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It's a busy life being a referee - but such a privilege too

After refeering at an excellent China Open, I got home at the start of this week. There is a lot of travelling these days, with more events in China and Australia now than there used to be. Luckily I’m a decent flier and my first fight was a 13-hour one to Thailand, so I was in at the deep end and didn't really have much choice other than to be okay with it!

It’s a privilege to get paid for working around the world, but in truth you don’t get to see too much of the places you go to, as often you fly out the day before and it’s straight into work. Having said that, I managed to see some of the sights in Beijing while I was there this time, and I visited the Great Wall on a trip earlier in the season, so I have been lucky.

Before China, I had some time off and went on holiday for a fortnight, as I knew I’d have a busy time coming up. Throughout the year, I’ll be working for about 230 days – that’s pretty much 230 days away from home. When we were in Australia, it was for five weeks and that is a long time away from home, but you try to balance it with time off when you can.

I have heard the provisional calendar for next season has a bit more space between events, so luckily it sounds as though there will be a little bit of time in between each tournament.

Before next season kicks off, we have the World Championship. It’s the one we all want to be involved with. When I took a break from World Snooker, it left a real void. The first year I came back, I wasn’t involved and I missed it terribly. I was lucky enough to referee the World Championship final in 2004 and that was a real high-point of my career.

This is my 21st year as a professional referee and I think it becomes easier in a sense, purely because of the experience you gain over those years, being involved at the highest standard. But it’s like anything, the more you do it, the better you are and it becomes second nature.

That’s not to say you can ever become complacent. As a referee, if you lose your concentration for 10 seconds, it’s extremely difficult to get it back. There is so much going on which can distract you, you have to be totally focused on the match.

The Crucible is actually quite a difficult place to referee at because it’s our smallest venue. At other tournaments, you might have eight or nine feet to stand from the table, but not at the Crucible. It can be quite difficult to get a view when a player goes down for a shot and you’re trying to navigate television cameras in a tight spot!

The crowd at the Crucible – and other venues – are generally quite respectful. When I referee at Blackpool for the Shoot-outs, which are relatively new, it’s quite different and they can shout at you to get out of the way, but it's an entirely different format. On the whole, snooker crowds are very knowledgeable and make noise at the right times!

The atmosphere made during some of the walk-ons can really make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck. Sometimes, I’d like to see the audience get more involved because they can create a really special atmosphere.

Before the Worlds start officially, I’ll be doing the qualifiers up in Sheffield. Once they’re finished, I’ll be at the Crucible with the other officials to get our rotas and go through various details ahead of the tournament. I was originally due to be there for 14 days, but I’ve now been asked to be there for the full 18-day duration, which I’m really looking forward to.