TEA and cake will be served in York this weekend as some of the country’s most elite croquet players go head-to-head. Spectators are invited to the York Croquet Club lawns in Scarcroft Road where the England Ladies team will take on Yorkshire’s all male team, in a match billed as a Battle of the Sexes.
Four of the England Ladies croquet team look on with amusement as Yorkshire get into a 'team huddle' complete with Yorkshire flag and ferretSpectators are invited to attend both the Saturday and Sunday games from 10 am to 4 pm. A simple guide to the game will be made available, while club members are preparing tea and homemade cake for visitors. Each day will feature three simultaneous games in the morning and three in the afternoon.
John Harris, Chairman of York Croquet Club, said: “This is a great opportunity to see some of the best croquet players in the country playing this engaging game. The Yorkshire team did very well in the Croquet Counties last year and the English Ladies decided they’d like to test their skills against them. Last year they challenged Lancashire and beat them, so there is every prospect of a very interesting series of games.”
Anyone who is heading to the challenge match and wanting to try the game for themselves will be very welcome. Croquet is typically a game of strategy not strength. It is one of the few games played on equal terms regardless of gender or age, and a close result is expected.
Mr Harris added: “Croquet is an absorbing strategic game. Like in snooker, players are trying to build breaks to score more than one hoop in a turn. Often it makes sense for a player to move away from the next hoop and reposition balls in another part of the lawn before returning to run the hoop, which makes the game intriguing to watch.”
From The Press, May 2017