Scottish Croquet Association

Secretary Trophy 2021

24 July 2021, Meadows

Roger Binks was the new name for the Secretary Trophy.

Entries were far below previous years; initially 6 players but reduced to 4 in the week before the event at Meadows.  The plan was for all to play each other twice in the 14-point advanced with bisques in 80 minute games.  In accordance with SCA custom the lift/contact version used hoops 3 and 5.  A late addition increased the field to 5, causing an alteration to a single block with one out-player for each of the 5 rounds.  At the briefing, the offer of a 90 minute time limit was rejected – interestingly only 2 of the 10 matches went to time, perhaps the good summer weather helped.

In his first experience of advanced laws, Bruce Bennet was finding his way for the first two encounters which he lost.  Having studied a whole round he held his own in his third game for a close call on time.  In his final game with a stack of bisques against Roger Binks he was ready for a well-deserved win and had a bisque and a half remaining.

The only other game to run to time was Kevin Russell v Roger, in a close encounter which could have gone either way.  A similar outcome applied to the tussle between Jamieson Walker and Roger.  Two wins each for Jola Jurasinska, Kevin and Jamieson with one for Bruce, the only victor over Roger on three out of four.

Despite the shortage of numbers, the day provided interesting games in very pleasant conditions.

Roger Binks (manager)

Results