Croquet: NZ close to rare MacRobertson win

Paddy Chapman lines up a shot for New Zealand v England at Mount Maunganui yesterday. Photo/George Novak

The New Zealand team are on the cusp of a historic victory in the MacRobertson Shield International Croquet Series.

Today is the last day's play in the third and final test of the series at the Mount Maunganui Croquet lawns at Blake Park.

The MacRobertson Shield is the premier croquet teams event in the world. It is contested by Australia, England, New Zealand and the United States and is played in rotation between the competing countries every three or four years.

New Zealand have won it just three times in 16 previous attempts dating back to 1935, most recently in 1986, so there may well be plenty to celebrate later today.

Team manager Jarrod Coutts from Napier is just 22 and typical of the resurgence of younger players in the sport, since golf croquet was introduced.

"Golf croquet has become a massive part of the sport in the last 10 years. A lot of clubs in New Zealand would not be around if it was not for golf croquet," Coutts said.

"But this is the more traditional version and the MacRobertson Shield is still considered the premier croquet event in the world, even with the influx of golf croquet.

"This one has been around since the 1920s and this is a massive opportunity for New Zealand to win the shield since 1986 and it has been in Great Britain or England's hands ever since 1990.

"After three days, we were up 8-4 but it is a long way to go. Our magic number is 11 so if we can go 10-5 up into the last day, that puts us in a very strong position. Today's final day will have six singles matches, so there is a pretty good chance it will come down to the final day.

"We are in a strong position but with the English fightback, we are well aware that it will happen. We just want to make the most of our chances. There are several big shots in a match and it can just swing dramatically."

Play begins at 9am. Coutts is keen to see as many people as possible supporting the Kiwis.