HISTORY OF GAME

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28514, 18 February 1958, Page 7

HISTORY OF GAME

Talk By English International

Mr M. B. Reckitt, an English representative croquet player, gave a talk on the game to enthusiasts at the United club’s pavilion on Saturday evening At present playing in the Canterbury provincial championships, Mr Reckitt is a member of the laws committee of the Croquet Association of England, and is the author of “Croquet Today.” His talk on Saturday evening traced the progress of the game from the nineteenth century. Croquet started mainly as a game played by private persons on their own lawns, said Mr Reckitt. In the stately homes of England, he said, the game was played with wide hoops and mallets smaller than those in use today. It was played almost exclusively by the gentry, and a garden-party spirit prevailed at these gatherings of young people. The parties became so popular, said Mr Reckitt, that a tournament was arranged at Maidstone, for which 80 persons entered. The tournament proved such a success that 130 entries were received in the following year and croquet tournaments were firmly established.

From this enthusiasm, said ■ Mr Reckitt, the Croquet Association of England was founded. This is still the parent body. In the early twentieth century, some first-class Irish players visited England and, as a result of these visits, the game as it is known today, evolved. Mr Reckitt described how it survived the First World War, and how the game flourished in the period between the wars, during which male players predominated in competitions and tournament play. Croquet was at this time developing in other parts of the world, said Mr Reckitt. International competition was Stimulated by the presentation by Sir MacPherson Robertson, of Melbourne, of an international trophy, the Macßobertson shield. This shield is at present held by Englapd, which won it from New Zealand in 1956. The English team is expected to visit this country in 1962 to defend the trophy.