The 20th Croquet World Series for the MacRobertson Shield 2010
The WCF World Association Croquet Team Championship*
*For full details of this accreditation please see Frequently Asked Questions
- Introduction & Tiers
- Entry
- Venues
- Transport/Hotels
- Other
- Format
- Background of WTC
The WCF World Association Croquet Team Championship (incorporating the the Croquet World Series for the MacRobertson Shield) will take place in England from 6th to 22nd August 2010.
Organised on a joint basis by the WCF and the four governing bodies of the MacRobertson Shield, the event is split into three tiers, open to all WCF member associations.
Details of the entry conditions for WCF members that make up "Great Britain"
Tier 1 is organised by the Croquet Association (of England) and is comprised of Australia, Great Britain, New Zealand and the USA. The winning team of Tier 1 shall receive the MacRobertson Shield donated by the original 1925 sponsor:-
The Tier will be played at five different venues over thee weeks from 6th to 22nd August 2010.
It is governed by the 2010 MacRobertson Shield Regulations
Weather Conditions:
Manchester Weather
Nottingham Weather
London Weather
SCHEDULE
The full schedule is as follows:-
Thursday 5th August 2010
Practice and Opening Ceremony
Friday 6th - Tuesday 10th August 2010
Manchester
Great Britain v USA at Bowdon CC
Australia v New Zealand at Heaton Park CC
Wednesday 11th August 2010
Travel and Practice
Thursday 12th - Monday 16th August 2010
Nottingham
Great Britain v New Zealand
Roehampton
Australia v USA
Tuesday 17th August 2010
Travel and Practice
Wednesday 18th - Sunday 22nd August 2010
Surbiton
Great Britain v Australia
USA v New Zealand
Sunday 22nd August 2010
Closing Ceremony at The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Wimbledon, London.
Event Organising Committee
The Croquet Association (of England)
Championship Management
Manager: TBA
Referee: TBA
Tier 2 is jointly organised by the WCF and the Croquet Association (of England) and will be comprised of 2 divisions.
Both divisions shall play at their respective venues from Monday 16th August to Saturday 21st August 2010.
Each division will be comprised of four team of four players, determined by the strength of the nominated players.
Division 1
Division 1 shall be played at The Hurlingham Club, Ranelagh Gardens, London SW6 3PR.
Division 2
Division 2 shall be played at The Compton Croquet Club, The Saffrons, Compton Place Road, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN21 1EA
Weather Conditions:
London Weather
Eastbourne Weather
SCHEDULE
The full Schedule will be published in due course but not earlier than 31st March 2010
Sunday 22nd August 2010
Closing Ceremony at The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Wimbledon, London.
Event Organising Committee
The WCF and Croquet Association (of England)
Championship Management
Manager: TBA
Referee: TBA
Tier 3 is jointly organised by the WCF and the Croquet Association (of England) and will be comprised of 1 division.
It will be played at the Sussex County Croquet Club, Victoria Road, Southwick, West Sussex BN42 4DJ, from Wednesday 18th August to Saturday 21st August 2010.
Each team will be comprised of four players.
Weather Conditions:
Southwick Weather
SCHEDULE
The full Schedule will be published in due course but not earlier than 31st March 2010
Sunday 22nd August 2010
Closing Ceremony at The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Wimbledon, London.
Event Organising Committee
The WCF and Croquet Association (of England)
Championship Management
Manager: TBA
Referee: TBA
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Anti-Doping
It is understood from the hosts that no testing will take place at this Championship.
For further information on the WADA Doping Code see the WCF Anti-Doping page.
Playing Conditions
The Championship shall be played in accordance with the Laws of Association Croquet, 6th Edition, under Law 36 Advanced play conditions, as amended from time to time, and the Championship Regulations as amended from time to time.
The results of all singles matches played in this Championship will be included in the WCF Association Croquet Rankings.
The types of balls to be used are: Dawson 2000 balls.
Hoop Size: As per WCF Sports Regulations 14.2
Entry to this event is by national selection only.
Players wishing to represent their respective team should contact their National Governing Body for further advice.
Past winners of the MacRobertson Shield
Individual Player Records of the MacRobertson Shield
Tier 1
Australia
Kevin Beard
Martin Clarke
Ian Dumergue
Robert Fletcher
Stephen Forster
Peter Landrebe (Captain)
Reserves:
Trevor Bassett
Greg Fletcher
Coach: Steve Jones
Great Britain
Keith Aiton (Captain)
Rutger Beijderwellen
Chris Clarke
Robert Fulford
David Maugham
Stephen Mulliner
New Zealand
Charles Jones (Manager)
Aaron Westerby (Capt)
Paddy Chapman
Paul Skinley
Jenny Clarke
Greg Bryant
Michael Wright
Reserve :
United States of America
Ben Rothman
Danny Huneycutt
Doug Grimsley
Jerry Stark
Jeff Soo
Rich Lamm
Reserves:
Jim Bast
Paul Bennett
Paul Billings
Tiers 2 and 3
To be decisided by the average grade of the four strongest players nominated in their team.
