BRITISH OPEN (Cheltenham).- Semifinals: R Fulford bt C Clarke + 14, +26tp, +26tp; R Bamford bt M Avery -10 +26, +21, +16. Final: Fulford bt Bamford +26tp, +12,+18tp.

"Matches can stagger on for six or seven hours."

Bamford, champion for the past two years, had his eye on an association and golf croquet Open double. But the London-based South African admitted he was rusty because he had been spending more time than usual playing golf croquet, a game widely shunned and even despised until recent rule changes.

His victory at the Ramsgate tournament and his gesture of putting up a £500 prize fund for the recent British Open at Brighton - winning back most of his own money - probably heightened golf croque's profile.

The Croquet Association are aware that tens of thousands of playing sets are sold every year, yet the total membership of England's 120 clubs is just 1,600 subscription payers.

Bamford, Open champion six times, believes the association game is difficult to learn and is too slow, but the great weakness is that a competent player can hog the lawn for half an hour or more even 1 1/4 hours, as in a match at Cheltenham last week. Matches can stagger on for six or seven hours.

Bamford prefers the golf version, where each turn is one stroke, each hoop is won or lost and contests finish quickly. "I think it's a much more interesting game," he said. "Rather than sitting out for half an hour, you can go out there and play.

"It's a better spectator game as well because its quick and easy to follow. It has just as much strategy as association. Every single shot requires you to think about the consequences."

With Bamford outspoken on the subject, most of the top players accept that this is the way to popularise croquet, but the conservative bulk of club players seem to have been slow to accept change.

Fulford, 32, had lost three association Open finals to Bamford, but this time he swept through the tournament without dropping a game for his fifth title. With his unusual rubbery wrist style and rocking action, he made a convincing case that he would remam the world's best player for years to come.