Without doubt, the Executive Croquet was the most hotly-anticipated mallet-based event of the weekend. The sun was out, and a crowd had gathered around the edges of Heslington Lawn. The atmosphere was, in a word, electric. So, when the event was delayed almost a full hour in starting, the crowd understandably became restless.
To pass the time, a gang of youths began drinking. They became quite raucous, and when the croquet finally began they made their excitement very audible. One supportive shout of “come on you salmon god!” brought the game to a standstill. The players laughed, the crowd laughed, and everyone was having a great time.
The players demonstrated excellent ball handling, and a refined dexterity to their mallet motions. Sometimes the balls went through hoops, other times they hit sticks – it was impossible to predict what would happen next, especially if you don’t know the rules of croquet.
However, unlike some of the crowd, the Lancaster team definitely do know the rules of croquet. Lancaster claimed a comfortable victory over York at 12 points to 8.
