ROBERTSON BAT TO BE AUCTIONED FOR CHARITY

Neil Robertson’s tribute to cricketer Phillip Hughes, carrying a bat into the arena against Kyren Wilson and placing it close to his chair, later insisting it helped inspire him when on the brink of an early exit, was a fitting mark of respect for the batsman tragically killed after being hit on the head by a bouncer.

And the bat used by the Australian for the gesture will be auctioned for the benefit of the Paul Hunter Foundation charity on Ebay. The item should be there from Monday afternoon onwards.

ROBERTSON CAN SEE SELBY PACING HIMSELF

Neil Robertson reckons world champion Mark Selby could trim his European Tour commitments after the forthcoming birth of he and wife Vicky’s first child, due in November.

And the reigning Wuxi Classic champion, ranked No2 in the world and just a place behind Selby, admits he wishes he had done the same four years ago.

Australian Robertson, 32, felt an entirely laudable pressure in 2010 to play in as much as possible to try and fulfil an ambassadorial role after his own Crucible triumph.

But that meant he did not spend as much time for the remainder of that year with young son Alexander as he would have liked.

Selby has already clinched his place in next year’s lucrative PTC Finals good and early by winning the first European Tour event in Latvia with a 4-3 win over Mark Allen, giving himself room to manoeuvre.

The Leicester Jester has consistently been one of the tour’s most regular participants over the past decade – playing in virtually everything, arguably to his detriment.

But Selby hinted even before announcing his latest good news that he might be picking and choosing a bit more this term – heading towards what Ronnie O’Sullivan is doing, and a model other top players including Robertson have suggested they might imitate.

Cambridge-based Robertson, who has just seen his son off to school for the first time, said: “It is a busy time of the year, with a lot of big tournaments.

“So I can see that Mark might manage his schedule with the European Tour to miss a few and make sure he spends some time at home with his family, and I completely understand that – especially now he has already qualified for the Finals.

“It is something I wish I had done a bit more in 2010, but I had won the world title for the first time and I did feel a responsibility to represent my sport and play in most events once I got back from a summer back home.

“To be honest it did get pretty tough and my performances if anything started to get worse, so I’d have been better taking more PTC events off and spending some more time at home in between the big events.”

Photograph by Monique Limbos