The reader is now requested to give his attention to the following Rules, which we believe will be found to meet all the requisites of the game.
RULES.
STRIKING.
1. At the commencement of the game the ball is to be placed a mallet’s length from the starting-post in any direction, and the player endeavours to drive it through the first hoop.
[As the distance between the first post and the first hoop depends so much upon the size of the Croquet-ground, the first rule may be altered to suit the convenience of the players; but if the length is less than a mallet, the player will probably strike the post with his own mallet.]
2. In striking the ball, the player must stand on one side of the ball, and not behind it.
3. In striking, the mallet must be about an inch from the ground, and must not be pushed along it when the stroke is made, except when the distance between the ball and some other object is too small to admit the mallet lengthwise.
[Some players wish only one hand to be used in striking. Most of the large sets, however, are too heavy to allow this rule to be generally carried out.]
4. The ball must be struck with an end of the mallet, and not by the side.