Tom English: Time to turn the tables

Published on Saturday 5 December 2009 20:51

JOHN HIGGINS, three-time world snooker champion, got talking about the future direction of his sport on Friday. He had a lot to say. Always has. Not only is Higgins one of the finest tacticians ever to pick up a cue, he is also one of the sport's most passionate characters. So you ask him about the change that's required in his sport and he hits you with a story about the place that made him great, the Mecca of his game.

"See the Crucible," he says. "People always talk about the importance of keeping the World Championships there. Spiritual home and all that. Even the likes of Steve Davis says keep it at the Crucible. I'm the opposite. I'm thinking, if other countries want to host our biggest event, we're not a big enough sport to turn them down, are we? We need to change our thinking."

But what about the history? The drama? The ghosts in the room? Davis v Taylor in the early hours, Jimmy White's heartbreak, Ronnie and the Hurricane and all that. Wouldn't be the same anywhere else, would it? The Crucible is snooker. "Nah. Look, we've only got the one blue riband event. That's all we've got just now. We've got to embrace all the other countries that are showing an interest in our game. I'm not wanting to slag off the Crucible or anything, but if I was a multi-millionaire businessman and I was wanting to put money into (snooker], there's no backstage facilities where you could wine and dine 100 clients. That's not good enough. Not nearly good enough."

Change. It's the buzzword of the week for snooker. The old guard has gone, voted out in a bloodless coup. Sir Rodney Walker, the old stick in the mud, has departed as the game's chairman and in his place comes the prodigal, the man who made snooker great once upon a time with his hype and his hoopla and his eye for promotion. Yes, Barry Hearn is back. Whirlwind Baz. The my-way-or-the-highway guy has returned to sprinkle some of his magic on a desperately ailing sport.

He can do it, he's sure of that. Did it once and can do it again. He did it for darts not that long ago. Look at the arrow-throwers now. They're making telephone numbers in front of packed crowds, they're selling out big arenas where once nobody wanted to know. Hearn still has the touch, no doubt about it. Higgins looks at him, thinks he's snooker's last chance.

"The old guard were detached from our reality," says the world champ. "Too many people on there didn't really want to listen to the players. They turn around and say it's a player's organisation but they weren't giving us the time of day. We called a vote of no confidence in them. It didn't need any driving. You ask the players, 'Are youse happy with six ranking events in the season or are youse not happy? It's as simple as that'. Three members of the board have gone now but it was a vote of no confidence in all five members. The only right thing to do for the other two is to hand in their resignations and let Barry have a clean go."

One of the remaining two is Lee Doyle, son of Ian, head of the 110 Sport management group whose stable of top players is significant. No love lost between Higgins and Doyle, you can tell. "If there's a vote of no confidence in the whole board then any right thinking person would just resign. We'll need to wait and see what happens. Hearn is a tough man and this is what we need in our sport. Our sport for too long has been run by committees having to go to votes and things like that. It needs a whole new approach. One person's vision. If he can't come in and revive things then snooker really is in danger. If he can turn it around like he did with the darts, well, we've a chance. I know darts is not like snooker and we're not going to have 10,000 people at an arena shouting and screaming, but if he can change it a bit, we'll be fine."

The coup that dethroned Sir Rodney was a long time coming. The players were demoralised and finally got militant. They were part-timers in all but name, playing six ranking events a year and scratching around looking for earners the rest of the time. It was no way to carry on, no kind of living.

The vote came and went. Something like 35 in favour of the no confidence motion and 24 against. The 24 against surprised him. That was a high number in support of the status quo.

"The players have never really sat down together and asked, 'Right, what way do we want to go forward here?' It's always been different factions talking through different managers, people telling lies and spreading rumours. The one fact is that most people weren't happy only playing six events in a year and needed change. Who knows if it will get better, time will tell. But it couldn't get any worse, that's what we were thinking.

"The 24 was a wee surprise, but then, one of the directors (Doyle] was in charge of ten or 11 of the players, so maybe it makes sense. They must be happy with playing in just six tournaments a year, those guys. Must be happy being part-time snooker players. Can't get my head round that. Sometimes these snooker managers can have too much sway over the players. I can probably imagine that some of these players didn't even get to see the voting papers. They were probably already filled in for them. Quite sad in a way."

They move forward into the Hearn era. It won't start until next year and there is work to be done before then. Today, Higgins plays his first round in the UK championship in Telford. It's a tournament he's won twice, but not since 2000. He's won two of his three world titles since 2000, has won two British Opens, two Grand Prix. The bloody UK is the one that keeps eluding him.

The most maddening loss? "Where would I start? I honestly couldn't tell you. All the defeats were a blur. They were all completely terrible. We used to play the UK in Preston, which had a bit of history to it. Then it got moved to Bournemouth and that was nice. I won it twice there. They moved it to York and York is lovely. After you play a match you can go out and do some sight-seeing and enjoy the place. It's in Telford now. It's all roundabouts in Telford. No offence, but to have the second-biggest tournament in the game in Telford is something Barry might want to look at."

Not that he's using the surroundings as an excuse. He's in good form and he's just had a good week, a week when a bit of optimism returned to the game, when the first stirrings of a much-needed revolution were heard.

Six tournaments in a season, he repeats. Four in Britain and two in China. It's just not good enough. "The old board didn't want to open their eyes to the problems and that's been our downfall. We're giving ourselves a chance now. We're ready for change."