The Isle of Man croquet team received a very warm reception when they visited the Southport and Birkdale Croquet Club recently after a three-year gap.

Southport hosted the 25th North West Federation Festival which attracts more than 100 players from 12 clubs who compete in four disciplines: advanced, handicapped, short and golf croquet.

Captain Kevin Garrad and Rick Bellwood were joined by Benedict O’Connor, a physics teacher from Stonyhurst, to make up the team.

A lack of preparation - the Isle of Man team do not have playing facilities in the island - might have contributed to a poor showing on the Saturday with all three doubles and singles games lost - Kevin and Rick just avoiding a ’pair’ in their game.

Things improved on Sunday with the team losing both morning matches by one point each; in the afternoon, Kevin was beaten by a superb performance by Tom Hanks from Crake Valley, but Rick and Benedict managed an impressive 18-4 point victory over the same club in the doubles.

The team still finished bottom of the handicapped tables at the end of play, but they intend to get more practice before next year’s competition.