Ron Lamsdon of Coventry is a great enthusiast and, when younger, was a much better than average player. As a young man he was friendly with Reg Wright, well known as a player and the teacher of Norman Dagley.One day Wright rang Ron and asked if he would like a game. Ron agreed and they arranged to meet in Wright's club in Hinkley. There was an Irishman worked with Ron who, though not a player, was very interested in the game. Ron told him that he was going to play, "Wrighty," and would he like to watch? the Irishman enthusiastically agreed. And so that evening Ron drove to the other side of Coventry to pick up his friend and then on to Hinkley, quite a journey for him in the days when neither roads nor cars are what they are today They arrived at the club and sat around waiting for Wright to arrive. When he did so he was all in a sweat and a dither. Reg Wright had a fruit and vegetable business in those days and it seems that he had been humping around bags of spuds, etc, most of the day. He said that he didn't think he would be able to play very much, his shoulders ached, his eyes hurt, and he felt generally more like going to bed than playing billiards. Ron broke off, Reg scored a cannon and commenced a break. Ron recounts how Wright talked about how tired he felt and how he thought he would be unable to carry on - as the break mounted. Ron murmured sympathetically at Reg's dreadful state - and fielded out. The break ended at 426!
The red ball had been left right in the jaws of a top pocket. Ron Potted it and then promptly missed the cross-loser. Reg Wright, feeling even worse than before, returned to the table and started on another break, all the while bemoaning the state of his eyes, shoulders, back, legs, and various other parts of his body. When he was well past the hundred mark he turned to Ron and said, "It's no good. I'll have to pack in, I just can't play while I'm like this."
And that was the end of the game. Ron Lamsdon took the Irishman home and then went for a drink. He had spent the whole evening on this, 'game' of billiards, had fielded out nearly six-hundred points, and had himself played two shots and scored three points. Ron laughs as he relates this yarn. Goodness knows, he wonders, what Reg Wright would have done if he'd been feeling well!