What keen fellows those Service men are, to be sure. Already, when the heat wave is sizzling around us, two representatives of His Majesty's Navy have sent in their entries for the next Army and Navy Billiards Championship.
This is decidedly businesslike, and looks as if the handy men are setting to work in their usual thorough fashion with the idea of making a bold bid for the honours next year.
Well, they have a chance, and quite a good one. Sergeant-Major Briggs was in a class by himself, and although Pte. Thomas, of the Leicesters is a good cueman, he is not quite so invincible as the Sapper was.
Therefore, like the last contest, the next struggle for the Army and Navy Championship will be a more open affair than it was when the sergeant-major reigned supreme. But, all the same, it will take a very good player indeed to wrest the laurels from Thomas.
Not that it matters a great deal how capable the holder of the title may be. If he was a combination of Stevenson, George Gray, and John Roberts the men in red and blue would enter in their hundreds just the same.
They are real sportsmen in the Army and Navy, they play for the sake of the game, for the sake of proving who is the best man in their Unit, Station, or Command, as the case may be, and what they may have to tumble up against at the finish does not trouble them in the least.
Before Sergeant-Major Briggs left the Service it was always odds on him winning every year, but the entries showed no sign of diminution on this account. And as entries have already commenced to arrive at Thurstons it seems that we shall have a fresh record this year.
But although Sergeant-Major Briggs had a sort of "corner" in the Championship while he was with the Colours, it was quite a near shave for him during the final stage of the first match for the Championship.
Quartermaster-Sergeant Harverson, of the Royal Marines, a brother of the famous professional, was his opponent, and at one time he got within a score or so of points of Briggs, and he looked all like sailing away in front.
The balls were well placed at the top of the table, there was a simple ball-to-ball cannon on, but by making it off the cushion there was an opportunity of grouping the balls to perfection. It was the stroke a first-class professional brings off when he is in good form and quite pleased with himself at "the top" but it was no stroke to go for at the critical stage of a hard, battling game.
Well, Harverson went out for it, the cue ball was kissed away the merest shade before the cannon was made, the balls were left for Briggs as if he had put them up for himself, he promptly made a break of forty or so, and it was all over with the gallant Marine.
I have often wondered what would have happened if Harverson had made his plain cannon and left the risky positional stroke alone. Possibly, well as Briggs played, we might have had another winner of the first Army Championship, as it was in those days. How often games between amateurs are lost by overdoing it "at the top," especially handicap or match games. The elusive spheres seem to demand even more controlling than usual on these important occasions, and "grief" at the spot end is frequent and plentiful.
Personally, I belong to the numerous army of players who find "the top" more than they can grapple with, and leave it alone accordingly. I have quite a number of nice prizes won in handicaps which I should never have seen if people had not tried to do the "top of the table" business in spite of the fact that they were not skilful enough to touch this fascinating phase of the game.
Mention of Harverson, the ex-Marine, in my preceding pars brings to mind the fact that the one and only "Cecil" is going great guns out in South Africa, where he is touring under the auspices of Thurston & Co. He has made a break of 499, a record for South Africa, the previous best being 497 by W. Mitchell. It is very curious that both the old and the new record should be so near the round five hundred without actually reaching the coveted figure.
While Harverson is doing well in the land of gold and diamonds, it is evident that Reece is by no means losing ground in Australia, where, by the way, he seems to have arrived on the crest of quite a billiard boom.
I notice the Australian papers have been commenting a great deal about the possibility of some change in the laws of the game owing to the phenomenal success of George Gray with his losing hazards off the red.
As might be expected, the papers all oppose any idea of change, and I am quite with them, although, I fancy, for a reason different to that underlying the arguments of the sporting pressmen in the Antipodes.
My point is that until players make enormous breaks off the red under Championship conditions it does not matter two straws so far as the rules are concerned. But if four figure breaks with ivory balls become part and parcel of first-class billiards, then I expect the powers that be will have to face a very pretty problem.
Just at present, however, we are not losing any sleep in the Old Country by worrying about what may happen if ivory balls can be induced to yield thousands of points off the red. In fact, nothing matters until the ivory stronghold is overthrown by the red ball players; and as they have not attacked this citadel yet, well, why worry?
At present, all we can say is that "if"—and a very big "if" it is—the red ball players can make their thousands galore off the ivories it is conceivable that something may have to be done to make a change.
But all the while that "if" remains there is really no question to go before the Council of the B.C.C., as I am certain that body would not dream of legislating for billiards played under other than Championship conditions.
My idea is that when the red ball experts get to work with the ivories it will be a case of showing us what they cannot do, simply because the ivory sphere is not amenable to the requirements of billiards as they play it. I may be wrong, but my prediction is based on both careful experiment and the opinion of many leading players.
On the other hand, I freely admit that some of the greatest players in the country have declared to me that the "all-red" game can be played to perfection with ivories.
George Gray, for instance—it is wonderful what a difference of opinion there is regarding the probable ability of this marvellous youth to manipulate the ivories. One of our best players, after playing Gray, said to me: "The lad is a marvel; I learned more about billiards by watching him for a quarter of an hour than I ever knew before, and he will beat us all with any ball."
Another player, equally famous, said: "After playing Gray I feel sure the youngster, wonderful as he is, will never make big breaks with ivory balls. He has to learn a new game to do it."
A third, a very great player indeed, pooh-poohed the bare idea that Gray could not play with any kind of ball. But his opinions subsequently changed.
Wild horses will not drag from me the names of the players referred to above. I am quite content to leave my readers to form their own conclusions.
My attention has been drawn to that deserving body, the Billiard Professionals' Association, formerly the Markers' Association, which has lately made some important changes in its constitution.
The minimum age for membership has been reduced from 21 to 18 years, and the annual subscription cut down from 10/- to 5/- per annum.
I have no first hand acquaintance with the position of the association, but it does not appear as if the innovations indicate so much progress and prosperity as might be desired.
Billiard markers are a body of men who work very hard for a living, and they ought to have an association capable of performing much good work. But I think they made a mistake in changing the name of their association when so many prominent professionals are not members.