MacRob - Report #17 (24 November)

Courtesy of Eileen Soo

USA vs Aust Day 4

Today was singles at Rich River. A fresh wind was a good thing,
keeping the ever-present flies on the move. The "chance of
thunderstorm" didn't result in any rain. Overall, the American team
looked relaxed and more confident on the Rich River courts today. Most
players had a court that suited them: Rich Lamm, the speed demon, on
Court 1; Bob Cherry on a court that plays similarly to his home club
of Pinehurst; and Jeff Soo got court 6, which has the familiar bumps
and irregularities of his home club of Stoneridge. The others had no
trouble making do with the even pace and smooth surface of the other
courts. Or it may be that everyone is settling in on the fourth day,
having overcome jet lag and the inevitable changes that international
travel brings up. ("Uhm, why doesn't this electric plug work? And I
need a power converter? Uh oh..")

A small difference in terminology came up during a sideline discussion
with an Australian referee: what we Americans inaccurately call an
"on-time triple" (that is, not a delayed triple) is called a "standard
triple" by the rest of the world. I'll try to use the more general
term standard triple, but you'll have to forgive me if I slip. I am
also reporting scores in the usual American way, since not all
American readers are familiar with the conventional Association way.

Court 1, the lawn bowls green, had Rich Lamm playing Stephen
Forster. The speed of court 1 was expected to favor Lamm's playing
style, and it did. Lamm opened with a super shot, and Forster shot to
outside corner 2. Lamm hit the corner 2 ball and and made 9. He left
a backwards "ducks in a row": more or less a diagonal spread minus the
ball on the west boundary. Forster missed the long shot into corner
4. Lamm got a slight rough start to his break. After stopping opponent
to 2, he rushed his partner into 5. Lamm decedied to roll to corner 4,
setting a trap. Forster shot he ball from near 1 but missed. Lamm was
then set to go. He tripled for a score of 26tp-0

The second game took a bit more work and was more scrappy. With Lamm
and Forster getting on 9-hoop break each. Forster took his second
break with blue to peg. Lamm missed the lift. This put Forster with a
ball on peg and 3-back, and Lamm with red on 4-back and yellow on
3. Forster failed 3-back, letting Lamm play the 4-back ball. He took
it to peg, pegging out Forster's blue. Lamm then separated. Forster
shot with black at every opportunity, long shots all, but never hit
in. He tried 3-back from the boundary and missed. Later, Lamm's trap
in corner 3, with yellow for 3, and missed. This let Lamm in to
finish. 26-21.

Court 2 was taken to three games, Bob Cherry took the first game,
26tp-9, while Dumergue took the second 26tp-0. Both these games took
classic form, with no real surprises -- clean, competent work by both
players. The match resumed after lunch, with increased and gusty
winds. Dumergue took control right away with solid break by yellow,
setting a perfectly wired diagonal spread, black at peg. Cherry lifted
blue for the long shot but missed. Red did a nice triple, with the
only excitement occurring with his straight rover peel. The peel
resulted in yellow through the hoop by about 10 inches, red close in
front of rover, and blue straight behind rover about 2 yards off of
the south boundary. Dumergue had to jump to clear yellow to save the
triple. He did a clean jump hitting blue. Now he was faced with a long
cannon to get yellow from behind the hoop. This succeeded, moving
yellow 4 feet east of the hoop and giving Dumergue an easy rush to the
peg. Game score 26tp-0.

Court 3 had Jerry Stark playing Bruce Fleming. In game 1, Stark took
yellow on the first break to 4, then Fleming took the second with
black setting an NSL with yellow on 4. Stark hit in with yellow and
took it to 4-back. Fleming hit in with blue, and did a standard triple
to win 26tp-9.

Game 2 had a bit more interaction, with Stark hitting on on third
turn. He moved Fleming's yellow ball from the east boundary out to
super shot position, setting black with a rush towards yellow. Red
took the long shot but missed, and Stark was in, taking the break
'round and setting an NSL with yellow a bit off 4 but hampered on blue
and black. Fleming took the long shot with yellow and hit blue.
Fleming got hoop 1, but retreated from hoop 2, leaving black a long
shot on blue near the east boundary. Black missed, allowing Fleming
to take yellow to 4-back. He set an NSL with black about 1 inch off
4. Stark chose the short shot with blue, hitting yellow. Blue got the
first peel of a standard triple in, but it came to a stop when a
hampered shot after 5 resulted in a missed roquet on yellow. Red
played from there on in, finishing a standard triple to win 26tp-15.

