Play had resumed at 4-4 after a first session which saw the two Englishmen rack up seven half-century breaks between them in an absorbing passage of snooker in which neither man was able to establish a substantial lead.

BBC: Carter hits historic Crucible 147

This is a man whose vast body of work is the direct result of absorbing untold global cultural influences and subverting them to his own ends.

WSJ: Bowie Is Back | 'David Bowie Is' at the V&A

However, it was just to take care of a nosebleed and the 6ft 6ins man from Tandil recovered sufficiently from a slow start to ensure an absorbing encounter which saw his aggression from the baseline up against Murray's defensive skills.

BBC: Andy Murray beats Del Potro in ATP Finals opener

The absorbing story, set in a desolate patch of the Mississippi Delta in wintertime, begins obliquely, as a man is found dead, a suicide, in his modest home.

NEWYORKER: Ballast