FEBRUARY

Hawkins won his first ranking title in three years when he survived a late scare to take the Ladbrokes World Grand Prix title. The Ditton player led Ryan Day 9-3 at Preston’s Guild Hall before eventually taking a 10-7 win to land his third title. “I’m so delighted to win another tournament,” said Hawkins. “I feel like I’ve been knocking on the door for a while.” Hawkins made five century breaks as he dominated the best-of-19 final but he held his nerve in the 17th frame to take the £100,000 top prize.

Bull resigned as manager of Margate ending a turbulent 14-month spell at Hartsdown Park. The 35-year-old from goalkeeper had taken over in December 2015, following the sacking of Terry Brown, and left with the club bottom of Vanarama National South, after a demoralising run of 16 successive defeats. He said of his decision: “It is with a heavy heart that I have resigned. Results on the pitch have not been good enough but given the resources I have had to work with I am proud of the players’ efforts and commitments over the past few months.”

Christ Church University became the first students’ team to win the county six-a-side indoor cricket title – but they did not know for sure until two days later. Broadstairs, the losing finalists, had protested that CCCU’S match-winner, Aiden Griggs, was an illegal player – having previously played for CCCU’S second team – but, after lengthy talks between the ECB and KCB, CCCU’S triumph was confirmed. A spokesman said: “We have looked at lots and lots of rules and from what we can see and, in the spirit of cricket, we have decided that Christ Church go through.”

head coach Matt Walker said he felt the squad were better for the experience of playing in the Regional Super50 competition in Antigua. The Spitfires lost five of their eight games during the FGS Plant tour but Walker (pictured) said: “It has been great. Seeing players in action, playing competitively, giving us an idea of where they are at and where they need to be. “I hope they’ve learned a lot and they’ll take something back to England so if they do come across a similar situation, they might be able to deal with it better. Hopefully, they become better players for it.”

Snooker player Barry Hawkins