Boys and Their Balls - Part 19

 Squash

Squash is a game for two players, played in a court with four walls.  It was developed in England in the 1800s, and England still seems to be the center of the squash world – there are more squash courts in England than in any other country.  The U.S. ranks 4th in the number of squash courts, behind England, Germany and Egypt.

Squash is played with racquets similar to tennis racquets and a hollow rubber ball that "squashes" as it bounces off the walls, which gave the game its name.

Each player has to hit the ball into a zone on the front wall.  The ball bounces back, and it may also bounce off the side or back walls, and once off the floor, before the other player returns it.  If a player can't return the ball, his opponent scores a point.  Returning the ball can involve a lot of running around the court.

Put it all together and you get action like this video of Adam Jones playing a clothed opponent. The person who took the video found it rather amusing.

My oldest vintage squash photo, above, is called "Squash - Golden Racquet Match, Rockaway Hunt Club" by Walter Engel in the LIFE magazine photo archive, dated December 1936, the year LIFE magazine started.  This photo, showing squash players in the club locker room, was never published.in the magazine.

Here's the squash team of the University of Portsmouth, England, from a naked calendar.

We end with Nick Matthew, English professional squash player.  In 2010 he was ranked the best squash player in the world.