Members of the club stood alongside croquet players of the All England Lawn Tennis Club in a short period of silence to recognise and reflect upon Roger Mackinnon’s past influence on croquet in both clubs. The occasion was the lunch break during the annual match between the clubs, this year held at Wimbledon on 1st August. Roger’s enthusiasm for the game played a pivotal role in sustaining these matches.
The accompanying picture shows this year’s teams displayed in the entrance to the All England Club. This year both GC and AC doubles were played, level, with a 1 hour time limit. At the end of the day Reigate came out on top, winning 5-3 at GC and 3-0 at AC. Maybe we were a little fortunate in that handicaps were not involved. The lawns were a pleasure to play on, despite several apologies from Wimbledon players that the grass was still a little long. The grass was being allowed to recover and re-establish after being used as practise courts for the Wimbledon fortnight. It also gave JohnB an excuse for why all his jump shots didn’t get high enough!
Overall from the Reigate perspective everything was absolutely just right; apart from the fact that Roger wasn’t there to join in.