The sharp ‘crack’ of mallet hitting wooden ball reverberated around Fishbourne on Friday when members of the tennis club hopped next door for a spot of croquet on a summer’s evening.

It was a full house on the Fishbourne Croquet Club’s immaculate lawns (good enough for grass courts…only kidding!) with 16 tennis players turning up to try the so-English pastime. Getting the ball through the hoops is the least of it – there’s the strategy to consider, and, the best bit, thumping the opponent’s ball out of the park. Despite what you might think, croquet is not a game for shrinking violets.

The four teams of four, each with a coach from the croquet club to explain the rules, all enjoyed several games in the warm evening sunshine, with the scores remarkably close at the end of play.

As Jane (the only member of both tennis and croquet clubs) said, ‘There’s no better sound on a summer’s evening.’

All that was missing was the Pimm’s!