And that’s yer lot. Cheers for joining in and reading, and a big congratulations to the new World Snooker Champion....Stuart Bingham. Here’s Barry Glendenning’s report from the Crucible.

There’s ticker-tape, which is going to take ages to sweep up. Fred Done, top dog of sponsors BetFred, obviously gets his mush in as many pictures as possible.

And a massive roar goes up as Bingham is presented with the trophy. He covers his wife’s ears when the prize of £300,000 is announced.

Boxer Kell Brook is part of the presentation committee for some reason. He helps hand over a cheque for £125,000 to Murphy for finishing second.

Yeah, Murph got a big tongue-mangled here...

“My arm felt like it was someone else’s,” says Bingham about that epic 64-minute frame. He also thanks a ‘Big Del’. Everyone needs a mate called Big Del.

Shaun Murphy says some very nice things about Bingham...which makes me feel a bit bad for wanting him to lose.

Mac Millings chips in on the lookalike stakes: “I’m not watching this, so I’m assuming that Bingham looks like the late (I had wrongly assumed) former Northern Ireland manager, Billy Bingham, while Shaun Murphy is, in my mind’s eye, the spitting image of the late (I’m pretty sure about this one) Happy Mondays frontman, Shaun Ryder.”

Bingham climbs up to his family and friends in the crowd. He’s snooker’s answer to Pat Cash...and every other Wimbledon Champion for the last 25 years.

Frame 33: Murphy 1 (15-17) 88 Bingham *

It’s won now...but a century would be just smashing...

Frame 33: Murphy 1 (15-17) 65 Bingham *

It’s there!

Frame 33: Murphy 1 (15-17) 64 Bingham *

One more red required...

Frame 33: Murphy 1 (15-17) 53 Bingham *

Bingham’s eyes are still, but his blood must be like Jon Bonham’s drum kit in his ears at the moment.

Frame 33: Murphy * 1 (15-17) 30 Bingham

“The British public have taken him to their hearts,” says Dennis Taylor about Bingham, who is making careful and deliberate progress towards this match-winning break. One imagines Bingham will already have the open-top bus parade booked.

Frame 33: Murphy 1 (15-17) 0 Bingham *

Murphy tries another long pot, and while you have to admire the gung-ho nature of this approach, it could cost him. He misses, this time there’s no fluke to save him, and Bingham is most certainly in the balls.

Frame 33: Murphy * 1 (15-17) 0 Bingham

Good lord. Murphy plays a horrible shot from a long pot attempt, which spreads the reds and it looks like Bingham will have a great chance...but the first red drifts back from baulk and drops into the right corner pocket! Scenes! There’s no colour, but the fluke quite possibly saved Murphy from giving away a frame, match and championship-winning break.

Frame 32: Murphy * 3 (15-16) 68 Bingham

Murphy makes a hash of a safety from Bingham, who then pots a red and tucks right up behind the green. Murphy gets out of that one, but presents an easy red and that should be that for this frame.

Frame 32: Murphy * 3 (15-16) 66 Bingham

A safety exchange now, like the days of yore. Or that last frame. Make this one a little snappier though lads, eh?

Frame 32: Murphy 3 (15-16) 66 Bingham *

Murphy sinks a good red, followed by a powerful pink which he puts plenty of fizz on to try and shift two reds by the right cushion. He does, but not far enough, and he has to settle for a (very good) safety in baulk.

Some balance in the lookalike stakes from Matt Dony: “Whereas Bingham looks like Steve Pemberton’s tough brother.”

Frame 32: Murphy * 0 (15-16) 66 Bingham

Murphy tries a very risky red down the right cushion...but misses and leaves Bingham an easy pot. He sinks that, get the positional shot a bit wrong so only leaves himself a pink, followed by a double...that he misses by some way.

Frame 32: Murphy 0 (15-16) 59 Bingham *

...but Murphy can’t take advantage! He misses a long pot into the top left (and by a fair way, too), which nearly flukes into the middle right.

