

To score a point, a ball must run completely through the hoop. A ball has run a hoop if you can slide a straight edge down the front of the hoop without touching the ball. It may run the hoop in more than one go. If a ball should go through two hoops in order in the same stroke, both points are scored.

The side that first gets a ball through Hoop 1 scores that point and then all balls go for the next hoop in order (i.e. Hoop 2). All players must contest the same hoop. A player may proceed towards the next hoop before the previous hoop is run, however the opposing team may request that any ball which is more than halfway towards the next hoop, when the hoop is actually run, is brought back to specific half way points as specified in the detailed rules.

A ball that goes off the court is replaced on the boundary where it went off but will be temporarily moved if it interferes with the playing of another ball.

Any striking of a player's ball as part of a player's turn must be a clean hit and there are a number of faults that a player may make as he strikes the ball. These are defined in the detailed rules and are called striking faults. If a player commits any such fault all balls are replaced in their position before the faulty stroke was made and the player loses his turn.

If a player plays out of sequence and it is noticed before the opponent plays, the opponent may either have the balls left where they are or replaced were they were before the erroneous stoke, and the opponent then continues play with either of his balls. If more than one ball is played out of sequence before it is noticed, play continues in the sequence set by the last ball played, no balls are replaced. If a player plays the wrong ball, either an opponent's or his partner's ball in doubles, the balls are replaced in their original position or left where they lie, at the opponent's discretion, and the opponent continues play with either of his own balls.

To allow evenly contested games between players of different abilities the weaker player is given a number of extra strokes (called bisques) which can be taken at any stage of the game. However he may not score a hoop in a bisque stroke.
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Croquet Country by Country

The following table shows an analysis of the main countries in which Association Croquet is played, with statistics based on the representation of each in the world rankings. As can be seen, the Commonwealth countries represent about 90% of all top players, with the USA and the Republic of Ireland being the only significant countries outside of the Commonwealth.

Some other Commonwealth countries do play croquet on a casual basis (for instance, Bermuda and Jamaica) and it is possible that they might wish to send a representative should croquet become a Games sport.

	Top 20		Top 100		Top 500
	Num.	%	Num.	%	Num.	%
England	7	35%	32	32%	177	35%
Wales			5	5%	16	3%
Scotland			1	1%	14	3%
Ireland	1	5%	4	4%	13	3%
Jersey			2	2%	4	1%
Isle of Man					1	0%
Australia	3	15%	27	27%	124	25%
New Zealand	7	35%	19	19%	96	19%
South Africa	1	5%	3	3%	7	1%
USA	1	5%	6	6%	33	7%
Canada			1	1%	7	1%
Belgium					1	0%
Switzerland					4	1%
Italy					1	0%
Spain					1	0%
Luxembourg					1	0%
Total	20		100		500
Commonwealth	18		90		446
	90%		90%		89%

The next table shows the number of clubs affiliated to the national croquet associations of the eight major croquet-playing countries of the Commonwealth (i.e. those with at least one player in the world top 100), and the total number of playing members of these clubs.

	Clubs		Members
	No	%	No	%
England	120	21%	3500	23%
Wales	3	1%	76	1%
Scotland	9	2%	130	1%
Jersey	1	0%	50	0%
Australia	277	49%	6841	45%
New Zealand	136	24%	4000	26%
South Africa	14	2%	200	1%
Canada	11	2%	300	2%
Total	571		15097

© 2000-2003, 2005 The Croquet Association - http://www.croquet.org.uk/

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