Croquet ( or ; french: croquet) is a

sport Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

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 A governing body is a group of people that has the authority to exercise governance over an organization or political entity. The most formal is a government, a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in a taken ...

is the

World Croquet Federation The World Croquet Federation (WCF) encourages, promotes and develops the recognised versions of the game of croquet internationally at all levels. National croquet associations around the world are members of the WCF, and the WCF sanctions champio ...

Variations

There are several variations of croquet currently played, differing in the scoring systems, order of shots, and layout (particularly in social games where play must be adapted to smaller-than-standard playing courts). Two forms of the game, association croquet (AC) and golf croquet (GC), have rules that are agreed upon internationally and are played in many countries around the world. The United States has its own set of rules for domestic games. Gateball, a sport that originated in Japan under the influence of croquet, is played mainly in

East East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

and

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...

and

the Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

, and can also be regarded as a croquet variant. As well as club-level games, there are regular world championships and international matches between croquet-playing countries. The sport has particularly strong followings in the UK, US, New Zealand, Australia and Egypt; many other countries also play. Every four years, the top countries play in the World Team Championships in AC (the MacRobertson Shield) and GC (the Openshaw Shield). The current world rankings show England in top place for AC, followed by Australia in second place, New Zealand in third place, with the United States in fourth position; the same four countries appear in the top six of the GC country rankings, below Egypt in top position, and with Spain at number six. Croquet is popularly believed to be viciously competitive. This may derive from the fact that (unlike in golf) players will often attempt to move their opponents' balls to unfavourable positions. However, purely negative play is rarely a winning strategy; successful players (in all versions other than golf croquet) will use all four balls to set up a break for themselves, rather than simply making the game as difficult as possible for their opponents. At championship-standard association croquet, players can often make all 26 points (13 for each ball) in two turns. Croquet was an event at the 1900 Summer Olympics.

Roque Roque is an American variant of croquet played on a hard, smooth surface. Popular in the first quarter of the 20th century and billed "the Game of the Century" by its enthusiasts, it was an Olympic sport in the 1904 Summer Games, replacing cr ...

, an American variation on croquet, was an event at the 1904 Summer Olympics. Beginning in 1894 Spalding Athletic Library issued official rules (with illustrations) as adopted by the National American Croquet Association.

Association

Association croquet is the name of an advanced game of croquet, played at all levels up to international level. It involves four balls teamed in pairs, with both balls going through every hoop for one pair to win. The game's distinguishing feature is the "croquet" shot: when certain balls hit other balls, extra shots are allowed. The six hoops are arranged three at each end of the court, with a centre peg. One side takes the blue and black balls, the other takes red and yellow. At each turn, players can choose to play with either of their balls for that turn. At the start of a turn, the player plays a stroke. If the player either hits the ball through the correct hoop ("runs" the hoop), or hits another ball (a "roquet"), the turn continues. Following a roquet, the player picks up his or her own ball and puts it down next to the ball that it hit. The next shot is played with the two balls touching: this is the "croquet stroke" from which the game takes its name. By varying the speed and angle at which the mallet hits the striker's ball, a good player can control the final position of both balls: the horizontal angle determines how far the balls diverge in direction, while the vertical angle and the amount of follow-through determine the relative distance that the two balls travel. After the croquet stroke, the player plays a "continuation" stroke, during which the player may again attempt to make a roquet or run a hoop. Each of the other three balls may be roqueted once in a turn before a hoop is run, after which they become available to be roqueted again. The winner of the game is the team who completes the set circuit of six hoops (and then back again the other way), with both balls, and then strikes the centre peg (making a total of 13 points per ball = 26). Good players may make "s" or "s" of several hoops in a single turn. The best players may take a ball round a full circuit in one turn. "Advanced play" (a variant of association play for expert players) gives penalties to a player who runs certain hoops in a turn, to allow the opponent a chance of getting back into the game; feats of skill such as triple peels or better, in which the partner ball (or occasionally an opponent ball) is caused to run a number of hoops in a turn by the striker's ball, help avoid these penalties. A handicap system ("bisques") provides less experienced players a chance of winning against more formidable opponents. Players of all ages and both sexes compete on level terms. The World Championships are organised by the

(WCF) and usually take place every two or three years. The 2020 championships took place in Melbourne, Australia; the winner was Reg Bamford. The current Women's Association Croquet World Champion (2015) is Miranda Chapman of England. The Australian team won the last

MacRobertson International Croquet Shield The MacRobertson International Croquet Shield is the premier croquet 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' ...

