England v Rest of World Test Series

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RESULTS

1st Test: Friday 26 March, Lambs Club, London
England 1 - 2 Rest of World

Paul Johnson (Kent)

9/7 8/10 3/9 1/9

Jonathon Power (CAN)
Simon Parke (Yorks) 9/6 11/9 7/9 14/12 Dan Jenson (AUS)
Cassie Jackman (Norfolk) 0/9 4/9 4/9 Sarah Fitz-/Gerald (AUS)
2nd Test: Saturday 27 March, Edgbaston Priory Club, Birmingham
England 1 - 2 Rest of World
Simon Parke (Yorks) 9/6 9/6 11/13 6/9 9/5 Jonathon Power (CAN)
Del Harris (Essex) 6/9 4/9 5/9 Dan Jenson (AUS)

Cassie Jackman (Norfolk)

9/1 1/9 6/9 4/9 Sarah Fitz-Gerald (AUS)
3rd Test: Sunday 28 March, Abbeydale Park Club, Sheffield
England 1 - 2 Rest of World
Simon Parke (Yorks) 9/7 7/9 7/9 9/2 9/4 Jonathon Power (CAN)
Lee Beachill (Yorks) 7/9 9/4 2/9 5/9 Dan Jenson (AUS)
Cassie Jackman (Norfolk) 7/9 8/10 2/9 Sarah Fitz/Gerald (AUS)

Reports

ENGLAND WHITEWASHED BY REST OF WORLD

The inaugural three-day Dunlop SRA England v Rest of the World Test Series resulted in a 3/0 whitewash for the host country by the visiting squad which boasted two world champions.

Capacity crowds in London, Birmingham and Sheffield witnessed a dazzling display of world-class squash as Australia's three-times women's world champion Sarah Fitz-Gerald and, in his first appearance in the UK since winning the men's world title, Canada's Jonathon Power led the Rest of the World to three consecutive 2-1 victories over England.

England's hero, however, was world No6 Simon Parke, whose unbeaten run in the series included two successive five-game victories over world champion Power - Parke's superb athleticism ultimately having the edge over the Canadian's incredible racket skills.  

In the first Test at Lambs Club in London, 26-year-old Parke, playing at No2 for England, levelled the match when he overcame Australia's world No7 Dan Jenson 9/6 11/9 7/9 14/12 / all men's games being played 'point-a-rally' to nine, or two clear points ahead from 8-all.  Power then clinched the opening tie, when he beat England's world No4 Paul Johnson 7/9 10/8 9/3 9/1.

Parke then moved up to lead the England squad for the next two Tests, the Nottingham-based Yorkshireman earning his first series win against world No2 Power at the Edgbaston Priory Club in Birmingham 9/6 9/6 11/13 6/9 9/5 in 66 minutes. On Sunday at Abbeydale Park in Sheffield, Parke again asserted his authority over the Canadian, coming through to claim a 9/7 7/9 7/9 9/2 9/4 win in 41 minutes.


3rd Test
Simon Parke retained his unbeaten record in the series with a second successive victory against Jonathon Power, but couldn't prevent the 'rest of the world' team clinching a 3-0 series win as Sarah Fitz-Gerald and Dan Jenson both won to clinch the match.

2nd Test
The 'rest of the world' took an unassailable 2/0 series lead in Brimingham. Sarah Fitz-Gerald repeated her win over Cassie Jackman, although the UK champion offered sterner resistance this time, taking the first game 9-1. Dan Jenson cruised to a 3-0 win over Del Harris, but Simon Parke continued his winning run. Moving up to play #1 after beating Jenson in the first test, Parke was facing a much harder task this time, againg the World Champion. Parke raced into a 2-0 lead, and could well have won 3-0, Power eventually taking the third 13-11. Power levelled it at 2-2, but Parke managed to find extra reserves in the fifth to record a notable victory.

1st Test
The 'rest of the world' team took the first match in the three-match series 2-1. World champion Sarah Fitz-Gerald comfortably beat UK National champion Cassie Jackman, 9-0 9-4 9-4. Simon Parke levelled the match, beating Australia's Dan Jenson 3-1, two of the games going beyond normal scores with the expiremental '2 clear' scoring system - Parke winning the last game 14-12. In the top-string match Paul Johnson took the first game against world champion Jonathon Power, narrowly lost the second, but struggled thereafter as the Canadian took the match 3-1 to give the 'rest of the world' a winning start.


Preview

Lee Beachill, after his marathon victory over Derek Ryan in the Proctor MemorialBeachill to make England debut in Test Series
Fifteen months after breaking his back and being told he would never play squash again, Lee Beachill has been selected to make his senior England debut against the 'Rest of the World' in the Dunlop SRA Test Series on Sunday 28 March. Beachill, 21, from Barnsley in Yorkshire, will play alongside county colleague Simon Parke, the England No2, and British women's champion Cassie Jackman, in the final fixture of the three-day series at the Abbeydale Park Club in Sheffield. The 'Rest of the World' line-up features world champions Jonathon Power (Canada) and Sarah Fitz-Gerald (Australia), together with the Australian No1 Dan Jenson, who Beachill will face for the first time. Beachill, the only player apart from Simon Parke to win all four British junior titles (Under-12, U-14, U-16 and U-19), enjoyed a glittering junior career. Capped 26 times, he led England to success in the world junior championships in 1996, beating Egypt in an emotionally-charged final in Cairo. It was a road accident in December 1997, in which he wrote off his car on black ice returning home after a match, that he broke his back in two places. Despite the immediate prognosis that he might not even walk again, the single-minded Beachill was back on court after some eight weeks! He made a sensational comeback at the British Open in April, when he became the only player to fight through six rounds of qualifiers to reach the first round of the main draw.
"It's a big thrill to get an England call-up, even at junior level," said an ecstatic Beachill. "When you leave the juniors, the next target seems so far away - I didn't expect this to happen so soon."
SRA Performance Director Matt Hammond, added: "Lee Beachill is a prime example of the success of the SRA's Lottery-funded World Class Performance Programme initiative. Since receiving funding, he has reached the last sixteen of the World Open, has won his first PSA Tour title, the Adelaide Club Open in Toronto, and has leapt almost 100 places up the world rankings to No41." (and won the Proctor Memorial this month)
The opening fixture of the Test Series will take place at Lambs Club in London on Friday 26 March, with the second at the Edgbaston Priory Club in Birmingham the following evening. The final clash will be held at the Abbeydale Park club in Sheffield on Sunday 28 March. Former England No1 Del Harris has also been selected for the England team - playing alongside Simon Parke in the Birmingham tie on Saturday.

Test Series announcement

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