Thu Apr 08 07:39PM

Snooker players will be asked to vote on Barry Hearn's proposal to revolutionise snooker in May and he has said that he can envisage a time when the winner of the World Championship will receive a million dollars.

Hopefully he will be able to turn snooker around - and if that million-dollar prize ever becomes reality then I just hope I'm still around playing!

I don't know if Barry can achieve everything he is setting out to, but if he can't do it then nobody can.

Barry's aim is to reward players at the top end of the game and that has led to some concerns that the players lower down the rankings will get left behind.

However, I think most of those concerns were answered when he sent out his proposal; there will be a new Pro Tour leading to a Tour Championship that will be open to all professionals, which will give us all more chances to play snooker and make money.

There is also still a route back into the game for those players who get relegated off the tour.

Most of the players I have talked to seem to be behind Barry's ideas and I'm hopeful his proposal will pass. He deserves to be given at least a year to see if he can start sending snooker back in the right direction.

If he doesn't then the sport will be back to square one with no chairman and only seven tournaments.

That's the sort of situation that will benefit nobody.

+++

I was not at all surprised to see Mark Williams win the China Open.

He has shown improvement in his form over the last few tournaments and he took that to a new level with his victory in Beijing.

Mark has always been a class act but I think he would admit himself that he had got a bit complacent in his game, which is why he dropped out of the top 16 a few seasons ago.

He stopped practising as much as he had been and there are so many quality players out there these days that any dip will be punished.

However, he has put the in the hours again over the last couple of years and you now have to make him a contender for the World Championships.

He is a great character too - he is really laid back and also one of the players who you will find cracking jokes off the table too.