For the final event at the old clubhouse before the modernisation begins, Sussex County were delighted to welcome 11 other teams from England, Scotland, Ireland, Spain and Latvia for the Grand Final of the relatively new European Club League event, with Sussex qualifying for the final as hosts. Playing in at least one player’s head as the players strode out onto the lawns were the great fanfaring trumpets of football’s quasi-Handel Champions’ League music.

As is often the case at these international events there was a terrific atmosphere of camaraderie, celebration and fun. The Sussex team was made up of Richard Brooks, Steve Chapman, Pete Dowd (captain), Liz Farrow, Dom Nunns and Konstantin Yudintsev. Rotating the squad to provide various combinations of four players for each match was proving an effective strategy, as after a good start Sussex ramped things up further on the second morning with two of the only 6-0 wins in the event to top their group.

Whilst probably marginal favourites on paper for their quarter-final match-up the team ran out of steam slightly against skilful and determined opponents from Spain in the form of Club de Campo de Vigo, losing out by 4 games to 3. Roehampton ran out the eventual convincing event winners, with Sussex County finishing 7th.

All agreed that this was an excellent addition to the croquet calendar, providing a wide variety of players the opportunity to travel to clubs and parts of Europe which might be new to them. Which Sussex County players will take up the challenge next year of a trip to who-knows-where to try to secure qualification for the grand final once more?

Dominic Nunns

The 19th AC World Championship will commence on Saturday 18 October in West Palm Beach, Florida. 72 players representing 15 different countries will be competing for the title.

Among these is Gabrielle Higgins from Sussex County Croquet Club - best of luck Gabrielle!

Fundraising Day for Prostate Cancer UK 21st September

The fundraising day, delayed after the deluge of the weekend before, proved to be an incredibly successful event raising over £2500 for Prostate Cancer UK. The charity can claim another 20% in Gift Aid from most of the donations that we have received through our Just Giving page, which alone topped £2000. Not only have we raised money, but I hope that we have raised awareness of this insidious cancer.

Members, families and friends turned up to have a go at croquet-with-a-difference. What did everyone think as they wielded their mallets to play bowls, skittles, racing croquet, the Game of Cards and of course the completely bonkers obstacle course?!  Prizes of chocolate, wine, and smiley or sad faced wooden spoons were handed out for good shots, bad shots, triumph or disaster.

There were some fantastic prizes taken home from a very successful raffle, and of course lots of tea and cake was consumed.

I’d like to say a huge thank you to the team who helped to plan and then pull everything together, and to the wider team of volunteers who helped to make everything run so smoothly and successfully. I’d also like to record a particular thanks to Vincent who amongst other things, set up the Just Giving page that has made all the difference.

Jo Crosby

Secretary's Shield is ours!

Congratulations to Sussex County team for their 5-2 win in the final of the AC Secretary's Shield. Here is Jonathan Isaac's report:

The Sussex County team battled their way round the M25 to Watford to play a very strong Peterborough team in the final of the Croquet England Secretary’s Shield.

Watford Croquet Club gave us a very warm welcome and supplied us with 2 very pleasant lawns situated in an attractive parkland setting.

The morning session consisted of one double and two single handicap games. Gabrielle Higgins & Simon Fenn-Tye won their doubles match. In the morning singles Jonathan Isaacs beat the current World Women’s Champion, Debbie Lines +11 and David Dickins narrowly lost -3 to scratch player Adrian Kirby.

The afternoon session consisted of 4 singles matches with wins by Simon Fenn-Tye +21, David Dickins +9 and Jonathan Isaacs +17, giving us an overall win of 5-2.

Watford Croquet Club were superb hosts supplying us with an excellent lunch and a glass of bubbly (non alcoholic) to celebrate our success at the end of the competition. They even had their own laser engraving machine enabling the Secretary of Croquet England to present us the Shield engraved with Sussex County as 2025 Champions!

This is the first time that SCCC have won this prestigious competition and praise must go to all the members of the team, not only in the final, but in the knockout rounds leading to this victory

Results:
Gabrielle Higgins & Simon Fenn-Tye beat Ian Lines & Stephen Cornelius
Jonathan Isaacs beat Debbie Lines
David Dickins lost to Adrian Kirby
Gabrielle Higgins lost to Debbie Lines
Jonathan Isaacs beat Ian Lines
Simon Fenn-Tye beat Adrian Kirby
David Dickins bea Stephen Cornelius

The club team: Simon Fenn-Tye, Gabrielle Higgins, Jonathan Isaacs and David Dickins