Talk:MacRobertson International Croquet Shield

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[edit] DYK

Did You Know An entry from MacRobertson International Croquet Shield appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know? column on 5 September 2006.
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[edit] results table consistency

Is there a reason that the table starts by saying "England", and ends with "Great Britain"? I am fully aware this might be correct, but it seems more likely that it's a goof. Did the team actually change? I am aware that it's the terminology used here, but did they goof? --Storkk 10:50, 5 September 2006 (UTC)

I have no idea and wondered about that myself. In this, they say "England repeated the feat in 1969 in Australia. And in 1974, now designated Great Britain, they would win...". I assume that there is a story behind all of this and the change in names in the table is deliberate. -- I@n 11:30, 5 September 2006 (UTC)


The table is correct. The team was "England" until 1974 when the team selection included the Scots player Martin Murray and the Welsh player William Prichard.

The team continued to be designated as "Great Britain" until 1986 when Colin Irwin was selected and the team was designated "Great Britain and Ireland". Although Irwin lives in England and had learned his croquet in England, he hails from Northern Ireland and through the 1980s and early 1990s played for Ireland in the "Home International" matches against England, Scotland and Wales and represented Ireland in the first Ireland versus USA Challenge Cup match in 1985.

The late 1980s and 1990s saw a rapid growth in the number and quality of international events and the need for country eligibility to be more formalised. At this time too the Irish Croquet Association developed and it now has its own selectors for Irish teams and representatives at international events. Irwin had the right of birth to play for Ireland and the right of residence to play for England. With the need for more formality, Irwin elected in the early 1990s that he would desist from representing Ireland in any international events and would offer himself to the English selectors for most international events and to the the re-designated "Great Britain" in the MacRobertson shield.

Subsequently he has played for England on numerous occasions and played in the 2000 MacRoberson Shield for "Great Britain".Hilary Hands 17:12, 2 January 2007 (UTC)