Jesters vs. Epsom College 19th January, 2024 – Match report by David Main.
We all arrived in good time for this inaugural match. However Ben Harris and I arrived first at about 5.30pm, and watched some of the Epsom players practising, slightly concerned that we might have under estimated the standard even though James Dubois had warned me several times to pump up the team with some stronger Jesters….
Ella Frankland (daughter of Neil), the match organiser from Epsom, informed me that their number 2 (Wilf Baker, son of Mark Baker) was injured and their number 3 wasn’t playing (to give us a sporting chance!).
Richard Winter and James went on first. Richard played Zach, 15 years old, who seemed to play at a different pace, picking up every drop of Richard’s and quickly won the first. Richard having played doubles at lunch time at Pall Mall was struggling to adapt to the colder climes of the Epsom courts and really didn’t get going to his normal fast pace, and Zach took full advantage winning games 2 and 3.
James was playing Luca, 14 years old, and our very own septuagenarian was a bit slow to get going especially as Luca had just come from a lesson with Neil Frankland, so was playing some great squash. However, in the 3rd game James managed to win it 13-11, so things were looking up, but alas, Luca won the fourth 11-7. There was a 63 years age difference between James and Luca – is this a record for a Jesters match?
Next on was Ronnie (from Epsom) and Ben Harris, Ronnie being 15 years old and the number 2 in his age group in England. Ben was very much the underdog. However, he played some great squash with some punishingly long rallies but Ronnie hardly made any mistakes and played some excellent length shots (all the time!), 3-0 to Ronnie.
John Gemmell played Savannah, 18 years old, who is the South African woman’s number 1 currently, and has her eyes set on going to the Olympics in 2028, and is also off to the USA, to study business and play squash at Penn University in September. I watched her in the warm up, and realised that her pace and shot selection were absolutely top notch and as John found out she is a very canny competitor, although John had a chance in the 3rd being 7-5 up. However, she pulled away to take it 11-8, and won 3/0.
I was up against Izzy, 15 years old, who is the sister of Jasmine Hutton, number 22 in the World, so she comes from very good stock. We got to 2/2 in games and I was 10-9 up in the fifth and I then received a very generous let from Ronnie who was marking (probably felt sorry for me!). I did my best to lose the next point but inadvertently put it in the front nick from her serve and so took the match 3/2. However, Izzy was a very good sport, as were the whole of the Epsom squad. Final result 4:1 win for Epsom College.
We all headed up to the tuck shop, which used to be the old 6th Form Centre, and sat down to an absolutely delicious curry spread with beers and wine. We thanked the school for their generous hospitality and Richard gave a great description of the values and history of the Jesters. Savannah also said a few kind words, thanking us for the match and mentioned her highlight was watching James playing Luca.
Neil Frankland has worked at the school for the last 32 years and is one of the main reasons for the huge success of developing squash. He has amazing energy and mentioned he plays all the top school players at least once a week (he still beats Ronnie). There are another 5 strong players starting next year at different ages, and he acknowledged that the success seems to be attracting even more players, so next time the Jesters will need to up their game, hopefully bring a 10-team squad with some very strong players at the top.
