Croquet is one of those games that do not get a lot of coverage. This is a shame as it can be quite an exciting game to play and to watch. Maybe it’s the fact it has connotations with the upper classes that it’s become something of a cliche. The popular opinion is that it is played by sedate ladies in between bouts of tea and cake. It can be rather competitive and it even gives you the chance to be a bit mean. A good flat lawn is needed to play so you will need to have plenty of Mountfield Spares and Mountfield Parts for the mower. How do you play this charming game?
The object of the game is to get your ball through a series of strategically placed hoops. You used a wooden mallet for this purpose all though plastic and rubber are also common. The first person to do this gets to try and hit the centre stick to win the game. The game is played in turns. If you knock your opponent’s ball out of the way this is perfectly acceptable.
It’s one of the few things that we have Charles the Second to thank for. He picked up the game whilst in exile in France. To start with it was called Pall Mall the croquet references came later. It was a very popular game, certainly with the upper classes throughout the 1860’s but it began to fall out of fashion and became a minority sport. There are recognised to only be about 1000 registered players in the UK and no major tournaments are hosted here. The only international attention it received was when it was part of the 1900 Olympic games.