New Order '04 ... Where are they now, Cassie, Tessier more ... Global Gallery, February 2, 2004 Martin Bronstein, the most respected Squash Journalist today, reviews a new book on American Squash. © 2004 All rights reserved. photos © 2004, Suashtalk, D. Tessier,

THE NEW ORDER COMETH
The earthquake tremors of December 2003 have abated, the new order is settling down and New York's Grand Central station will be the scene of some epic matches later in February. One thing is for certain: all eyes will be focussed on - no, not the new world champion Amr Shabana, nor the new world number one- but on James Willstrop, the best England player since Del Harris.

Willstrop, up to number 13 in the February rankings, has world champion written all over him. His victories over John White and Jonathon Power on successive days are the stuff of daydreams. That he outlasted Power over five games shows that Willstrop has gained the strength that was not there in his junior days. This strength, added to his huge talent, makes him the most exciting player on the circuit today.

Five years ago the PSA top ten looked like this:
PSA Rankings February 1999
1. Peter Nicol
2. Jonathon Power
3. Ahmed Barada
4. Paul Johnson
5. Martin Heath
6. Dan Jenson
7. Simon Parke
8. Rodney Eyles
9. Alex Gough
10. Anthony Hill.

…and now February 2004:

1 Thierry Lincou
2 Peter Nicol
3 John White
4 Lee Beachill
5 Amr Shabana
6 David Palmer
7 Jonathon Power
8 Karim Darwish
9 Anthony Ricketts
10 Joseph Kneipp

So, only Nicol and Power remain in the top ten.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Ahmed Barada - movie star?

What happened to the other eight? Ahmed Barada, was stabbed and never quite
recovered from the trauma and retired. Latest news is that he is about to
become a film star.

Paul Johnson suffered a leg injury and will not be making a comeback.

Martin Heath is still playing but a dreadful run of bad losses has put him out of the top 20. He still has the fitness and skill to make it back but at his age (over 30!) we wonder whether he has the motivation.

Dan Jenson, that very likeable Australian, is still struggling to make his way back to the top after two years of injuries saw him slip down into the 30's. Back in 1999 he looked as though he could soon be challenging Nicol and Power with his all court game and unflappable demeanour. These injuries were cruel justice. But still a chance of a comeback - he is now up to 28 in the latest rankings and has had some good results in the last two months.

Simon Parke is still playing at the top level, trying to ignore his advancing years. In spite of playing well over 100 tournaments in his 12 years in the PSA, he can still move around the court at remarkable speed. In the last 12 months he has managed to get past the first round just once. A top ten comeback is unlikely.

Rodney Eyles retired four years ago and has not been heard from since.

Anthony Hill - in his own world photo © Stephen Line

Alex Gough continues to make his presence felt on the circuit and can still present a formidable foe to even the top tenners who know they may well have work for five games to beat him. Ranked 27 the former world number four has no intention of retiring.

Anthony Hill, who had his own interpretation of the Rules of The Games and therefore found every referee incompetent or racially prejudiced, now lives in Cairo, and no squash activity has been reported in the last four years. One of the most naturally gifted players on the circuit who could do almost anything with any ball, at any speed, this was a career marred by an unstable temperament.

THE DIFFICULTIES OF AMERICAN ENGLISH
Recently Jacques Fontaine, president of the French Squash Federation, sent a strongly worded email to Squashplayer Magazine objecting to Martin Bronstein calling Gregory Gaultier a 'son of a bitch'. The only problem with this accusation was that I had not written about Gregory in Squash Player magazine and I had not used this Americanism towards Gaultier.

Fontaine's accusation incensed editor Ian McKenzie who replied by demanding an immediately apology for this defamation. Fontaine, who has been known to use his influence as president outside of Federation business, had to apologise.

The fact was that writing about a contentious match in the world team championships on Squashtalk, I had described Gaultier as a tough SOB. Now, how do you explain to a French speaker the difference between calling someone ' a tough SOB' (complimentary) and 'a son of a bitch' (derogatory)?

I emailed Gregory and let him know that Fontaine was probably trying to get at me ( I am not a fan of Fontaine) and explained the Americanisms. He replied by saying he understood and everything was fine. Now some of you might say that a good writer has no use for such vulgarities. But 'tough SOB' has a lovely ring to it and I can't find a similar expression in English. Any suggestions?

GOODBYE CAROL, WELCOME BACK CASSIE
Carol Owens won the world title for a second time and retired from the circuit two weeks later to spend her time mountain biking and fishing. This left the top spot open and Cassie Jackman jumped right in to take back the number one ranking which she occupied four years ago. Despite a recent loss to Rachael Grinham, Cassie has played enough tournaments and reached enough finals to secure her place at the top. A gutsy comeback: she survived two spinal operations and a broken marriage and still put her career back on
the winning track. I hear she is going to marry again. I do hope she retains her maiden name…..

SEVENTY FIVE YEARS AGO….
…the English who invented the game finally got their act together and established a governing body, which they called the Squash Rackets Association. You will note that the word English did not appear in the title. This was THE Squash Rackets Association, and all others had to include the country in the title. Now let us do a bit of math here, 2004 minus 75 = 1929. So the SRA was established in 1929 eh? Both the American (USSRA) and (Canadian) (CSRA) actually predate the English body, the USSRA by about 20 years. Ever since then, the SRA has always been about 20 years behind the times. And proud of it. Mind you, the present administration seems to have caught up.

Next month, they will be holding a dinner at the RAC Club in London to celebrate this 75th birthday. I shall be attending with Colin McQuillan and am preparing all sort of conversational gambits about the sad passing of the wooden racket and amateurism.

A TESSIER TRIBUTE
The French squash magazine, Planete Squash, has devoted its latest issue to the squash photography of Debra Tessier. Its whole issue! And a well deserved tribute it is. Her work is well known to Squashtalk readers because Ron Beck is also a big fan and has used her since the beginning. Debbie lives in New York state and will be once more at the Tournament of Champions to add her marvellous eye for the perfect shot to my reports.

We hope John Nimick will catch on to her one day to use her as official photographer - she deserves it.