Final Entries:
Belgium
Canada
Czech Republic
Germany
Ireland
Japan
Jersey
Norway
Scotland
South Africa
Spain
Sweden
Wales
Venues
Tier 1
- Bowdon Croquet Club
- Heaton Park Commonwealth Facility
- Nottingham Croquet Club
- Roehampton Croquet Club
- Surbiton Croquet Club
Tier 2
- The Hurlingham Club
- Compton Croquet Club
Tier 3
Transport
The main local airports for each venue is shown below:-
- Bowdon and Heaton Park - Manchester Airport
- Nottingham - East Midlands Airport
- Hurlingham, Roehampton and Surbiton - London Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted
- Compton and Sussex County - London Heathrow and Gatwick
Accommodation
A range of accommodation to suit all prices may be found via the relevant venue web sites.
All Travel into the United Kingdom requires a passport or national identification and possibly a visa, although many countries have a visa waiver reciprocal agreement programme.
This is a changing situation and those intending to play or visit the event from foreign countries, should log on to the UK Border Agency web site for their current entry status and documentation requirements.
Those that require a visa are encouraged to make early application.
General Information
The event will have an opening and closing function including the official awards ceremony.
Some social functions may be arranged.
Climate
The UK has a temperate maritime climate with the warmest months (21C) being July and August, although they are also the wettest summer months. (45mm) (See current weather banners on the "Introduction" tab).
Format
Tier 1 (The MacRobertson Shield)
This is an abridged version. (FULL version)
The Series shall consist of one Test Match between each pair of teams. If fewer than 8 matches have been completed in a Test Match, or if an equal number of completed matches have been won by each team in it, the Test Match shall be declared a draw.
The team winning the greater number of completed matches in the series shall be declared the winner of that Test Match.
The series shall be declared void if no team wins more than one Test Match.
To determine the final placings, a team will be awarded two points for each Test Match that it wins, and one for each Test Match it that it draws.
At the end of the competition, the teams shall be placed in descending order of the number of points awarded.
Where two or more teams are tied on an equal number of points awarded, the teams
in the tie shall be placed relative to each other in descending order of the percentage of
the completed matches they won throughout the whole competition.
The MacRobertson Shield shall be won by the team placed first, or shared between those placed first equal if there is a tie.
Number of players
Subject to Regulation, each team shall consist of six players. Teams may be changed between Test Matches.
(a) Each Test Match shall consist of nine doubles matches and twelve singles matches.
A match is best of 3 advanced games with no time limits.
Order of play
These matches shall be played in five rounds over five consecutive days in which the
following schedules may be used:
(1) the first, second and fourth rounds shall consist of three doubles matches and
the third and fifth rounds shall consist of six singles matches.
(2) The first, third and fifth rounds shall consist of three doubles matches and the second and fourth rounds shall consist of six singles matches.
(b) The order of play for (a)1 above shall be as follows:
Rd.1 AD1 v BD2, AD2 v BD1, AD3 v BD3
Rd.2 AD1 v BD1, AD2 v BD3, AD3 v BD2
Rd.3 A1 v B2, A2 v B1, A3 v B4, A4 v B3, A5 v B6, A6 v B5
Rd.4 AD1 v BD3, AD2 v BD2, AD3 v BD1,
Rd.5 A1 v B1, A2 v B2, A3 v B3, A4 v B4, A5 v B5, A6 v B6
The order of play for (a)2 above shall be as follows:
Rd.1 AD1 v BD2, AD2 v BD1, AD3 v BD3
Rd.2 A1 v B2, A2 v B1, A3 v B4, A4 v B3, A5 v B6, A6 v B5
Rd.3 AD1 v BD1, AD2 v BD3, AD3 v BD2
Rd.4 A1 v B1, A2 v B2, A3 v B3, A4 v B4, A5 v B5, A6 v B6
Rd.5 AD1 v BD3, AD2 v BD2, AD3 v BD1
(c) In (b) above, A1 to A6 and B1 to B6 represent the singles players of teams A and B in order of merit based on current singles form as announced by the relevant Test Match Manager.
AD1 to AD3 and BD1 to BD3 representt he doubles pairings of teams A and B without reference to an order of merit.
Divisions 1 and 2
4 Teams of 4 players per team in each division
All play all, 2 day Test Matches comprising of best of 3, singles and doubles matches.
Play commences at 10.00hrs each day potentially continuing until dusk.