Court 4 was allocated to Danny Huneycutt vs. Martin Clarke. This went
to three games, with Clarke taking the match. Game 1 saw lots of play
from both sides. Huneycutt got the first break with red, setting a
diagonal spread with blue at the peg. Blue took the long shot and
missed, so Huneycutt took yellow around. The balls never fell right to
get the triple, so Huneycutt left the court with his one peel done,
setting a diagonal spread with blue at the peg. Unfortunately, blue
was not quite wired from red on the east boundary by 4, allowing
Clarke to hit in with a bare nick on red. He took his nine, setting
the almost mandatory NSL with red at 4. Red took the long shot and
missed; Blue did the triple, with a straight rover peel, winning
26tp-22.

Game 2 started with a second turn hit by Clarke with black, leaving
yellow out mid-court and black on the west boundary slight south of
peg high. Huneycutt shot red at black from corner 1 and missed to
corner 2. Blue shot at black from the east end of A-baulk and missed.
Red took the return shot, hitting to start his break. Huneycutt set a
diagonal spread with blue not quite wired at peg. Clarke declined the
lift, shooting black at blue. Black thunked off the peg, landing near
4. Yellow took the break, ending with a standard triple. Final score
26tp-0.

Game 3 was pretty much the same as 2, with players reversed. Clarke
got in with black on the fifth turn, setting an NSL with yellow just
off 4. Yellow took the long shot and missed, letting blue start it's
break. Clarke got a delayed triple with a straight rover peel. Bad
luck placed blue in a straight line with black and red, with no
possible shot at red. Blue roqueted black to get a clear but very long
shot at the peg from approximately 2 yards off the south
boundary. Black hit yellow on it's way to the peg, landing about a
yard away from peg, somewhat west. Clarke rushed red to near peg, then
used it to cannon black into the peg. Clarke did a lot of work for it,
but he did get the peg out. Score 26tp-0.

Court 5 had Damon Bidencope playing Trevor Bassett. The first game
started well, with Bassett taking black to 4-back, then Bidencope
hitting in with yellow for a break. Bassett missed the lift, and red
started it's break. Bidencope tried for the triple throughout, but
things didn't jell. He got two straight peels, with the penult peel
from a solid 8 feet out. Bidencope did not attempt the straight rover
peel, choosing to get the hoop and set a leave. After careful thought,
he placed blue against rover and black about 5 yards south of 2. Red
and yellow were on the east boundary, about hoop 5 high, wired from
blue. Blue took the open shot on black and hit but failed to start a
break. After a few missed shots on both sides, blue started a break
with a solid chance of a standard triple, but he broke down at
3-back. Bidencope shot in with yellow to score rover and peg
out. Score: 26-20.

In game 2, Bassett shot blue at black on the east boundary on the
third turn. He decided not to dig Bidencope's red out for corner 2,
instead setting a rush to 2. Yellow took the long shot and missed into
corner 4. Blue tried to get a break started, but ended up in the jaws
of 1. Red made it to 6 in several break attempts, only to stick in
6. Bassett took control of the game from there, pulling out a triple
to finish 26tp-6.

Game 3 saw a third turn hit in with Bidencope's red on yellow on the
east boundary. This allowed him to pull black off the west boundary
and set a rush on the east. Blue missed the long shot, letting
Bidencope try to get a break started. After a few tries, red got in
and made its nine, leaving blue against 4 and black against 2.
Bassett lifted black for the short shot and missed. Bidencope then
ran a tidy standard triple to win 26tp-0.

Court 6 finished earliest today, with Soo besting Watts in a quick
two. In game 1, Soo took the first break with yellow, then Watts took
the second break with black and set an NSL with red on 4 and blue and
black about peg high. Red took the long shot and hit blue. He pegged
out with a standard triple, 26tp-9. Game 2 was just as quick. Soo put
black out about midway between 6 and peg, and Watts placed yellow on
the west boundary, between peg and 2 high. Blue shot at yellow and
hit, letting Soo make a third turn break. He left black with a rush on
yellow on the east boundary, and blue close to the west boundary a bit
above peg high. Red took the long shot and missed. Black came in and
started well, but accidentally roqueted his 4 pioneer on a croquet
stroke, which made it difficult to place after 4. This made the triple
harder start. Soo got the 4-back peel fairly late, not allowing enough
time to finish the triple. He set a diagonal spread with yellow at
peg, and Watts chose to lift yellow to the A-baulk for a 25 yard shot
at red and missed. Blue came in to finish, 26-0.

As of today, the Australians have won this test. The Aussies earned it
and are properly happy. The Americans are out practicing as I write
this report, looking to close the gap through the rest of the test. We
return to Shepparton tomorrow for more doubles; the homemade lunch and
tea cakes may make up partially for today's disappointment.