Over the last week I have enjoyed potting the odd pint or two watching the World Championship snooker at The Spinks Nest, Birkby.

Comfortably ensconced in the upholstered red leather setting of the snug it is an hour and a half of contented, uninterrupted bliss before walking up Queens Road to my home in Edgerton.

One thing is missing though.

Apart from Ronnie O’Sullivan there are absolutely no characters whatsoever.

Back in the 1980s you couldn’t move for them.

Even some of the referees were characters in those halcyon days for heaven’s sake.

There was Steve ‘Interesting’ Davis, Kirk Stevens, the Canadian with the Coke habit and Alex ‘Hurricane’ Higgins the Irish legend who ticked every box for bad behaviour.

And, there was another Canadian, Cliff Thorburn who made a memorable 147 – the first at the world championships, Whirlwind, Jimmy White and Tony Knowles, the Bolton lad whose prowess with the ladies kept the tabloids busy.

Last but not least was big Bill Wurbeniuk, another memorable Canadian.

Jimmy White said of him when he died in 2003: “He was a great drinker but also a very good player.

“Only he could get tanked up with 10 pints before a match and still win.”

A larger-than-life character, he claimed that a hereditary tremor in his arm meant he had to imbibe huge quantities of booze before a game to stop his arm shaking. Before his last professional match in 1990, he said: “I’ve had 24 pints of extra strong lager and eight double vodkas and I’m still not drunk.”

While playing in the 1980 World Team Cup challenge, Werbeniuk’s 20-stone bulk was so substantial that he managed to split his trousers, live on BBC television.

And there was much, more more...

But recently the players resemble the cast of the local Scouts when it comes to bad behaviour.

So far the only incident that made me smile in over a week’s coverage was a cringeworthy hug by a puffy-eyed Mark Allen during his match with World number 4 Judd Trump.

Both players were struggling to pot anything when out of the blue Allen gave him a hug.

Poor Trump was so enveloped by his rival’s arms that the cameras couldn’t reveal his reaction but as one of the commentators said: “He didn’t look mad for it.”

An understatement if ever there was one.

It must have put Trump off as he quickly lost and by his terse handshake with Allen afterwards he certainly wasn’t happy.

As the Book of Ecclesiastes says in the Bible: “There is a time and a place for everything.”

And that includes hugs.