Australian athletes focus on Birmingham with 300 days to go

With 300 days to go to the 2022 Commonwealth Games, the Australian squash national team maintains a positive outlook as they navigate the uncertainty on the road to Birmingham. 

Head Coach Stewart Boswell is trying to keep his athletes’ focus on next year's event, despite the many question marks still surrounding international travel and the lack of confirmation of major event dates. 

The Australian national team is currently split in two main groups between the National Training Centre on the Gold Coast and the United States, while UK-based and Australia’s top female player Donna Lobban is able to travel and compete at PSA events internationally. 

“We’re working well here in Australia, in particular with the double squads, and also trying to coordinate with the players that are based overseas to support their practice,” Boswell said. 

“When international events like the World Doubles will get confirmed dates, we’ll look at prioritising our focus towards them and then obviously leading up to the Games.” 

With three medals up for grabs at the Commonwealth Games, doubles are a significant opportunity for Australia and have recently been the focus of multiple national-level training camps. 

With many Australian top players based in South-East Queensland, national team members - especially on the women’s team side - have been able to train together fairly regularly while the rest of the world was in lockdown. Having the doubles courts used for the 2018 Commonwealth Games available at the National Training Centre is also an advantage that the Australian team has been trying to maximise. 

But while other countries have seen the worst of the pandemic and have now started opening up and bringing events back, so far Australian players have been quite restricted in terms of performing in a competitive environment.  

“Obviously you’ve got to play against other nations eventually and we’ll need to get regular competition as we get closer to the Commonwealth Games. But for the time being we’re doing as much as we can to get our players as ready as possible, especially on the doubles side,” Boswell said.  

Boswell has had to navigate uncharted territory ever since he was appointed National Coach by Squash Australia in early 2020 and COVID-19 didn’t give the 4-time Commonwealth Games medallist any chance to measure where his team stands against the international standard. 

While players like Zac Alexander, Cameron Pilley and Ryan Cuskelly have been hugely successful at an international level in the past, they no longer compete on the PSA Tour. On the other hand, several young players are on a promising upward trajectory, but have had few chances to measure their progress internationally since March 2020.  

“We’re just going to keep adjusting and try to navigate our way through this situation,” Boswell said. 

“Zac, Cameron and Ryan have been our best performers over the last two or three Commonwealth Games and they have just retired from playing at PSA-level, virtually at the start of COVID, so they are clearly still very strong players. 

“There are other players consistently improving though, and it will ultimately come down to putting together the strongest squad in order to give us the best chance of winning medals in Birmingham.” 

Stepping on the podium is the ultimate goal for the Australian team at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Boswell’s presence at the National Training Centre has been very valuable for the Aussies, with the head coach maintaining a flexible approach to ensure all players could make the most of their training opportunities. Former world no.2 Jenny Duncalf is also a regular presence at Carrara in her capacity as National Pathways Coach, giving our athletes access to a top-class level of experience that not many countries have available. 

“Although Jenny’s role is more focused on development and the junior team, she crosses over into the senior squad as well,” Boswell confirmed. “Obviously she was an amazing player and has a lot of experience playing doubles, so she’s been really valuable for the group and for me personally, working with her.” 

With 300 days to go there is still plenty to work on before the final team selection, which will be confirmed between late April and early May. The World Doubles Championships will be a major stepping stone in that process, particularly as the Australian pairs don’t get many opportunities to play doubles against other nations, and the event results will affect seedings for the Commonwealth Games. 

Boswell is hopeful our athletes will be able to play overseas between now and next July, or at least get an opportunity to play PSA singles events in Australia.  

“That will be the most important focus for us. It’s not straightforward as by now you would normally have certainty around dates and events, but we’ll make the best of the situation. There are still plenty of things players can be working on and improving over the coming months,” he said.