POWERING ON TO PURFLEET

I reckon a little forensic noseying is called for. In theory Phil should have hit the Dublin field with all guns blazing. In Utrecht in the Bavaria World Trophy he demolished Ronnie Baxter 6-0 in sets with a 106.8 average. Then he blitzed Martin Adams 7-2 in the final. So why was the Power so tentative in his first round match against Wes Newton? Answer: in two words Callaby and Painter. Both put Phil out of the Grand Prix in round one. So even the great one has nerves at times…

Phil had every right to be cagey in round two against Barney. The Dutchman had beaten him the last twice out on TV, in Bolton and Las Vegas. Neither player was at his best – Taylor averaged a mere 94 – and seemed drained after his victory.

Next there was a stroll against the injured Scholten, who had a nearly paralysed left arm due to nerve problems in the neck. I said that if I was a chiropractor and Roland rolled in with problems in that long neck I’d charge him treble. Taylor too had physical problems in the final due to a strain under the right arm. He had ‘hot stone’ treatment for this immediately before the final.

In the end the Power won ‘ugly’ but I bet he is playing as well as ever when we get to Purfleet. It was good to see the Daily Mail putting the case for Phil being BBC Sportsman of the Year. Why? Never mind British greats - Phil is up there with world greats like Babe Ruth, Don Bradman and Mohammed Ali.

And my advice to you is: GET VOTING.

JOINING THE GLITTERATI AND LITTERATI

I was really chuffed to be quoted by Stephen Fry et al on the BBC’s ‘QI’ programme recently and am really mixing with top crust broadcasting folks now.

Last week I recorded ‘Never Mind the Full Stops’, a quiz about spelling and punctuation, again for the Beeb. My team-mate was novelist Freddie Forsyth and our opponents were Guardian columnist Simon Hoggart and journalist/author Eve Pollard. In the chair was Julian Fellowes who won an Oscar for his script of ‘Gosford Park.’ The show’s first series had been criticised for being ‘elitist and snobbish’ so I reckon I was there to balance things up a bit. I certainly tried.

Soon I’ll be reviewing Bobby George’s life story ‘Bobby Dazzler’ due to be published by Orion just before Christmas in this column. I can’t wait to read it.