Shaun Murphy has called for the World Snooker Tour to scrap the ‘terrible’ earpiece they sell to fans at the Crucible.
For £12, fans can listen to the BBC commentary of the event whilst watching the action unfold – and it led to a blunder being heard in the penultimate session of the final.
After Dennis Taylor said that some snooker fans may have been “amazed” by Zhao Xintong’s form, Murphy replied: “You must be fairly new to the game then, Dennis, because we are watching a former UK Champion (2021) here…” Taylor awkwardly snapped back: “They don’t live in the UK, Shaun. That’s what I was saying.”
Speaking about the exchange on his Onefourseven Snooker Podcast, Murphy said: “I don’t understand how that blew up as big as it did. A little ruffle of laughter went around the Crucible, which is why I stayed quiet. And that’s because of these earpieces. I think the earpieces are the worst thing to happen in snooker in my lifetime.
“I think they need to do away with the earpieces. I think they’re a terrible affliction across snooker. I don’t think they help anyone with anything. They make the commentary a lot more difficult. They make playing more difficult.”