England Trials: 23rd - 24th April 2005

For the second year running, Sussex had 5 representatives at the England Squad trials in Liverpool - Ben Blundell; Rhys Cumming; Alex Galliano, Joe Quinn and Oskar Schortz. The tournament runs over two days, and squad entry is decided on performance over the two years regardless of previous performance in qualification events.

Rhys started the tournament on board 1, based on his performance in the run up to the trials. However, it was Joe Quinn and Alex Galliano who took the lead at the end of day 1, both with 2.5 points from 3. On the second day, Joe won his first game, but was then unable to score the vital half point likely to be needed to gain a place in the trial. Alex, however, had a fantastic day, finishing in joint second in the trial on 5 points to secure his place in the England trial. Other players will need to wait for the final decisions to find out if they have secured a place in the squad this year.