Dublin Mens over 35's
What a difference; captain of my local league team = 30 texts per week begging people to play and be there on time etc etc, however captain of the mens over 35 team what a doddle (thanks probably to loads of work behind the scenes by our kind committee members) everyone keen, self organising and maintenance free.
And what a team. The arrival (coming of age) of Ben Ford gave us the perfect professional lead at number 1, Jago Nardelli the battler back for a second year, Jamie Goodrich and Barney Elworthy (the two fittest men on the planet –official), Chris Stanley (accompanied by his ultimate forehand kill) and myself.
Arrival in Dublin was relatively easy and the speedy identification of a nearby burger restaurant kept Ben and Jamie happy though the non orange juice option ruffled some feathers. Chris arrived early for some sleep (new baby), Jago made the trek by car and Barney arrived exactly on the dot.
To the squash, Wales first and Chris’s international debut got off to a flyer with a 9/0 first game swiftly converting to a 3/0 victory. Jamie also gave his opponent little and took an easy win. Ben likes to keep us all on edge by dropping the occasional game but then cruised to a 3/1 win. A 3/0 win for the captain followed by a 3/1 with for Jago (he liked Bens game plan) gave England a 18/2 points win.
Fantastic food, couple of quiet drinks (unlike the mens 40’s the previous week), fantastic breakfast and back to the Fitzwilliam for some more squash.
Next up was Scotland. Impressive 3/0 wins for Jamie, Barney, Chris and Jago coupled with another 3/1 from Ben saw England notch up another 18 points.
After some points permutations discussions (too complicated) we decided that the simplest way was to go for a final victory against the hosts Ireland who were potentially our toughest opponents. Barney got us off to a flyer dropping only 6 points, Jamie followed with another 3/0, Ben showed his class with a 3/1, I struggled to a 3/2 (top advice from Mr Hardy)and though an off form Jago lost 1/3 we won the match 16/1.
Champions them by a clear margin with 52 points, Ireland followed with 37, Scotland 19 and Wales with 16.
A fantastic weekend ended with a fine feast from our hosts followed by some disco dancing for some. Fantastic speech from the over 55 Captain I might add.
The cup shows England as winning the event from solidly 1994 – 2010. Even Sir Alex Ferguson can’t match that team achievement and I was glad not to be the captain responsible for breaking that run.
A great well organised weekend, many thanks must go to the hosts and the wonderful venue, our opponents (all extremely friendly), my team – well done boys, and to the England Squash Masters Committee for all of their help putting this and the whole masters set up together. Thanks too to whoever picked me as captain – a real honour.
Ian Cox