Surprised there were not markers for both tables

[The Statman]

Considering we were down to the quarter-finals of a major ranking event, I was very surprised to see, on Friday, that only one of the two tables had the luxury of a marker assisting the referee with the scoreboard.

On table 2, Brendan Moore had the remote control and was therefore doing the scoreboard himself. It seems a bit far-fetched that World Snooker could not afford one more official's wages for an extra two sessions!

If both tables had a complicated Miss replacement, one table would have had the availability of the tv replay and the other would not. Furthermore, it would only have needed Brendan to make a slight miscalculation or forget to add a 4-point penalty on the scoreboard and nobody would ever have been able to pick it up. (Indeed, what if the scoreboard had malfunctioned deep into a frame?!)

Quite apart from all that, it looks far less professional, especially seeing that it was on television, to see the referee doing the scoring himself and having to put the remote down on the side of the table whenever the cue-ball needed cleaning. It must surely impinge on the referee's concentration having only one hand to carry out his duty which must be different from his natural flow around the table.

Does anybody else think that this was a bit lax?

[wildJONESEYE]

Considering we were down to the quarter-finals of a major ranking event, I was very surprised to see, on Friday, that only one of the two tables had the luxury of a marker assisting the referee with the scoreboard.

On table 2, Brendan Moore had the remote control and was therefore doing the scoreboard himself. It seems a bit far-fetched that World Snooker could not afford one more official's wages for an extra two sessions!

If both tables had a complicated Miss replacement, one table would have had the availability of the tv replay and the other would not. Furthermore, it would only have needed Brendan to make a slight miscalculation or forget to add a 4-point penalty on the scoreboard and nobody would ever have been able to pick it up. (Indeed, what if the scoreboard had malfunctioned deep into a frame?!)

Quite apart from all that, it looks far less professional, especially seeing that it was on television, to see the referee doing the scoring himself and having to put the remote down on the side of the table whenever the cue-ball needed cleaning. It must surely impinge on the referee's concentration having only one hand to carry out his duty which must be different from his natural flow around the table.

Does anybody else think that this was a bit lax?

yes it looked bad but was that something to do with BBC Wales rather than World Snooker and its the broadcaster's call to table set up.

[ferret]

This is part of the cost cutting, 3 members of security have also been cut so far and I am sure there will be more to come.

[Souwester]

I've refereed with a 'zapper' on quite a number of occasions, but mostly at the Home Internationals. They are easy to use and buttons can be pressed without having to look at the handset, once you're familiar with the layout.

It does, though, change the way I referee. Normally I will try to give a colour a very quick wipe before re-spotting it, but when the zapper is in one hand those quick cleans aren't possible.

[Souwester]

World Snooker has sent out letters to referees, via the various NGBs asking for referees to participate at the Q-School event and PTC events next season, with a view to being assessed, and maybe doing some further work on the Main Tour.

In answer to a query it seems that there will be no remuneration for anyone selected to take part at QS or PTC although some expenses will be paid. Yes another cost-saving measure in the name of giving opportunities for amateur referees to progress in their refereeing!

[The Statman]

Thanks for your comments, Souwester.

Even so, it is presumably unlikely that 'newbies' would be in at the deep end of a ranking event (but perhaps as markers?) - surely they could have found someone to do it on Friday. I'd have done it for the price of my ticket, if I'd been there 24 hours earlier!

I can imagine that using the zapper does affect you - as you say, a quick clean of the colours is impossible. Someone pointed out to me years ago that I always remove a colour from the pocket with my right hand but always spot it with my left. I'd never thought about it before that but it is true! In rare situations where I need to spot it with my right hand (say, reds surrounding the pink spot and I want to be stood that side of the table for the player's next shot), I do find it takes me longer because that hand doesn't do it so easily.

I'm sure other referees have similar habits that would take some getting out of!

[ferret]

Chris Brendan Moore has just emailed me and asked that I put this up on his behalf.

To answer Statman, i'd just like to say that we have to use the zappers everyday we ref at the qualifiers or on a non-tv table anywhere in the world. It actually feels more normal to have the zapper in my hand than not, I think you'll find most or all of the top refs will agree with me on this. It certainly doesn't affct our concentration as we are all that used to the zapper, we tend to use it without looking at it, thus not taking our eyes and concentration off the table.

As for cleaning a colour when placing it back on it's spot, personally as i get the ball out of the pocket with my left hand i give it a quick clean with one hand. Granted it's not the same as with both hands, but at least it is still getting a little wipe.

Finally the point about replacing balls after a foul and miss has been called, yes the tv table has the advantage of the replay machine, but if the need arises in a qualifying booth, we don't have the machine there either. I refereed Mark King and Mark Selby on table two last week and had a foul and a miss where I certainly could have done with the help of the machine. We didn't have it so after a minute or two of laughing and chatting, we got the balls back as close as we thought they were and carried on.

Thanks, Brendan.

[rambon]

Interesting this.

Also interesting that while the clothing of players is often declared as being from the dark ages, not much is ever said about the referees.

If the referees wore trousers and a smart short sleeved shirt, they could have both hands free to clean balls and have the remote attached to the wrist like a watch.