News from the editor's chair

The English Amateur

As the climax to the amateur season approaches in terms of the destination of national titles, we have the unusually intriguing prospect of a wide open field for the English Amateur with no clear favourite, as has been the case over the past few years. The preeminence of players such as Causier, Shutt and Goodwill always made the likely finalists a fairly predictable affair but this year we have the possibility of a new name on the trophy and, by my reckoning, any one of half a dozen or more players could carry off the coveted title.

My tip is that Teesside will continue to be strongly represented by Tony Mackinder, Darren Kell and the fast improving Paul Bennett who is enjoying good success on the ABC circuit and I'd be surprised if those ever consistent ABC stalwarts Steve Crosland and Peter Shelley don't have a strong say in the final outcome. Neil Rewhorn, whose laconic style and effortless cueing remind me so much of Norman Dagley (and I can't think of many better compliments than that) has the game to upset anyone as his impressive break-building record in the Midlands Counties league demonstrates, and don't forget that Welshman Dave Edwards has now returned to the amateur ranks and is perfectly capable of taking yet another English title. I had never seen Dave play until my recent encounter with him in the ClU and he is obviously a class player with bags of natural talent.

Having now cursed all the above by tipping the winner to come from within their ranks, an outsider will probably sneak in to upset the form book against ail the odds!

Whatever the outcome, we should welcome the fact that this year's championship is so open and while we await the next superstar to emerge from Teesside, or wherever, we should be grateful for a big slice of unpredictability, just for a change.

Tom Terry

I well remember the confusion, speculation and many unanswered questions that followed Tom's decision to discontinue the BQR and we included a letter from Tom on the subject in an earlier issue. However, I am now delighted to report that he has offered to contribute regular articles for the "Amateur Billiard Player". Tom's involvement with billiards and its leading players during the existence of the BQR and before has made him a respected authority on the game and 1 personally always found that his observations about players and match reports were perceptive and thought provoking. The billiards cupboard of available commentators is not exactly bulging with riches right now and the game can ill afford to lose people of his ability; welcome back Tom!

WPBSA and Billiards

I understand that Rex Williams is likely to be installed, if this has not already happened, as the new chairman of the WPBSA and that a separate billiards committee comprising, among others, Mark Wildman and Bob Close has been formed. Rumour has it that tentative proposals have been made to evaluate the possibility and practicability of the English Amateur Billiards Association., which this magazine represents, becoming more closely aligned to the WPBSA as its formal representative of the amateur game. There have been many false starts and failed initiatives in this convoluted political arena but the proposal does seem to make some sense. My view is that amateur billiards will always be a very small side-show for the WPBSA, and for very obvious and perfectly understandable reasons.

However, if this time there is a real and sustained will to let the people who understand and have run the amateur game so successfully over the past few years then the two sides should at least talk. The acid test will be funding and autonomy, I await the outcome with interest!

The Friendly Cup

Although not a participant this year, I was delighted to hear that Derrick Townend's splendid initiative to establish a regular representative match between Northern Ireland and an English team selected from the ranks of the ABC circuit has continued with a return fixture on home soil this year. A full report of results is included in this issue and I'm glad to see that Irish captain Davy Rogue's legendary capacity for alcohol remains undiminished! Long may the fixture continue and for those on the fringes of selection I can think of no better incentive than the prospect of next year's inevitably warm welcome in Belfast... but you will need a strong constitution to enjoy the crack!

Local News/Contributions

Thanks to everyone who has submitted articles, letters, reminiscences, local league news, etc.. I apologise if everything does not get included but we do our best, so please don't be discouraged if your bit is not in; we still depend on your input. The fact that we are not short of material and are now in a position to cover such a wide range of topics is testimony to the strength of the magazine and hopefully you appreciate how far we've come in a relatively short period of time and look forward to your regular fix. From a logistical point of view and until we get a more sophisticated printing mechanism (any sponsors out there please?), it would help enormously if you could submit input in a format that can be incorporated directly into the magazine without the need to re-key or edit it. That means that articles and letters produced by plain old fashioned typing, by word processing packages or anything sent via media such as diskette make our job much easier, I realise that not everyone has access to technology and the last thing I want to do is discourage you from sending things in, but please help us to keep things simple at our end if at all possible. OK, soapbox session over; enjoy the issue!