tournament, which is the major international test tour trophy in association croquet. It is contested every three to four years between Australia, England, the United States and New Zealand. Historically the British have been the dominant force, winning 14 out of the 22 times that the event has been held. In individual competition, the UK is often divided by subnational country (England, Scotland and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

), while Northern Ireland joins with the Republic in an All Ireland association (as it does in several other sports). The world's top 10 association croquet players as of December 2020 were Robert Fletcher (Australia), Reg Bamford (South Africa), Robert Fulford (England), Paddy Chapman (New Zealand), Matthew Essick (USA), Jonathan Kirby (Scotland), Simon Hockey (Australia), Malcolm Fletcher (Australia), Edward Wilson (Australia),

Stephen Mulliner Stephen Mulliner (born 4 September 1953) is an English international croquet player, who has won championships in both major disciplines, Association Croquet (AC) and Golf Croquet (GC). He won the British AC Open Championship in 1988, 1990, and 2 ...

(England). Unlike most sports, men and women compete and are ranked together. Three women have won the British Open Championship:

Lily Gower Lily Gower, birth name Lilias Mary Gower (5 October 1877 — 29 July 1959) was a Welsh croquet player, a four-time winner of the Women's Championship. The governing body in England is The

Croquet Association The Croquet Association, which was formed as the United All England Croquet Association in 1897, is the national governing body for the sport of croquet in England. Until 1974 the association was responsible for croquet in the whole of the Unit ...

, which has been the driving force of the development of the game. The laws and rules are now maintained by the

Golf

In golf croquet, a hoop is won by the first ball to go through each hoop. Unlike association croquet, there are no additional turns for hitting other balls. Each player takes a stroke in turn, each trying to hit a ball through the same hoop. The sequence of play is blue, red, black, yellow. Blue and black balls play against red and yellow. When a hoop is won, the sequence of play continues as before. The winner of the game is the player/team who wins the most hoops. Golf croquet is the fastest-growing version of the game, owing largely to its simplicity and competitiveness. There is an especially large interest in competitive success by players in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

. Golf croquet is easier to learn and play, but requires strategic skills and accurate play. In comparison with association croquet, play is faster and balls are more likely to be lifted off the ground. In April 2013, Reg Bamford of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

beat Ahmed Nasr of Egypt in the final of the Golf Croquet World Championship in Cairo, becoming the first person to simultaneously hold the title in both association croquet and golf croquet. As of 2020, the Golf Croquet World Champion was

Ben Rothman Ben Rothman is, as of May 2012, the number one ranked Association croquet player in North America. After focusing his life towards the game in 2007, he has become a formidable force and a player to beat in serious competition around the world. Ro ...

(USA) and the Women's Golf Croquet World Champion was Soha Mostafa (Egypt). In 2018, two international championships open to both sexes were won by women: in May,

Rachel Gee Rachel () was a Biblical figure, the favorite of Jacob's two wives, and the mother of Joseph and Benjamin, two of the twelve progenitors of the tribes of Israel. Rachel's father was Laban. Her older sister was Leah, Jacob's first wife. Her aun ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

beat

Pierre Beaudry Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

of Belgium to win the European Golf Croquet championship, and in October, Hanan Rashad of

beat Yasser Fathy (also from Egypt) to win the World over-50s Golf Croquet championship.

Garden

Garden croquet is widely played in the UK. The rules are easy to learn and the game can be played on lawns of almost any size, but usually around by . The rules are similar to those described above for Association Croquet with three major differences: # The starting point for all balls is a spot in from the boundary directly in front of hoop 1. # If a striker's ball goes off, there is no penalty, it comes back on and the turn continues. # In a croquet stroke, the croqueted ball does not have to move when the striker's ball is struck. This version of the game is easy for beginners to learn. The main Garden Croquet Club in the UK is the Bygrave Croquet Club which is a private club with five lawns. Other clubs also use garden croquet as an introduction to the game, notably the Hampstead Heath Croquet Club and the Watford Croquet Club.

American six-wicket

The American-rules version of croquet, another six-hoop game, is the dominant version of the game in the United States and is also widely played in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. It is governed by the

United States Croquet Association The United States Croquet Association (USCA) fosters croquet in all its forms, from the familiar nine-wicket croquet game to the modern sport of six-wicket croquet. There are USCA-affiliated clubs and tournaments across the United States and Canada. ...