Frame 32: Murphy * 0 (15-16) 59 Bingham

A few times in the last few shots Bingham has slipped just out of position, but he’s mostly managed to grab it back...until that one, missing a red across the table into the bottom left corner.

Frame 32: Murphy 0 (15-16) 37 Bingham *

Bingham playing with much more fluidity now. He had Murphy on the ropes for the last third of that epic 64-minuter, which seems to have boosted his confidence a little more.

Frame 32: Murphy 0 (15-16) 10 Bingham *

Bingham nails a long red and gets a fortunate bounce of the left middle knuckle, and he could be away in this frame.

Not much you can argue with here...

Frame 31: Murphy 56 (15-15) 74 Bingham *

They’re back now, and Murphy goes for a snooker on the blue...but pots it by mistake! He can win with one snooker now, but obviously it will be much, much trickier.

Excellent...

Frame 31: Murphy 51 (15-15) 74 Bingham *

Murphy gets a snooker behind the blue, which Bingham catches...but leaves it over the pocket. Murphy pots, but can’t get another snooker despite a good line.

There’s then an unscheduled break in play, as the frame ticks past the hour mark, as Bingham rather sheepishly requests a...well, ‘comfort break.’ You and me both, Stu.

Frame 31: Murphy 47 (15-15) 74 Bingham *

What a shot from Murphy! He gets right in behind the pink and snookers Bingham on the brown...but he nails it first time! More confidence from Bingham.

Frame 31: Murphy 47 (15-15) 74 Bingham *

Another snooker from Bingham, which Murphy gets out of but a double-kiss leaves an easy pot on the yellow, which he gobbles up, then the green to leave Murphy needing snookers.

Frame 31: Murphyn * 47 (15-15) 69 Bingham

There looks to be an easy get-out of this one, rolling up to the yellow down the left side, but if it goes wrong Murphy could leave Bingham with a chance to clean up, so he tries to get out with some pace and swerve. He misses the first two attempts, but nabs it on the third try.

Frame 31: Murphy 47 (15-15) 61 Bingham *

This frame’s being going on for 52 minutes now. They’re trading safety shots now, and usually pretty good ones, too. Bingham then plays a cracking snooker, tucking in behind the green in the top left corner, with the yellow on the bottom cushion.

Frame 31: Murphy 47 (15-15) 61 Bingham *

And eighth time is the charm. 30 points given up with that one.

Frame 31: Murphy * 47 (15-15) 61 Bingham

...and a seventh, this time hitting the pink...

Frame 31: Murphy * 47 (15-15) 55 Bingham

...and a sixth. The last few have been a different path, but with the same result...

Frame 31: Murphy * 47 (15-15) 51 Bingham

...and a fifth. By miles, that time....

Frame 31: Murphy * 47 (15-15) 47 Bingham

....and a fourth....

Frame 31: Murphy * 47 (15-15) 43 Bingham

Murphy misses for a third time....

Frame 31: Murphy * 47 (15-15) 39 Bingham

Bingham turns down the pot on the yellow, and plays a cracking snooker, in behind the black. Murphy misses the first two attempts, and he could be here for a while.

Frame 31: Murphy 47 (15-15) 31 Bingham *

Murphy gets himself into a bit of trouble on the blue, leaving himself slightly out of position on the yellow but it’s still a relatively straightforward shot...but he misses! And by a fair way. Big chance for Bingham to get back into this one now.

Frame 31: Murphy * 34 (15-15) 31 Bingham

That gives Murphy a golden chance, and he’s now in the process of mopping up what has been a tense, tactical frame.

Frame 31: Murphy * 20 (15-15) 31 Bingham

Oh man! Heartbreak for Bingham as he absolutely nails a brilliant long pot that he really had to commit to, but it flicks off another red and goes in off.

