Norfolk Island badminton player Richard Cribb (right) shares a joke with teammate Tez Gray and coach Tony Mordaunt.

With limited equipment and a converted dance floor to practise on, just winning a few points at the Commonwealth Games would thrill Norfolk Island shuttler Richard Cribb. Norfolk Island is a small island in the Pacific Ocean located between Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia

There is only one badminton court on Norfolk Island, an adapted wooden basketball surface which doubles up as a dance floor. “To take a game off someone would be fantastic. We’ve been observing the other teams here and we are terrified,” said Cribb, who only started playing badminton seriously after the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi four years ago.

“We draw the lines on the badminton court by using masking tape. It can be rather annoying because we have to peel off the masking tape whenever there are ballroom dancing or other functions. We lost about three weeks of training in the last two months because of various other activities.” Badminton shops are in short supply on the tiny island in the South Pacific Ocean, which has a population of just 2,300, and the 43-year-old Cribb often struggles to get the right equipment. “It took me four months to get my new racket for the Games - via Australia,” said Cribb, who will take part in four badminton events.

“Whenever someone travels to Australia or New Zealand, we will ask them to buy the shuttlecocks for us. Then, we make sure that we use the shuttles until there is not a single feather left on them.”

Norfolk Island has 24 athletes competing at the Games in badminton, lawn bowls, shooting and squash. Carmen Anderson claimed a bronze in lawn bowls at the 1994 Games, Norfolk Island’s only ever medal, and she will compete in the women’s singles and pairs in Glasgow.