Men’s Intercounty 2022
Men’s Intercounty 2022
Cambridgeshire’s senior men’s team assembled variously to make the trip to the Hallamshire Club in Sheffield.Heading the order were Thomas Ramsey, no. 1 for City of Peterborough Squash and Racketball Club , and Scott Drewery, no. 1 for March Squash Club , at 1st and 2nd strings respectively. Making their debut were Benjamin Adams, Cambridge University no. 1, and Ali Loke, Swavesey Squash Club no. 1 and ladies’ county champion, at 3rd and 4th strings respectively. Last but not least, our captain, Will Harris, no. 1 for Frank Lee, playing at 5th string.Our first scheduled match was against Cheshire. Frustratingly, having waited 30 mins for our opponents to appear, the organisers awarded us a default.Durham & Cleveland, also in our group, were similarly assembled, waiting on Lincolnshire. Unbelievably, both Lincs and Cheshire never appeared and instead, we decided to get on with our match against D&C, which would be the decider for who won the group, given the defaults awarded from Lincs and Cheshire.First up were Ali and Benjamin, since Will had decided to grab a coffee after his early start. Ali played the D&C captain, who was a skillful player with a large range of attacking shots. Ali dealt well with his hard hitting and covered his variety to the front well. She managed to expose his movement with her own attacks. A close match but unfortunately Ali made a number of errors at crucial times to lose 3-0.Benjamin was on the other court playing an opponent who loved to run. Benjamin also runs very well so it was a match with extremely long rallies. His opponent was a classic grinder who simply clung in the rallies, which went on and on and on. Eventually, Benjamin seemed to get on top of his opponent with a blend of patience and well-judged attack, going 7-1 up in the 5th. Unfortunately, he seemed to take his foot off the pedal, allowing his determined opponent to get back into the game, with a few unforced errors, and the team watched with some despair as Benjamin succumbed 3-2.Will faced an opponent who had an unconventional style. He was fairly quick to the front but tended to reset rather than attack. His opponent’s awkward style meant it was difficult for Will to get his rhythm, but he worked the ball around the four corners, combined with light-footed movement, to come through in three. 3-0 win!Tommy was next against a strong opponent at 1st string. He didn’t seem to get into the match, struggling with the court floor which was slightly slippy. He was matching his opponent in the rallies but wasn’t taking it in short well enough given how quick the opponent was. He did have some success when putting more pressure on and being more patient, before taking it in. But ultimately he wasn’t able to turn around the match, losing 3-0.Scott was last on, playing an opponent who loved shooting and who really went for it. Scott is also a disruptive player with a range of strong attacks. It was a good match up but Scott managed to force errors from his attacking opponent. Ultimately Scott came through the big points better and clinched the match 11-9 in the fifth. 3-2 win!That meant the team ended up losing 3-2 
. Certainly in with a chance, but as the runner-up, we will not progress to the finals weekend.Rather a debacle in terms of organisation with the team greatly disappointed not to play Lincs and Cheshire, having been prepared for a full programme of squash over the weekend. We ended up playing D&C again, in a friendly, mixing up the order.Ali played Will’s opponent, winning 3-0. Will played the D&C reserve, losing to a fresher opponent. Benjamin played Ali’s opponent, losing 3-1. Scott played their no. 1, taking a game but losing 3-1. Moral victory to Cambs as both Benjamin and Scott’s opponents were too exhausted to have another match!
