Have the powers that be in the world of snooker not taken any notice of Ronnie O’Sullivan’s latest comments on the game? 

 The three-time world champion called upon Simon Cowell to give the sport a facelift, adding glitz to a game struggling for sponsorship, and lacking the household names once seen in bygone years.

 Surely then, there can only be one answer.  Bring back Big Break. 

 First of all, this is by no means a ploy to get Jim Davidson back on the telly, his ship has certainly sailed far away on the old terrestrial ocean, and let’s be honest, we all hope it hits an iceberg.

 But the fact is that Big Break ran on BBC1 for over eleven years, becoming a British Saturday evening institution. Its popularity was partly due to its time slot, following the football scores on Grandstand and unless they’re at a match, the main demographic of Big Break’s audience are sat on the sofa already – how could it fail!  Instead we get treated to watching an ex-actor from Holby City ineptly attempting the foxtrot against a former presenter of Top Gear failing at the cha-cha-fucking-cha! 

 Worse still, the same goings on get covered on BBC news on a Monday morning.  I know people say the TV is dumbing down, but has it gone clinically insane?  If it’s not Strictly Come Dancing, then it’s Cowell’s very own brain child the X-Factor on ITV; the television show that enhances the despair of people’s childhoods to increase viewing figures.  Because when someone mentions their mum dying when they were nine, we’re really surprised that they get through!  I think not. 

 To be fair to phone-vote orientated television, the viewing figures speak for themselves.  But surely the network stations have a duty to supply entertainment to everyone at that important time of the week? 

 Big Break has to be the answer, if you’re not interested in which second-rate cabaret act gets eliminated against the other second-rate cabaret act, then I bet you would love to see a bit of snooker action with some general knowledge thrown in for good measure. 

 With Jim Davidson out of the frame (pardon the pun), the host is certainly an issue worth discussing.  Matt Dawson can certainly stay away, as can Vernon Kay and Ant and Dec.  Why not give Ian Wright a chance? Everyone likes a bit of Ian Wright, he lacks the control in his pundit chair, but on Big Break he would be ideal.  Obviously Virgo stays; Big Break would not be Big Break without him, his waistcoats and his trickshots.

 The fact is that when Big Break was on the telly, snooker players were in people’s living rooms, thus enhancing their popularity and boosting the profile of the game.  It also gave us the chance of seeing a human side of what tends to be a rather deadpan sport.  There was always sincerity when they failed to win money or prizes for their team-mate. 

 Plus, has there ever been a more thrilling finale to a gameshow?  Countless times I re-call being so far from the edge of my seat that my face was pressed against the screen, seconds left on the clock, pink and black to go, pink’s there, “Just the black to go!” screams Virgo, “It’s there!”  The delight on the face of the player is equal to that of the contestant, they go on holiday, the player goes home, and the viewers aren’t asked to pick up their phone once!  Everyone’s a winner!