Origins - Although the game of rackets is now played on a closed court, it was originally played in open courts, becoming established in the mid-18th century. Such venues included the backyards of taverns, the schoolyard at Harrow and most notably Fleet debtor's prison, which Charles Dickens described in his novel The Pickwick Papers and which is shown in the etching by Theodore Lane. It was popular among the inmates of the prison, with Robert Mackay laying claim to the first world title in 1820. (Photo: E. T. Archive)
