Similar to the famous conversation topic of ‘which celebrity, past or present, would you want to have dinner with’, I wanted to pose the snooker edition of this question to the readers, as well as name the player whose brain I would love to pick. Further to stating the player, I’ll also include the questions I would like to ask about their experiences and memories of the game.

The player I would like to sit down with would be the legendary, 15-time World Champion and snooker pioneer, Joe Davis. Davis was the figurehead for snooker during the late 1920s-40s as he took the sport by storm, seemingly unchallenged by those who contest against him. In a distant era which could be seen as a night-and-day difference to what we’re currently used to (due to conditions, equipment, governing bodies etc.), learning more about the origins of professional snooker is a gap in knowledge I would aim to fill.

For the sake of transparency, I haven’t read Joe Davis’s book ‘How I Play Snooker’. So, I’m sure that many of my questions could be answered from that, particularly those pertaining to perfecting the cue action. Nevertheless, even if I had read the book, I would still consider asking some of these questions just to hear the answers straight from the voice of Davis himself.

One of the first things I would delve into would be the nature and popularity of snooker prior to his involvement in arranging the first World Championship. I’d want to find out what sparked Davis’ initial interest in snooker that encouraged him to pursue a professional tournament for the sport, and the difficulty (if any) in persuading the BA&CC to allow a snooker event to take place.

An obvious question to ask Davis would be his thoughts on the modern game and how he would have fared on slicker cloths and lighter balls. I reckon given his proficiency in break-building during a time when snooker balls were denser and harder to control ‘on a string’, he would have handled it quite well. I’d also be keen to see how he thinks he would fit in among the current crop of players (current meaning from Pot Black onwards) since many personalities and characters have been established with snookers rising popularity.

Davis’s brother, Fred said that Joe was ‘a very good player before anyone else knew how to play the game’, so I’d want to find out exactly how he was able to evolve the game in a way that supported break-building, as opposed to the mentality of potting one or two balls then playing safe. I imagine there would have been quite some influence from his billiards success, given how high scoring the game was at the time.

I’d want to question Davis about his game specifically and whether he considered himself to have any weaknesses on the table. I’d be curious to hear his self-assessment on areas such as his long potting, safety and mental agility. Although, given the volume of frames that had to be played back in his day, I’d imagine his temperament is enviable.

Furthermore, I’d ask him to comment on the quality of his opposition back in his prime, relating to both snooker and billiards. I’d ask about the difficulties of both cue sports; which one he found more challenging, and which he preferred. Due to his dominance on the snooker table, I’d ask whether he thought his skill was vastly above the rest of the field who just couldn’t keep up. And lastly, I’d ask him to comment on some of the notable snooker players in the modern era and who he would like the chance to play against.

Of course, there are many more questions that I would ask Joe Davis but if I had to choose any snooker player to have a conversation with, he’s the guy. He experienced and lived snooker during a time which many of us won’t have memories of, and just rely on archived footage and material to understand. Davis was pivotal in introducing competitive snooker to the masses, but then went on to also dominate the sport in a way that was ahead of his time.

Which snooker player, past or present, would you want to have a sit down with? And what would you ask them? Feel free to leave your answers in the comments!

Like this Short? Click here to read: What was snooker like in the Joe Davis era?

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