By Phil Harlow BBC Sport at the Crucible

O'Sullivan did not like his "Rocket" nickname

Snooker announcer Alan Hughes has become an integral part of The Crucible experience for fans and players alike after nearly 20 years of introductions.

Hughes' inimitable style and eccentric nicknames for the players have endeared him to snooker audiences all over the world.

And the announcer at the World Snooker Championship talked to BBC Sport about his circuitous route to the top - taking in Jimmy Greaves, Chris Eubank and summer seasons at Great Yarmouth.

"When I came into snooker the players were just known by their names and I just thought that the players had more about them than that," he told this website.

"So I started to slip some nicknames into the introductions. Cliff 'the Grinder' Thorburn was one of the first I came up with."

And so the legend was born. Soon anybody who was anybody in the game had their own Hughes-endorsed nickname.

Hughes christened John Higgins "The Wizard of Wishaw"

"What I like to do is build up a player's nickname. For a while Jimmy White was known as 'the Wind', but I didn't like that - it sounded like a bad case of indigestion!" he said.

"So I changed it to 'the Whirlwind', and then 'the Whirlwind of London Town' and then 'the Wonderful Whirlwind of London Town'."

But the players are not always happy with the monikers that Hughes invents for them.

"I started off calling Ronnie O'Sullivan 'the Rocket' but he didn't like it," said Hughes.

"Apparently there was a bloke in Birmingham they called 'Rocket Ron' because he couldn't pot a ball!

"But now I call him 'the Essex Exocet' because I think that's a bit more classy."

I've chosen to be a jack of all trades but I wouldn't change a thing Alan Hughes

There are many more strings to Hughes' bow than snooker, though.

A modern renaissance man, Hughes was a part-time footballer with Spurs, Brentford and Norwich, playing alongside the likes of Jimmy Greaves, Bobby Smith and Terry Medwin.

"In those days you could sign part-time forms and that's what I did," he said.

"I could combine the football with a summer season at Great Yarmouth and it would fit together nicely because the football year wasn't too long," he said.

"You could never do it now."

The thought that Butlins campers are being denied the talents of Roy Keane as resident funny-man is surely another indication that football has got its priorities all wrong.

Hughes' showbiz career started when he was just 16 and saw him telling jokes, singing and compering in famous venues all over the world.

Hughes decided Anthony Hamilton was "The Robin Hood of Snooker"

"I've played at the old Hackney Empire, the Talk of the Town, the Royal Albert Hall, the London Palladium, and in Las Vegas - everywhere."

He joined the snooker circuit after becoming friendly with snooker star Willie Thorne, who introduced him to snooker promoter Barry Hearne.

"Barry asked me to work with because of my showbiz experience and I started doing some snooker tournaments for him.

"The World Snooker Association said they liked my style and I started working for them, and I've been with them ever since.

"And then I started to do boxing as well. I did 42 title fights - the likes of Chris Eubank, Michael Watson, Nigel Benn, Steve Collins, all the top British boxers.

"I've chosen to be a jack of all trades but I wouldn't change a thing. I look back and I think, 'I haven't done too bad!'."