Croquet replacement parts

The width of a wicket is the difficulty setting of croquet. A sanctioned hoop is sized so that a ball passes through with very little clearance — running a hoop is a skill, and a shot that is slightly off is rejected. The ApudArmis replacement wickets publish 8 by 6.3 inches, and 6.3 inches is a wide gap for a croquet ball.

The practical effect is that almost every hoop becomes makeable from almost anywhere, which removes most of the positional play from the game. For a garden game with children and drinks, that is arguably the right choice — our croquet sets for kids page makes a similar argument about age floors. For anyone playing the game as a game, it is a meaningful change, and the fact that it arrives silently inside a replacement part is worth knowing.

Across the three replacement ball sets here, the published specification is a count and a list of colors. No diameter. No weight. No material. That is a problem specific to replacement parts, because a ball bought to join five others has to behave like them — a lighter or smaller ball takes a croquet shot differently and rolls differently on the same lawn.

There is no way to solve this from the listings, so the practical advice is the boring one: replace all six at once. All three sets here are sold as six, which is the full complement for the six-player nine-wicket game, so you are not paying extra for the certainty. Keep whichever of the old balls are undamaged as spares.

The two ApudArmis sets are worth a word, because they are confusing. They publish the same specification — six balls, six colors, nothing else — and differ in price. One is described for a yard game and one for a six-player game. Unless the colors in the cheaper pack clash with what you already own, buy the cheaper pack.

Replacement parts are good value until they are not, and croquet has a clear crossover point because the mallet is the expensive part.

• One bent wicket, or all nine. Always replace. A nine-wicket pack costs less than most single mallets and far less than a set.
• One or two lost balls. Replace all six. The pack price is close enough to individual balls that matching is free.
• One broken mallet. Replace it. One mallet is roughly a third of a complete six-player set.
• Three or more broken mallets. Buy a new set from our croquet sets roundup and keep the old wickets and stakes as spares. Three single mallets cost more than a complete set that includes balls and wickets too.