. Its genesis is mostly in association croquet, but it differs in a number of important ways that reflect the home-grown traditions of American "backyard" croquet. Two of the most notable differences are that the balls are always played in the same sequence (blue, red, black, yellow) throughout the game, and that a ball's "deadness" on other balls is carried over from turn to turn until the ball has been "cleared" by scoring its next hoop. A Deadness Board is used to keep track of deadness on all four balls. Tactics are simplified on the one hand by the strict sequence of play, and complicated on the other hand by the continuation of deadness. A further difference is the more restrictive boundary-line rules of American croquet. In the American game, roqueting a ball out of bounds or running a hoop out of bounds causes the turn to end, and balls that go out of bounds are replaced only from the boundary rather than as in association croquet. "Attacking" balls on the boundary line to bring them into play is thus far more challenging.

Nine-wicket

Nine-wicket croquet, sometimes called "backyard croquet", is played mainly in Canada and the United States, and is the game most recreational players in those countries call simply "croquet". In this version of croquet, there are nine wickets, two stakes, and up to six balls. The course is arranged in a double-diamond pattern, with one stake at each end of the course. Players start at one stake, navigate one side of the double diamond, hit the turning stake, then navigate the opposite side of the double diamond and hit the starting stake to end. If playing individually (''Cutthroat''), the first player to stake out is the winner. In partnership play, all members of a team must stake out, and a player might choose to avoid staking out (becoming a ''Rover'') in order to help a lagging teammate. Each time a ball is roqueted, the striker gets two bonus shots. For the first bonus shot, the player has four options: * From a mallet-head distance or less away from the ball that was hit ("taking a mallet-head") * From a position in contact with the ball that was hit, with the striker ball, held steady by the striker's foot or hand (a "foot shot" or "hand shot") * From a position in contact with the ball that was hit, with the striker ball not held by foot or hand (a "croquet shot") * From where the striker ball stopped after the roquet. The second bonus shot ("continuation shot") is an ordinary shot played from where the striker ball came to rest. An alternate endgame is "poison": in this variant, a player who has scored the last wicket but not hit the starting stake becomes a "poison ball", which may eliminate other balls from the game by roqueting them. A non-poison ball that roquets a poison ball has the normal options. A poison ball that hits a stake or passes through any wicket (possibly by the action of a non-poison player) is eliminated. The last person remaining is the winner.

Ricochet

This version of the game was invented by John Riches of Adelaide, Australia, with help from Tom Armstrong, in the 1980s. The game can be played by up to six people and is very easy to learn. For this reason it is often used as a stepping stone to association croquet. Ricochet has similar rules to association and garden croquet, except that when a ball is roqueted, the striker's ball remains live and two free shots are earned. This enables strikers to play their ball near to another opponent's ball and ricochet that too thus earning two more free shots. Running a hoop earns one free shot.

One-ball

One-ball croquet has become popular in recent years as a way of bringing AC (association) and GC (golf) players together. The rules are essentially those of association croquet, except that each player or team has only one ball rather than two. This makes it very hard to create a break, which leads to more interactive play.

History

Pall Mall - Project Gutenberg eText 14315

The oldest document to bear the word ''croquet'' with a description of the modern game is the set of rules registered by

Isaac Spratt Isaac Spratt (1799 – 1876) was a London toy dealer who wrote pamphlets describing the games of croquet and badminton and was influential in the early development of both. It is known he was born in Ibsley, Hampshire and was married with four chi ...

in November 1856 with the Stationers' Company of London. This record is now in the

Public Record Office The Public Record Office (abbreviated as PRO, pronounced as three letters and referred to as ''the'' PRO), Chancery Lane in the City of London, was the guardian of the national archives of the United Kingdom from 1838 until 2003, when it was ...

. In 1868, the first croquet all-comers meet was held at

Moreton-in-Marsh Moreton-in-Marsh is a market town in the Evenlode Valley, within the Cotswolds district and Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Gloucestershire, England. The town stands at the crossroads of the Fosse Way Roman road (now the A429) and the ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

and in the same year the All England Croquet Club was formed at

Wimbledon, London Wimbledon () is a district and town of Southwest London, England, southwest of the centre of London at Charing Cross; it is the main commercial centre of the London Borough of Merton. Wimbledon had a population of 68,187 in 2011 which includes ...

