The annual match between CAI and CqE (as the Croquet Association is now referred to) was played on 20/21 July at Carrickmines, with the visitors emerging on the right side of the 14 - 10 scoreline, retaining the trophy they won at Southport last year.

Starting on a wet and miserable Saturday with a round of doubles, the Irish were 3 - 0 down by lunchtime and never recovered. The two rounds of singles showed the sides evenly matched and so the day ended at 9 - 6.

Sunday was a much nicer day but again the doubles proved our undoing, with only the pair of Sandy Greig and Duncan Styles winning their game. Again, the final round of singles was shared evenly, which gave the English a comfortable victory.

Highlight of the match was the completion of Sandy’s triple on Sunday afternoon. His attempted peel of brown at rover stuck in the jaws, so instead of trying for a half jump he turned and hit the white ball to the west of the peg, then played a roll in which white bombarded brown through the hoop, while green came to rest straight in front of it! This, combined with his four wins out of five, earned him the award of the Maugham Quaich as best player of the match.

See full match result at Croquet Scores.

Sandy Greig wins Maugham Quaich as the best player of the match,