The Secretary’s Shield competition is one of three national competitions which Chester Croquet Club is entering in 2021. It is a full lawn association croquet handicap knock-out competition for winners of regional competitions in the previous year, in this case 2019 as matches were cancelled in 2020.
On this occasion Chester faced Nailsea near Bristol on neutral lawns midway between the two clubs at Edgbaston near Birmingham on Tuesday, 29 June. Nailsea were able to muster a team of only three players rather than the usual four and Chester were represented by David Boyd (captain), Brian Walton and Paul Watson. In the two morning games Chester lost the doubles game but won the singles game and then went on to win the three singles games in the afternoon. The overall result was a 4 – 1 win for Chester who now go on to face the winner of Sheffield v Hampstead Heath.
