Scot Who is Proud to Play for England

Peter Nicol, the world's best squash player, will go back to his native Scotland immediately after the Commonwealth Games to supervise a five-day coaching course for youngsters in Aberdeen. He fully expects to retain the title he won in Kuala Lumpur; what he does not expect is a hero's welcome.

Just over a year ago he changed his allegiance and decided to represent England, a crime as unpalatable to many Scots as mixing fine malt whisky with Coca-Cola.

Had he chosen to play for Wales or Ireland - or even Germany, where his late mother was born - it would have raised eyebrows. But playing for the Auld Enemy is a different matter entirely. Nicol, brought up in the farming town of Inverurie, 15 miles from Aberdeen, was cast as public enemy No1, even at the Aberdeen squash club where his photographs adorn the walls. One committee member put forward a motion to have them removed but that was eventually rejected.

"It was the toughest decision that I've ever had to make," said Nicol as he finished his preparations for Manchester in London. "I knew many people would be horrified but I had my reasons and those who bothered to hear them saw things in a different light."

Nicol, who was awarded an MBE in 1999, took the World Open title in the same year and has since won the British Open for a second time, felt let down by the sporting powers in Scotland when he was not awarded lottery money 18 months ago. "They said I did not meet the criteria, that I earned too much money as it was," he said. "That was totally out of order.

"I had done my country proud, having represented them 67 times and lost only once. No one could have been a more true-blue Scot. I was world champion, Commonwealth Games champion and the world No1 but, while the hierarchy in Scotland could bask in reflected glory, they were not willing to help me."

It hardened his resolve when John White, an Australian with family roots in Scotland and ranked No6 in the world, was awarded lottery cash after he decided to play for Scotland. "Don't get me wrong I was - and still remain - happy that John received the money to ease the burden," says Nicol, "but how was I supposed to feel after all that I'd done for them?

"The fact that I earn more money than most was surely down to the position I reached. That did not come easy. But was it right to punish me for that?

"I had to protect my future. I was 28 and reasoned that, having the good fortune to avoid injury, I could possibly remain at the top for the next three years.

"To achieve this I needed proper back-up and that costs a lot of money. Scotland turned their back on me; England, where I'd been based the past 12 years, did not. They accepted me on the grounds of my residential qualification." It is a move he does not regret.

"They have given me the necessary resources: top coaches, physiotherapists, video back-up and help with my expenses. I have since won the British Open and remain the world No1 but, had I not received their support, I might not be in that position."

Next week will be the first time he has represented England, although he did find it amusing when he played the Scottish Open in Perth last year and met White in the semi-finals. "There was I with a broad Scottish accent and John with his thick Australian accent, and the crowd were roaring on the 'Australian'. I won the match and the title and, although I took some stick afterwards, it was mostly done in a friendly manner."

Now, he says, "I just hope that after the games the line will be drawn under the 'Nicol turns his back on Scotland for England' story. It's over. I now play for England and am proud of it and nothing will deflect my attention. If I were to let that happen I would not be the No1 player in the world."

Commonwealth Games officials have toughened up the criterion used by athletes in choosing which nation to represent. Britons, who only had to live in one of the seven home nations for six of the 12 months before a games, now must serve a residency period of two of the three years. It will apply to all 72 Commonwealth countries.

The wrestler and runner who traded flags

Daniel Igali (wrestler)

Born: Nigeria

Competes for: Canada

Daniel Igali sank to his knees and kissed the maple leaf on his Canadian flag. He had just fulfilled the dream of winning an Olympic gold medal. But his title in 2000 was won for a country that was not his own.

In 1994 Igali had travelled to Canada to compete for Nigeria in the freestyle wrestling at the Commonwealth Games. He finished 11th and afterwards decided to stay put.

Igali had found it hard to to combine wrestling with his studies in Nigeria. In Canada he eventually went to live with a family in British Columbia and got the expert coaching he wanted when he joined Simon Fraser University. His new life helped him reach a level of the sport that would surely have been out of his reach in Nigeria. He won the world title in 1999 and then in Sydney became Canada's first ever Olympic wrestling champion.

Igali has not forgotten the country of his birth, though. He has used his new-found fame to start a project to build a new school and a well in his home town of Eniwari.

But his adoption by his new country will be complete tomorrow when he carries the Canadian flag at opening ceremony in Manchester.

Zaf Shah (10,000m runner)

Born: England

Competes for: Pakistan

Zaf Shah has not only changed countries; he has changed sports. A former captain of the Great Britain taekwando squad and a national champion, he will be representing Pakistan in the 10,000 metres here.

Under Wilf Paish, former coach to the 1984 Olympic javelin champion Tessa Sanderson, the 28-year-old Shah has improved from 45 minutes to under 32min but that is still about 4min outside a probable medal time.

"I've always watched athletics on TV and used to wonder why there weren't any Asians competing," said the Bradford-based Shah, a former Yorkshire schoolboy cricketer. "I want to make myself a role model. I want young people to say: 'He was a kid on the street like me. If he can do it, so can I.'

"Bradford has been through a pretty bad time lately. There are a lot of youngsters who are bored and have nothing better to do than turn to crime. And I'm not just talking about the Asian community.

"Taekwando gave me respect. The hoodlums would say: 'Don't mess with that Zaf Shah, he's a martial arts champion.' But I realised that, if I was really going to be a role model, I needed something bigger, something like the Commonwealth Games."