Frame 31: Murphy * 16 (15-15) 31 Bingham

Bingham tries to play a thin safety but it just like the body image presented by that ghastly protein advert, it isn’t thin enough and presents Murphy with a big chance. He doesn’t take it, though, as he not only runs out of position but plays a poor safety that gives Bingham a long red, which he sinks then plays a safety of his own off the green near the top left pocket.

Frame 31: Murphy 10 (15-15) 30 Bingham *

Murphy picsk out an excellent long red, then tucks up behind the brown for a snooker. Bingham gets out of it reasonably well, nestling on a red on the bottom cushion.

There’s a bloke wearing a Coventry shirt in the crowd. And to think people used to wear tuxedos for the last session of the final.

Frame 31: Murphy 9 (15-15) 30 Bingham *

Break over after Bingham gets a slightly unlucky result trying to go into the pack, but that was more encouraging for the underdog.

Frame 31: Murphy 9 (15-15) 25 Bingham *

Remarkable shot from Bingham on a red, playing with a bit of pace to find a gap in the pack not much wider than a ball’s width, but he makes it and sinks said black.

Frame 31: Murphy 9 (15-15) 12 Bingham *

Murphy surprisingly misses a safety into the pack off just one cushion, leaving Bingham a chance. Will he be able to take it, though?

Frame 31: Murphy 9 (15-15) 7 Bingham *

Woof! What a shot from Bingham as Murphy thinks he leaves what he thought was a good safety, but Bingham picks a terrific pot out that doesn’t touch the sides. It’s only one point as he tucks a safety up behind the brown, but that might kick-start his confidence.

Frame 31: Murphy 9 (15-15) 6 Bingham *

Murphy leaves Bingham right, right, right on the top cush, and his first effort, off left and bottom cushions, misses and donates four points.

Frame 31: Murphy 5 (15-15) 6 Bingham *

The thing about snooker is, as opposed to football, that when you talk about an intriguing tactical tussle, it actually is intriguing, rather than just a euphemism for ‘boring’. Safeties are exchanged, then Murphy misses a long shot right down the left cushion and rather luckily gets himself behind a red on the bottom cushion.

Frame 31: Murphy 5 (15-15) 6 Bingham *

Interesting decision from Murphy to make Bingham play the shot again after the miss rather than take the free ball. It pays off though, as Bingham just gets too much on the repeat shot, running just past the yellow and leaving a red into the far corner, that Murphy sticks away.

Frame 31: Murphy 4 (15-15) 6 Bingham *

An errant safety leaves a long one for Bingham...and he sinks it. Certainly seems to be a bit more confidence about his shots in this nascent frame so far...but then he just misses a cannon and leaves himself out of position, forced to play up behind the yellow. He rolls it from among the pack...and just - just, just, just - fails to reach.

Frame 31: Murphy * 0 (15-15) 0 Bingham

A trade of safety shots, one from Bingham in which the red rattles the jaws in one corner, then the white does the same in the opposite one.

Frame 30: Murphy * 52 (14-15) 0 Bingham

But he doesn’t take it! He misses a red into the corner, leaving the red over the pocket but covered by the black. Bingham tries to swerve around the black...and misses too! Murphy’s mistakes just aren’t being punished by Bingham.

Frame 30: Murphy * 52 (14-15) 0 Bingham

Brilliance from Murphy as an unfortunate cannon appears to leave him out of position, but he spots a red to the middle, then clears a path to the black with a more intentional cannon, and the frame is there for the taking now.

Frame 30: Murphy * 14 (14-15) 0 Bingham

...But Bingham misses an even easier shot, trying to roll in a simple enough red. Tension all over the shop, that could be huge.

Frame 30: Murphy 14 (14-15) 0 Bingham *

Murphy is among the balls, but gets a hop on a red which drags him out of position for a few shots in a row. He manages to claw it back with a few terrific shots, and scatters the reds, but on the shot that probably would have set him back on track, he’s in two minds about whether to go for blue into the middle or a thin pink to the corner. He chooses the former...and misses.

