Miss the big guy so much, what a character he was! Also a genuine nice guy who was happy for others when they did well - I'll always remember how he came over from the table next door to give Thorburn an almighty bear hug when Thorburn had made the first 147 at the Crucible in 1983.
"One of these players will go through to join Cliff Thornburn and Doug Mountjoy in the quarter-finals, so long as they don't turn into a 12-foot lizard before the next match."
David ike was actually a very good snooker commentator.david vine had his favorites like Steve Davis .he dident care for hendry though I noticed .not Alex higgins .
Big bill was a great snooker player some people would say who ate all the pies but he was a gentleman of snooker like many others xxxlol all the best ❤❤❤ 2:17
I heard he drank 100 pints of lager before a match and drank 25 pints during it. And had a King Prawn Dhanzak x 3 in the mid-session interval. Well, according to Red Tony down my local he did Stuart.
Can't see this being put up on iPlayer. Icke probably could've had a steady career presenting snooker if he fancied it. But then that appearance on Wogan...
Referees had the discretion before 1985 to replace the balls if they thought a deliberate miss had occurred. I saw a video recently from the Yamaha a couple of years before, where Len Ganley replaced the balls without even consulting the players as he thought it was a deliberate miss.When the shot was played again the player left a pot on, so this time he didn't replace the balls. To be honest, this is a far better interpretation of the rule. If a pot is left on after a miss and it is around or better than 50/50 that it can be potted, I don't think the balls should be replaced.
Many folk may think the same but he was a 4 times WC Q finalist and 2 of those QFs he lost close matches to Reardon 13-10 in 1981 and 13-11 to current World Champion Alex Higgins in 1983. That same year (1983) he beat Alex Higgins 3 times, in the (Lada Classic 5-4)where Bill went on the reach the final before losing 9-5 to Steve Davis (it was 5-5). The Masters he beat Higgins 5-4 again and then in the Australian Masters he beat Higgins 4-0 where once again he lost in the final, this time to Thorburn 7-3. He played the best of all 3 Canadians when Canada beat England in the final of the World Team Championship in 1982 winning both his matches, 2-1 v Steve Davis and 2-0 v Jimmy White. Made the highest break of the WC in 1979 142 and again in 1985 143. He suffered with a nervous disorder which didn't help and then also had cue problems around 1984 which led to a complete loss of form. Overall his career could've been better but it wasn't as bad as some may think, especially in the early 80s.
