The following statement as to the above matter has been. communicated officially to The Billiard Player at its request:— The conditions governing the Professional Championship of English Billiards for 1922 are now before the public, and it will be found that the suggestions submitted by the professionals to the Council in May last have been, as far as possible, embodied therein. A draft of these conditions was forwarded to each of the players concerned, before publication, with a covering letter inviting them to submit any desired alteration, for the consideration of the Council, within a week from the date of that letter.
Exception has been taken to the stipulation in Clause 3, reserving to the Council the right to nominate one other player in the Second Division Championship (in addition to the winner of that event) to take part in the Championship. There is no intention on the part of the Council to exercise this right during the ensuing season, but it is considered desirable to retain the power to do so, as an integral part of the conditions. It is conceivable that, in some future season, the acknowledged best player of the year in the Second Division might be prevented by some trivial indisposition, or accident, from winning the Second Division Championship, and yet be perfectly fit and well again by the time set for the decision of the Championship, and this stipulation is chiefly inserted with the object of meeting such an eventuality.
Dissatisfaction is also expressed by some of the players with Clause 9, dealing with the division of the gate money, but it has been pointed out to them that, unless they feel disposed to hire a neutral hall for the Championship, the terms specified in the first section of this clause (viz., one-third of the gross gate receipts) are those imposed by the proprietors of the hall in which the Championship will otherwise be played, but if they can obtain better terms from the proprietors of this hall, the Council will amend Clause 9 accordingly.