| LAST week it was tennis at Wimbledon. Blood and tears were shed in the scramble for tickets.
This week, it is croquet at Hurlingham - a fact which so far appears to have escaped the nations's notice. While Wimbledon was the focus of worldwide attention for a fortnight, the British World Croquet Championships are struggling to attract more than a handful of spectators below the age of 75.
Unkind observers say this is entirely understandable. Croquet offers few obvious enticements to fans, and can hardly claim to be as glamorous, fast or just plain interesting as tennis.
The world number one croquet player, Robert Fulford, cannot rival Pete Sampras for performance or physique (though he has made the cover of Country Life) and his stroke could claim to match a 130 mile-an-hour tennis serve.
It goes without saying that crowd trouble is rare at croquet matches. Supporters - known to number 200 at world championships - only get vocal when the Pimm's glass needs refilling.
Nevertheless the men and women in white maintain their sport is rapidly growing in popularity, even staging a stunning comeback. (It was less than a century ago that croquet beat tennis in the battle for the nation's affections). Equally, they claim its image as an exclusive reserve for retired colonels and elderly vicars is passé.
In its centenary year, the croquet association now boasts men who wear ear rings and women members who sport Spice Girl T-shirts on the lawns. How much more modern could one hope to get?
Andrew Gregory, a member of the Croquet Association council and an accomplished ear ring-wearer, said: "I had the croquet ear rings made specially. A lot of people think it's a bit of a gimmick but in fact it helps when I play. When you are playing it is important to keep your head still. If the ear rings move then I know my head isn't still."
His fellow player, Richard Hilditch, who also organises the championships, is an equally vigorous defender of the sport.
"They didn't like us because they thought we were brash youngsters; a bit noisy, messing around too much. But thanks to younger people like me coming into the sport, croquet has made a transition. It is losing that image."
HOWEVER, like croquet itself, these things seem to take time. Only four years ago the Hurlingham Club championships were cancelled due to lack of funds. Spectators at yesterday's play were mostly old men asleep on deckchairs, or people who looked suspiciously like relatives of the players.
Although the competitors were youngish, there were only 44 of them in the tournament. Even the Queen, who is patron of the Croquet Association, chose to stay away from the centenary celebrations.
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