The Professional Squash Association and the body governing squash refereeing on the professional squash tour, World Squash Officiating, announced amendments to the rules that govern the game and the professional tour.
As Clubland USA’s favourite sport—and definitely mine—I was intrigued by many of these changes, which come hot on the heels of many squash players, including Mostafa Asal, the top-ranked squash player on the tour, engaging in what I take to be unsportsmanlike conduct on court with egregious blocking and unfair play.
“Refereeing has evolved a lot over the last few years to account for the changes in the game such as different movement patterns being used on court”, former US #2 and world #64, and current CEO of the National Squash League Spencer Lovejoy told me. “Referees are getting a much better handle on how to incentivize continuous and free flowing play through certain rule changes, which is what fans want to see.”
But developments on the pro tour have made things difficult for referees. Lovejoy said, “I believe the referees could be better at handling player conduct issues.” With high-stakes games becoming exhibits for brinkmanship and occasional violence—Asal bonked Joel Makin on his head using Makin’s own racquet in one such instance—a clamp-down from top officials has been a long time in the making.
The new rules emphasise the fluidity of the game and the importance of maintaining play. A current highly ranked player on the pro tour told me that the “in theory, the amended rules sound like they are going in the right direction, especially if they truly force the player to ‘’make every effort to clear’’ and give access”.
While the standard prior to the amendment was that strikers would have unobstructed access to the ball, with “minimal interference”, the PSA itself admitted that “players naturally circle around each other when exchanging drives from the back corners and approach the ball from angles at the front to maximise shot options”. Players are now to be given “access to the ball”—assuming that the four longstanding requirements for unobstructed play have been met: “fair view, access, space for a reasonable swing, and freedom to strike any part of the front wall”.
The same player, however, emphasised, “I’m not sure how accurately they will judge a ‘fair view’ but ideally it will minimize situations where there’s excessive or dangerous movements.” He only had one caveat: “the striker should always be able to decide when to hit the ball”, and the rules were ambiguous about protecting that right to play a ball and let the decision rest with the player.
Rules previously permitted lets—re-dos—when the striker is compelled to turn around and face away from the ball by virtue of it bouncing around the sidewall to the back wall or the usual rotation of players around the T, and, if avoidable interference is found, even a stroke can be awarded. However, the clarification now explicitly bans players from misusing the rule to “create an opportunity to request a let”, no let is awarded.
Players with blood on court from preexisting injuries now must concede the game, and time for recovery from other injuries has been reduced, with fixed recovery times now being substituted with upper limits.
“I still do think conceding the game for a blood injury that wasn’t successfully covered is not great”, a current highly ranked player on the pro tour said to Clubland USA. “It’s a physical sport and athletes are diving or doing very explosive movements to stay in the rally. I don’t agree with blood being the cause of conceding a game.”
The final change returns to the issue presented by Asal, whose reputation for blocking and dangerous play is mired in controversy. Other players, including the Chilean player Diego Elias, are known for arguing with referees, and a squash addict once told me that Elias was better when he spoke only a word or two of English.
“Attempting to influence the referee and turning as a dangerous action are now explicitly included within the Conduct rule”, the PSA announced. Arguing with referees is no longer a part of the game.
However, Lovejoy is nonplussed about the change. “They have reverted to telling the players they are not allowed to speak to the referees when they should be working on arming the referees with the ability to explain their decisions and instill confidence in the players”, Lovejoy said. “These discussions between players and referees are an important aspect of the game and allow the players to show their character on court.”
At the end of the day, however, referees have a tough job, and having refereed my fair share of games, many calls are based on one’s judgement and intuition, along with a deep knowledge of the rules. We hope that the new rules create clarity and solve the issue of poor sportsmanship that the PSA seems to breed in some of its best and brightest. - IJ