. Regardless when and by what route it reached the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

and the

British colonies A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony administered by The Crown within the British Empire. There was usually a Governor, appointed by the British monarch on the advice of the UK Government, with or without the assistance of a local Coun ...

in its recognizable form, croquet is, like

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

pall-mall Pall-mall, paille-maille, palle-maille, pell-mell, or palle-malle (, , ) is a lawn game (though mostly played on earth surfaces rather than grass) that was mostly played in the 16th and 17th centuries, a precursor to croquet. History Related to ...

trucco Trucco (also called trucks, troco,''Oxford English Dictionary''; see "troco" and "trucks" entries. or lawn billiards) is an Italian and later England, English lawn game, a form of ground billiards played with heavy balls, large-headed Cue stick, c ...

, and kolven, among the later forms of

ground billiards Ground billiards is a modern term for a family of medieval European lawn games, the original names of which are mostly unknown, played with a long-handled mallet (the '), wooden balls, a hoop (the ''pass''), and an upright skittle or pin (the ' ...

, which as a class have been popular in Western Europe back to at least the

Late Middle Ages The Late Middle Ages or Late Medieval Period was the period of European history lasting from AD 1300 to 1500. The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period (and in much of Europe, the Renai ...

, with roots in

classical antiquity Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) is the period of cultural history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD centred on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ...

, including sometimes the use of arches and pegs along with balls and mallets or other striking sticks (some more akin to modern

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ...

sticks). By the 12th century, a team ball game called ' or ', akin to a chaotic version of hockey or football (depending on whether sticks were used), was regularly played in France and southern Britain between villages or parishes; it was attested in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

as early as 1283. In the book ''Queen of Games: The History of Croquet'', Nicky Smith presents two theories of the origin of the modern game of croquet, which took England by storm in the 1860s and then spread overseas.

First origin theory

The first explanation is that the ancestral game was introduced to

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

from

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

during the 1660–1685 reign of

Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651, and King of England, Scotland and Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685. Charles II was the eldest surviving child of ...

, and was played under the name of ' (among other spellings, today usually ''pall-mall''), derived ultimately from Latin words for 'ball and mallet' (the latter also found in the name of the earlier French game, '). This was the explanation given in the ninth edition of ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various t ...

'', dated 1877. In his 1801 book ''The Sports and Pastimes of the People of England'', Joseph Strutt described the way pall-mall was played in England at the time:

"Pale-maille is a game wherein a round box[wood] ball is struck with a mallet through a high arch of iron, which he that can do at the fewest blows, or at the number agreed upon, wins. It is to be observed, that there are two of these arches, that is one at either end of the alley. The game of mall was a fashionable amusement in the reign of Charles the Second, and the walk in Saint James's Park, now called the Mall, received its name from having been appropriated to the purpose of playing at mall, where Charles himself and his courtiers frequently exercised themselves in the practice of this pastime."

While the name ''pall-mall'' and various games bearing this name also appeared elsewhere (France and Italy), the description above suggests that the croquet-like games in particular were popular in England by the early 17th century. Some other early modern sources refer to pall-mall being played over a large distance (as in golf); however, an image in Strutt's 1801 book shows a croquet-like

game (balls on ground, hoop, bats, and peg) being played over a , garden-sized distance. The image's caption describes the game as "a curious ancient pastime", confirming that croquet games were not new in early-19th-century England. In Samuel Johnson's 1755 dictionary, his definition of "pall-mall" clearly describes a game with similarities to modern croquet: "A play in which the ball is struck with a mallet through an iron ring". However, there is no evidence that pall-mall involved the croquet stroke which is the distinguishing characteristic of the modern game.

Second origin theory

The second theory is that the rules of the modern game of croquet arrived from

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

during the 1850s, perhaps after being brought there from

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...

, where a similar game was played on the beaches. Regular contact between Ireland and France had continued since the

Norman invasion of Ireland The Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland took place during the late 12th century, when Anglo-Normans gradually conquered and acquired large swathes of land from the Irish, over which the kings of England then claimed sovereignty, all allegedly san ...

in 1169. By no later than the early 15th century, the game ' (itself ancestral to pall-mall and perhaps to indoor

billiards Cue sports are a wide variety of games of skill played with a cue, which is used to strike billiard balls and thereby cause them to move around a cloth-covered table bounded by elastic bumpers known as . There are three major subdivisions ...

) was popular in France, including in the courts of Henry II in the 16th century and

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Ver ...

of the 17th. At least one version of it, ' ('wheel') was a multi-ball lawn game. Records show a game called "crookey", similar to croquet, being played at

Castlebellingham Castlebellingham () is a village and townland in County Louth, Ireland. The village has become quieter since the construction of the new M1 motorway, which bypasses it. The population of Castlebellingham-Kilsaran (named for the two townlands whi ...

in County Louth, Ireland, in 1834, which was introduced to

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a city in the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay, and is the sixth most populous city on ...

in 1835 and played on the bishop's palace garden, and in the same year to the genteel Dublin suburb of Kingstown (today

Dún Laoghaire Dún Laoghaire ( , ) is a suburban coastal town in Dublin in Ireland. It is the administrative centre of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. The town was built following the 1816 legislation that allowed the building of a major port to serve Dubli ...

