The Oratory is one of only six schools which currently play real tennis on their own (or a nearby) court. The Old Oratorians, therefore, have strength in depth and fielded a strong team for this inaugural fixture, with one player on a handicap of 17, one at 25 and two more at 29/30.

If all of our active players had been available, we would have been able to match this but, in the event, we created three honorary OTs for the occasion, one each from Charterhouse, Eton and Rugby. The Old Oratorians themselves had a late cancellation and fielded a player from Sevenoaks.

It all worked out for an excellent afternoon/evening of play at Queen's, with singles for the better players and two doubles each for the others. The Old Oratorians were quite generous with the handicapping in the singles matches of which we won two and lost one. In the doubles, we won three and lost one, with Will Chawner and Anthony Osmond-Evans being undefeated.

We had a jovial supper afterwards in the Queen's Club café.