Do Croquet champions compete longer than Snooker champions?

Many Croquet players, including Alison herself, have watched Snooker on the television since childhood. Snooker is a sport where technique and tactics will win the match, rather than strength and physical stamina. Croquet requires similar skills, and it is sometimes referred to as ‘Snooker on grass’. Even the balls are the same colours, and although Croquet uses hoops rather than pockets, there are still six of them to score, hopefully in as few breaks as possible. There are two variants of Croquet, known as Association Croquet and Golf Croquet.

Some interesting statistics: the oldest Croquet World Champion was Stephen Mulliner in 2016, at an age of 62 years and 7 months. Stephen started playing in his early twenties and reached the semi-finals in the World Championships for the first time in 1990. He has won the Open Championship three times, the first being in 1988. This shows a competitive player at his best for over 35 years, as he has just returned from playing in the World Championship.

The winner of this year’s World Championship was Reg Bamford (South Africa), currently aged 58. Reg has won the World Championship six times in Association Croquet, his first win coming in 2001. He’s also been the Open Champion 12 times during his career. That’s almost 25 years playing as one of the top 5 ranked players in the world. He is also a two-time winner of the Golf Croquet World Championship.

Alison writes “Following the BBC news report about Snooker players turning 50 and still playing at the top of the game, I would love to answer the question raised by the presenter: “Is there another sport where at 50 you will still be operational at a professional capacity”. The answer is a simple yes, it’s Croquet.”

For three weeks during the summer of 2026, England will play host to the Association Croquet World Team Championship. The four competing teams from England, Australia, New Zealand and USA is likely to field players ranging from 20 to 60 – this is a clear indication that Croquet is a sport of player longevity.

The England Team, sponsored by Alliance Witan, was announced on 27th November and will be as follows:

Mark Avery (Croquet England)
Jamie Burch (Reigate Croquet Club)
James Death (Cheltenham Croquet Club)
Robert Fulford (Tunbridge Wells Croquet Club)
Jack Good (Bowdon Croquet Club)
Samir Patel (Surbiton Croquet Club)

Event dates and locations:
Series 1: 24-28 July Roehampton & Hurlingham
Series 2: 30 July -3 August Sussex County CC
Series 3: 5-9 August Surbiton