Frame 30: Murphy * 4 (14-15) 0 Bingham

First blood to Murphy, as Bingham goes for a very thin safety from way in baulk, trying to sneak past the pink and clip the edge of the pack, but he misses and gives Murphy a good chance to rack up the points.

Right, we’re back. First frame crucial, for Bingham’s state of mind if nothing else. Could be in for a late one here, so settle in.

We reach the mid-session interval, and Murphy is well and truly back in this - so much so that Stephen Hendry reckons he’s favourite. Bingham will have to go back into his dressing room and perhaps gather himself, because he’s played like a man under pressure. Which, in fairness, he is.

Frame 29: Murphy 64 (13-15) 22 Bingham

Well, well, well. Murphy runs out of position, leaving himself tight on one of those reds on the cushion. He pots it...but the white goes in too! He’s 42 ahead with 35 on the table.

Frame 29: Murphy * 51 (13-15) 18 Bingham

And as soon as I type that, Murphy plays a terrible shot on the black, running way out of position. However, he comes up with a couple of terrific efforts, one on the green, to get back on track.

Frame 29: Murphy * 36 (13-15) 18 Bingham

In opposition to Bingham’s mild skittishness, Murphy is very cooly and efficiently taking advantage of the error. A couple of reds are on the right-hand cushion, but other than that the balls are set out nicely for a clearance.

Frame 29: Murphy 0 (13-15) 18 Bingham *

Bingham sinks that red over the pocket, but runs out of position on the pink, over-cutting the pot and handing the initiative back to Murphy. A few nervy-looking shots from Bingham in this frame.

Frame 29: Murphy * 0 (13-15) 17 Bingham

Oooooooooof. Murphy goes for a safety and nearly flukes a red, but instead of good luck he gets bad, as the ball is trapped in the jaws of the pocket.

Meanwhile, David Gillson writes: ‘Just wondered if anyone else got a bit freaked out by Willie Thorne talking obsessively about kissing! Creepy ! Is it just the moustache?’

Frame 29: Murphy * 0 (13-15) 17 Bingham

But Bingham doesn’t take full advantage, a careless positional shot off a red into the middle leaving him out of whack. He pots the pink, threading the needle through a pack of reds, but leaves himself on the cushion and has to play a safety to baulk.

Frame 29: Murphy 0 (13-15) 1 Bingham *

Safeties are traded but Bingham goes all out on a long red, which goes in at pace then the white scatters the pack. Good chance here with the pink and black both available.

Frame 29: Murphy 0 (13-15) 0 Bingham *

Murphy leaves Bingham a long red into the top right corner but he misses, the cue ball a little close to the cushion which leaves him trying to dig it out a little. There is a red on for Murphy, but he decides against it and plays an excellent safety, behind the brown.

Frame 28: Murphy * 48 (12-15) 55 Bingham

Superb stuff from Murphy. He runs out of position at least three times, but pulls terrific shots out of the bag to get rid of all the reds. The colours are on their spots and should be a formality.

Frame 28: Murphy * 39 (12-15) 55 Bingham

Murphy tries to cannon one of those reds, which he does but then runs out of position, potting a red but pushing another close to the left cushion. Like Bingham last time, he’s going to have to battle.

Frame 28: Murphy * 23 (12-15) 55 Bingham

Murphy looks set but a black ‘wipes its feet’ rather and he takes a moment to take stock. Two reds are on the cushion but he should still have enough to get a frame-winning break.

Frame 28: Murphy * 0 (12-15) 55 Bingham

Ach. Bingham gets to a 47 break but then over-cuts a black, missing and handing a big chance to Murphy. Can he take advantage?

Frame 28: Murphy 0 (12-15) 33 Bingham *

...And then goes a big stroke of luck, cutting a red into the middle and getting a cannon off another red which leaves him perfectly back on the black. Fate demands that he take advantage of this now.