) where it was first spelt as "croquet". There is, however, no pre-1858 Irish document that describes the way game was played, in particular, there is no reference to the distinctive croquet stroke, which is described above under " Variations: Association". The noted croquet historian Dr Prior, in his book of 1872, makes the categoric statement "One thing only is certain: it is from Ireland that croquet came to England and it was on the lawn of the late Lord Lonsdale that it was first played in this country." This was about 1851. John Jaques apparently claimed in a letter to

Arthur Lillie Arthur Lillie (24 February 1831 – 28 November 1911), was a Buddhist, soldier in the British Indian Army, and a writer. Biography Lillie, christened as George Arthur Howard, was the youngest son of Sir John Scott Lillie and his wife Louisa, ...

in 1873 that he had himself seen the game played in Ireland, writing "I made the implements and published directions (such as they were) before Mr. Spratt entioned aboveintroduced the subject to me." Whatever the truth of the matter, Jaques certainly played an important role in popularising the game, producing editions of the rules in 1857, 1860, and 1864.

Heyday and decline

Croquet became highly popular as a social pastime in England during the 1860s. It was enthusiastically adopted and promoted by the

Earl of Essex Earl of Essex is a title in the Peerage of England which was first created in the 12th century by King Stephen of England. The title has been recreated eight times from its original inception, beginning with a new first Earl upon each new cre ...

who held lavish croquet parties at

Cassiobury House Cassiobury House was a country house in Cassiobury Park, Watford, England. It was the ancestral seat of the Earls of Essex. Originally a Tudor building, dating from 1546 for Sir Richard Morrison, it was substantially remodelled in the 17th and ...

, his stately home in

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

, Hertfordshire, and the Earl even launched his own ''Cassiobury'' brand croquet set. By 1867, Jaques had printed 65,000 copies of his ''Laws and Regulations'' of the game. It quickly spread to other

Anglophone Speakers of English are also known as Anglophones, and the countries where English is natively spoken by the majority of the population are termed the ''Anglosphere''. Over two billion people speak English , making English the largest language ...

countries, including Australia,

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. No doubt one of the attractions was that the game could be played by both sexes; this also ensured a certain amount of adverse comment. It is no coincidence that the game became popular at the same time as the cylinder

lawn mower A lawn mower (also known as a mower, grass cutter or lawnmower) is a device utilizing one or more revolving blades (or a reel) to cut a grass surface to an even height. The height of the cut grass may be fixed by the design of the mower, but g ...

, since croquet can only be played well on a lawn that is flat and finely-cut. Män och kvinnor spelar krocket framför hus på Lidingö - Nordiska Museet - NMA

Män och kvinnor spelar krocket framför hus på Lidingö - Nordiska Museet - NMA

By the late 1870s, however, croquet had been eclipsed by another fashionable game,

lawn tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cove ...

, and many of the newly created croquet clubs, including the All England Club at Wimbledon, converted some or all of their lawns into

tennis court A tennis court is the venue where the sport of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the centre. The same surface can be used to play both Types of tennis match, doubles and singles matches. A variet ...

s. There was a revival in the 1890s, but from then onwards, croquet was always a minority sport, with national individual participation amounting to a few thousand players. The

All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, also known as the All England Club, based at Church Road, Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, London, England, is a Gentlemen's club, private members' club. It is best known as the venue for the Wimbledon ...

still has a croquet lawn, but has not hosted any significant tournaments. The English headquarters for the game is now in Cheltenham. Eglington1

The earliest known reference to croquet in Scotland is the booklet ''The Game of Croquet, its Laws and Regulations'' which was published in the mid-1860s for the proprietor of Eglinton Castle, the Earl of Eglinton. On the page facing the title page is a picture of Eglinton Castle with a game of "croquet" in full swing. The croquet lawn existed on the northern terrace, between

Eglinton Castle Eglinton Castle was a large Gothic castellated mansion in Kilwinning, North Ayrshire, Scotland. History The castle The ancient seat of the Earls of Eglinton, it is located just south of the town of Kilwinning. The original Eglinton Castle w ...

and the Lugton Water. The 13th Earl developed a variation on croquet named Captain Moreton's Eglinton Castle croquet, which had small bells on the eight hoops "to ring the changes", two pegs, a double hoop with a bell and two tunnels for the ball to pass through. In 1865 the 'Rules of the Eglinton Castle and Cassiobury Croquet' was published by

Edmund Routledge Edmund Routledge (30 January 1843 – 25 August 1899), was a British publisher of boys' magazines and an author of books about sports. Early life Edmund Routledge was born in London on 30 January 1843, the second son of George Routledge (1812� ...

