ACCORDING to John Virgo, the snooker establishment was a bit critical of Big Break when it first appeared on our screens in the early 1990s, believing it wasn’t good for the game.

But the show, which treated millions of viewers to dazzling waistcoats, trick shots and Jimmy White running frantically around the table, is fondly remembered these days.

Those who attended the 20th Farnham & District Billiards & Snooker League’s presentation night last Thursday were taken back to those glorious days when Virgo and six-times World Champion Steve Davis rolled back the years inside a packed Lindford WMC.

And while the breaks weren’t necessarily big, the laughs were as Davis took on the cream of the league’s players on a milestone evening, with Virgo providing the commentary.

“I won’t say ‘where is the cue ball going?’ unless I really, really think it’s going in,” said Virgo before Davis broke off against Passfield’s James Moaby, whose break of 36 was the highest in the FDBSL Division 3 last season.

Needless to say, he did, while he also threw in every other snooker cliché imaginable, with Davis revealing that he hates the well-worn ‘hampered’ and ‘that was careless’.

“I was in the jungle, you know,” said Davis, recalling his time on I’m a Celebrity.

“For a split second in my life, the question from the person on the street wasn’t ‘what was Alex Higgins or Ronnie O’Sullivan like’ but ‘is Joey Essex really that thick?’”

Moaby made a decent 17 break in a highly respectable 43-57 defeat to snooker’s most ‘interesting’ player while the ‘Nugget’ pulled off a sublime five-cushion escape in a 71-36 victory over Shottermill B player Jon Larbey, whose 49 was the highest break in Division 2 last season.

Paul Lee, who knocked in a 66 break for Sovereign A in Division 1, went down 82-54 before Davis demonstrated his class with a 67 break in a 76-50 defeat of raffle winner, Richard Thompson.

“It’s yellow for a night with Stephen Hendry… green for two nights with Peter Ebdon.”

Liss A hotshot and singles competition winner, Nick Booth, got both these ‘prizes’ along with the cassette player and a week in Llanelli with Terry Griffiths after attempting to clear up the colours, but missed out on the exercise bike as the blue rattled the jaws as Davis claimed another win.

It was also a night to remember for Sovereign B’s Tony Edwards as he was presented with the inaugural Steve Murphy Memorial Shield by the parents of the late Liss RBL A player who died last year, for making the league’s highest break of 68.

Tony, who partnered Lee Andrea, also made a decent 34 break in the doubles match before miscuing, with the value of his £15 chalk being questioned by Virgo during the last game to be officiated by referee Steve Markham after 20 years of service.

He dearly wanted a 147, but while a 153 was on the cards at one point, Davis couldn’t quite open the pack after a promising start.

The league’s presentation night was the fourth to feature Davis as the special guest, while the likes of Dennis Taylor, Mark Selby and Ken Doherty have all graced the green baize of Lindford since Ray Reardon broke off in 1997.

And while clubs and teams around the patch have come and gone, Ken Scott, FDBSL chairman, believes the league is in rude health.

“It’s very healthy at the moment and we’ve had a great 20 years,” he said. “There’s over 200 registered players. This event is rather unique for a presentation night as it’s probably the most well-attended event of its kind in this area.”