Commentary, my dear

There'll never be another Ted Lowe.

Beyond that, which of the many modern commentators do you rate? Do you like the Eurosport style of having a Phil Yates/the other one offering a non-player's perspective (much as wrestling offers colour commentary) - or do you prefer the BBC tendency for 2 players? Are there pairings that you feel work particularly well? Do you give two hoots where the bloody cue ball's going? Or phrases like "he's 200 points behind and he needs 35 snookers, but for me he's just gone favourite"? Do you wonder how Alan McManus gets to work for BBC, ITV and Eurosport?

Feel free to talk pundits generally too

The thing is the game keeps evolving but the fundamentals stay the same.

Don't miss easy pots by either taking them for granted or by virtue of concentrating too much on position for the next ball.

Don't finish on the wrong side of the blue when in the balls or you then need to go in and out of baulk and risk colliding with a baulk colour and losing position.

Don't hit a baulk colour on a safety shot back to baulk. Cardinal sin.

Keep the cue ball tight to the baulk cushion on safety shots making long pots more difficult.

Keep the cue ball close to object ball to maintain close positional control.

Shot selection is key.

The other little advanced nuances of the game are important and naturally refine over time.

The trick is to combine the fundamentals with nuances. So a blend of retired pro and either active pro or very recently retired pro should in theory work ok because current pros understand those refined nuances best.

Either that or replace the retired pro with a credible non player type commentator who actually has a natural understanding of the game.

I liked Joe Perry in the box and Alan McManus was especially good too in assessment of the more advanced side of the game beyond the fundamentals. Dominic Dale is consistently good also. Trump and Lisowski did themselves a heap of credibility favours too as studio pundits.

On the non playing side I always rated Clive Everton very highly. Phil Yates is a bit of a statto for my liking but I do like David Hendon.
He is excellent.

Of the retired pros I like Joe Johnson.
Calm but authoritative presence in the box.

However for all his catchphrases and foibles i relate to John Virgo better than anyone else.
His understanding of the fundamentals is second to none imo. In combination with Perry and McManus I thought he balanced up exceptionally well.
The much missed Great WT (Willie Thorne) bless him was brilliant and ahead of his time.

I find Dennis Taylor rather dry.
Steve Davis is better as a pundit than a commentator.
John Parrott can do both.
Jimmy and Ronnie are like two peas in a pod but offer interesting studio insight.
Stephen Hendry is a little unrealistic for the modern game especially when analysing Selby .

But there will never be another Whispering Ted .

I used to find Clive Everton pretty unpalatable until he had his fall in the shower. He doesn't seem to be around now though

I liked Mike Hallett as an alternative to Joe Johnson, but he appears to have disappeared too. Neal Foulds I like a lot more now than I ever did as a player. Anthony Hamilton had some good stuff in his ES stuff this time.

Joe Perry just gives off a vibe of "please don't hit me" all the time. I did enjoy Willie Thorne, and John Spencer back in the day.