Association CroquetUnder glorious weather conditions the E.A.C.F. 9th Annual Anderson Shield was staged at the Colchester Club over the weekend of 26th/27th May with five of the Region's counties taking part. The lawns were in excellent condition but rather slow due to a generous covering of grass. However, this was compensated for by the setting of the hoops which to say the least were rather challenging. This proved to be a problem for the players, and the Referees were kept rather busy adjudicating many hampered shot following hoops that had only just been run.
At the end of day 1 three counties were showing early promise: Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire and Suffolk each with one match win. However, Cambridgeshire were slightly favoured by picking up four game wins to the others' three. Norfolk and Essex were both struggling to find some form, although Norfolk were showing some spirit with two game wins mainly due to the efforts of their second string.
Day 2 provided a complete turn-around with the Norfolk team finding their form, coming out all guns blazing and managing to pick up wins in all of their remaining four games, giving them two match wins and two draws. Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire could only manage one game win each, and with Suffolk failing to register, it left all three teams on one match win each. However Essex showed a revival with two games wins, one against Cambridgeshire halting any chance they had, and thereby letting Norfolk through to an unexpected overall win for the second year running.
As there is an uneven number of entries for those sitting out a subsidiary competition, the 'Naff-Little Trophy', comprising handicap singles is run alongside the main event. This year there was a tie between Essex, who seemed to be the permanent holders of this trophy, and Hertfordshire who for some reason wanted to stake a claim. Under the watchful eye of Colin Hemming, who once again had managed the tournament in his usual efficient manner, a shoot-out was arranged in which Hertfordshire become the new owners of this rather small cup.
Report and photos by Terrey Sparks| Venue | Colchester, Saturday 26 - Sunday 27 May 2012 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Manager | Colin Hemming | ||||||||||||||||||
| R.O.T. | Jim Potter | ||||||||||||||||||
| Format | Each county is
represented by a team of four, and plays each of the other five
counties over the two days. Three matches on Saturday starting at
9:30 am, two on Sunday starting at 10:00 am. Play is Advanced
Doubles to a 3-hour time-limit, with double-banking for all matches.
The winner is the team which wins the most matches, with the 'who
beat whom' rule applying in the case of a tie. If a winner is still
undecided then the winner is the team with the most games won within
the time-limit. Substitutes are allowed if someone is unable to play on both days. |
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| Eligibility | By birth, residence or membership of a club within the county, and Handicap 1 or above, and team aggregate handicap of 10 or above. (In addition, Northampton players with handicap 1+ are eligible to play for Beds.) If you are eligible and want to play, please contact the relevant team captain! |
 The Anderson Shield |
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| Team captains |
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| Entry fees | £50 per county |
Anderson Shield results |
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| Facilities | tba | ||||||||||||||||||
| Previous winners | Norfolk | ||||||||||||||||||
| Regulations | 
(PDF, 15kb) |
|
result vs: |
Norfolk | Cambs | Herts | Suffolk | Essex | Matches won |
Games won |
Games won within time |
Position |
| Norfolk |
-14 +2T Draw |
-16 +5T Draw |
+1T +25 Win |
+9 +2T Win |
2 | 6 | 4 | 1 | |
| Cambridgeshire |
+14 -2T Draw |
+2 -8T Draw |
+11T +16 Win |
-18 +17 Draw |
1 | 5 | 4 | 2 | |
| Hertfordshire |
+16 -5T Draw |
-2 +8T Draw |
-2T -10T Loss |
+10 +4T Win |
1 | 4 | 2 | 3 | |
| Suffolk |
-1T -25 Loss |
-11T -16 Loss |
+2T +10T Win |
+8 -3T Draw |
1 | 3 | 1 | 4 | |
| Essex |
-9 -2T Loss |
+18 -17 Draw |
-10 -4T Loss |
-8 +3T Draw |
0 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
|
result vs: |
Herts2 | Essex2 | Cambs2 | Suffolk2 | Norfolk2 | Games won |
Games |
Position | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Herts1 | Essex1 | Cambs1 | Suffolk1 | Norfolk1 | |||||
|
Hertfordshire |
1 2 |
+20 +9 |
+15 -6 |
3 | 3 | 1* | |||
|
Essex |
1 2 |
+16 -10 |
3 | +22 +14 |
3 | 3 | 2 | ||
|
Cambridgeshire |
1 2 |
-16 +10 |
-20 +22 |
2 | 2 | 3 | |||
|
Suffolk |
1 2 |
-20 -9 |
+20 -22 |
1 | 1 | 4= | |||
|
Norfolk |
1 2 |
-15 +6 |
-22 -14 |
1 | 1 | 4= | |||
| Norfolk: | Terrey Sparks, Neil Chalmers, Jonathan Toye, Timothy Race, Ian Thompson |
| Cambs: | Jim Potter, Chris van Essen, Bryan Saddington, Adrian Kirby |
| Herts: | Mark Homan, Terry Mahoney, Jeremy Scott, Ian Mantle |
| Suffolk: | Celia Pearce, Mike Percival, Peter Allnutt, John Robinette, Georgeen Hemming, Jill Andrews |
| Essex: | Colin Hemming, Peter Kenward, Keith Saunders, Cheryl Stephenson |
| Beds: | No participation. |
See also:
the EACF Ken Wheeler Shield
the national Inter-Counties Championship
Anderson Shield winners summary.