Editorial
The B&SCC
The decline and fall of the Billiards and Snooker Control Council is a sad tale and one which gives me no pleasure whatever though, as regards billiards, it may turn out to be a good thing. With slight changes of title the B&SCC has been the governing body of the game for 107 years and until 1971 was the governing body also of the professional game. It is no sudden thing. The drift to oblivion has been going on for quite a long time the withdrawal of the Sports Council grant being the final nail in the coffin. Despite its many and much criticised faults, the demise of the governing body will leave some gaps and it is difficult to see how these will be filled. This applies particularly to snooker, there are plenty of people willing to organise snooker, but for many of them, organising snooker means putting on a tournament or two in the hope of making a bit of money. Where are those who will put time and effort into the lower echelons of the amateur game, where is the body that will act as a coordinating force for County Associations, what will happen to the Referees Association - and so on? The WPBSA, though washing its hands of the original offer to the B&SCC, is reported as saying that it will not let the amateur game go into decline. They are reported as being determined to assist the amateur game with both resources and administrative expertise. We shall see. Most of these remarks are more relevant to snooker than billiards. There are those billiards enthusiasts to whom the game is very important and I cannot see the three-ball game suffering too much from the demise of the B&SCC, indeed, the formation of an English Billiards Association could possibly give the game a boost, but again, we shall see. And so farewell to the B&SCC, no more shall we hear the cry, "hat the hell are they up to in Leeds. "t is a sorry tale and a sad day.
The Grimsby Mini-Prix
For those who have not heard the story. I visited the New Victoria Club, Grimsby, before Christmas to arrange the tournament. I was assured mat everything would be O.K. and that the tournament could go ahead in January on the usual week-end basis and the usual doubled prize money. I received over twenty entries which is far more than normal, most entries are on the day. On the Tuesday evening of the week of the tournament I received a 'phone call from the club saying that the tournament could not take place as the sponsors (Humberside Leisure Services) had withdrawn their support. The thought of people arriving in Grimsby from as far afield as Devon only to find the tournament cancelled was not pleasant. After consulting with Eric Hodgkinson we decided to cancel the whole thing and everyone on the mailing list was informed. Eric spread the word around the referees and various others who might have turned up. As far as I know nobody did turn up, as a damage limitation exercise it was a very successful operation but not one that I would ever wish to repeat. My thanks to Eric for advice, support, and help. I have written to the Director of the Humberside Leisure Services enquiring if they might consider putting the event on again next year; in this way I thought I might get some explanation as to why they had withdraw his year (fairly obviously no cash available) but I have had no reply.
Billiards on TV
The Strachan U.K. Professional Championship was televised on Screensport. I was asked to assist with the commentary. My function was to provide commentators Mark Wildman and Clive Everton with details of the score, breaks, visits, misses, etc, which I did by making a note on a piece of paper and sticking it in front of them. This was necessary as the Scoreboard was not in view on the monitors and, with headphones on, the referees voice was inaudible over the constant barrage of instructions from the producer to the cameramen. I could watch the play and note each visit. In the event my services were not as useful as they would have been had the match been less one-sided. It was an interesting experience showing that T.V. commentating is nothing like as easy as one might think, especially on commercial T.V. where the commentator has to time his remarks to fit in with the countdown to commercial breaks which occur with great frequency.
The U.K. Format
That great enthusiast John Barnett from Essex writes complaining about the short game format used at Aldershot:-"This format of 150 up - people want to see the game played at its best by the best, we don't want to see players so uptight that all they can do is pot the while and then run to baulk. We want to see breaks, not 60s or 70s or the odd century but big breaks. What's the point of players making thousand breaks in practice if we never see one. Last year's U.K. produced some of the best billiards for years by Mike and Geet so why are they being stifled by these short games?"
A lot of people would agree with you John. However, whilst I also agree with you in principle, I must confess that I have to some extent been converted to the short game formal and feel that one of the professional tournaments should be played to games of 150 up though not of course the World Championship. I have seen some very exciting games, the sparring for an opening can be very interesting, I don't mind too much seeing players uptight, and perhaps above all, the short game gives second rank players the chance to win a match or two. As regards breaks, this years U.K produced 54 centuries from 153 games. I am sure that most enthusiasts would be in total agreement with you but don't be too hard on the short game format. As regards this year's U.K change I understand that it was done because it was thought short games would be better for the Telly - a sign of the times.
Calendar of Events
The BQR has received yet another letter, this time from Norman Routledge of Macclesfield, suggesting that we should publish a calendar showing forthcoming events. I only wish I could. It is my opinion that a properly planned and coordinated season would represent just about the most important step forward that billiards could take at the present time. I feel such a development would be as important to the game as exposure on the Telly. If billiards were ever to feature at all regularly on the box then a coordinated season would become even more of a priority.
Billiards in France
A few weeks ago I had to go to France. My business there took me to the Bordeaux region and readers may be sure that I did not hesitate to try a glass or two of claret. One afternoon I went to visit the famous wine centre of St. Emilion. My journey back to base took me through a small town called Montpon. There was a banner hung out over the main street, nothing unusual in that as it is quite common on the continent for local events to be advertised in this way. It was what was advertised that caught my eye. I was astonished to see that the Ad was for a Billiards Open Tournament, a first (1er = premier = first) open tournament, and more to the point, advertised as "Billard Anglais" - English Billiards. I was so struck by this that I stopped and took the photograph that is reproduced below. Unfortunately I had to leave for home otherwise I would have gone to see what it was all about. I did ask someone to keep watch on the local papers to see if there were any reports of the tournament but so far I have heard nothing. Somehow or other I can't imagine that Billard Anglais means the English billiards that we know. However, as I drove out of Montpan I kept glancing around half expecting to see Bill Andress complete with cue-case looking around for a Bed and Breakfast.
Billiards Championship Sponsors
I have written of my conviction that this year's championship will go ahead at Cubbington as usual. It costs money to stage the finals of such a championship and whilst, to the players, the chance of becoming The Amateur Champion means far more than any prize money that might be available (I believe the players would be there whether there was prize money on offer or not) there are many expenses involved. For example, the host club cannot possibly be expected to stage such an event for nothing. Neither can the organisers be expected to be out of pocket though - especially in terms of time - they usually are. Sponsorship is vital. From £5, all amounts will be very welcome and should be forwarded to Malcolm Lax at 51 Bilton Road, Rugby.
Malcolm has already received sponsorship from:- Alan Hughes, David Alack, and Richie Evans all of Rugby. Gordon Willis of Banbury. Richard Lewis of Stourbridge. John Scott of Luton. John Barker of Airewas. Arthur Winn of Guildford. The"No-Delay" Cleaners of Leamington, The Leamington Billiards and Snooker League, and The Billiards Quarterly Review.
On behalf of Malcolm Lax and his team, the BQR thanks all the above. Please consider if you might help to keep The Championship alive.