Frame 28: Murphy 0 (12-15) 8 Bingham *

...But he doesn’t fill those boots, curiously running out of position with a strange shot that meant he had to bridge over a red, he misses the red then somehow manages to land entirely safe in the middle of the reds.

Frame 28: Murphy 0 (12-15) 8 Bingham *

Now then. After a frame in which nothing was in the right place, Bingham has a great chance to fill his boots after Murphy makes quite a hash of a red and leaves Bingham in among the reds.

Frame 27: Murphy 6 (12-14) 75 Bingham *

Bingham really has grappled with the table here. He’s barely had a perfect position all break, but is now on the verge of sealing the frame.

Frame 27: Murphy 6 (12-14) 53 Bingham *

Lovely stuff from Bingham with a powerful long red that he gets up and down, enough to get on the blue. He then has to get up for the green, but doesn’t quite get enough on another longish red and ends up on the wrong side of the blue. A great and powerful shot eventually manages to get him back on track. Smashing snooker, this.

Frame 27: Murphy 6 (12-14) 34 Bingham *

Bingham battling here. The pink is now tied up, but so are all the spots so until he manages to shift that red covering the black spot it’s going to be a struggle.

Frame 27: Murphy 6 (12-14) 14 Bingham

An errant safety gives Bingham a long red which he pots with some authority, but then misjudges a black. It goes it, but he tried to flick a red that was covering its spot, misses, so the black has to go up on the brown spot. Going to be tough to build a proper break from here, now.

Frame 27: Murphy 6 (12-14) 0 Bingham

Decided to go with a new layout. Thoughts? Better? Anyway, Bingham’s break leaves a stray one off the pack which Murphy tucks away, but runs into trouble off the blue and has to go safe.

This bloke knows...

Bingham can only get six before he goes astray again. An uncharacteristically scrappy frame, this.

Another slightly misjudged safety gives Murphy a long red, which he pots, but he isn’t on a colour and opts for the snooker. Bingham gets out of that one, then a few balls later gets a red of his own and a chance to get back into this frame.

Well, again Murphy has a great chance to polish off the frame, but again a poor positional shot stiffs him. In fact, it was a bit of a nothing shot, trying to stun past a red to get to the black, but only succeeding in kissing it and leaving him on nothing. He’s still up 65-0 in this frame, though.

Another victory for the electoral system, here...

Oooof, a ropey safety from Murphy, which hits the blue on the way back up the table gives Bingham a fairly straightforward mid-range red down the right of the table, but he misses - and by some way, too - giving Murphy the advantage. Murphy pots a slide-rule red just past the black, and he’s in again.

Well, a big chance missed there for Murphy. He goes for a red near the black, aiming to bring said black into play with a wee nudge, but doesn’t get enough of it and runs out of position. He still manages to sink the black, but in doing so snookers himself on the preferred red, so has to play a safety and settle for a break of 33.

An iffy safety from Bingham leaves Murphy with a long red, but he sticks it home and is very much in the balls now. Great chance for a frame-winning break here.

Bit of the old tension in the arm for both men, as they both miss relatively straightforward reds by a slightly troubling distance. However, both men may have suffered kicks there - Murphy definitely did, Bingham possibly.

Hmmm. Shakey start for Bingham. Murphy breaks, but in going for a thin safety Bingham misses, giving his opponent a presentable chance at a long pot, but perhaps mindful that this isn’t the first time Bingham has done that, Murphy asks him to play the shot again. Which he does, with more success.

Bingham enters the arena to the strains of ‘Lose Yourself’ by Eminem, while for Murphy it’s ‘Disco Inferno.’ Not songs one would immediately associate with either man.

The Guardian is of course absolutely neutral in these matters, but is there anyone out there who seriously wants Murphy to win this? Emails, thoughts and heresy to Nick.Miller@theguardian.com, or @NickMiller79.