. Several incomplete sets of this form of croquet are known to exist, and one complete set is still used for demonstration games in the West of Scotland.

Glossary of terms

;Backward ball: The ball of a side that has scored fewer hoops (compare with 'forward ball'). ;Ball-in-hand: A ball that the striker can pick up to change its position, for example: :# any ball when it leaves the court has to be replaced on the yard-line :# the striker's ball after making a roquet must be placed in contact with the roqueted ball :# the striker's ball when the striker is entitled to a lift.

', 7th Edition, World Croquet Federation. ;Ball in play: A ball after it has been played into the game, which is not a ball in hand or pegged out. ;Baulk: An imaginary line on which a ball is placed for its first shot in the game, or when taking a lift. The A-baulk coincides with the western half of the yard line along the south boundary; the B-baulk occupies the eastern half of the north boundary yard line. ;Bisque, half-bisque: A bisque is a free turn in a handicap match. A half-bisque is a restricted handicap turn in which no point may be scored. ;Break down: To end a turn by making a mistake. ;Continuation stroke: Either the bonus stroke played after running a hoop in order or the second bonus stroke played after making a roquet. ;Croquet stroke: A stroke taken after making a roquet, in which the striker's ball and the roqueted ball are placed together in contact. ;Double tap: A fault in which the mallet makes more than one audible sound when it strikes the ball. ;Forward ball: The ball of a side that has scored more hoops (compare with 'backward ball'). ;Hoop: Metal U-shaped gate pushed into ground. (Also called a wicket in the US, which is of the same etymology as

wicket gate A wicket gate, or simply a wicket, is a pedestrian door or gate, particularly one built into a larger door or into a wall or fence. Use in fortifications Wickets are typically small, narrow doors either alongside or within a larger castle or ...

). ;Leave: The position of the balls after a successful break, in which the striker is able to leave the balls placed so as to make life as difficult as possible for the opponent. ;Lift: A turn in which the player is entitled to remove the ball from its current position and play instead from either baulk line. A lift is permitted when a ball has been placed by the opponent in a position where it is wired from all other balls, and also in advanced play when the opponent has completed a break that includes hoops 1-back or 4-back. ;Object ball: A ball which is going to be rushed. ;Peg out: To cause a rover ball to strike the peg and conclude its active involvement in the game. ;Peel: To send a ball other than the striker's ball through its target hoop. ;Pioneer: A ball placed in a strategic position near the striker's next-but-one or next-but-two hoop, to assist in running that hoop later in the break. ;Primary colours or first colours: The main croquet ball colours used which are blue, red, black and yellow (in order of play). One player or team plays blue and black, the other red and yellow. ;Push: A fault when the mallet pushes the striker's ball, rather than making a clean strike. ;Roquet: (Second syllable rhymes with "play".) When the striker's ball hits a ball that he is entitled to then take a croquet shot with. At the start of a turn, the striker is entitled to roquet all the other three balls once. Once the striker's ball goes through its target hoop, it is again entitled to roquet the other balls once. ;Rover ball: A ball that has run all 12 hoops and can be pegged out. ;Rover hoop: The last hoop, indicated by a red top bar. The first hoop has a blue top. ;Run a hoop: To send the striker's ball through a hoop. If the hoop is the hoop in order for the striker's ball, the striker earns a bonus stroke. ;Rush: A roquet when the roqueted ball is sent to a specific position on the court, such as the next hoop for the striker's ball or close to a ball that the striker wishes to roquet next. ;Scatter shot: A continuation stroke used to hit a ball which may not be roqueted in order to send it to a less dangerous position. ;Secondary colours: (also known as second colours or alternate colours) The colours of the balls used in the second game played on the same court in double-banking: green, pink, brown and white (in order of play). Green and brown versus pink and white, are played by the same player or pair. ;Sextuple peel (SXP): To peel the partner ball through its last six hoops in the course of a single turn. Very few players have achieved this feat, but it is being seen increasingly at championship level. ;Tice: A ball sent to a location that will entice an opponent to shoot at it but miss. ;Triple peel (TP): To send a ball other than the striker's ball through its last three hoops, and then peg it out. See also

Triple Peel A Triple Peel (TP) is a standard manoeuvre in top-level games of association croquet.Martin JohnsonBritish Open Croquet set for hoop action ''The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a n ...

