From its origins in the mid-19th century, croquet has spread across the globe as an international sport.

Earliest records of a game that is recognisable as croquet, seems to be back in 13th century France. However, the game in its modern form, appeared in Ireland in the 1830s and spread to England in the 1850s, then ventured across the British Empire and is now played in Latvia, Iran, Japan, and Uruguay.

Croquet players will gladly travel! Australia sent a team to the Egyptian Open in September. Robert Fletcher of Caloundra, Queensland, not yet 30, also won through to the semi-finals of the world association croquet competition in Florida, USA, in October. Incidentally, the winner, for the sixth time, was South African Reg Bamford, 58.

The Mexico Open is another strongly-contested international event held annually. This year’s competition concluded last Saturday and the final results are yet to be released.

Closer to home, Norfolk Island hosts a ‘Convict Croquet’ competition and South Stake wonders how many old lags played the game, although they would have been adept at jumping through hoops, on pain of the lash.

A croquet cruise also leaves Brisbane most years, and passengers play in New Zealand at Auckland Rotorua — the lawns there are an incredible, unbelievably-bright shade of green — and at Christchurch. The latter is a challenging setting, as the winds are strong enough to move a ball significantly.

Christchurch is the home club of multi-code world champion, Edmund Fordyce. Now aged 24, he had eight heart operations by the age of 15 and several pacemakers inserted to accommodate his growing body.

Closer to home, NSW has 48 of Australia’s 183 registered clubs. Dubbo was one of the very first clubs in the state, formed in 1921. Sydney and Nowra clubs were established in 1922, while Canberra (formed 1928) currently has a waiting list for membership totalling 150!

Dubbo members frequently play away, taking their mallets with them on holidays. Alstonville and Ballina are favoured destinations, as recommended by Bruce Seddon. Ingrid Stufano prefers Orange, and Graham Bender will shortly compete at Wagga Wagga.

In return, the Dubbo Club receives visitors throughout the year. In addition to the holidaying players, we get an appreciable number who come specifically to play on our unique courts.

Happy to host, ready to road-trip: “I just want to play croquet”.