As we head towards Summer...

The off-season for snooker? You must be having a laugh! Never before has a period of rest carried so many questions. As far as political wranglings and scandal is concerned, it's only getting started.

What are my hopes for this period?

Well, I'd love for John Higgins to be PROVEN totally innocent, and that what we've been reading was totally fabricated. Will this happen? If I were a betting man, which I would be but I'm too young to do so, I wouldn't have any money on the Scot being cleared.

Higgins has been a fantastic player, and seemed to be one of the game's greatest ambassadors too. But having watched this infamous video, his future looks bleak. If Higgins is proven guilty, then I hope he is dealt with appropriately. It doesn't matter if we're talking about a legend of the game, or a mid table forty something struggling to put bread on the table. This is slowly becoming a cancer, and needs to be stamped out. Early detection is vital and all that.

As for Barry Hearn, I hope the man can breath new life into our great game. I know we all hold different opinions of the man, which we're all entitled to have, but I think we all want to see him bring the game to new heights. Whether he does it or not is another question entirely, but I think the game should come first. Nobody wants to see the game go down the tube, so nobody should WANT Hearn's plans to crash and burn. Let's sit back and see what happens, and THEN make our judgements. Indeed, how he deals with this Higgins affair could be the pivotal moment n his premiership, even at this early stage. If he deals with it well, we can all be hopeful.

Anyway, Summer is coming, and this will probably be my last article for quite some time. Bit of study to do right now (thanks to these forums I'm WAY behind lol), but the beer is cooling, the sunglasses are out and I'm off to Ibiza in July with herself and a few friends (volcanic ash pending of course).

So, it's the end of my first season you could say. Fair to say there have been some ropey moments here and there, but overall it's been great talking about my favourite sport with people who know the game, and I hope I made a good impression. See you all again in a few months, unless any major developments bring me back from my break...