CUE RIDDLE

Grey River Argus, 1 December 1938, Page 12

CUE RIDDLE

INCIDENT AT SNOOKER. A cricket bat may not exceed four and a quarter inches at its widest part, nor be longer than 38 inches; a football must come within certain dimensional and weight specifications; but a billiard cue—who knows?

In London recently at famous Thurston’s —the Lord’s of world billiards—■ Joe Brown used a fountain pen with billiard tip for a stroke in his snooker, tournament heat against Tom Newman. Declaring it a foul stroke, the referee penalised Brown seven points —the value of the highest ball. “Nothing in the rules lays down just what a billiard cue is,” states world champion Walter Lindrum. “I would be game to play a stroke at Thurston's with a billiard-tipped wjalking-stick, but if the rdferee (Charlie Cambers) penalised me for it, I would be satisfied to abide by his decision.

“I have played -hundreds of matches refereed by him.. Apart from being an authority, he is the fairest man you could meet.”

Fred Lindrum also paid a tribute to Charlie Chambers, and agreed with his penalisation of Brown’s fountain-pen stroke.

He admitted that there was a riddle, “when is a billiard cue not a billiard cue?” and that the rules give no guidance, but maintained that “When it is a fountain-pen!” could not be the answer.

“I think Joe Brown did it for a joke,” was Fred’s comment. “The only mention of cue s in the rules is in the clause stating that strokes must be played with the tip of the cue. But long usage has settled on a conventional design for the cue, and it is well known what is meant by the term ‘bililard cue.’ ”