Seventh Heaven Scoops DAILY?

Many have asked why it is we have such a broad section readership. It is because we get the news doirectly from our horse's (dinosaur ones) mouth.

How is this for an absolute SCOOP.

45er Desmond Kinnersley and his wife Betty

I am able to bring you a lovely picture of 45er Desmond Kinnersley and his wife Betty taken a few weeks ago in where they live in a retirement village in Perth, Western Australia about 5 minutes away from the beach and enjoy the warm weather although, as Des said, it gets a bit warm in Summer with temperatures around the 40 ° C plus mark. Luckily, he said, it is a dry heat which helps. Both of them look to be in outstanding health for 80+ers.

It is a picture that I and many Cathedralites will treasure.

And now to the second controversy - that of Vijay Nayar's name missing from the Head Boys Board. Both 58er Bhupi and 59er Ashok Kapur confirm that Vijay was Head Boy at the beginning of 1960. He then went to Milfield School in England, when Karl took over as School Captain.

Viney, although he won the McDonald medal for Leadership was never School Captain. Ashok and Viney both joined Elphinstone College for a while but returned to school to do their HSc. Viney left and went to Dulwich College, as I had remembered. As Ashok left school, he gave up all official posts, as he too would have been on the shortlist for top spots as he was a great inside right in hockey, one of our soundest opening batsmen in cricket plus the school wicketkeeper, an outstanding badminton player, and like me one of the few who was appointed as a Prefect already in the 10th Standard!

I stand corrected that Vijay was not Indian Squash Champion. But I know he was in the top group of squash players in India. It was his younger brother, Anil "Lucky" Nayar, who now lives in the US, who was the National Squash Champion for 7 years. He has won the Indian Championship an absolute record number of times - 10!

Western India History, CCI Squash: Looking back over five decades by Raju Chainani:
"Anil Nayar was the only homegrown player of true class India ever produced. He was a winner of the Drysdale Cup in 1965", says Dicky Rutnagur. Indeed, Nayar was something out of the ordinary. His blinding speed and racket skills remain etched in memory and the general consensus is that he is the greatest player India has seen.

I remember when Lucky came to England and played an outstanding game with the best squash player of that country, Jonah Barrington. Jonah, from Ireland, is now a retired squash player who is considered to be one of the greatest squash players of all time. He won the British Open title six times between 1967 and 1973. (The British Open was considered to be the effective world championship of the sport at the time.)

The match was really a momentous one, a 5 setter, and Anil lost purely because of the outstanding physical fitness of Jonah! (I wonder if Lucky remembers that game, which was a ball by ball wonder play?)

Anil got a scholarship to Harvard University also because of his outstanding squash (called hardball in the US) playing abilities and was twice US Squash Champion (1969 and 1970). He is featured in the hall of Fame for Squash Players.

Thanks to all for their inputs in helping to clear up the controversies. Remember, it is your input that makes this the greatest blog for us Cathedrealites - it is really our Seventh Heaven!