A last-16 effort at Preston was followed by a semi-final berth in The Premier League. He may have lost out to Ronnie O’Sullivan in Manchester but the signs were there that his game was in very good order.

Sure enough, the Nugget rolled back the years in The UK Championship, progressing all the way to the final. En route, he beat defending champion Stephen Maguire in a match of unrivalled quality. In fact, Davis recorded his highest break (145) since the 1982 Lada Classic in the process. He also took care of Ken Doherty in the quarter-finals and his old nemesis Stephen Hendry in the semi-finals.

Chinese sensation Ding Junhui proved too good for the 48-year-old in the final but he can be mighty proud of his performance nonetheless. Not least because he spends more time playing poker than snooker these days but when he is in the heat of battle, he still has all his old matchplay prowess.

Admittedly, the New year has been barren for the Romford legend. A 6-4 defeat by Stuart Bingham at Wembley and deciding-frame heartbreaks to Robin Hull and Jamie Cope in Malta and Wales respectively in addition to confusion over his participation in China mean that he has yet to break his duck in 2006.

As regards the China Open fiasco, Davis was blissfully unaware that because Ding was defending champion and Murphy was world champion, they were automatically seeded, rendering Davis' 15th place in the world rankings effectively 17th for the purposes of the tournament. Thus, he failed to appear in Prestatyn for qualifying and Ricky Walden was awarded a walkover. His place in the top 16 may have been under threat as a result but ranked as high as provisional number nine, he is virtually secure for at least another year.

The six-times Crucible champion was beaten 13-4 by Shaun Murphy at last year's quarter-final stage. If both win their first-round encounters the old master has a chance to avenge the defending champion. It will not be easy especially since he first has to beat Andy Hicks, a player who has already beaten him twice in the World Championships.

Davis may be in the twilight of his career but he still has the ability to raise his game for the big occasion and it is not totally out of the question that he might replicate his UK Championship heroics.

Prediction: Quarter-final departure