And now for something completely different

Day in Cambridge successfully negotiated without falling under a bicycle ... But I am definitely now not fit for anything more than this image, which at least shows I have learnt something from the top tennis players about athletic diets! One day to go and I have been known to be more organized on the luggage front. I know where it all is, I just need to find out whether it will all fit!

Countdown to take off

Not much new to add. This week is somewhat chaotic. I have been to Bristol today and will go to Cambridge tomorrow. I think I am on top of my packing but I have yet to put everything together. That will possibly not happen until Friday. I did manage to hit a few balls around last Saturday and Sunday. But next week is the real opportunity to get in some decent practice. Let's hope the weather is good!

Welcome aboard

Well, I have taken the plunge and told a whole load of you that the blog is here. Thanks to those who have commented already or sent e-mails of support. I suppose one natural question is how good could I be? Fortunately, a Finnish player was prescient enough to capture some of my best play at the European Championship last summer. In just two clips on You Tube he was able to show three consecutive shots from me: a nine-yard clearance, a seven-yard hoop and then a 21-yard hoop. Notice how my trousers have shrunk since two years ago!

My preparations

I played in the World Championship in New Zealand, two years ago. There, I never quite got going in the way that I feel that I should have done. Somehow I seemed mentally over-prepared and physically rubbish! This time, I knew I would have to modify my preparations, despite the difficulty of being in the Northern Hemisphere off-season.

Since December, I have been doing a relatively light but daily fitness routine. The only drawback was when both my Achilles became too sore for me to continue running. But I have felt my winter layer of fat slowly disappearing.

The real test was last weekend at a warm-up event at Surbiton Croquet Club. In the equivalent tournament two years ago I was awful, although I had told myself that I was more concerned with hitting the ball than results. This time, I was able to get the results and feel I was playing some good croquet. Then I came up against Stephen Mulliner, fresh from almost going all the way at the recent World Association Croquet, current European Golf Croquet Champion and third in the 2006 World Golf Croquet Championship. Not that this record was particularly daunting as I had two excellent results against him in the British Open Championship in the summer. However, he beat me 7-1 in the first game! Then came the highlight of the weekend for me. He pointed out that I was standing too far back from the ball. I adjusted my stance and once I was comfortable with the change, I was able to beat young star Marcus Evans, who started the weekend with a higher ranking than even Stephen. I almost ended up winning the tournament but that would have been a mere bonus.

I have reminded myself I can play well enough and have an important technical lesson tucked under my belt.

Thanks to our sponsors

Good news yesterday: the England squad shirts arrived. Earlier in the winter, the squad reached the position of everyone looking at everyone else saying "what about the shirts?". I am very grateful to my employer LSC Group for agreeing to purchase two shirts for each player. Our marketing officer, Kim, and our media expert, John, put in an excellent effort to bring together a crisp, clean design for the breast badge and organize the procurement of the shirts. On the sleeve is the LSC Group logo.

I look forward to taking lots of photos of the squad wearing their shirts.

My plans

(So far, so good with the blogging!) I am flying out to South Africa on Friday 29th February (Virgin Atlantic flight from London Heathrow at 20:35). This means that I will arrive mid-morning on 1st March in Cape Town and will have a week to acclimatize to the conditions. I am not expecting much jet lag but I want to get comfortable with the weather and also hit plenty of croquet balls before the action starts for real.

The blogging starts here

Hello! If you have found your way here then one of us must have done something clever. My name is Tim King and in one week I am off to the World Golf Croquet Championship in Cape Town, South Africa. So I thought I would start blogging and give something by which friends, family and those with a morbid sense of curiousity can learn about my adventures. Too much excitement for my first blog entry ever, so I am going to post this and see what the result looks like! Speak to you again soon.