MacRobertson Shield Blog Page

Enjoy the following updates from our Australian team as they compete in the 2026 Association Croquet World Team Championships - Tier 1, competing for the MacRobertson Shield - being held in England between 24th July and 9th August 2026.

Round 3 Test: Australia vs USA (5-9 August at Surbiton, London)

Day 4 - 8 August: Day 4 Test 3 (singles)
While the boys were up for the challenge at the start of today, our American opponents were too and stepped it up another notch. Berryman took the first game of his match but that was the only shining light for Oz, as the USA thumped us 0-6 to take the match 3-15 with 3 doubles matches tomorrow. The team have gained much experience from this tour and are targeting a daily win tomorrow to finish on a positive note.

Day 3 - 7 August: Day 3 Test 3
In a must win day for the Aussies, we got off to a great start winning all 3 openings and completing 2 breaks to 4b. Unfortunately we only won 1 of the opening games after Hill hit and finished after McCormick had earlier been pegged out. Unfortunately for us that was the last shining light for us as we lost the remaining games and all three matches. Oz currently trail 3-9 and certainly have their backs against the wall now.

Day 2 - 6 August: It was a tough start for Oz today with USA taking the first two matches before lunch, Essick beating McCormick and Watson beating Hill. Pearce had a good lead against Balding in game 1 but was ultimately overcome. In game 2 Balding had the lead and Pearce was clawing his way back but fell short. Berryman fought hard but fell in 2 to Maloof. After a long battle, captain Forster was triumphant in 3 against Rothman to give Oz the first point of the day. Carlisle brought it home for the Aussies after sealing a 2-0 victory against Morgan where he pegged out the opponent in both games to bring up his maiden MacRob victory after a tough ~10hr match and to keep Oz in the match. Currently trailing 3-6 we are looking to make some inroads tomorrow.

Day 1 - 5 August: Australia were just pipped by the USA 2-1 on the first day of the doubles, with the two Stephens - Pearce and Forster - coming up with their third win of the series, beating Zack Watson and Kyle Malouf, 26-24 and 26-11. On the next door lawn, James Carlisle made his debut with Lachlan Berryman, following the withdrawal of Trevor Bassett due to an acute case of gout, but they were unable to overcome the strong US pairing of Matthew Essick and Ben Rothman. Dwayne McCormick completed his first triple peel of the series to take the other match to a third game, but he and Greg Hill ultimately fell to Tom Balding and Stephen Morgan.