THE GOOGLY: Snooker has its own T20, but the Shoot Out is only a partial success

HUW TURBERVILL watches a sporting novelty unfold at the Watford Colosseum, with neither players nor spectators seemingly taking the action seriously

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The Snooker Shoot Out is billed as the sport’s answer to cricket’s T20.

How accurate is this claim?

Not very, is my conclusion after an afternoon watching stars including three-time world champion Mark Williams battle it out at the Watford Colosseum (no… honestly – it’s really called that).

Each match consists of one 10-minute frame. Players have 15 seconds to play a shot for the first five minutes, then 10 for the second.

There were some exciting games, not least the last of the afternoon, when Williams fought back from 47-0 with 100 seconds left only to miss a red on 47-43 and what would have been the winning colour lined up. The three-time world champion tore his customised shiny shirt off and chucked it to a gleeful youngster. 

Kurt Maflin also missed a brown at the last gasp which would have given him a 32-30 victory over Lei Peifan. The victor, from China, is only 16, and overall the young players seemed to revel in this quickfire chance of a giant-killing.

It was a day for the young really: the fans – let in for free – seemed to enjoy the occasion, praising the relaxed, noisy atmosphere.

Ah yes, that atmosphere...

Whenever a green went down, some people shouted ‘bogeys!’ For the brown it was ‘potatoes!’ Blues saw boos (a bit like the annoying Joe Root chant in cricket). Every pink sunk sparked a chorus of the Pink Panther theme. I can understand why youngsters would find it funny, but grown adults? (I am a misery guts, I know).

Safety exchanges were branded “boring!” with the odd “re-rack!” tossed in. Ridiculous, when you consider the amazing skill that goes into some of these shots. 

We have already seen some of this nonsense creep into T20 cricket. A well-executed forward defence to a decent ball boring? Never! I was at Hove in 2017 and Phil Mustard drove Jofra Archer for three successive fours through the covers. There was a not even a hint of applause. It was disappointing. Cricket crowds should always acknowledge great skill.

^{Pyrotechnics have become de rigeur in T20, as seen here at the PSL}

A man at the front on Saturday never missed an opportunity to shout out, but he was replaced in the irritating stakes by lads behind me, who found ever greater voice with each lager sunk. “Stand up Williams!” “Sit down Williams!” “Give us a wave Williams!” To be fair, the Welshman played along.

The players, especially the more experienced ones, did not seem to take it that seriously, even though ranking points were on offer – rather like the Australians and New Zealanders wearing wigs and retro gear for their inaugural T20I in 2005. Some purists hate it, saying it's a completely different game, like mixing T20 averages to Test. 

Much hilarity was found when Mike Dunn played. ‘Dunn Dunn Dunn Dunn, Dunn Dunn Dunn, Dunn Dunn Dunn Dunn’ was sung – improbably – to the tune of the Raiders of the Lost Ark theme. When he missed a few pots, one wag cried: “I guess he’s Dunn potting balls now”. 

It was a riot, let me tell you.

No wonder the defeated Jimmy White bemoaned the presence of a couple of ‘mugs’ in the crowd on Friday night.

If you encourage the audience to shout out, you are offering an open-goal to stupidity, I am afraid. It didn’t work for me.

Snooker’s T20 then?

Well, not really.

T20 offers 40 per cent of the overs of a 50-over match. When you consider most snooker matches are at least the best of nine frames, one time-restricted frame hardly represents snooker’s equivalent. A T10 maybe.

There was a lot of skill on show and it did entertain the youngsters, but surely if a competition like this is going to reel in a new, young audience, it needs to be on terrestrial TV, not Eurosport. 

A fascinating experience, but only a partial success I am afraid – and best watched on mute.