Melbourn Squash Club member Kate Bradshaw’s international debut saw success for England as she and her teammates won the over-35s 2016 Home Internationals, which took place over the Bank Holiday weekend at the Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club in Dublin.

Bradshaw’s first appearance came in England’s opening match against Wales. She played fourth string, and faced a familiar foe in Rachel Cooper, the two having met previously in the quarter-finals of this year’s British National Championships.

Bradshaw fought back from a game down to win 3-1 on that day, and continued her momentum against Cooper to claim a 3-0 success this time around, part of a 5-0 England victory.

Squad rotation saw Bradshaw rested against Scotland with England winning 3-2 in her absence before coming back into the side for the final match against hosts Ireland.

Bradshaw was selected as the fifth string on this occasion, which is the opening rubber of a tie under the structure of international team matches.

She got her side off to a fine start with a comfortable 3-0 win over Sandra Walshe, the rest of the England players following suit as they recorded a second whitewash of the event to claim the crown.

Bradshaw said: “Winning a place in the team was a great moment, but then there was a job to do.

“The nerves kicked in for the final match against Ireland as I knew we needed to secure a couple of wins to take the cup.

“Fortunately I got control, putting us in a good position and thankfully my team members did the rest.”