Refereeing question

[DeanH]

Statman & Souwester, the rule is as I remember, thanks for the confirmation.
DeanH

[DawRef]

If I am refereeing ANY match as an official referee, I tell both teams, players at the start NOT to touch any ball, unless handed to them by me. That way there can be no argument as to whether a foul has been committed.

[thinsy]

Many years ago during a county event I was fortunate enough to just recieve a warning for the following:

I had potted the few remaining colours for what I had misread to be winning the frame by 1 point so started to empty a pocket of balls and roll them on the table.. However, the correct score was a tie and a re-spotted black was required to determain the winner!!!! The referee warned me that this could be interpreted as conceding but on this occassion decided to continue with the respot. Afterwards he did advise me that the best option for a player is to let the referee retrieve the balls!!