After a lapse of around 15 years, Cumbria fielded a Ladies County team in the England Squash Inter-County Competition. The team consisted of Victoria Bell (Carlisle), Linda Winder (Capt.), Jessica Winder, Lara Cooper and Luisa McGregor all from Windscale.

Lancashire was the host county and they used Fairways Lodge, Prestwich, Manchester, as the venue.

The first tie was against Yorkshire, where Luisa was playing at string 5, who found over 50's World Champion Julie Field a class act and lost 3-0. Lara Cooper at string 4 also found the going tough and lost 3-0, whilst next door Jessica was having a close encounter with England over 40's player Andrea Santamaria, before losing the fifth to go down 2-3.

Linda was digging in against England over 35's player Claire Walker, and although having two very close games couldn't manage to win one and went down 3-0. Victoria played Katie Smith, runner-up in under 19 British Junior Championships, and was soon into her stride to totally dominate the Yorkshire lass, and power on to an emphatic 3-0 win. Cumbria 1 Yorkshire 4

Next up for Cumbria were Lancashire, Luisa again struggled and lost 3-0, Lara however, had the bit between her teeth and was chasing everything, and after tight first game which she won 12-10, then went on to win 3-0. Jessica was looking in total control as she went two games ahead, but then the wheels fell off and she snatched defeat from the jaws of victory as she went down 2-3 again. Victoria then continued to torture the opposition with her constant powerful driving and was cruising at two games up then, she followed Jessica and went AWOL and lost the third. After a quiet word from skipper Linda, Victoria was back on track and won her tie 3-1. With the match level at 2-2 it was all up to the captain Linda, and what a match to finish. Linda sent her opponent to all areas of the court frequently, but credit where it is due, the double handed Julie Carnell ran there, picked everything up and came back fighting. The match was level going into the fifth set, and with a large crowd watching the atmosphere was tense, but suddenly after all that running the Lancashire lass was looking tired, and Linda went for the jugular and won the final set 11-3 to win her tie 3-2 and with it the match. Cumbria 3 Lancashire 2

Following on from the hard days squash, a visit to Manchester's Chinatown was in order to sample some Oriental cuisine, in readiness for Sunday's assault on second position in the competition with a match against Leinster. Luisa and Lara had the worst possible start, both losing 3-0. Jessica playing her best squash of the weekend got one tie back, winning 3-0, and with Victoria going 2-0 up next door, all was not lost. Victoria's concentration slipped again however and she lost the third game. The pivotal moment of the weekend then occurred in the fourth game, when Victoria collided with her opponent, which caused her to sustain an ankle injury. Time was taken to see if recovery was possible, meanwhile Linda was battling to a 2-1 lead in the hope Victoria might recover, but it was not to be and Victoria retired injured. Having been informed that the match was lost, it deflated Linda's drive and determination and she lost her tie 2-3.Cumbria 1 Leinster 4.

This was an unfortunate ending to an otherwise great weekend, and hopefully Cumbria ladies squash will build on this for years to come.