Edinburgh Tournament 2003
11-16 August 2003, Fettes
Some things about the Edinburgh Tournament never change. So this year's tournament was held during the first week of the Edinburgh International Festival, on five courts (only 90% full-size, but with slopes to compensate) measured out on the cricket pitch of Fettes College.
Other things vary from year to year, and 2003 was the year of the Nailsea Fringe - six players from Somerset who made the long train journey from the stifling heat of the south to the more comfortable temperatures of the Scottish summer, and who were particularly welcome in view of the absence of some of our usual entrants which would otherwise have left the numbers very low. The reference to comfortable temperatures is not ironic, as it would have been in some years, since we were treated to a week of almost perfect weather. Umbrellas were used to keep off sun rather than rain, the swamp on court 1 was transformed into something more like a sandy desert, and the run-off on downhill croquet strokes recalled to Fettes veterans the tricky conditions of 1995 and 1996.