Croquet is a game for two or four players. The object is to score points by hitting balls with a mallet through a course of hoops and against a centre peg. The game is won by the side that finishes the course first with both balls or scores most points in an agreed time.

The court is usually a rectangular grass lawn, bordered by white lines named after points of the compass.

The hoops are made of rounded iron and painted white. The crown of the first hoop (1) is blue and of the last hoop or rover (2) red.

The peg (3) is wooden.

Flags (4) are blue at the first corner, red the second, black the third, and yellow the fourth.

Corner pegs (5) are to each side of the flags.

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Officials Referees are appointed for competitive croquet, but the custom is for players to be joint referees.

Players must wear rubber-soled, flat-heeled shoes. White clothing is usual for competitions.

One point for sending a ball through its next hoop, and one when it strikes the peg at the end of the course. Therefore each ball scores 13, with a maximum of 26 points per side.

A toss decides who plays first and who has choice of balls. The striker plays either of his balls from a point on either chalk line. When his turn ends, his opponent does likewise. The third and fourth balls are similarly played in.

The game ends when one side completes, with both its balls, the course of 12 hoops and the peg. If there is no winner after an agreed time, the person in play finishes his turn, his opponent has a turn, and then the winner is the side with the most points.

Clips, the colour of each ball, are used to indicate the next hoop for each ball. They are attached to the hoop’s crown for the first six hoops, and to the upright for the last six. The striker removes his clip after striking a ball through a hoop, replacing it on the correct hoop when his turn ends.

It may be any length. The head must be wood, but metal may be used for weighting and strengthening. The faces, any shape, must be identical and parallel. Only a damaged mallet may be changed during a turn.

Balls must be of even weight, 15 3/4-16 1/4oz. One player or pair takes the blue and the black, the other the red and the yellow.

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