Evening all. Poised nicely, this. Bingham, whose best previous performance at the Crucible is the quarter-finals and has just two ranking wins to his name in his entire career, stands four frames short of winning the thing. And he’s earned it too, beating Judd Trump in the semi-finals and Ronnie O’Sullivan in the quarters. Before the game he sounded like a man just happy to be there. “It’s taken 20 years of scars, getting beat up, everything,” he said. “I can’t believe I’m in the final. It’s just unbelievable.” Not now, though. Shaun Murphy certainly has a comeback in him, but it will take quite the effort to deny Bingham this time.

So it’s all set up for the evening session. This afternoon has been a thrill – gripping snooker, played at pretty breakneck speed. There have been no long, tactical frames, no extended safety exchanges, no Thorburnesque extended table-strolls. Stuart Bingham stands four frames from history and on the evidence of this afternoon it would be hard to bet against him. But can he control those nerves? How will Shaun Murphy cope with being the underdog? All these questions and several more will be answered at or soon after 7pm this evening – Nick Miller will be on hand shortly before that to guide you through to the close. Do email him at nick.miller@guardian.co.uk or send him a twittery thing at @nickmiller79. Bye!

Wow! Murphy has tickles a red into a corner pocket but then messes up the colour, and Bingham must wrap up this frame now.

Instead of playing safe Bingham tries to pot the yellow but, worried about getting into position for the only really pottable red, misses it. Murphy pots it and then the blue, breaking up the gaggle of reds in the process.

Murphy messes up his safety shot, leaving Bingham with a long, long pot that he gobbles up greedily, though the white doesn’t end up anywhere helpful.

Ouch! Bingham tries to sneak a red into the corner pocket using the rest, but misjudges it and it stays out. He hasn’t left Murphy with anything pottable, but the break is over with the score in this frame 57-0.

This is liquid snooker, Bingham quickly reaching 51, but he’s just potted the pink and left the white too close to its spot, forcing the pink to be replaced, inconveniently, at the bottom of a cluster of remaining reds.

Bingham starts the final frame of this session, and Murphy immediately takes on a trademark long pot, and only just misses. There’s one red open for Bingham, and he takes it in consummate style.

No wobbles yet. Murphy leads 52-0 with eight reds on the table, several of them winking at him seductively. “Stuart Bingham is an amazing story really,” writes Mischa Watson. “Can you think of many other sportspeople who have been journeymen professionals for 20 years and then suddenly at the end of their careers win a world championship?” Um, well, there’s … er … perhaps … anyone?

After three shots in this 24th frame the reds are scattered like so many cat-chased pigeons, but the white’s down the other end. Murphy spies a long red that looks pottable, and only pots it! This is a deliciously inviting table, and the frame should be his if he avoids significant wobbles.

Dead-eye Bingham pounces, though it’s not really a straightforward break, rocketing as it does from one end of the table, via a few low-scoring colours, to the other and back again. It’s not perfect – there’s a run of a few sightly misjudged shots, during which he seems to be battling against the table, rather than merrily surfing over it – but he’s not derailed. With six reds on the table he leads 58-0.

That leaves Murphy with a decent chance, which he sends into the jaws of the pocket, and back out again!

Wobbles! Murphy misses a long pot, leaving Bingham with a straight pot into the far corner, and he misses that one too!

Bingham clatters into the reds, spreading them around the table but not leaving Murphy with anything straightforward. No matter, he takes something unstraightforward instead.

Murphy takes all the easyish points, leaving him with 59, but with the seven remaining reds not at all so inviting. One of them can go into the far corner pocket, but he fails to make it actually do so.

Bingham’s first shot is a ropey safety, that presents Murphy with a couple of long-pot options. He takes the obvious one, leaves himself on the black, and this looks pretty tasty for him.

