By Richard Preen

World Ranking: 18
Date Of Birth: 11/05/64
Form: R16/R48/R48/R48/R48
World Championship best: Winner – 91

The popular Liverpudlian returns to the Crucible after progressing against potentially difficult opposition in Robin Hull, as Steve Davis found to his cost at the same stage last year.

This success for Parrott has been a respite from the horrid season he has endured so far.

His best appearance has been a last 16 berth in the British Open, this was achieved by winning two consecutive matches before losing out 5-1 to Ali Carter.

It is some time since Parrott enjoyed his finest hour beating perennial finalist Jimmy White 18-11 to be crowned 1991 world champion.

His commitment to the game cannot be questioned after deciding to relieve his Question of Sport captaincy to Frankie Dettori to concentrate on snooker.

The fruits of this decision have yet to harvested and his decline has been confirmed in his provisional ranking position which shows a drop of ten places to 28.

He should hold onto his top 32 spot after qualifying for the Crucible and will be looking to overcome his main deficiency this season being a lack of confidence and the inability to transfer his practise game to the match environment.

Perhaps a return to form will coincide with his beloved Everton's year of promise where some of his blues have been forgotten.

This is one of his many sporting interests with the Sport of Kings providing his other salvation where he carried out a punditry role during the BBC's recent Grand National coverage.

A decent run at Sheffield would prove a dramatic halt to his demise although he's unlikely to negotiate too many hurdles during the Sheffield festival of snooker.