Sheffield Cricket Lovers' Year Book 2014

40 Sheffield Cricket Lovers’ Society The first time I met Nick Matthew was almost 15 years ago as he dragged a sports scientist called Damon Leedale- Brown around an as yet unconverted laboratory at Sheffield Hallam University Centre for Sport and Excercise just off Ecclesall Road. Nick was demonstrating an excercise that Damon had invented where he was attached to a harness and made repeated sprints into the corner of the room, lunging as he got there as if trying to pick up the ball near the tin at the front of a squash court. All the while Damon was pulling him back to create resistance. On and on the exercise went with neither willing to show the other how much it was hurting them. Eventually Damon called a halt and I can remember being impressed by the kind of work a relatively young and, at the time, unknown squash player was doing. I kept in touch with Nick after that and our paths began to cross quite a bit as the Crucible Theatre played host to the English Open. It was a tournament that I did quite a bit of media work for and it’s a shame it isn’t still in the city. Interestingly Nick said he’d love to see the World Championships, squash version, be played at the iconic venue. Which brings us nicely onto why this feature about the 33-year-old former High Storrs School student Nick Matthew. This November, for the third time, Nick won the world title to add to his successes in 2010 and 2011. He beat France’s Greg Gaultier in a thrilling five game battle (11/9 11/9 11/13 7/11 11/2) that lasted 111 minutes to elevate himself to be in the argument of who is the best ever English squash player. When you consider that he is being mentioned in the same breath as the likes of Jonah Barrington and Peter Nicol - both legends of the sport - then the Steel City lad is in some pretty rarified company. And the Hallamshire squash club-based former World No 1 says he’s now at the peak of his powers. “I’m at that stage where I’ve got the experience but my body is also still able to do it,” he said. “Usually when you get the experience your body packs up on you but I’m still feeling good.” Gaultier had won their previous match in the US Open final in Philadelphia last month but he had no answer for Matthew in Manchester despite pegging him back from two games up and saving a match point. “In a funny sort of way I’m glad I lost at the US Open,” Matthew, who joked he had to pay Gaultier 50 Euros after the ‘lesson’ he had been handed out in America, said. “I know how my mind works and the fact that I was aiming to peak for the World Championships meant I knew I still had room to improve. “I was confident in the final game - I had a bit Nick harnesses hardwork to become three-time world champion twitter: @scloverssociety By RICHARD FIDDLER