THE MAN BEHIND CROQUET’S MOST FAMOUS TROPHY: MACPHERSON ROBERTSON Since around 2000 it has officially become the World Team Association By David Openshaw Six Times MacRobertson Shield Team Member
a further major modification was made to bring the total number of shields for engraving to 29 which should take us up to 2040. The first event in 1925 consisted of three test matches with teams of four players. The inaugural match was held at the Roehampton Club and played over two days 26/27 June. England won 6-0. There were 4 singles and 2 doubles matches which were best of three format. Below are the players from that very first match. The Gazette of the time records that
Croquet Championship and other member countries of the World Croquet Federation are eligible to apply to compete in the event.
The most famous trophy in croquet is the MacRobertson Shield, now the trophy for the World Croquet Federation’s World Team Championship (AC). However it predates the formation of the WCF by many years having first been competed for in 1925. Which teams play in this event and who was the man behind this trophy?
The trophy itself has undergone four changes to reflect the length of time this competition has been played. Now approaching its Centenary it has been played for on 22 occasions. The original trophy carried nine small round silver shields on which the individual names of the players in the winning team are inscribed. After the tenth version of the competition was played in England in 1974 it must have been realised that there was nowhere left to inscribe the winner’s names!! The arrangement of the round shields was changed. The modified trophy now with fifteen round shields is shown in this photo of Bernard Neal and John Prince, Captains of Great Britain and New Zealand during the 1979 series. Later two more shields were added to bring the total to 17. As the event has continued to be held more frequently
An Australian team played in England in 1925 when three test matches were organised and an Australian by name of Macpherson Robertson presented a trophy for international competition. The trophy inscribed with the words MacRobertson International Trophy has become known as the MacRobertson Shield as has the name of the competition, though it is now popularly and fondly referred to as the ‘Mac’. The idea of the trophy was to encourage international play and for many years competing for this trophy was the only form of play internationally. After the initial 1925 event in England a return test series was organised in 1927 which Australia won. In 1930 a challenge from New Zealand was accepted by the Australians and a match for the Shield between those two countries was played in Melbourne. Nowadays four countries Australia, England, New Zealand, and USA compete for the Shield. The USA first played in 1993. (see the wonderful drawing by John Prince!!)
"Lawns 10 and 7 had turned out in super excellent condition and on the former (the ‘Centre Court’ for the occasion) Miss D D Steele appeared in opposition to Mr W T McCleery". Around 200 spectators watched the match. Further matches were played at Cheltenham in July and Southwick in September which England also won 6- 0 and 5-1. These matches had provided great interest indeed. The Gazette reports that at Cheltenham ‘the gallery was considerably larger’ than for the first test. Adding that ‘it would be difficult to imagine a more delightful setting than the famous Cheltenham club in the beauty of its surroundings perhaps second to none in the Kingdom’. So it was not surprising that this interest translated into a tour to Australia being organised for the winter of 1927/28. Three tests were played, all in Melbourne. England won the first 4-2, Australia the second 4-2 and the third was drawn 3-3. Australia won the Shield by tie break. One of
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