It could only happen in Sydney

(from the December 2007edition of the ACA Magazine)

Martyn Prins of Chatswood Croquet Club reported that:

It was a hot spring afternoon and I was playing on the beautifully coiffed lawn number 3 at Chatswood Croquet Club, NSW. Coming to rover for the third and final peel of my turn, I lay down onthe grass motionless in order to be very sure of the line-up of the balls. It was a pleasure to just lie there for a moment and inhale the freshness of the grass, ignore passing trains and highway sirens, and focus on the vital shot ahead.

I was pleased of course, when the balls did as commanded and I finished the triple peel.

As I paused to look contentedly around, I was bemused to see a policewoman sprinting up to the perimeter fence and beckoning to me. I walked over to her and breathlessly she asked me if anyone had been injured on the lawn.

"Nooo," I said, puzzled.

Then I suggested, "Perhaps you saw a player lying down on the grass?" Yes, she said, a passenger on a passing train had called in with a report of someone lying dead on the lawn.

Oh, I said, with a big smile, that would be me - that's all part of thegame of croquet you know.

Aha, said the PC, and spoke rapidly into her walkie-talkie, presumably to her male colleague who had leapt the fence and run over to talk to the bewildered players on lawn 1.

Mission accomplished, she turned to go back to her beat.

"By the way," I said, "I appreciate very much your rapid response. Just lucky I didn't need the help, but I'm very impressed".