Pro Rules:
... refereeing, more ..

GLOBAL GALLERY June 2002 Martin Bronstein's astigmatic view of the world of squash.

© 2002 All rights reserved.
photos © 2002, D Tessier, R Beck and V Winchell

NOW IN MY DAY , YOUNG MAN… At the risk of sounding like an old fart, may I take issue with a certain refereeing decision that has changed somewhat in two decades. It came up at the Super Series Finals, in particular in the final, when David Palmer was playing Thierry Lincou. There were half a dozen occasions when Palmer dropped to the front left and Lincou, unable to get through to the ball, asked for a let. Now in my day, twenty three years ago when I first started watching top squash, the referee awarded the incoming striker, a stroke. It was a decision that went without argument unless the drop shot had nicked.

At Broadgate (and elsewhere recently) the referee has been awarding a let rather than a penalty stroke (and on two occasions unbelievably said no let.) There was the usual admonition to ‘make more effort to get to the ball’ which was surely going against the rules, which state that the outgoing strike should allow the incoming striker full access to the ball, full sight of the front wall and enough room to make his/her stroke. Also in the front corner situation, the outgoing strike should arc back to the T, allowing the incoming striker a direct line to the ball from the T. Palmer was not arcing to the centre, but backing in a straight line, and thus blocking Lincou’s access to the ball.

On one occasion, the ball was sitting up around three feet high: had Lincou gotten to the ball he was sure to have hit a winner. He was given just a let and when, in frustration, he complained about the decision, (judging by the spectators’ howls and the remarks of knowledgeable observers, it was certainly a stroke to Lincou) the referee said, ‘Make more effort to go around your opponent,’ or words to that effect. Really? Can a player now hit and block and have the referee support his tactics? Surely it is the outgoing striker’s responsibility to get out of the way. I used to listen endlessly to top ten players griping about Jansher Khan not clearing in that situation and getting away with it. The above in no way implies that Palmer was doing a Jansher. He would have won anyway because Lincou simply ran out of steam in the fifth game. But you can understand why some of the players blow their top at the referees sometimes.

TRAVELLING TOM
There’s a guy in Philadelphia called Tom Tarantino who is doing more good for squash than any individual has the right. Tom ran the Philadelphia Open for a decade and when he gave that up met up Andrew Shelley in Egypt when he was watching one of the early Al Ahram Pyramid tournaments. He said he wanted to get into squash in a more personal way, and although no-one remembers who came up with the idea, a sort of crusade came into being : taking squash to parts of the world where it is just emerging.

That first year, 1999, Cassie Jackman, Natalie Grainger and Sarah Fitz-Gerald spread the word in Prague. Sarah went even though she was on crutches from her knee operation. The party included Shelley, media director Howard Harding as well as Tom and his wife Barbara. It was such a success that the following year Natalie Grainger and Sabine Schoene toured El Salvador, Peru and Jamaica.

Last year they made a safari to Kenya with a fit Fitz-Gerald and Linda Charman- Smith and this year the Far East - Thailand, Brunei and Sarawak - had two world champions (Sarah and Nicole David) giving exhibitions, clinics and playing the top seniors and juniors in those countries.

The party always includes Shelley, who is making friends and contacts wherever he goes, Tom and Barbara and Howard Harding , who gives a running account to the squash world via his lap-top. While the host nations supply hotel and food, I estimate that it costs Tom between $15-20,000 a year for his ‘vacation’. And furthermore, nobody gets paid for their services.

“Sarah is a fantastic asset on these trips. Not only as president of WISPA but also as world number one and world champion. And she does it for no fee,” says an admiring Shelley.

FABULOUS FACILITIES
Howard Harding was totally gobsmacked (astounded, surprised, overwhelmed) by the facilities he found in the Far East. At the Jerudong Country Club in Brunei, there were two complete Ellis-Pearson 4-wall glass courts, side by side, while in another club there was a three wall glass court (solid front wall) with permanent seating for 500 people. “And they get very little usage,” he tells me.

While I was on holiday in Madeira I discovered the Quinta Magnolia was just a 100 yards away from my hotel in Funchal. This was a huge estate, a former grand country house, with marvellous rolling gardens full of the most beautiful trees and flowers.

It is now a government -owned and run leisure centre with tennis courts and an Olympic-sized swimming pool. I was told there was squash and after touring the hills and dales came across a delightful building sitting alone, surrounded by trees. Inside this unique piece of architecture was just one squash court. They just don’t build courts like that any more. Did I tell you it had a garden on the roof? Sadly I didn’t take my racket but I did find out that to rent the court for an hour would have cost me two Euros, which is just a couple of bucks. See the photo above (yes, yours truly at the right) You won’t believe it.

BAJ MIGHT STILL BE THE BMOC
I spoke to England Squash head man Jeremy Lister at Broadgate Arena during the Super Series. He tells me that the talks with Satinder Bajwa, Harvard head man, are still in progress and there is a good possibility that Baj could be running the British Open next year. I hope he does; I think he needs something to replace the Super Series finals which, I am sorry to say, has seemed to have lost any real meaning. And with no ranking points at stake, some of the players go on court without the same resolve as they normally do.

June, too, is not ideal, coming in the middle of the summer break. Both Peter Nicol and Thierry Lincou, who both lost to David Palmer, the eventual winner, said that their training had been interrupted to play at Broadgate. Even the normal placid, but determined, Stewart Boswell found the timing was all wrong. He, like Nicol, was in the middle of preparations for the Commonwealth Games. He made the 25,000 mile round trip from Brisbane, so he certainly had my sympathy.

A WORLD CUP INSTEAD?
If Baj doesn’t get the British Open, perhaps he should reinvent the Mennen Cup and call it the World Cup. Put the top player from eight countries in a knockout formula. Right now that would be: Peter Nicol (England), David Palmer (Australia), Jonathon Power (Canada), Thierry Lincou (France), John White (Scotland), Ong Beng Hee (Malaysia), Olli Tuominen (Finland) and Amr Shabana (Egypt). Now that is really not a bad line-up.

When Trevor Marshall was doing this in Toronto a decade or so ago, the problem was that all the top players came from Pakistan, England and Australia. Now the first six named above are all in the top ten. Hold it right at the end of the season, after the British Open, while all the players are around and in top form, and you’ve got a sizzler of an event.

THE MAIDENS ARE BACK
A small footnote to my piece last month about women changing their name upon marriage. Sue Wright decided that nobody knew who Sue Rose was and went back to her maiden name. Cassie Jackman was adamant when she got married that she would change her name to Campion and proudly so. Now she is back to her maiden name of Jackman and will appear as such in all professional matters. Nevertheless, in years to come there will still be some puzzlement at this C. Campion who won many tournaments in 2000/1.

MUSICAL MAYHEM
I shall be brushing off my top hat and tails as well as my musical metaphors for the US Open in September. John Nimick has got it back into Boston’s Symphony Hall and I am wondering whether his budget allows him to hire the Boston Symphony Orchestra to supply a music track to the games. I would certainly suggest the 1812 overture to accompany any match between Palmer and Mark Chaloner. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice might be fitting background music to a Power match. Any further suggestions from Squashtalk readers matching major classical works to players would be appreciated…might even be rewarded with a prize.

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Pro Rules: ... refereeing, more ..

GLOBAL GALLERY June 2002 Martin Bronstein's astigmatic view of the world of squash.

© 2002 All rights reserved. photos © 2002, D Tessier, R Beck and V Winchell

Pro Rules:
... refereeing, more ..

© 2002 All rights reserved.
photos © 2002, D Tessier, R Beck and V Winchell