It may not be widely played, but this is a great sport for everyone, says Freddy Gray
Fives is not a popular sport. In fact, if the internet is to be believed, no more than 4,000 people play it in Britain, with a scattering of die-hard enthusiasts abroad.
But then very few people have ever had the opportunity to play. Fives, which is similar to squash — save that it is played with a hard ball, which is hit with gloved hands instead of a racquet — is played almost entirely in British public schools. Some state schools do have courts, but not many. If it is thought of at all, the game is regarded as a privileged eccentricity,
a distraction for boys more inclined to use their hands for hitting balls than anything approaching hard labour.
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