CROQUET NEWS:  World Leaders?

16 September 2005
BBC, Nottingham, England, UK
story by James Taylor

The Nottingham Croquet Club is home to some of the world's best players.
We meet one of them... who tells us more.

Croquet Mallet and Balls

If you thought that croquet was a game played by aristocrats at Country House weekends then you'd be mistaken.

As Nottingham Croquet Club member Keith Aiton says: "It isn't a 'posh' game, there's no hierarchy. We're all very friendly and welcoming."

Croquet's a highly organised, fiercely competitive sport which relies more on tactics than on fitness.

Nottingham has done well in the winning stakes in recent years: winning the Longman Cup in 2003 (the national handicap knock-out tournament) and the Mary Rose Cup (for intermediate players) twice, most recently in 2000. Also the county of Nottinghamshire also won this year's Inter-County championships.

Add to this several players who progressed to the quarter-finals and the semi-finals of this year's World Croquet Championships, held in Cheltenham, and you get the picture. This success of recent years is all the sweeter since there was a period in the late 1980s where Nottingham almost managed to win the inter-club championships but never quite managed it.

I went down to the lawns of the Nottingham Croquet Club to find out more. There I met the world's fourth best croquet player, Keith Aiton, who told me a little bit more about the game.

Why do you think croquet players in Notts are so successful? Is it the lawns attracting the good players or coaching internally?

In my case I came looking for the club because I had started to play at university, and someone told me there was a club in Nottingham. Of our other two top players, James Death is the son of a member, and Marcus Evans is a student at Nottingham University. Maybe he chose this university because of the croquet club!

How do you become a better croquet player? Is it just a case of practice, practice, practice?

Practice is important, but you have to know what to practice, so there either has to be some coaching or you have to have role models. In my case I wanted to get better so I practiced and I watched better players to find out what to do that I didn't already do.

Being the world's fourth best croquet player do you get to go all around the world playing the game? What's the most glamourous experience you've had with a mallet?

I have played in Australia, New Zealand, the USA and all over Britain. It would be tempting to say that the most glamorous place is Hunstanton in Norfolk, but if you have ever been there you would know I am joking. I guess playing in black tie and "shooting wickets" at the Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach was fairly glamorous.

In golf it's Ernie Els. In croquet it's you. Do you ever wish that croquet had the same status (and prize money) as, say, golf?

Do I ever! I would love to play professional sport, or at least I think I would. I daresay it might turn into a grind, but I think all performers crave a bigger stage on which to perform, and unfortunately croquet's stage is pretty small at the moment!

Are most of the world's best croquet players from England? If not, what other countries have a strong contingent of players?

Most of the top players are from England, but croquet is almost as strong in Australia and New Zealand, and the USA is coming on strong. The current world champion is a South African by the way.

And the future of croquet in Nottingham?

The lawns of the Nottingham Croquet Club

Although Nottingham hasn't seen a huge surge in the popularity of the sport (there haven't been thousands of new recruits itching to play the game) the number of members has remained constant over the years with the standard of play remaining high; improving, if anything with the number of players achieving success in tournaments increasing.

Nottingham's key players

Keith Aiton is Nottingham's highest ranked player. 2005 has been a special year for him; it is the year in which he celebrated his Silver Jubilee as a player and in September he won the President's Cup, which is an invitation event for the top eight players in the country, lifting him to number 4 in the world rankings.

James Death is the world number 9 and reached the semi-finals of the World Croquet Championships this year; losing to the world number 1, Robert Fulford. Interestingly, he works as bingo caller and stock controller. In the past he has also won the Junior and Student Championships.

Marcus Evans is ranked 22nd in the world. He played in the 2004 Golf Croquet (a version of the game played by different rules, appearing similar to golf). He is also a student in Mathematics and Philosophy at the University of Nottingham, receiving a bursary for travelling to tournaments.

Keith Aiton and William Gee

William Gee is the youngest player at the Nottingham Croquet Club, aged fourteen. He started playing properly in May of last year. He says that playing croquet has helped him understand angles and to work on refining his physics work.

Ian Vincent is the Chairman of the Croquet Association, the national body that administers the sport.

Find out more

The Nottingham Croquet Club was founded in 1929 when Sir Jesse Boot (of Boot’s the Chemist fame) was laying out the Highfields area of Nottingham (where the University of Nottingham and the Lakeside walk are also found) and the 'formidable' Mrs Eliott asked for a croquet lawn. He agreed. Part of the land is now home to the Nottingham Bowls Club while the present croquet club has been extended.

If you're interested in playing croquet (perhaps you too want to be a world-class player) then pop along to the Croquet Pavilion, University Park, University Boulevard, Nottingham. Or visit the Croquet Association's website.