Things are a little less hectic now that play has moved to the ECHO Arena where only one match can take place at any one time, which is a relief for pretty much everyone involved with the event. To say that it was ‘a bit busy’ at the Liverpool Cricket Club is a bit like saying that Amr Shabana is quite a good squash player or that the streets of Venice are a bit wet.

During the first round of the event there were 32 men’s matches, 16 women’s matches as well as a mind boggling number of master’s matches taking place on five courts at the cricket club, of which only one was a glass back. All of the others were only viewable by balcony.

But what is even more astonishing than the huge number of matches happening everywhere you look is the sheer number of volunteers and people working behind the scenes to make the event possible. So far I’ve counted well over a hundred, not to mention the dozens of stewards and catering staff who are strategically dotted throughout the ECHO Arena so you are never more than 20ft from a chicken tikka or jacket potato.

It’s all of these people that actually make it all happen – like the team that worked throughout the whole night to clean the glass court which arrived coated in a layer of Saudi Arabian sand, in order for the court lines and sponsors logos to be applied so that play could commence on time. Or the competition staff like Chris Nutley from England Squash and Howard Harding from the WSF who are working relentlessly to send out results and formulate draws for everyone who needs them, or the event photographers Fritz Borchert and Steve Line who spend hours crouched by the glass court capturing all the action and make it a pleasure to report on the tournament.

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