One of the advantages of croquet is its suitability to players of all ages and to those not in robust health, as, unlike golf, it requires no great physical strength. People who would not be able to walk miles across the rough ground of the links, exhilarating as this is to the strong, can yet enjoy the more gentle exercise on a level lawn. It is a well-known fact in the croquet world that many of its players attribute their improved health to the hours they have spent on the croquet lawn—the late Rev. Mark Pattison, of Oxford, being one of these, and the Rev. D. J. Heath another.
There is a charm, too, in the equal terms on which men and women players can meet. I do not say but what men as a rule are the better players—their constant practise at aiming at billiards and other games giving them more accuracy of aim—but setting this aside, there seems no reason why women should not play equally well with practice. Where they often fail doubtless is in attempting too much. Not content with leaving the dead ball with their partner's ball, and laying its break by sending off the next player and going to act pioneer at the partner's hoop, it is said of women especially, that they often try a difficult hoop with the live ball, break down and thus let the other side in, which with the more cautious plan would have been avoided. Again, croquet is a game in which success is by no means a matter of mechanical skill alone, for in croquet, as in chess, the player must look ahead not only for one move but must count on the probability of the adversary's success or failure, judging by the power already exhibited, and by the state of the ground, etc. Thus it is often good policy if the opponents' balls are together in a corner on a fast dry lawn, not to risk a long "take off" with a probability of going over the boundary in an endeavour to separate them, but for the player to roll his own and partner's ball into another corner (if possible across the ground) leaving a rush for the partner's ball towards the adversaries, or to its own hoop, thus necessitating the opponent trying the difficult take off with hoops in the way, and the possibility of going over the boundary or catching in a wire, etc. I think, too, there is less of the element of "luck" in croquet than in many games, though of course we are all apt to cavil at our bad fortune now and then.
The present condition of croquet may be considered as encouraging. Its popularity has revived very rapidly, though it is only from the Southern and one or two of the Midland Counties that we have as yet met players of any prominence. In Scotland, it is true, there has long been a championship meeting held at Moffat, where Mr. and Mrs. Macfie, of Borthwick Hall, Midlothian, are among its most liberal supporters. We have had one or two Irish players at the recent Wimbledon meetings, and I hear that in County Down the game is much played. Croquet lawns are, indeed, set out at the fashionable Social Clubs of Hurlingham and Ranelagh, but alas, the game and its requirements are little understood there. A well-organised tournament on the picturesque grounds of the latter club, at Barn Elms, in the height of the season, might do much to spread its popularity, for the large tournament at Eastbourne last autumn, showed a marked increase in spectators, who displayed some knowledge of the tactics of the game, and the keenest interest in the contests. Another interesting feature of each season would be inter-county matches. Devonshire, Gloucestershire, Sussex, Hertfordshire, Middlesex, Northamptonshire, Bucks., &c., all furnish some strong players, and representative fours might be selected, and gentlemen's doubles, ladies' doubles, and mixed doubles might be arranged, as well as, of course, single matches. Monthly Club Handicaps, too, we hope to see at Wimbledon, and there are rumours of an International Tournament with a strong contingent of American players, with whom the game is popular, though it is hardly played on the same lines as in England.
It is contended against croquet that the games are too long, and certainly, with some overcautious players, a close match becomes a very tedious thing. To obviate this difficulty, in all handicap matches in the big tournaments last year, time games were resorted to, an hour-and-a-half being generally the allowance for each single match, and two hours for doubles, ample time to finish a game in most instances, though, if not finished, the side ahead wins, and if points, are even when time is called, the first roquet afterwards constitutes a victory. This gives scope for some amusing strategy, when the contest is a very close one.
Reducing the size of the lawns has undoubtedly made the game easier and more equal, for the weaker players can now get a ball from end to end, which many women were formerly unable to do, while the opportunities of wiring one's adversary are more frequent. The main point resolves itself, not so entirely into a matter of skill, as in rightly estimating one's own strength and one's adversary's knowledge of the game. In handicap play this is specially needful, and it is only by match practice it can be gained. In double handicaps it is usual for the pairs to be drawn, the captain from one of the first four classes, and the partner from a lower class, and nothing gives an intelligent beginner a better insight into "tactics" than being guided by a really good partner. Mr. Bonham Carter is an ideal captain, never leaving his partner a difficult stroke, and never making a long break himself with the partner's ball behind, thus being able to help the weaker player, who is not discouraged with the idea that it is her ball which is the laggard. It is only by match practice that this knowledge is gained, and to play in a good tournament handicap is excellent training.
As a garden-party game, Mr. Lillie, in his book, suggests some amusing innovations, but croquet proper, as the rules now stand, is something better than a garden-party game, and stands among out-door amusements as chess and billiards do among in-door games.
Gertrude Spong.