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Grays of Cambridge: History

In 1908, Grays launched the first ever laminated racquet: the Masterpiece.

In 1935, Grays presented the famous Light Blue racquet, a name still in use today.

Henry John Gray

Grays of Cambridge was founded in 1855 by Henry John Gray, the Champion Racquets Player of England and Professional at St. Johns College Cambridge. He was one of five brothers who excelled at the sport of racquets, the predecessor to squash.

John began by making, stringing and selling racquets and balls. The company grew rapidly, and soon became well known for the manufacture of top quality sports equipment, particularily racquets and cricket bats. In those days, the racquets were made from one piece English ash, with a suede leather grip and natural gut.

Charles Williams, holder of the World Champion of Racquets title from 1911-13 and again from 1929-35, used Grays racquets. In fact, he lost his Grays racquets on the Titanic when he was travelling to New York to defend his title. Fortunately he survived the disaster.

Chas Read, the first ever British squash Champion, used Grays, as did Jim Dear and Mahmoud Karim who won the British Squash Open from 1939-49 with Grays racquets. The great Pakistan player Hashim Khan used Grays squash racquets to win 17 British Open titles from 1950 to 1957.

Throughout the 1960s, Grays became market leaders in squash with the famous Light Blue racquet launched in 1935. In the 1970's Grays expanded rapidly, and top squash players such as Gogi Alauddin, Qamar Zaman, Gamal Awad and Ahmed Safwat all used Grays racquets.

The 1980s witnessed a period of re-structuring and consolidation. The Cambridge racquets factory was forced to close in face of the move to graphite racquets, and production was moved to the Far east.

In the 1990s Grays signed up squash stars Chris Dittmar, ranked 2nd in the world, and Mark Chaloner ranked 7th in the world. Paul Price and Stephanie Brind are the latest squash stars to use Grays racquets, and in 2000 the first ever live televised British Open match featured Paul Price and Mark Chaloner in an all Grays Semi Final.

The company continues to operate its original shop in Cambridge, and the 5th Generation of Grays (Nick, Neil, Jason and Richard) are all now actively involved in the business.