Entry Fee £150 (GBP) per team
The remaining entry, 4 players per team.
Format to be decided once the number of entries is known, based on single games of singles and doubles matches.
Play commences at 09.30hrs each day potentially continuing until dusk.
Entry Fee £100 (GBP) per team
World Team Championship (WTC)
On 12th May 2009, at the 13th WCF Ordinary General Meeting held in Florida, USA, the full voting member associations debated the matter of a future WCF World Association Croquet Team Championship. (WTC)
A proposal had been made to incorporate matters relating to the MacRobertson Shield organisation within an enlarged WTC on a tiered basis, based on a WTC committee structure of a veto being allowed to each representative.
This was opposed by some member associations who tabled an amendment to allow for simple majority voting in the WTC committee structure.
After debate, the amendment was defeated, whilst the original proposal failed to gain the two thirds majority required by WCF Statute to allow the matter to proceed.
Within the debate, there was clearly a unanimous view that such an enlarged WTC be formed and the failure to reach agreement was purely on the grounds of how the WTC Committee was to operate.
Following the meeting, WCF met with the MacRobertson Shield Committee members and representatives of the Croquet Association (of England) who are due to host the 2010 MacRobertson Shield Series.
All persons supported the enlarged concept of a WTC.
As a consequence, the WCF Management Committee has announced the proposed expansion of the World Association Croquet Team Championship, with the CA willing to host this event and who will be working jointly with the WCF to arrange full details of the event.
This is on the basis that the best opportunity now exists to forge ahead with the idea in 2010 given the geographical proximity to a significant number of WCF member associations to England.
WCF Member Associations have been asked to complete a questionnaire, regarding their preferences for team composition, duration of such an event and an outline structure, to be returned no later than 8th June 2009.
Members were asked:-
1. Would they support an event in 2010 in England?
2. How many players they would prefere to enter the event from their association?
3. How many days they would commit to the event?
4. Should doubles be included in the event?
5. Would they to attend a "Final" day prize giving with the MacRobertson Shield top tier teams?
It is emphasised that an enlarged WCT, under WCF direction, will not undermine the authority of the MacRobertson Shield Committee comprised of representatives of the Australian Croquet Association, The Croquet Association (of England), The New Zealand Croquet Council and the United States Croquet Association to fully organise the top tier of the event.
Responses received:
| Member Association | England 2010 | No players | No days | Doubles | Prize giving | ||
| Australia | Mac | ||||||
| Austria | Yes | 3 or 4 | 4 | Possibly | Yes | ||
| Belgium | Yes | 3 | 5 or 6 | Yes | Yes | ||
| Canada | Yes | 4 | 5 or 6 | Yes | Yes | ||
| Czech Republic | Yes | 4 | 4 | No | Yes | ||
| Egypt | |||||||
| England | Mac | ||||||
| Finland | Yes | 2 | 5 | Yes | Yes | ||
| France | Yes | 2 | 5 | Yes | Yes | ||
| Germany | Yes | 3 or 4 | 5 or 6 | Yes | No | ||
| Ireland | Yes | 4 | 4 | Yes | Yes | ||
| Isle of Man | Yes | 2 or 3 | 4 | Yes | Yes | Mac | |
| Italy | Yes | 2 or 3 | 4 | Yes | Yes | ||
| Japan | |||||||
| Jersey | Mac-Supportive of WCT | ||||||
| New Zealand | Mac | ||||||
| Norway | Yes | 4 | 4 or 5 | Indifferent | Indifferent | ||
| Palestine | |||||||
| Russia | No | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | ||
| Scotland | Yes | 4 | 4 | Yes | Indifferent | Mac | |
| South Africa | Yes | 4 | 5 or 6 | Yes | Yes | ||
| Spain | Yes | 4 | 4 | Yes | Yes | ||
| Sweden | Yes | 4 | 6 | No | Possibly | ||
| Switzerland | Yes | 4 | 4 | No | Yes | ||
| USA | Mac | ||||||
| Wales | Yes | 4 | 6 | Yes | Yes | Mac | |
| 17 Yes | 10:- 4 | 2:- 6 | 12:- Yes | 13:- Yes | |||
| 1 no | 2:- 3 or 4 | 4:- 5 or 6 | 3:- No | 1:- No | |||
| 4 no responses | 1:- 3 | 2:- 5 | 1:- Possibly | 2:- Indifferent | |||
| 2:- 2 or 3 | 1:- 4 or 5 | 1:- Indifferent | 1:- Possibly | ||||
| 2:- 2 | 8:- 4 | 1: - N/A | 1:- N/A | ||||
| 1:-N/A | 1:- N/A | 4 no responses | 4 no responses | ||||
| 4 no responses | 4 no responses | ||||||