Alan’s Blog

Nick Matthew Academy Masterclasses to launch in UK after PSA World Series Finals in Dubai By Alan Thatcher, Squash Mad Editor Nick Matthew is getting ready for a busy summer, preparing to star on stage at the Dubai Opera House and launching a new series of coaching camps in the UK in addition to his [...]

Knowledge is power for the memory man of squash as he plans for life after stellar playing career Interview by ALAN THATCHER, Squash Mad Editor Nick Matthew is enjoying a successful end-of-season flourish after making it a priority to manage his schedule carefully to peak at the right times. He has also stepped back from massive [...]

Sumner Malik is guest of honour at the East Wintergarden on Monday By ALAN THATCHER, Squash Mad Editor Three-time World Champion Nick Matthew has pledged to donate every penny of his prize money from next week’s Canary Wharf Squash Classic to the #Sunshine4Sumner campaign. World No.4 Matthew, the top seed at Canary Wharf, is making [...]

Former star is on the ball, growing the game in India By ALAN THATCHER Squash in India is being given a massive injection of energy thanks to the efforts of former professional Ritwik Bhattacharya. The staging of the $50,000 Men’s CCI International at the Cricket Club of India in Mumbai was the most ambitious project [...]

Tribute to the busiest man in squash By Alan Thatcher, Squash Mad Editor When you are invited to a special function to name a court in honour of someone who has devoted years of their life to squash, it’s usually because that person has moved upstairs to the great glass show court in the sky. [...]

Jahangir Khan lifted the level of squash by 15 to 20 per cent. Roger Federer did the same for tennis, but maybe by five or ten per cent. [...]

President Trump beats President Fontaine by one hour By Alan Thatcher, Squash Mad Editor The world was gripped with anticipation this week, waiting for the longest and most bitterly-fought battle to see who would usher in a new era as president and with it possibly a first female American president. No, I’m not talking about [...]

BBC World News salutes Jahangir Khan By Alan Thatcher, Squash Mad Editor I enjoyed visiting the BBC command centre in Portland Place, London, to discuss the phenomenal achievements of squash legend Jahangir Khan.  My co-author Rod Gilmour was away covering a golf tournament and it was a real pleasure to have Danny Lee alongside me [...]

Geoff Hunt, Ross Norman and five years of total domination by the great Jahangir Khan By Alan Thatcher, Squash Mad Editor Today sees the publication of a book that celebrates the phenomenal achievements of Pakistani squash legend Jahangir Khan, who won 10 British Open titles in a row and went unbeaten for a five-and-a-half-year spell [...]

Dublin bike dash is the biggest event By HOWARD HARDING – Squash Mad Correspondent Squash facilities around the world will be opening their doors to welcome newcomers to the sport on the 15th edition of World Squash Day tomorrow, Saturday 22nd October. The theme for 2016 is to promote the social side of the game [...]

World Squash Day anthem by Darren Hanlon By Alan Thatcher, Squash Mad Editor Twitter was abuzz this week with lots of fun posts about the ideal song for squash. There are plenty of songs about walls, and thanks to Jerry Lee Lewis, we have Great Balls of Fire, which Cam Pilley might adopt (just for [...]

Packed venues bring top-class squash to new levels of drama By Alan Thatcher, Squash Mad Editor The successful delivery of the US Open, with the jumbotron screen above the glass court inside the Drexel University sports arena, the San Francisco Bay Bridge towering over the court at the NetSuite Open, and the spectacular renaissance of [...]

Squash’s video output dwarfs racquetball efforts in the USA By Alan Thatcher, Squash Mad Editor My friend Freddy Ramirez writes a terrifically engaging racquetball blog called Restrung Magazine. We have been communicating online for some years and frequently discuss ways in which racquetball (or racketball) can find some harmony with squash to produce some mutually [...]

Seventh sell-out in a row expected  By Alan Thatcher, Squash Mad Editor A mad scramble is under way after tickets went on sale this morning for the 2017 Canary Wharf Squash Classic. A week of world-class sporting drama, with 70,000 dollars of prize money on offer, returns to the superb East Wintergarden venue from March [...]

‘Every top player started out by playing at their local squash club’ says three-time world champion By Alan Thatcher, Squash Mad Editor Three-times world champion Nick Matthew is encouraging every squash club on the planet to open their doors to support World Squash Day 2016. World Squash Day takes place on Saturday October 22nd and [...]