Croquet is a sport that pits individuals against each
other. Each player tries to hit wooden balls through
wire arches, to hit a post in the ground, and to hit his
opponent’s ball. Surpassed by tennis in Great Britain in
the 19th century, it is today more of a recreational activity than competitive sport, although intense competition has not disappeared entirely, neither on back
lawns nor on the smooth lawns of croquet clubs.
History
Croquet probably evolved from a game called palle
mall in which players hit a ball (palla) with a mallet
(maglio) through a series of iron rings. The modern
form of croquet originated in France in the early years
of the 19th century and was immediately recognizable
by its unique mallet. This mallet, in its French peasant
form, had a broomstick as a handle. The word “croquet” derives from the French word croc, meaning
something shaped like a hook or a crook.
The sport of croquet was transplanted from France
to Ireland, where there are records of its being played
regularly after 1852. Once introduced to England, it
flourished.Walter James Whitmore promoted and publicized the sport in England. The game’s stellar figure
both as player and tactician,Whitmore became the unofficial world champion with his 1867 victory in the
Moreton-on-Marsh, England, Croquet Open Championship. In 1868, the All England Croquet Club was
formed.
Croquet might have come to rival cricket as a major
outdoor English sport had another new sport not arrived that quickly became a public passion. Tennis was
so popular that players took up all available grass
space. By 1875, the All England Croquet Club had to
add the words “and Lawn Tennis Club” to its title. Five
years later the demise of croquet was apparent out
when the croquet club changed its name to the All England Lawn Tennis Club.
Croquet’s international expansion was led by the
American National Croquet League, founded in 1880,
and the first Australian croquet club, founded at Kyneton, Victoria, in 1866. The Australian Croquet Council
was founded in 1950. (Australia now leads the world
with over 6,000 registered players.) In 1896 the Croquet
Association was founded.
In the 19th century croquet provided an important
vehicle for women to move beyond the traditional
boundaries of home, church, and school and to seek a
role in some quasi-athletic pursuit. Sociologist Jennifer
Hargreaves, however, says that although croquet was “a
highly sociable and fashionable pastime,” women’s entrance into athletics saw them stereotyped as the
weaker sex capable of “doing” only gentle and respectable games. In other words, it was only acceptable
for women to perform “the smallest and meanest of
movements.” Even with croquet, it was felt that it might
be more appropriate for women to play croquet’s indoor variations—Parlor Croquet, Table Croquet, and
Carpet Croquet—instead of the outdoor variety.
During the 1860s, 1870s, and 1880s conservative
groups in Britain and the United States feared the
downfall of women who let themselves be carried away
by the excesses of such sports as bicycling and croquet.
An article in the American Christian Review in 1878
described the consequences of such involvement:
1. A social party.
2. Social and play party.
3. Croquet party.
4. Picnic and croquet party.
5. Picnic, croquet, and dance.
6. Absence from church.
7. Imprudent or immoral conduct.
8. Exclusion from the church
9. A runaway match.
10. Poverty and discontent.
11. Shame and disgrace.
12. Ruin.
Despite such gloomy pronouncements, croquet
flourished as a women’s sport. In America, long before
women took part in competitive tennis or basketball
tournaments, their first venture into competition sport
was with croquet in the 1860s.
Rules and Play
Croquet is unusual in that it is not a team sport.Almost
without exception, croquet consists of one individual
challenging another. Although many of the descriptions make it seem as complex and cerebral as chess,
the essence of the game is its simplicity. The object of
the sport is to score points by striking the ball through
each of the hoops in the proper order and hitting the
stake. Each player, in turn, tries to make a point or to
roquet. This means to hit an opponent’s ball with one’s
own. If a competitor scores a point he or she is entitled
to another stroke. If not, the next player takes a turn.
In virtually every individual sport, the structure of
the competition allows a degree of involvement by even
an outplayed player. Not so in croquet. During a Washington, D.C., challenge tournament in the late 1980s a
competition took place in which a competitor started
and continued playing at such a level of excellence that
he completed the whole course without yielding his
turn. It was a dazzling, bravura performance in which
his competitor’s only physical action was to doff his hat
and shake the winner’s hand.
The MacRobertson International Shield is croquet’s
top honor. The Croquet Association, with its headquarters at the Hurlingham Club, organizes all of the major
championship events. In the United States croquet has
been organized since 1976 by the United States Croquet
Association. Croquet has caught on in the British Commonwealth and is played today in Australia, New
Zealand, and South Africa.
Croquet was and is an elitist activity. In the early days of the sport, croquet hoops on a lawn showed the
house owner to be on the cutting edge of fashion. Today, club memberships still tend to be expensive and
exclusive.
—SCOTT A. G. M. CRAWFORD
Bibliography: Baltzell, E. D. (1995) Sporting Gentlemen. New
York: Free Press. Hargreaves, J. (1993) “The Victorian Cult
of the Family and the Early Years of Female Sport.” In The
Sport Process, edited by E. G. Dunning, J. A. Maguire, and
R. E. Pearton. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Lidz, F.
(1995) “Mallets Aforethought.” Sports Illustrated 83, 10
(14 September).