The players are back out. Key moments now for Murphy, who must hope that the mid-session interval will have broken Stuart Bingham’s momentum.

And with that the players head back to the changing-rooms to calm down/sulk wildly. What might Shaun Murphy be reading and/or listening to to cheer himself up after that rubbish run?

Bingham sends the red into the blue, and hands Murphy five points and the opportunity to lay another snooker, which he doesn’t take. Instead he leaves a clear view to the last red, and Bingham rolls it into a centre pocket.

He pots a couple of reds and then leaves the white behind the black. It’s a snooker sure enough, with the last red quite close to the baulk cushion and the pink blocking the clearest exit.

Bingham misses a black, but leads 67-2 with 51 remaining on the table. Murphy, given the situation, plays on in search of a snooker.

He nails it, but can’t really capitalise. He tries a snooker, which Bingham gets out of, and then attempts another long pot, and doesn’t make it. This looks like another Bingham frame now.

He pots the last straightforward red, comes off the green into that pack of reds but doesn’t end up with an easy pot, and misses the one he attempted. He leads 50-1, with Murphy eyeing up a testy long pot.

Bingham knocks up a quickfire 46, but has to unbunch some reds soonish if he’s to get much further.

Gah! He then fluffs a long, straight blue, and Bingham is back at the table.

Murphy, having lost seven of the last eight frames, starts a ninth with another lovely long pot.

Then he has another go, but this too doesn’t work out very well. White and red are almost touching, near the centre pocket but with an unhelpful angle. It’s almost unpottable, and terribly unlucky.

Oooh! He’s still on for a maximum, and just attempted to send the white, via the black, into the red sitting on the cushion. He does it, but the naughty red barely budges.

Bingham’s still going, and but for one red stuck on a side cushion he’d be on for a maximum here. He’s potted nine reds and nine blacks, and has 72 points in the bank.

Bingham pots a black, just, after it rattles about the corner pocket for a while, eliciting a noisy exhalation from the audience, but the reds are invitingly split, he’s got 33 points already and momentum very much swinging his way.

Frame No20 starts with a Murphy break, and a successful Bingham long pot.

Murphy gets round the snooker with a bit of swerve – Bingham needed the red to just roll on for one more inch – and ends up with the red partially hidden by a combination of green and brown. Bingham’s reply leaves Murphy with an achievable long pot, which he fails to achieve.

He can’t capitalise, trying to knock that red off the cushion, missing it entirely, and then trying to roll it along the cushion and into the pocket. He can’t make it, and Murphy comes in and sends the red down the table and the white behind the black.

Bingham rattles his way to a 51-32 lead, but then, with the frame in his hand (but one sulky red stuck on a cushion, clearly at the back of his mind) he misses a sitter too!

Murphy leaps on the error, swiftly rattles his way to a 32-0 lead, and then over-cuts a pretty straightforward red, leaving it hanging over the pocket.

Again the break ends there, with Murphy kissing the black and rolling the white perfectly down to the baulk cushion. The players trade a couple of perfectly-judged safety shots, which ends when Bingham goes for a long pot, misses and opens the door for Murphy.

Bingham breaks, Murphy goes for the long pot and he doesn’t just get one red in, he gets two!

The last couple of minutes have been entirely error-free, and Bingham should end this frame with a century break, but barring a bizarre snookerfest it’s his, and the match is about to be levelled.

This frame is working out very well now for Bingham – he’s still rattling away, the reds are split and inviting, and he leads 44-4 with six of them still on the table.

Bingham takes on the long red and nails it, a real nerve-settler, and rolls on from there, in not-entirely-convincing style. He pots a pink but overhits, and can only just follow up with a red. Then, a straightforward black later, he misjudges another – the red drops after rattling around the pocket a bit, but the white rumbles out of control and down the table. Still, he rescues matters with a green, and remains at the table.

Ooof! Murphy pots the day’s first ball and then, in very nearly lets the white follow the green into the corner pocket. He gets away with it, but that’s the end of his break, with four on the board.

