FORMER world snooker champions Dennis Taylor and John Parrott believe they have enjoyed the best days the sport has to offer.

The dynamic duo made the admission in an exclusive interview with Echosport prior to hosting an exhibition evening at Snookes in Weymouth, claiming the game will never be more popular than it was in the 1980s and 90s.

They were also in agreement that Judd Trump is the man to watch over the next few years and that it would be very difficult for anyone to ever dominate the sport like Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry did due to the strength in depth of the game’s current crop of stars.

Taylor won the world championship in 1985 when he beat Davis on the final black in the most dramatic final of all time, while Parrott claimed the crown in 1991 by beating six-time runner-up Jimmy White.

Have either of you ever been to Weymouth before?

JP: This is my first time. We only arrived this morning (Saturday) but we did go to the Orange Cider Bar this afternoon to watch my beloved Everton but unfortunately we got beat.

DT: I actually used to do the holiday camps back in the 80s and I can remember making a 135 break at Osmington Bay at around 10.30am in the morning after having been up all night.

I don’t think I got to bed in the end until 5.30pm and to this day I think the only reason I got that break was that I was forced to keep my head down on the shots because I was so tired.

I spent a few good summers down and around this area and I can remember going to Dorchester quite a bit for food in an Indian restaurant there.

The club (Snookes) here is great.

Steve Davis came down earlier in the year and told us about how good the facilities and the set-up are here, and he certainly wasn’t wrong. It’s fantastic.,p>

Do you still do a lot of these exhibition evenings?

JP: There are still a lot of clubs knocking around but there are not so many exhibitions as there used to be and when we get nights like this it is fantastic.

Evenings like this used to be the staple diet for most players but not so much now with most of the current crop solely concentrating on the tournaments.

DT: I have not done any exhibitions for a while but I started competing on the Legends Tour recently and have got back playing again.

As John said, exhibitions are not as popular as they used to be, but some players do still do them. There a lot more tournaments now and many of them are just content to concentrate on them.

JP: There were also quite a few tournaments on the circuit when we played back in the 80s and 90s but not as many as nowadays.

There are a lot of smaller tournaments now but I still believe we had the best of it in the era we played in.

The game changed when it lost sponsorship from the tobacco companies. That cost the sport £3million a year and it has never been quite the same since.

DT: A lot of other things have changed too like the amount of entertainment that is now accessible for people to watch.

Nowadays, unless you are a fanatic, you tend not to watch certain sports whereas in the 80s there were only four channels, which enabled the game to attract a lot more attention.

Having said that the viewing figures are still good but they will never return to how they were back in our era.

How does the current standard of play compare to the level in your day?

JP: I think the standard is higher and deeper now.

There are more top players than there were before but having said that I am still confident the people from our era would hold their own against the lads knocking around now.

DT: I do think the majority of the players are slightly more attacking now.

But there are also still a few guys, particularly John Higgins, who display similar attributes to people like Ray Reardon in the way he is very tactical and waits for his opportunity and makes it count with a big break.

An out-and-out potter has never won the World Championships. You have got to have a tactical game as well and that is where a lot tend to fall down.

One thing is for sure though and that is the top 64 now play to a very high standard whereas back in our day we only had half that amount.

Do you think anyone will ever dominate the game as Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry once did?

DT: Ronnie O’Sullivan had a chance to do it but to dominate the game for 10 years as Steve and Stephen did is very difficult.

JP: It would certainly take someone pretty damn special to do that now. They would need the full package and players like that do not come along very often.

If Ronnie was as mentally strong as he should be, he could have dominated and I don’t think there is any doubt about that.

What is the most important attribute a player needs to make it to the top?

JP: The mental side of the game is everything. There are a lot of players that can knock balls in all over the place but not many can do it quite so often under pressure.

Snooker is a full character test and that is what makes it such a challenge.

DT: I think the proof of that is in competitions. A lot of quality players make it to the qualifying round but it is only the top, top players that make it to the knockout stages.

Who should snooker fans be looking out for over the next few years?

JP: Judd Trump is the main one. There also a few up and coming youngsters in their mid-teens that look pretty good but you just never know how they are going to develop with all the other distractions that can come along as you get older.

DT: There are a lot of good Chinese players coming through who people do not see because they are only making the qualifying stages at the moment, but there is no doubt the strength of the game will certainly continue.