The MacRobertson International Croquet Shield is the premier

croquet Croquet ( or ; french: croquet) is a sport that involves hitting wooden or plastic balls with a mallet through hoops (often called "wickets" in the United States) embedded in a grass playing court. Its international governing body is the W ...

team event in the world. It is currently competed for by Australia, England, New Zealand and the United States. It is known affectionately as the ''MacRob'' or just the ''Mac''. The series is now played in rotation between the competing countries every three or four years. The most recent series was held in 2022 in Australia; it was won by England.

History

The competition is named after Australian confectionery maker and philanthropist, Sir

Macpherson Robertson Sir Macpherson Robertson KBE (6 September 185920 August 1945) was an Australian philanthropist, entrepreneur and founder of chocolate and confectionery company '' MacRobertson's''. He was also known for bringing the United States inventions of ...

. In the early 1920s, Robertson played croquet as his pastime. He enlisted returned

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

veterans to take up concessions for his products and encouraged them to try croquet also, believing it to be a teaching aid for developing skills in self-discipline and risk management. Eventually, a pool of players were participating in regular tournaments. In 1925, with a growing interest in the sport, he established the MacRobertson Shield, an international tournament of croquet "Tests" between Australia and England. The Victorian Croquet Association sent a team of four players to England to contest the inaugural tournament. England won easily and Robertson presented the Shield personally. In 1927-8 an England team played in Australia and was narrowly defeated. In 1930, New Zealand was invited to participate in a series between themselves and Australia, with Australia winning comfortably; the first triangular series was then held in 1935 in Melbourne as part of the Melbourne centenary celebrations. In 1993, a United States team was admitted into the tournament. Between 1974 and 2010 the team representing the Croquet Association was named "Great Britain" and in two series "Great Britain and Ireland", because the teams included players from Scotland, Wales and Ireland. Following the introduction of the World Croquet Federation World Association Croquet Team Championship in 2010, the team was named "England" from the 2013-14 series and now only includes English qualified players.

The 2017 Series

The 2017 Series was played at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California, USA and won by Australia over England, New Zealand and the United States. The tournament was held over three five-day tests and 21 matches. *Australia 12 - 9 England *New Zealand 11 - 10 USA *Australia 14 - 7 New Zealand *England 14 - 7 USA *Australia 14 - 7 USA *England 15 - 4 New Zealand

The 2013-14 Series

The 2013-14 series was contested in New Zealand across four different venues, and was won by New Zealand. ''30 December 2013 - 3 January 2014'': New Zealand v USA and England v Australia at United Croquet Club, Christchurch *England 16 - 5 Australia *New Zealand 20 - 1 USA ''5 - 9 January'': England v USA at Te Mata Croquet Club, Havelock North and New Zealand v Australia at Marewa Croquet Club, Napier *England 18 - 3 USA *New Zealand 15 - 4 Australia ''11 - 15 January'': New Zealand v England and Australia v USA at Mt Maunganui Croquet Club, Tauranga *New Zealand 13 - 7 England *Australia 17 - 4 USA

The 2010 Series

The 2010 Shield was contested in Great Britain, across five different venues, and was won by Great Britain. ''6 – 10 August'': Great Britain v USA at Bowdon, Greater Manchester and Australia v New Zealand at Heaton Park, Manchester *Great Britain 12 - 9 USA *Australia 8 - 13 New Zealand ''12 – 16 August'': Great Britain v New Zealand at Nottingham and Australia v USA at Roehampton *Great Britain 11 - 10 New Zealand *Australia 7 - 14 USA ''18 – 22 August'': Great Britain v Australia and New Zealand v USA both at Surbiton *Great Britain 14 - 7 Australia *USA 5 - 16 New Zealand Each team is represented by six players and each test is the best of 21 matches comprising 12 singles and 9 doubles. In 2010, for the first time, the four MacRobertson Shield countries were joined by 13 other countries in an inaugural WCF World Association Croquet Team Championship. The MacRobertson Shield was Tier 1 and the other 13 entries were split into three further tiers based on playing strength. ''16 - 21 August: Tier 2 Division 1'': The next four countries played at the Hurlingham Club, London. *Tier 2.1 winner Wales ''16 - 21 August: Tier 2 Division 2'': The next four countries played at the Compton Croquet Club, Eastbourne, East Sussex. *Tier 2.2 winner Scotland ''18 - 21 August: Tier 3'': The remaining five countries played at the Sussex County Croquet Club. *Tier 3 winner Czech Republic

Past results

References

{{reflist

External links

2010 MacRobertson Shield

Croquet Croquet in Australia Recurring sporting events established in 1925 International sports competitions hosted by Australia