Although now a sport of global appeal the roots of the game of
squash herald from a rather humble background, or to be precise, a
criminal background. For it was in the early 19th century at Fleet
Prison that the first seeds of squash were sown as the inmates took
to hitting a ball against a wall to keep themselves amused. The
game of Rackets was soon developed from this past-time, which
rather surprisingly soon found its way into Britain’s growing band
of public schools and by 1830 the first game of squash was being
played at Harrow School.
The exact nature of how squash developed from rackets is open to
debate, but popular folklore would have it that the sport
originated after pupils began playing with a punctured racket ball
– the popular result being a game that produced a greater variety
of shots and angles. What is for certain is that by the mid-1860s
the game of squash had become so popular that the first ever four
squash courts were built at Harrow School.
The sport was soon exported to North America and by 1920 squash
had gained such popularity that it staged its inaugural
professional championship, which saw C.R. Read beat A.W.B. Johnson.
The two were members of the Queens Club and RAC Club respectively,
both of which still exist today and provide a popular hub of squash
activity.
By the 1920’s squash was rapidly succeeding its founding father
game of Rackets in the popularity stakes and by 1928 the sport
justified the formation of its own Squash Rackets Association. This
followed on from earlier similar associations which had been formed
in the USA in 1907 and four years later in Canada. It was in 1907
that the United States held the first ever National Championship to
be staged anywhere in the world, with John Miskey having the
distinction of capturing that very first title.
As the popularity of squash gathered pace in its own right the
nature of the ball wasn’t the only major difference to develop
between itself and Rackets. In 1911 the standard dimensions for a
court measuring 32feet by 21feet were proposed in Britain and
formally acknowledged as the British standard some twelve years
later.
Since its inception squash has always had a global appeal and
one of the first greats of the game was F.D. Amr Bey of Egypt who
won the first of his five British Open titles – the then equivalent
of the World Championships – in 1933. Taking up the baton from Bey
was fellow countryman M.A Karim who took the title on no less than
four successive occasions between 1947 and 1950.
If the early years of squash were dominated by Egypt, then it
was very much the turn of Pakistan to rule the court in the second
half of the twentieth century, with the all conquering Khan dynasty
including brothers Jahangir and Jansher who both won the World
title an incredible eight times.
In a rather unusual anomaly for the times, the women’s British
Open was actually staged prior to its male counterpart, with the
first event taking place in 1922. The sport was dominated by
English players in its early years, such as the brilliant Janet
Morgan. The 1960s saw the emergence of arguably the greatest female
squash player of all time, the Australian Heather MacKay, who
remained undefeated throughout her eleven year career.
Like so many sports whose growth had been fuelled by British
Imperialism, Squash was initially controlled in England by the
Squash and Rackets Association, while its counterpart, the United
States Squash Rackets Association, oversaw matters on the other
side of the Atlantic.
However in 1966 representatives from Australia, Great Britain,
India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, the USA, Canada and the
United Arab Republic met in London and agreed to the formation of
the International Squash Rackets Association (ISRF) which had its
first meeting in January 1967. Since then a new body, the World
Squash Federation has emerged as the sport’s governing body.
However one thing that hasn’t changed is the sport’s popularity,
which continues to thrive and is now played in over 150 countries
around the world.