Scottish Croquet Association

CA v SCA 2006

30 September and 1 October 2006, Crake Valley

Each even year an incursion of blue-shirted Scots invades the tranquillity of Crake Valley on the south side of the Lake District in an attempt to carry back to Scotland the Glasgow Quaich.  (The English reply in odd years by sending a raiding party to Edinburgh.)  This year's fixture was arranged for the 2nd and 3rd of September, but the SCA had difficulty in raising a team of suitable strength, and by agreement between both sides' organisers the match was postponed to the end of the month when a stronger team could be put together.  The eventual Scottish line-up ranged in handicap from -1 to 5, and the CA team organiser Dave Nick put up a well-matched set of opponents for them - declining to play himself to concentrate on the hospitality, but appointing Bob Burnett instead as the host side's no.1 and playing captain.

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Scottish Handicap Finals 2006

24 and 30 September 2006, Meadows

The finals of the SCA's season-long competitions were scheduled to be played on the 23rd or 24th of September, but the Handicap Singles final was delayed till the following weekend to suit the players involved.

On the morning of Sunday the 24th Fergus McInnes arrived a few minutes late for the planned 10.15 start of the Handicap Doubles final (at his usual running pace, having taken the time to have some breakfast after catching the first bus back from an all-night party near Eddleston) to find that the other players had not yet set the hoops out.  They were waiting to see if the consensus would be to play as arranged in the rain or to postpone in the hope of better weather.  Since the lawns were not actually unplayable, Fergus was of course in favour of going ahead, and this they all agreed to do.

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20+ Tournament 2006

30 September 2006, Meadows

The SCA 20+ Tournament this year was played to Short Croquet rules (14 point games on half courts) and there were four entrants - two from the Edinburgh CC and two from the Meadows CC.  With one hour time limits, and no double banking, this meant that it could be run in the morning, which it nearly was.

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Chairman's Rosebowl and Malmet Trophy 2006

16-18 September 2006, Meadows

The two Scottish invitation events had their full complement of 12 players this year for the first time since 1999.

The Chairman's Rosebowl contestants comprised veterans Rod Williams and David Appleton, with 23 and 13 previous appearances respectively; last year's winner Fergus McInnes; Meadows Club improvers Martin Stephenson and James Hopgood; and new part-time Edinburgh resident Bryan Sykes, who, like James, was competing in this event for the first time.  The field for the Malmet consisted of Jamieson Walker (on the same handicap as James, but allocated to the second group of six because of his lower place in the world rankings), Allan Hawke, Robert Lay, Tony Whateley, Duncan Reeves and Joe Lennon; here Tony was the only first-timer.  Half of the 12, counting Bryan, were local to Edinburgh, while Rod, Robert, Tony, Duncan and Joe were visiting from the west of Scotland and David was up from Tyneside.

Read more: Chairman's Rosebowl and Malmet Trophy 2006