The players are introduced, Murphy in his splendid dark red and gold suit, and a few moments later he gets the action under way.

Also, Steve Bingham was bass player in 1960s chart-toppers The Foundations*.

He wasn’t actually in The Foundations when they had their chart-topping hits, joining them the year after Build Me Up Buttercup and two years after Baby Now That I’ve Found You. Still, I’d wager he’s played both songs a few times since.

To be best of my knowledge neither Stuart Bingham, nor anyone else called Stuart Bingham, is or has ever been much of a singer. But he could be related to this chap:

You can also see Shaun Murphy singing here. I’m not sure if she’s singer-on-the-left or singer-on-the-right.

Interesting Shaun Murphy fact: the person going “ooooooh!” and “she’s-a Detroit Made!” and other things in the background of this song is also called Shaun Murphy.

Simon will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s how things stand after the first day of the final, from Barry Glendenning at the Crucible:

Stuart Bingham, in his first world championship final, showed remarkable resilience to reduce ominous deficits of 3-0 and 8-4 to trail Shaun Murphy by a single frame after an astonishing first day’s play here in Sheffield.

A 38-year-old former journeyman who did not win a ranking event until 2011, Bingham has been this year’s revelation, garnering much public support on the back of tears of joy shed in the wake of wins over Ronnie O’Sullivan and Judd Trump on an arduous route to his first world title decider. At times on Sunday he could have been forgiven for weeping in frustration at being pitched into battle against Murphy, the 32-year-old 2005 champion who often looked as if he could not put a spat-enclosed foot wrong. It is to Bingham’s immense credit that he refused to buckle under extreme pressure having been left trailing in his opponent’s chalk dust at the beginning of both sessions. His Terminator like obduracy in the face of Murphy’s brutal onslaughts suggests that, on the 30th anniversary of that epic black ball final between Dennis Taylor and Steve Davis, this thriller might also go the distance.

After the hoopla and razzmatazz that accompanied the previous evening’s Fight of the Century in Las Vegas, the pre-match niceties in Sheffield were comparatively low key, but garnished with some of the bells and whistles appropriated from boxing by World Snooker chief Barry Hearn. The BBC’s master of ceremonies Rob Walker invariably does a more than passable impersonation of Michael Buffer when it comes to whipping the Crucible crowd into something approaching a frenzy, even if the combatants consign their entourages to the gallery and have the good grace to look mildly embarrassed by the incongruous walk-on music that soundtracks their waves to the crowd.

While Pacquiao and Mayweather attracted a swarm of A-list royalty headed by Beyonce and Jay Z, here it was left to Roy Keane, Martin Navratilova and Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain to help fill the ringside celebrity quota in an audience otherwise comprised of the usual civilian enthusiasts of every age, stripe and shade. Whatever your opinion on snooker’s status as gladiatorial combat or quaint parlour game, it’s popularity endures.

Murphy roared out of the traps to win the first three frames with breaks of 68, 59 and 65 but Bingham refused to be cowed. After posting the final’s first century, a quickfire 105, he was unquestionably the happier of the two players at the conclusion of a first session that ended with the score all square at four frames apiece. Murphy’s largesse was surprising. Taking on and missing long pots that were ambitious even by the standards of his usual have-a-go heroism, he paid accordingly.

In the evening Murphy surged ahead again. pouncing on Bingham’s errors to score heavily and turn the screw. Looking for all the world as if he was incapable of missing, he machine-gunned consecutive breaks of 74, 106 and 121 en route to an 8-4 lead. But Bingham, his mettle tested again, responded with 76, 123 and 89, consigning Murphy to his chair without a potted ball to his name for two whole frames. The next two were shared, to leave Murphy 9-8 ahead after 17 frames that yielded four centuries as well as 13 other half-centuries. Expect plenty more twists in this white-knuckle race to 18 frames.