American Six-Wicket Croquet
The "American-rules" version of croquet - another six-wicket-layout game - is the dominant game in the United States and, to its fans, by far the best version of the game, because of its emphasis on strategy. It is mainly based on the international game, but it differs in a number of important ways, most notably in that a ball's "deadness" on other balls is carried over from turn to turn, until the ball has been "cleared" by scoring a wicket. This leads to strategic and tactical dilemmas.
Shot-making ability is relatively less important in the American game than in the international game, and top-level international-rules players are almost invariably vastly superior shot makers.
American-rules enthusiasts enjoy the greater mental challenge of their game, along with the somewhat levelling effect brought about by the reduction in importance of shot-making skill. It is a maxim of the game that good strategy will beat pure physical skill more often than not, and this allows players with fewer physical gifts to be competitive in the sport.
American-rules croquet owes few of its rules but a great deal of its spirit, strategy, and tactics to Kentucky croquet, a variant of croquet played with nine wickets on clay courts. The best-known star of Kentucky croquet was Archie Burchfield, who discovered American six-wicket croquet in the early 1980s, quickly became one of its best players, and introduced new strategies and tactics that enlivened the game. Burchfield died in February 2005.
The governing body of the American-rules game is the United States Croquet Association.
Top American-rules players as of early 2005 include:
- Doug Grimsley
- Mike Jenner
- Kenster Rosenberry
- Brian Cumming,
- ackie Jones
- Leo McBride
- Mik Mehas
- Jeff Soo
- John C. Osborn, the son of USCA founder Jack Osborn and perhaps the American game's most notable player.
Two important American croquet publications are Croquet World Online and the National Croquet Calendar.
