Houser, who makes his living in New York trading on the floor as a member of the American Stock Exchange, first played croquet in 1994. He's a Life Master in Bridge who notes a high correlation between games playing and options trading. Houser goes to Leamington Spa with some solid tournament experience behind him, including Delaware's International Rules invitational and the USCA American Rules nationals, and some practice play in Boston with Sherif Abdelwahab, whose fifth place finish in Cairo last year was the highest of any non-Egyptian team member. He's one of the smartest players in the country, and I'm sure he'll pick up the new rules and the tactics very quickly. Mehas may provide the best test we'll see this year.
Opinion is divided.
According to Chris Hudson, Secretary General of the World Croquet Federation, the Egyptian game calls for a highly- specialized set of skills distinct from the skills required to excel in International Rules croquet. Former world champion Chris Clarke suggests that with some practice, the players at the top of the rankings might compete very well. Most International Rules players manage to play most of the top International Rules tournaments with difficulty, as they also have busy working lives. They can't work in another version of the game and maintain their working lives. Clarke confesses to enjoying the play of Golf Croquet and has won the British championship in both singles and doubles.