Former World No.1 Nicol empathises with ElShorbagy switch

By RJ Mitchell

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Peter Nicol has admitted that Mohamed ElShorbagy’s switch of allegiance to England Squash from his native Egypt has many similarities with his own move from Scotland to England 21 years ago.

The announcement of ElShorbagy’s move came yesterday morning and the adopted Bristolian will now compete at PSA and World Squash Federation sanctioned tournaments as an Englishman with immediate effect.

While 31-year-old ElShorbagy has been based in England since he was a 15-year-old at Millfield School, where he was first coached by Jonah Barrington, Nicol similarly spent the bulk of his squash playing career down south and fully understands the Egyptian's decision to defect after enduring a similar division of commitment.

Nicol, the former World No.1 said: “I had basically been based in England for 12 years while I was in Scotland for 16 to 17 years before that, so I hadn’t lived quite as long as Mohamed in England, but it was pretty similar and I would imagine a similar thought process and feelings in terms of having been in the country for that length of time.

“Mohamed’s coach has also been English for that length of time since he was 15 and started with Jonah Barrington and then with Hadrian Stiff. My coaches were all English, with Neil Harvey and the other support staff, and my friends were all part of the England set up, while my coaches were also involved in the England national programme.

“So from my perspective, I get it and fully understand why he did it, although I don’t know his reasoning and I haven’t spoken to him. It is easy from the outside to make decisions as to why people did or didn’t do something or should be allowed to or not be allowed to do something, while from the inside it is much harder and much more nuanced.

“So I will not be making any judgements and Mohamed is entitled to do it.”

Nicol had lost only once while representing the country of his birth 67 times, although harmony between player and Scottish Squash was strained at times.

Both he and fellow Scottish star former World No.4 Martin Heath had refused to play for Scotland on certain occasions and at the heart of Nicol's grievance was his belief that Scottish Squash did not properly support him.

Nicol had won the first ever Commonwealth Games Gold medal in men’s singles in Malaysia 1998 as a Scot. Yet on March 21, 2001, at a press conference called by the Squash Rackets Association, the then English governing body for squash, Nicol announced that he was taking advantage of the residency rule and would pledge his sporting allegiance to England.

Recalling the moment he took the decision that sent shockwaves around squash, Nicol said: “My issue was an overarching support issue that had never been forthcoming from Scotland but which I was able to get from the English set up.

“Then it made logical sense from there that for my longevity in career terms, my health and future success and also with my friends all in and around the English set up it worked for me, so I can only talk from my experience and what I needed.

“But it was not to do with an injury or lack of income it was 100% to do with the support I needed to achieve what I wanted to achieve, which was to stay at No.1 for as long as possible and to stay fit and healthy.”

Yet Nicol was not welcomed with open arms by all of his new teammates with England stalwart Mark Chaloner stating at the time: “It takes the edge off the prestige of representing your country. There is no way I am going to be welcoming him with open arms. There is absolutely no way that he should be able to come in and take somebody else's spot.”

The former World Champion Nicol said: “It wasn’t tough at all and I fully expected it and understood their point of view. You know Mark and I are good friends now and even despite that, we were back then.

“He was entitled to his opinion and he had come through the whole system and the English ranks and he loved playing for England and was very passionate about that.

“Also, I had competed against him for a decade when I was playing for Scotland so he was like: ‘This doesn’t make sense for me, it shouldn’t be allowed to happen. And I fully respected his opinion as it was completely 100% legitimate and truthful and I respected him for coming out and saying what was on his mind.

“It was never a problem and it was one of those ones that you have to expect and it is a massive shift. The emphasis and importance people place on nation-states and the pride people take from representing and achieving under all of that is huge and therefore it is going to happen.”