The British and World Marbles Championship 2022: Why my unexpected debut was a bit of a disaster

The pandemic had halted the British and World Marbles Championship for two years, but this year it was back in fantastic - and poignant - fashion.

Fantastic because the weather and atmosphere could not have been better at the Greyhound in Tinsley Green.

See our the British and World Marbles Championship 2022 picture special here

Poignant because it was the first time in 40 years organiser Sam McCarthy-Fox, who died last year, was not there

And organiser Julia McCarthy-Fox said the weather was a message from Sam - he was well and truly there in spirit.

When I turned up just after 10am with my son Noah, I was expecting to chat to a few participants, take a few pictures and videos, and experience the wonderful world of competitive marbles for the first time.

After the first 30 minutes, that’s how it went. Met some lovely people from Yorkshire, Germany, Crawley and other places.

Noah bought some marbles Paula Bowring, who had travelled from Suffolk with a wonderful array of marbles.

I took a few pictures of teams including the reigning champions from Germany, MC Erzgebirge, the Charlwood Strikers and The Shots - a local team who included former Crawley Town star and Footgolf champion Clinton Moore and wore great shorts and bright blue wigs.

And this is where my day changed. Chris Martin, who was playing for the shots along with Moore, Ian Poulsum, Daniel Evans, Danny Cook and Lee Castleman, sought me out and said, ‘I have to go to Gatwick for an hour, can you take my place’.

It was the kind of invitation I wanted to say no to, but knew I couldn’t. So I agreed and then panic set in.

I have played marbles with my brother John in our kitchen when we were youngsters, but just for fun.

I had no idea how the competitive game was played. So I quickly ran to the practice rings to see how it all worked. And luckily marbles veteran Martin Plank, who has played for the Handcross 49ers over the years, was there to give me some advice.

Martin showed me how to position my thumb and flicking finger and where to place the marble.

A couple of practice goes seemed to go ok, the marble came out with some force but not much direction.

It turned out we were going to be competing in the opening match of the 2022 championships - The Shots v The Yorkshire Meds.

So, it was the first to knock 25 small red marbles off the ring. The opening salvos were close with each side picking up a couple of points here and there.

But then one individual from the Meds put on a masterclass and knocked off 23 red balls and ensured a 28-4 victory.

My one effort saw the marble flying across the ring, making contact with no red marbles.

It was a baptism of fire for me, but an experience I will never forget. It wasn’t about the result, it was about the taking part. And that is testament to Julia McCarthy-Fox and the legacy fellow organiser Sam has left.

And it’s great to be involved with a competitive tournament where age, size, gender and ability really didn’t matter. It was just marble-lous (sorry!) to be a part of it.

Who knows, maybe the Observer Marblers will make their tournament debut next year!

All you need to know about the British and World Marbles Championship