, A variant is the Triple Peel on Opponent (TPO), where the peelee is the opponent's ball rather than the partner ball. The significance of this manoeuvre is that in advanced play, making a break that includes the tenth hoop (called 4-back) is penalized by granting the opponent a lift (entitling him to take the next shot from either baulk line). Therefore, many breaks stop voluntarily with three hoops and the peg still to run. ;Wired: When a hoop or the peg impedes the path of a striker's ball, or the swing of the mallet. A player will often endeavour to finish a turn with the opponent's balls wired from each other. ;Yard line: An imaginary line from the boundary. Balls that go off the boundary are generally replaced on the yard line (but if this happens on a croquet stroke, the turn ends).

In art and literature

The way croquet is depicted in paintings and books says much about popular perceptions of the game, though little about the reality of modern play. * In 1868 a song titled ''Croquet'' (essentially anonymous: by M.B.C.S and W.O.F.) was included in a popular song book by W. O. Perkins, ''The Golden Robin'' (Pub. Oliver Ditson & Company, New York). ("Upon the smoothly shaven lawn, Beneath the skies of May, Oh, boys and girls, this merry morn, Come out and play Croquet ..."); there are four full verses. *

Winslow Homer Winslow Homer (February 24, 1836 – September 29, 1910) was an American landscape painter and illustrator, best known for his marine subjects. He is considered one of the foremost painters in 19th-century America and a preeminent figure in ...

Édouard Manet Édouard Manet (, ; ; 23 January 1832 – 30 April 1883) was a French modernist painter. He was one of the first 19th-century artists to paint modern life, as well as a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism. Bo ...

, and Pierre Bonnard all have paintings titled ''The Croquet Game.'' *

Norman Rockwell Norman Percevel Rockwell (February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978) was an American painter and illustrator. His works have a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of Culture of the United States, the country's culture. Roc ...

often depicted the game, including in his painting ''Croquet.'' *

Edward Gorey Edward St. John Gorey (February 22, 1925 – April 15, 2000) was an American writer, Tony Award-winning costume designer, and artist, noted for his own illustrated books as well as cover art and illustration for books by other writers. Hi ...

's '' The Epiplectic Bicycle'' features illustrations of the main characters playing with croquet mallets. * Croquet is popular pastime of

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...

's ''

Anna Karenina ''Anna Karenina'' ( rus, «Анна Каренина», p=ˈanːə kɐˈrʲenʲɪnə) is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, first published in book form in 1878. Widely considered to be one of the greatest works of literature ever writt ...

'' characters. *

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells"Wells, H. G."
Revised 18 May 2015. ''

The Croquet Player ''The Croquet Player'' is a 1936 novella by H. G. Wells, "a sort of ghost story." It has been called "a short allegory written under the stimulus of the Spanish War." Plot summary Georgie, a gentleman with "soft hands and an ineffective will ...

'' which uses croquet as a metaphor for the way in which people confront the very problem of their own existence. *

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet and mathematician. His most notable works are '' Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and its sequ ...

featured a

nonsense Nonsense is a communication, via speech, writing, or any other symbolic system, that lacks any coherent meaning. Sometimes in ordinary usage, nonsense is synonymous with absurdity or the ridiculous. Many poets, novelists and songwriters have u ...

version of the game in the popular children's novel ''

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. It details the story of a young girl named Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of anthropomorphic creature ...

'': a hedgehog was used as the ball, a flamingo as the mallet, and playing cards as the hoops. * In the ''

Thursday Next Thursday Next is the protagonist in a series of comic fantasy, alternate history mystery novels by the British author Jasper Fforde. She was first introduced in Fforde's first published novel, '' The Eyre Affair'', released on 19 July 2001 by ...

'' series of novels, notably ''

Something Rotten ''Something Rotten'' is the fourth book in the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde. It continues the story some two years after the point where '' The Well of Lost Plots'' leaves off. Plot introduction The book sees Thursday return fro ...

