What is the correct ruling on free balls?

[JazzyJust]

I play in two local leagues and there are away disagreements over what is a free ball and what is not.

Can anybody shed any light on what the correct ruling is?

[Peter-d]

See the followin two rules from the official snooker rules:

Section 3 Rule 10:
Snookered After a Foul
After a foul, if the cue-ball is snookered, the referee shall state FREE BALL (see Section 2, Rule 16).

Section 2 Rule 16:
Snookered
The cue-ball is said to be snookered when a direct stroke in a straight line to every ball on is wholly or partially obstructed by a ball or balls not on. If one or more balls on can be struck at both extreme edges free of obstruction by any ball not on, the cue-ball is not snookered.
(a) If in-hand, the cue-ball is snookered if it is obstructed as described above from all possible positions on or within the lines of the "D".
(b) If the cue-ball is so obstructed from hitting a ball on by more than one ball not on
(i) the ball nearest to the cue-ball is considered to be the effective snookering ball, and
(ii) should more than one obstructing ball be equidistant from the cue-ball, all such balls will be considered to be effective snookering balls.
(c) When Red is the ball on, if the cue-ball is obstructed from hitting different Reds by different balls not on, there is no effective snookering ball.
(d) The striker is said to be snookered when the cue-ball is snookered as above
(e) The cue-ball cannot be snookered by a cushion. If the curved face of a cushion obstructs the cue-ball and is closer to the cue-ball than any obstructing ball not on, the cue-ball is not snookered.

Interpretation:
If after a foul ALL balls on cannot be cut thinly on both sides, then it's a free ball. If the player has ball in hand, the above must be true from every position in the D.
I don't think this would include if a red (red A) is partially obstructing another red (red B) and in turn that red (red A) is partially obstructed by a colour if in removing red A, red B could be cut thinly on both sides. (otherwise, the starting position would be a free ball situation).

Although my interpretation might be more difficult to understand than the rule itself, I hope this helps.

[reverse_side]

Pretty clear info there peter-d, what would help us to know what difficulties JazzyJust's League is having, would be for them to give us a few examples (play with jpg's) of when you or your teammates would struggle to decide on whether a situation warrants a free-ball. A finer point of the ruling has been explained by peter-d, and I'll give a specific example that happens every so often: imagine you're opponent breaks off and with the side he imparts swerves away from the reds without hitting them.... the way to work this one out is to pick the red that's at the extreme corner of the triangle, imagine the other reds aren't there (they are classed as object balls too), and if you can hit both extreme edges, it's not a free-ball; otherwise it is.
Remember, you can't snooker your opponent behind the free-ball unless the only balls left are the pink and black (there are opportunities to play plants with the free-ball and the ball you would have been playing direct)
Also, the rule book only costs a fiver, and really, every League should have at least 1 copy; especially as they're on the net and on most snooker sites. (The unusual part of the rule states where you can be hidden behind a cushion "angled" on ALL balls and it's not a free-ball - but there is an easy way out of this one; anyone want to guess who doesn't know already?)
Lastly, it's unusual that a League's struggling to implement the Free-Ball rule, it's normally whether they should use the miss rule and how to interpret it. If billiards is included in the League (weird I know, but our's does) then the question of whether to re-spot the balls is re-stated each year. ttfn.