A men’s veterans team from East Glos Club recently escaped from the British winter to undertake a “shorts and T-shirt” tennis tour to South Africa. In what was almost certainly the furthest away match in the clubs history, team captain Jim Cressey together with team members Les Agius, Dave Barham and John Marshall played matches in Cape Town and Oudtshoorn.
In the shadows of the distinctive Newlands test cricket ground East Glos were narrowly beaten by Pinelands Tennis Club in their first match - losing by just one set over all. Undeterred, the team immersed themselves in the myriad sights and activities in one of the most beautiful parts of the world. Soaking up the infectious atmosphere of Cape Town, they visited some of the more famous landmarks. Everyone had two days to remember, enjoying the magical and picture perfect views from the summit of Table Top mountain, a picturesque trip to Simonstown and Cape Point, discovering some of the treasures of the nature reserve along the coast line of the Cape of Good Hope.
On the road again, East Glos headed some 300 miles inland to Oudtshoorn, the regional capitol of the Little Karoo. Now acclimatised East Glos produced their best form in a two day match against Wesbank Tennis Club in which the overall match result was to be decided by the combined games score over the two days. Inspired, cohesive and armed and dangerous, East Glos stormed the gates with blazing hot racquests to dominate the first day, ending play with an impressive sixteen game advantage at the halfway mark. Confidence was high at breakfast on the second day but, with courtside temperatures reaching 35 degrees, the conditions favoured the home team who came within a hairs breadth of snatching victory. When Jim Cressey partnering Dave Barham and Les Agius partnering John Marshall started the final round of rubbers, Wesbank had reduced the visitors lead to just four games. With a combination of some good touch play and power tennis, East Glos withheld the strong challenge. As both teams came off court the scoreboard revealed East Glos had maintained their lead and took the match by the score of four games! The match concluded, both teams celebrated this unique and competitive encounter with an exchange presentation of club tokens.
As ambassadors the East Glos team successfully promoted their club, town and county throughout the tour. They also proved that veterans tennis not only adds years to your life but also life to your years. The unanimous verdict was that the tour had been an overwhelming success, exceeding all expectations and creating new friendships and goodwill across two hemispheres.