'',

Jasper Fforde Jasper Fforde (born 11 January 1961) is an English novelist, whose first novel, '' The Eyre Affair'', was published in 2001. He is known mainly for his '' Thursday Next'' novels, but has published two books in the loosely connected '' Nursery Cr ...

depicts an alternative world in which croquet is a brutal mass spectator sport. * The cover of the 1971

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...

album ''

Nursery Cryme ''Nursery Cryme'' is the third studio album by the English rock band Genesis, released in November 1971 on Charisma Records. It was their first to feature drummer/vocalist Phil Collins and guitarist Steve Hackett. The album received a mixed respo ...

'' shows Cynthia, a character in the song "Musical Box" holding a croquet mallet with a few heads on the playing field including another character of the song Henry's head that she removed with said mallet. * In Stephen King's 1977 novel '' The Shining'', the main character,

Jack Torrance John Daniel Edward "Jack" Torrance is the main antagonist in Stephen King's horror novel '' The Shining'' (1977). He was portrayed by Jack Nicholson in the novel's 1980 film adaptation, by Steven Weber in the 1997 miniseries, by Brian Mu ...

, uses a croquet mallet to chase and attack the other characters. The 1997 miniseries features the use of croquet however, Stanley Kubrick's 1980 film adaptation uses a fire axe instead. * In the 1980s geography game '' Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?'', one of the characters, Fast Eddie B, is described as a "world class croquet player", and two other gang members, Ihor Ihorovich and Scar Graynolt, also play the sport. * In the 1988 film ''

Heathers ''Heathers'' is a 1989 American black comedy film written by Daniel Waters and directed by Michael Lehmann, in both of their respective film debuts. The film stars Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, Shannen Doherty, Lisanne Falk, Kim Walker, and ...

'', Veronica (

Winona Ryder Winona Laura Horowitz (born October 29, 1971), professionally known as Winona Ryder, is an American actress. Originally playing quirky roles, she rose to prominence for her more diverse performances in various genres in the 1990s. She has recei ...

) and her friends, the Heathers, are depicted as playing croquet, though at the beginning, the Heathers are playing croquet to hit Veronica on the head. Croquet mallets also feature in the publicity posters for '' Heathers: The Musical''. * Croquet is featured prominently in the music video for " I'm Not Okay (I Promise)" by

My Chemical Romance My Chemical Romance (commonly abbreviated to MCR or My Chem) is an American rock band from Newark, New Jersey. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist Gerard Way, lead guitarist Ray Toro, rhythm guitarist Frank Iero, and bassist ...

. * Croquet is featured in the novel '' Grapes of Wrath'' by John Steinbeck wherein the Joads stay at the government camp in

Weedpatch Weedpatch (formerly Weed Patch and Alexander's Corner) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Kern County, California, Kern County, California, United States. Weedpatch is south-southeast of Bakersfield, California, ...

, Ca.

Clubs

About 200 croquet clubs across the United States are members of the United States Croquet Association. Many colleges have croquet clubs as well, such as

The University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective adm ...

The University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the be ...

, Pennsylvania State University,

Bates College Bates College () is a private liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine. Anchored by the Historic Quad, the campus of Bates totals with a small urban campus which includes 33 Victorian Houses as some of the dormitories. It maintains of nature p ...

, SUNY New Paltz,

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

, and

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...

. Notably, St. John's College and the

US Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy is ...

engage in a yearly match in Annapolis, Maryland. Both schools also compete at the collegiate level and the rivalry continues to be an Annapolis tradition, attracting thousands of spectators each April. In England and Wales, there are around 170 clubs affiliated with the Croquet Association. The

at Wimbledon is famous for its

tournament, but retains an active croquet section. There are also clubs in many universities and colleges, with an annual Varsity match being played between Oxford and Cambridge. With over 1800 participants, the 2011 Oxford University "Cuppers" (inter-college) tournament claimed to be not only the largest croquet tournament ever, but the largest sporting event in the university's history. There are 112 clubs in New Zealand, affiliated with 19 associations. These are governed by Croquet New Zealand.

References

External links

A Synopsis of the Laws of Association Croquet
from Oxford Croquet
Synopsis of American Croquet
from the

The official rules of Backyard Croquet
(nine-wicket layout), from th
United States Croquet Association

Official Rules of Garden Croquet
(British six-hoop garden croquet)
Croquet Rules and Regulations
from ''Croquet.com''
The Croquet Association Jargon List

Arkley Croquet Collection
– An exceptional selection of paintings, cartoons and photographs depicting the game of croquet, from UBC Library Digital Collections
Checklist of Croquet Books and Pamphlets, 1853 to 2002
{{Authority control Former Summer Olympic sports Lawn games Stick sports Sports originating in England Sports originating in the United Kingdom