Let me leave John Roberts, senior, for a while, and turn to some of his best-known contemporaries. In"Roberts on Billiards," which was published towards the close of the author's 21 years' lease of the championship, he names Charles Hughes, John Herst, Joseph Bennett, William Cook, and John Roberts, junior, as candidates for the title of second best player, and adds:"Probably the two best are William Cook and my eldest son."
I never saw Herst play, but was told by those who had the chance of doing so that he was a brilliant winning hazard striker, and had a very pretty and finished style. Roberts, who did not make many mistakes in his estimate of a man's ability as a billiard player, had a high opinion of him, and this would in all probability have been justified, had not Herst died almost at the outset of his career.
Two of the most prominent players in the "fifties"and early"sixties"were Alfred Bowles and Charles Hughes, and, although Roberts, snr., does not mention the former in his book as a candidate for the title of second best player, this was probably because he ranked Bowles, who was about his own age, as one of the "has-beens." He had a high opinion of his play, and records that"no one yet has ever held me at the points as Bowles used to do."The points alluded to were 300 in 1,000, but, of course, at the time that these remarks were penned, Joseph Bennett, William Cook, and John Roberts, junr., had not come into the front rank.
In January, 1864, Roberts gave Bowles 300 in 1,000 for £100 a-side—in those days money matches were genuine—and the latter won by 109 points. The only time I ever saw Bowles play was when he rashly emerged from his retirement at Brighton and tried to deprive John Roberts, junr., of the championship he had won by beating W. Cook. This was in May, 1870, and the veteran must have lost his form. From his appearance I should have imagined him to be a butler of the highest class, probably the faithful and valued retainer of some ducal house, but, as an aspirant for the championship, he was sadly out of place.
He played a steady old-fashioned sort of game, but was hopelessly outclassed by young John, especially as, on a three-inch pocket table, he had no chance of utilizing the spot stroke, which he played very well.
My chief memory of Charles Hughes is in the four-handed match in October, 1866, in which the champion and W. Dufton attempted to concede 200 in 1,000 to Hughes and Joseph Bennett for £200 a-side, the latter pair winning by 344 points. Although Hughes contributed 497 points during the game, whilst his partner only put together 281, the major portion of the credit of the victory must be given to Bennett. Always remarkable for his fine generalship and great knowledge of the game, Bennett never displayed these qualities to more advantage than on this occasion. He played in front of Roberts, his sole mission being never to allow the champion a fair opening.
Directly he had a stroke which it was not three to one on his making, he either put down the white and left a double baulk, or else gave a miss. Roberts's game was thus so completely cramped from start to finish that his feat of scoring 488 points during the evening was a remarkable one. Poor Dufton's show was lamentable, for, although he had any number of good openings, an aggregate of 136 points was all he achieved. It is not surprising that Roberts fairly lost his temper, and at last remarked, in a tone that was audible all over the room,"Well, William, when you've done scratching your head and sucking your tongue I shall be glad if you'll score a few points."
I remember well that Hughes played in a flannel shirt, and wore big carpet slippers, a style of dress that would create quite a sensation at Burroughes Hall. In 1869 Hughes sailed for Australia, and, just before he started, he took 300 in 1,000 from Roberts at Manchester. The champion reached 736 against 794, when Hughes ran out, and, being asked to continue his break, made it into 269 (83 consecutive spot hazards). Hughes died very shortly after his arrival in Australia, and I fear that the lavish colonial hospitality that was thrust upon him hastened his end.