Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 February saw three senior teams from Essex travel to Kent and Norfolk to compete in the first round of England Squash’s 2025/26 Senior Inter-County Championships (ICC). The ICC is the largest competition run by England Squash with more than 2,000 players representing their counties in 22 categories throughout the season across Senior, Masters and Junior categories. The Senior Inter County Championships provide competitive opportunities for players beyond club level in a team environment, and the opportunity to represent their county.
Counties from across the country were split into groups of three/four with the top 8 finishing teams going into Division 1 promotion competition in April 2026.
Essex Men’s A side travelled to Bexley Lawn Tennis Squash & Racketball Club to face hosts Kent, Surrey B and Middlesex. Saturday’s opening match saw Essex overcome a gritty Surrey B side with straight-set victories for Owain Taylor and Jamie Brown setting the tone. 3-1 defeats for Louis Brown and Mark McEwen levelled the match, before Stanley Sykes got Essex over the line with a 3-1 victory. The second match of the day was more straightforward, defeating Middlesex 4-1. Consecutive 3-0 victories for Taylor and Brown Snr and 3-1 wins for Sykes and Brown Jnr were more than enough for Essex to see off Middlesex. Hosts Kent followed Essex’s lead, beating both Surrey B and Middlesex, setting up a Sunday showdown between the two sides! Unfortunately for Essex, Kent’s quality and depth shone through and they topped the group with a 5-0 victory over Essex.
Essex Ladies, captained by recently crowned Essex Ladies Champion Lara Newton, headed east to the East Anglia Tennis and Squash Club in Norwich. First match saw Newton’s ladies face Norfolk, captained by Norfolk Ladies Champion Jasmine Thirst. Lara Newton, playing at No. 1, fought back twice to level the match at two games all before going down 11-7 in the fifth to Sophie Cox. Straight set victories for Jasmine Thirst (no2) and Lucy Cox (no4) and a 3-1 win for Ava Fox was enough for the hosts to clinch the match. India Webb (no5) saved the whitewash with a battling 3-1 victory over Codie Jeary. Next up for the ladies was Surrey, captained by Alison Thomson (HWR65), who promised to be very strong opponents. Surrey certainly lived up to their reputation, beating both Essex and Norfolk 5-0 without dropping a game. A class performance from the Surrey ladies!
Essex Men’s B also travelled to Norwich on Saturday to face hosts Norfolk and Suffolk. First up was Suffolk, with victories for Paul Wallace and Adam Safwat and defeats for Lee Jemmett and Tony Bickley leaving the match tightly poised at 2-2. Up stepped Joel Braddock to face Lexden RFC team-mate Will Burton. Braddock took the first 11-7 before Burton battled back to bring the match level. Ultimately Braddock’s experience and tidy shotmaking was enough to close the match out 3-1 and hand Essex B their first victory of the day. Next up for Essex B was hosts Norfolk, captained by Rob Thirst. This proved a much trickier test with Bickley and Safwat going down in straight sets and Wallace in four. Up stepped Lee Jemmett, with recent success in the last four regional Masters events, to face William Henden. Jemmett took an early lead before going 2-1 behind. The fourth game saw an imperious Jemmett take out Henden 11-2. Despite Jemmett’s best efforts, Henden’s fitness and superb court coverage was enough to take the fifth game and the match. Last up saw a resilent Joel Braddock go down 3-1 to Norfolk captain Rob Thirst.
Some excellent individual performances weren’t quite enough to see our Essex representative sides qualify directly. With both the Men’s A & B finishing in second place, we will have to wait and see if that’s enough to see either of them reach the finals weekend in April 2026. A top effort from all involved nevertheless!
